Kerr out for Season! Blues Chances Gone??

[ABs2011]

https://nz.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/22624026/super-rugby-baden-kerr-out-for-season/

Kerr out for season and Ihaia West likely to come in. Does that mean the Blues chances are effectively over? I simply can't see how a team can make the playoffs let alone with with a turnstile at 10. Hicky has been good on offence but on D he is very much looking the Rookie! Ihaia will be no better on D so the Blues will struggle I suspect.

In better news, Piri looks to be on the improve.

 

[nickdnz]

To be honest I don't see Kerr vastly improving the Blues season regardless. His D is reasonably average as well. I'd be excited to see West brought in but I thought the Chiefs already snapped him up as injury cover. Looks like Benji is now the next option for 1st 5/8th..

 

[ABs2011]

To be honest I don't see Kerr vastly improving the Blues season regardless. His D is reasonably average as well. I'd be excited to see West brought in but I thought the Chiefs already snapped him up as injury cover. Looks like Benji is now the next option for 1st 5/8th..

I think Kerr at least provides the minimum D required from a 10 at Super Rugby level (but I agree, he's not great either). That being said, Hickey has simply not been good enough..... Yeah West has spent time with the Chiefs and the Canes from what I understand but not officially been signed up. Sounds like he will now go to the Blues.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Let's see, the Chiefs had West training with them as injury cover, but recently he's been playing for the Hurricanes Development side, and now he's been brought into the Blues on a full time basis?

EDIT: I don't actually see any mention of West in the article, where did you hear that the Blues might bring him in? In the preseasons they used Matt McGahan and he performed pretty well, if I recall correctly.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Destiny calls, Benji.

 

[nzlizard]

Destiny calls, Benji.

Maybe his time to standup and be counted.

 

[ABs2011]

Let's see, the Chiefs had West training with them as injury cover, but recently he's been playing for the Hurricanes Development side, and now he's been brought into the Blues on a full time basis?

EDIT: I don't actually see any mention of West in the article, where did you hear that the Blues might bring him in? In the preseasons they used Matt McGahan and he performed pretty well, if I recall correctly.

I heard it privately (someone that knows him - sorry can't really say who). I'm assuming my info is good though..... I'd love to see Matt McGahan, Ive heard very good things about him but have yet to see him play (although seen him play a bit of league for the Storm!

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I heard it privately (someone that knows him - sorry can't really say who). I'm assuming my info is good though..... I'd love to see Matt McGahan, Ive heard very good things about him but have yet to see him play (although seen him play a bit of league for the Storm!

Ah cool, wasn't sure if it was just speculation or otherwise!

It'll be interesting to see what they do... They still have three first fives in the squad, and at this point in time I can't see JK suddenly opting to drop Hickey, so it's hard to know what's the best plan of attack.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/9939854/Blues-call-in-Ihaia-West-to-replace-Kerr

And there's confirmation

 

[ruggabee]

I was hoping the Blues would have brought in West ahead of Noakes at the start of the season. Noakes is such an average player.

 

[Larksea]

Hicky is the kinda player its worth altering the defensive line for to give him extra cover. Great eye for the game and slots goals with fantastic consistency. Hes worth looking after.

That said I also think its time the blues just start benji, throw him in the deep end I'm sure he will do well.

 

[ABs2011]

Hicky is the kinda player its worth altering the defensive line for to give him extra cover. Great eye for the game and slots goals with fantastic consistency. Hes worth looking after.

That said I also think its time the blues just start benji, throw him in the deep end I'm sure he will do well.

Agree with you on both accounts, but I'll throw something out there on the later. I think the reason why they are not starting Benji at 10 is because they are scared as hell he will have an absolute shocker and make them all look like fools for both the money they paid for him and the god awful way they have tried to get him ready for Super Rugby......

I was really hoping Kerr would be back for the Blues. I feel his experience and stability at 10 is something only he can offer given the alternatives at the Blues. I was thinking with Kerr back the Blues should have had a good chance to make the play-offs, with him now out I'm just not sure I can see the Blues going well enough....

