Ones to watch this season?

[ranger]

I should think the Highlanders will try to start SLade at 10 as much as possible else he wouldn't have left the Saders. Class player, more solid than Cruden and Stephen the Duck in terms of backing up DC. Don't forget Nasi Manu, monster of a player, MOTM for the Final of ITM Cup for me.

Hurricanes shouldn't have let Mike Patterson go, their loosies look iffy.

Matt Todd will definitely be next AB 7, if only Read didn't exist, he might have a shot at captain. This guy is worthy successor to King Richie if ever there was one.

Of course Slade has his name on the 10 jersey for the season already. That means Robinson to fullback covering first five and Sopoaga not getting a chance till the later stages.
Not really sold on Manu to be honest.. hes a good wrecking ball but i personally think the Highlanders would be better off with the harder working Hoeata at 8. Either that or giving Thompson the 8 jersey and getting Hardie involved.

For the Hurricanes, the loosies seem alright. Vito, So'oialo/Levavae and Lowe can handle the job. The tight five is appaling though, probably the worst outfit in the competition. With Weepu out, Keats/Eaton is the worst halfback selection in at least NZ if not the whole competition.
That throws a whole lot of pressure on Cruden. Hes unsteady as it is, but with no set peice, poor ball retention and no guaranteed go-forward ball on top of those horrible 9 options... his job is infinitely harder. If hes faltering there is only Kirkpatrick off the bench, who is horrible, and even worse than horrible under pressure.
Hopefully Beauden Barrett gets a run, he looks to me to be the best young first five option in the country.

 

[FlukeArtist]

Re The Crusaders.

Whose ass is Andy Ellis kissing to keep getting starting spots, let alone an ABs call up???
The guy is average at best.
Fotuali'i is a far far better player.

Also- I must admit, I haven't actually seen Matt Todd play (that I can recall) but there were big wraps on him last year during the ITM cup.
Chnaces are he will get his fair share of opportunities during this campaign as McCaw is likely to skip a few games given the length of the season this year.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Actually also curious about the Blues team.
The Saders will do well, the combo Thorn- Whitelock/ jack should be impressive. Already looking forward to the clash with the Bulls ( Matfield/ Botha)

 

[ranger]

Re The Crusaders.

Whose ass is Andy Ellis kissing to keep getting starting spots, let alone an ABs call up???
The guy is average at best.
Fotuali'i is a far far better player.

Also- I must admit, I haven't actually seen Matt Todd play (that I can recall) but there were big wraps on him last year during the ITM cup.
Chnaces are he will get his fair share of opportunities during this campaign as McCaw is likely to skip a few games given the length of the season this year.

The best option in my opinion would be moving McCaw to 6, Todd to 7 and Read to 8. McCaw is awesome at any looseforward position, and 6 won't be as tough on his body as openside. We dont want Richie on the bottom of every rugby getting stomped every week during world cup year. This way Todd also gets his shot to make a run at the backup 7 role. George Whitelock can run the bench, but ive pretty much written him off

 

[Gena_ZA]

My predictions

*****

wrong place, please remove this post Mr. Admin - I made a new topic

*****

 

[osmond]

Would like to see So'oialo get back to form and regain AB selection, and also see Ngatai and Savea get gametime at this level in time for the WC

I would love to see this backline tried out for the Canes,

Weepu
Cruden
Savea
Nonu
Ngatai
Gear
Jane

would be very hard to stop, you've got numbers 11-14 who are well over 100kg

 

[nickdnz]

Robbie Robinson to have a breakout year at Fullback. Everyone will be saying "next Jeff Wilson" at the end of the season.

I'm a little bit mixed over Robinson. He looked like he'd be the next greatest fullback around in the 2009 IRB Jr Championships, but he then looked a tad slow for it when playing for the NZ Maori at fullback. I hope you're right, as he could be a great talent, he's got all the skills, I just think he'll have to work on speed and consistancy.

 

[ranger]

I'm a little bit mixed over Robinson. He looked like he'd be the next greatest fullback around in the 2009 IRB Jr Championships, but he then looked a tad slow for it when playing for the NZ Maori at fullback. I hope you're right, as he could be a great talent, he's got all the skills, I just think he'll have to work on speed and consistancy.

I think he has suffered bouncing backwards and fourth between 10 and 15. Now that Slade is in town he can concentrate on one position, and i think 15 is his best anyway. He didnt really suit the helter skelter type of rugby the Maori were playing either, his skills lie more in scything through a stable backline like Andrew Mehrtens or Wilson used to do. Broken play isn't his strength, which is odd for a fullback i'll admit.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

the only down side with robbie playing fullback is personal, not sure how much of a look in he is going to get (above super rugby) with Dagg as good as nailed on as Mills replacement

just hope it doesn't scare him off overseas

 

[Dizzy]

I'm looking forward to see Tana show his skills for the Chiefs.

Yeah!!!!!

 

[d1e1m]

the only down side with robbie playing fullback is personal, not sure how much of a look in he is going to get (above super rugby) with Dagg as good as nailed on as Mills replacement

just hope it doesn't scare him off overseas

Think the encouragement will come from getting a shout in when the selectors start to go for more youth after the Cup, think this is the last hurrah for many of the current crop. Think Dagg and Robinson showed for than enough for the AB's and Maori's respectively that they are capable of taking that step up. Thought Robinson was the most consistent for the Maori during their series and would like to see him get a shot, which he will after the Cup ends.