After their runaway win against the Crusaders last week, the Chiefs have stamped themselves as the ones to beat in super rugby again this season. The Bulls however have a chance to pinch the no.1 spot with a game in hand with a win this weekend. The Brumbies, Bulls and Chiefs all have similar for and against records but form of late suggest the Chiefs are going a bit better than the other 2. Think it will be a Chiefs- Bulls final, with chiefs taking out the comp again. http://blog.betezy.com.au/
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Chiefs Firing
- Thread starter koota71
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The Bulls may have a game in hand, but the Chiefs get a guaranteed 4 points from the bye. So regardless of what happens this weekend, the Chiefs will remain top.
yip chiefs 2 point lead secures them the top spot for another week
people were writing them off a few weeks ago when injuries kept rising but as I said then they Still have their Key players in TKB, Cruden, Messam, Clarke, Retalick, they still got many of their next tier in Mo and Hika, Latimer, Tiko and Cane. And importantly Robbie Robinson came back in great form when Anscombe & Horrell got injured and Aki has been really impressive, Bee Sting Ben has been improving to his form of last year. And I would even go as far as to say that with Matt Vant Leven in covering #8 they actually have a better player than the guys he's in covering for (Lee, Filipo and Crosswell)
Cruden has been really impressing me, despite his "great" season last year I wasn't too convinced but he's been so much better this year. I think it comes down to his knee, the injury he picked up in the world cup final. It seems like he's finally over it and confident on that knee again. And Aki has answered the call in terms of defense helping Cruden out and making up for the loss of SBW and Kahui in that area.
I think Ian Foster is a good coach his chefs when he had his top team or near it were often the best in the comp, but when his chiefs sides picked up injuries even to just a couple of key players at times they would drop out of contention fast. Under Renee and Smith the main change is when they get injuries they just keep winning, there is just this endless list of players that have come in and been fantastic when front line players go down. And it also helps that there is a very select list of players that are basically a constant in the side and have had very few or no major injury problems. Messam, Cruden, latimer and Retalick in particular but have to single out Cruden in that bunch, he's hardly missed a game since he arrived at the chiefs. Donald was good for the chiefs but he was involved much more physically and picked up more injuries which would often cause disruption the chiefs would not recover from, without him at times the chiefs were **** then he would come back from injury and take a week or two to get upto speed suddenly the chiefs would have gone from doing well to losing 3-4 games on the trot. having those key guys there and is massive for the chiefs results.
The one problem with Fosters Chiefs was he never developed a quality 12, Bruce was average at best Sweany should have been an impact winger nothing more and was generally a total failure at 12. He finally got Tana who ended up being just a cameo for a few games and jackson-Willison for the most part was untapped potential.
Hard to know just how much of the current success is good planning and coaching or just luck! I think it's a combination of a lot of factors, coaching The Wayne Smith factor, luck, selections, the rise of Craig Clarke from journeyman to world class lock and the discovery of Retalick and Tamiafuna which comes down to Renees age grade connections and experience. Many factors, But it should be studied in great detail
people were writing them off a few weeks ago when injuries kept rising but as I said then they Still have their Key players in TKB, Cruden, Messam, Clarke, Retalick, they still got many of their next tier in Mo and Hika, Latimer, Tiko and Cane. And importantly Robbie Robinson came back in great form when Anscombe & Horrell got injured and Aki has been really impressive, Bee Sting Ben has been improving to his form of last year. And I would even go as far as to say that with Matt Vant Leven in covering #8 they actually have a better player than the guys he's in covering for (Lee, Filipo and Crosswell)
Cruden has been really impressing me, despite his "great" season last year I wasn't too convinced but he's been so much better this year. I think it comes down to his knee, the injury he picked up in the world cup final. It seems like he's finally over it and confident on that knee again. And Aki has answered the call in terms of defense helping Cruden out and making up for the loss of SBW and Kahui in that area.
I think Ian Foster is a good coach his chefs when he had his top team or near it were often the best in the comp, but when his chiefs sides picked up injuries even to just a couple of key players at times they would drop out of contention fast. Under Renee and Smith the main change is when they get injuries they just keep winning, there is just this endless list of players that have come in and been fantastic when front line players go down. And it also helps that there is a very select list of players that are basically a constant in the side and have had very few or no major injury problems. Messam, Cruden, latimer and Retalick in particular but have to single out Cruden in that bunch, he's hardly missed a game since he arrived at the chiefs. Donald was good for the chiefs but he was involved much more physically and picked up more injuries which would often cause disruption the chiefs would not recover from, without him at times the chiefs were **** then he would come back from injury and take a week or two to get upto speed suddenly the chiefs would have gone from doing well to losing 3-4 games on the trot. having those key guys there and is massive for the chiefs results.
The one problem with Fosters Chiefs was he never developed a quality 12, Bruce was average at best Sweany should have been an impact winger nothing more and was generally a total failure at 12. He finally got Tana who ended up being just a cameo for a few games and jackson-Willison for the most part was untapped potential.
Hard to know just how much of the current success is good planning and coaching or just luck! I think it's a combination of a lot of factors, coaching The Wayne Smith factor, luck, selections, the rise of Craig Clarke from journeyman to world class lock and the discovery of Retalick and Tamiafuna which comes down to Renees age grade connections and experience. Many factors, But it should be studied in great detail
Wait...you think the Waikato player is better than the Counties, Manawatu and Wellington playere?! I'm shocked.
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I think vant Leven's performances have been at least on par with the others', though he's also had the benefit of consistent game time - something non of the others were blessed with!
cyclone101
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I don't agree, the team to beat is the next one... The Bulls have two tough games away, as do the Chiefs, its a battle between who loses first IMO. If the Bulls play the final at home they will be the toughest, and if the Chiefs play at home they will. I call a draw stats wise. This is assuming they even play in the finals, for all we know it could easily be a Crusaders-Cheetahs final...