 

[jessta]

Ihaia west should of been named in the original squad. Very happy to have him and I hope he gets a wee bit of game time. Benji is almost a burden to the squad... piutau is too good to move from fullback and its to risky to play him at 10. Its like JK feels he has to squeeze him on the bench in a means of 'preparing' him, even though there are even better bench options then him.

 

[austingtir]

Agreed on Benji if kirwan still refuses to even try him there he might aswell just tell him to bugger off to UK super league and stop wasting everybodys time.

Im still not convinced Kirwan knows what he's doing with Benji. The Anscomb cock up and other things he just seems to of missed does not add up to me.

 

[Patchey]

Really happy West has been called up. I thought he'd gone to the Chiefs but it appears that was only for pre-season training? After seeing him in the ITM I'm a bit confused as to why its taken so long for someone to sign him, just glad it was the Blues! Hickey and West as options at ten oozes potential but obvious lacks experience. But then again Hickey's performances so far have been fairly assured for a rookie so it might not matter.

 

[Darwin]

To be honest I don't see Kerr vastly improving the Blues season regardless. His D is reasonably average as well. I'd be excited to see West brought in but I thought the Chiefs already snapped him up as injury cover. Looks like Benji is now the next option for 1st 5/8th..

Really? I think defense is one of the strengths of Kerr's game! He is a big physical defender - I would rate him as one of the top defensive 10's in New Zealand (Carter is only one I would rate higher). I do think Kerr is a loss for the Blues - he isn't a superstar, but he had the potential to be a very solid Super Rugby player (I believe Hickey has more potential, but he is still very in-experienced).

I don't think there are any real issues with Hickey's defense either. He does miss the odd tackle (due to his lack of size), but I think he is probably above par on defense for a first-five. A quick look at this years stats (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/statscentre.cfm) show that he has made 35/42 tackles (83%) - pretty good IMO. The only regular NZ first-five with better tackling percentage this season is Colin Slade (35/41 - 85%), all the other regular NZ 10's have lower percentages (Cruden 42/52 - 81%, Barrett 37/50 - 74%, Sopoaga 19/30 - 63%). Tackle stats do vary slightly depending on the source, but Hickey's tackling % is higher than the vast majority of Super Rugby 10's.....

It is great to see West involved, but he is someone whose defensive ability I would be worried about. He is tiny (like Hickey), but nowhere near as courageous as Hickey, and seemed to get brushed aside very easily at ITM Cup level. He is an incredibly talented ball-runner, and personally I would have preferred to see him in the initial Blues squad (ahead of Marshall), so I'm glad to see him involved now.

 

[nzlizard]

Looks like Benji is getting some club rugby come June.

https://nz.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/news/article/-/22640564/rugby-benji-to-play-club-rugby/

 

[ABs2011]

Looks like Benji is getting some club rugby come June.

https://nz.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/news/article/-/22640564/rugby-benji-to-play-club-rugby/

About time.

I like JK but I am really worried for him. The Blues have to give him one more year but I fear his performance might see him gone at the end of this year. Some horrible recruitment, horrible management of Benji (probably more Benji's fault than his, but still....) and most importantly some pretty rubbish rugby from a team stacked full of talent.

 

[ejo20]

Ihaia West should have been given a Super contract as it is... I am glad to see he is going to (hopefully) get a chance to get some game time. He was outstanding in the ITM Cup last year for the Magpies!

I'm not sure that Baden Kerr being out is going to have a lot of impact, it isn't as if he has had a lot of game time this year... it's a pity, because he is another that had a good ITM Cup in 2013...

 

[ABs2011]

The trouble is, when you have a 10 that can't tackle it is very hard for a team to win. Blues are struggling with this, Canes struggled with this in the past (although Barrett has improved immensely), OZ and the Reds struggle with this, and I suspect the Chiefs might even find it a problem in the coming weeks as well. Ihaia is very young, very inexperienced, and his big weakness is his D. My sense is that Super Rugby franchises tend to be pretty wary of such players. I also hope that his confidence doesn't get shot by coming in too early. In saying that I'd love to see him off the bench from about the 60min mark when the other 29 guys are tired and see him work his magic. There is no doubts at all this kid has incredible offensive talent (reminds me a bit of Barrett). Good luck to him and good on the Blues for taking a punt with him!