Ali Williams off to France - holes at the blues for next year.

[Larksea]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...52/Williams-heading-to-European-champs-Toulon

crazy squad at Toulon. Hayman in the front row, Williams and Botha Locking, Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau in the backs plus others like Chris Masoe. I wonder if Rudi Wulf is there somewhere?

actually going to be some massive holes in the blues in particular with Ali Williams, Boric and Ranger off to the feed farm

what it does mean is JK will have some bricks to play with and he'll be looking to use them.

I still think he will be looking at Dominic Bird and obviously Barrett and Julian Savea.

Crusaders surely can't maintain 4 all black locks...? Though it seems Donnelly maybe happy just being a backup guy? Not sure what Donnelly is doing. At some point Bird is going to need starts to further his carrier and he will surely have to move to get them.

Williams/Boric move could pave the way for Moli to be more of a factor, still very young. I think the basically really need Moli now, need him to step up.

 

[donmcdazzle]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...52/Williams-heading-to-European-champs-Toulon

crazy squad at Toulon. Hayman in the front row, Williams and Botha Locking, Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau in the backs plus others like Chris Masoe. I wonder if Rudi Wulf is there somewhere?

actually going to be some massive holes in the blues in particular with Ali Williams, Boric and Ranger off to the feed farm

what it does mean is JK will have some bricks to play with and he'll be looking to use them.

I still think he will be looking at Dominic Bird and obviously Barrett and Julian Savea.

Crusaders surely can't maintain 4 all black locks...? Though it seems Donnelly maybe happy just being a backup guy? Not sure what Donnelly is doing. At some point Bird is going to need starts to further his carrier and he will surely have to move to get them.

Williams/Boric move could pave the way for Moli to be more of a factor, still very young. I think the basically really need Moli now, need him to step up.

Would be a great team if it was 2005

 

[FlukeArtist]

The only hole Ali is going to be leaving in the Blues is in the amount of missed tackles and penalties conceded.

He has been shocking this year. In fact; he has been a liability.

It hurts me to say that about Ali, as he is a Blues stalwart. But the writing was on the wall after this year's performances.

Mealamu needs to go next.

Ranger is the only one I am gutted about losing.

 

[Larksea]

I dont agree, I think he's been surprisingly good this year my only problem with him has been the penalties he's given away at times - trying to do things he must know he's not going to get away with.

 

[Draggs]

Would be a great team if it was 2005

It's obvious then, Boudjellal is working on a time machine.

 

[Larksea]

funny, after writing my post I found a super rugby stats page

he has missed 26 tackles but I don't think that's too bad considering the amount of game time he's had, he's clocked up a lot of minutes.

but he's #2 ion the competition for penalties conceded with 24 which does seem like alot. Only Crockett is ahead of him and he's out on his own with 27

one guy that sticks out on the missed tackle list is Brad shields, considering he's a 6/8 and high accuracy is expected for that position, plus he has not had a huge amount of gametime.

http://www.rugbystats.com.au/rugby/super15/player-stats.html?refresh=1373418770121

 

[Big Ewis]

what longevity...guy's STILL going for another career, as short as it will be...

 

[Amobokoboko]

Was to be expected that he would leave.

 

[steblin]

I agree Ali has been somewhat of a liability this year with his penalties, but I think there's alot to be said for continuity and experience. Fact is this is a VERY young team who needs those experienced heads around the park.
Losing Boric was OK at first, because we had Retallick and Ali left, leaving room for a youngster to step up and hopefully Moli to mature (and not do daft things like doing a spiderman over a maul). However losing Ali now makes this a big gap. Also means we are again looking for a Captain, apparently the early front runners are Parsons and Braid. Personally I'd be happy with either, but Parsons would get my vote, he's done well at hooker this year.
In my opinion Mealamu needs to stay as a senior head in that pack, at least for another year.
Gutted about Ranger leaving, alot of the go forward that set this young back line moving was off of him, going to be hard to replicate that. Also, selfishly, as a fan, when hes in this kind of form he's the type of player you want to see in your team, dynamic, exciting, hard charging etc... ah well!

 

[donmcdazzle]

what longevity...guy's STILL going for another career, as short as it will be...

To be fair he has had about a combined 5 seasons off due to injury so he has had a lot of rest during his career.

 

[nickdnz]

I agree Ali has been somewhat of a liability this year with his penalties, but I think there's alot to be said for continuity and experience. Fact is this is a VERY young team who needs those experienced heads around the park.
Losing Boric was OK at first, because we had Retallick and Ali left, leaving room for a youngster to step up and hopefully Moli to mature (and not do daft things like doing a spiderman over a maul). However losing Ali now makes this a big gap. Also means we are again looking for a Captain, apparently the early front runners are Parsons and Braid. Personally I'd be happy with either, but Parsons would get my vote, he's done well at hooker this year.
In my opinion Mealamu needs to stay as a senior head in that pack, at least for another year.
Gutted about Ranger leaving, alot of the go forward that set this young back line moving was off of him, going to be hard to replicate that. Also, selfishly, as a fan, when hes in this kind of form he's the type of player you want to see in your team, dynamic, exciting, hard charging etc... ah well!

Which is probably why I wouldn't go with Parsons. Mealamu is still there - and as the Canes found when they had Hore/Coles - a captain who can be taken off after 50min isn't the right coice. Luke Braid is a beast anyway.

 

[steblin]

Which is probably why I wouldn't go with Parsons. Mealamu is still there - and as the Canes found when they had Hore/Coles - a captain who can be taken off after 50min isn't the right coice. Luke Braid is a beast anyway.

Yep good point, more chance of Braid seeing out games. Also if you want a Captain who sets the tone on the field, can't go wrong with Braid, tough as nails.

 

[UilamOsa]

At the beginning of the season, I thought his captaincy was a joke but after watching the first part of the season, he really developed into a pretty good leader. I actually enjoyed his captaincy.

BUT at some point, your leadership (no matter how experienced you are) should not outweigh the amount of penalties you're giving away. And seriously, some of the penalties he gave away especially during critical moments of some matches were inexcusable.
I'm not too sure why SGH didn't give him a clip around the ears at the time.

 

[Larksea]

will be interesting to see what happens at the blues for first five, Kerr actually played well on the weekend,maybe showing improvement?

main Targets seem to be Benjie Marshall and Bauden Barrett

I think a marshall deal is a lot closer than people may think. it does seem like if he doesn't sign for the tigers he will most likely change codes and so far the tigers are not giving him what he wants which is a big fat long term deal.

Sounds like we will know within a couple of weeks and we could see him play ITM cup?!

 

[donmcdazzle]

will be interesting to see what happens at the blues for first five, Kerr actually played well on the weekend,maybe showing improvement?

main Targets seem to be Benjie Marshall and Bauden Barrett

I think a marshall deal is a lot closer than people may think. it does seem like if he doesn't sign for the tigers he will most likely change codes and so far the tigers are not giving him what he wants which is a big fat long term deal.

Sounds like we will know within a couple of weeks and we could see him play ITM cup?!

If he comes to rugby surely he would do a Japan off season before Super 15, feather the nest big time to supplement the lower Super 15 contract. He is essentially leaving the tigers over money so wouldn't want to take too much of a pay cut.