2010 NZ Super14 squads...

[darwin_23]

I have no doubt that Moa has a lot of talent, with him its seems to be an attitude problem. He is carrying a fair amount of weight (he's well over 100kg) - if he lost some weight no doubt the fitness would improve, and along with that his consistency. Even if he was playing well many teams may have been unwilling to pick him because of his off-field issues. In many ways its his own fault he's not selected - if he sorts himself out he could be a really good player. He probably will be included in one of the teams wider training squads (not necessarily the Blues).

On Keats: 28 is not old for a halfback! Most of the top halfbacks in the world are mid-late 20's (du Preez, Phillips, O'Leary, Cowan etc), the exception to that is Will Genia (whose only 21). Many top halfbacks play/ed well into their mid-thirties (Gregan, Marshall, Mosese Rauluni, Pichot) - it would be silly to write off a halfback because he was 28, especially when he was the form halfback of the entire competition!

Junior Polu is an interesting one - certainly deserves to be there on form, but the question of whether they should select players in-eligible for NZ is a tricky one. I'm not sure on the exact policy on that - I will see what I can find out in about it.

Agree on Hika Forbes - I thought he was very good in the games I saw this year but lost out to Ben Afeaki (who is promising but hasn't really done anything yet!).

 

[ChiefsFan]

I think each team is allowed to field one PI player.

 

[Nickdnz]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (danger @ Nov 12 2009, 01:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (darwin_23 @ Nov 12 2009, 10:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (danger @ Nov 11 2009, 07:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are a liar if you say you arent suprised that Moa wasn't picked haha. Its easy to sit back and say "ohh yeah i knew that would happen" after the fact, noone would have picked it last week. He was an All Blacks squad member last year!

Grayson Hart is crap. You cant afford to make poor decisions when you're that one dimentional, hes had some fair shockers in his short career. Brett Goodin and Aaron Smith have more of a claim. Goodin is very sharp, an established leader, great running game, great passing game his only real weakness ive heard is that hes a lazy trainer. Aaron Smith was faultless for Manawatu, haven't seen him have a bad game yet.[/b]

I'm certainly not a lying when I say I'm surprised that Moa wasn't picked - perhaps I just have a bit more insight into the game than you do He has been horribly inconsistent this year - he even got dropped from the Auckland 22 on more than one occasion this year! Out of curiosity who do you think Moa should have been picked ahead of?

It was obvious to anyone who follows rugby that Moa wasn't going to be selected for the Blues given they had gone out and got Mathewson as there number one halfback, leaving the remaining halfbacks in the region to fight out the remaining spot. Smylie had obviously overtaken Moa by the end of last years Super 14 (he was starting with Moa/Hart on the bench), and was even rewarded with a spot in the Junior AB's (along with Mathewson) - clearly he was rated by both the Blues and AB coaches as a better halfback than Moa.

Moa's only chance of a spot was through the draft - the Highlanders, Chiefs, and Crusaders all have two quality halfbacks who they were always going to pick, the only place that Moa had a chance to play was at the Canes. So basically he was competing with players from the Canes regions (Goodin, Smith) and all the other halfbacks in the draft (Keats, Scott Cowan, Grayson Hart) for one spot (backing up Weepu). The Hurricanes chose Keats, who was arguably the form half-back of the entire Air New Zealand Cup - no surprise at all. So I don't think Moa should have been picked on form, while the several serious off-field incidents he has been involved in this year wouldn't have helped his cause!

So yes a big fall from grace for Moa given that he was in the All Blacks squad last (though only after a huge number of injuries - he was at best ranked 6th best halfback in the country!). He still is young (24) so still has plenty of time to develop the consistency he needs in his game.

Your "Unlucky XV" looks pretty good - I will note that several of the players (David Hall, Ben May) were unavailable through injury.



[/b][/quote]


I dont know mate, im not saying he wasnt playing badly, he definitely was. But no matter how bad his form was its still a suprise to see a guy like that miss out on a contract.

Sione Lauaki has played some of the worst games of rugby ive ever seen, Jacob Ellison got schooled everytime he set foot on the pitch, and Paul Williams was shown up badly on many occasions. They all made the cut.

I would have definatly picked him ahead of Tyson Keats, sure, he looks good around the clinical war machine that is canterbury, but im not too sure how he will fare in the hurricanes environment. Not to mention hes 28, thats 150 in halfback years. I rate Junior Polu as a great footballer, but hes ineligible for NZ so it would be up in the air for me between the two. I also think Sean Romans and Andy Ellis are hugely overrated but can see why they would be picked up instead.

Moa has so much raw talent that its criminal noones doing anything about it. He has a great pass, is very strong and has shown that when he runs with it he makes things happen, he just needs to get his head straight. Now hes probably going to go overseas and NZ rugby is instead stuck training up Tyson Keats for his 2 remaining years of rugby.

And yeah i wasnt sure about the length of their injuries. It just makes it worse that Hikairo Forbes wasn't chosen. He looked to me to be the best non all black in Waikato week in week out.
[/b][/quote]
I would have liked to see Moa in a team like the Crusaders. He does seem to have to much natural talent, but lacks the dicipline and consistancy that the Crusaders tend to fix up.

 

[jawmalawm24]

What are the eligibility rules? there's so many little rules this season for example Charlie Ngatai was only allowed to play a certain amount of games and at certain positions because he was too young WTF!! Is this all Nzrfu rules or are teams just making up there own rules as they go by.

I'm happy we got Cruden but I was really hoping we'd pick up Fili too because his attack and his goal kicking are massive and Crudens goal kicking wasn't too hot in the Anz Cup but I guess if Ripia can find some form he'll be sweet as.

 

[bates]

Maybe we can start a predicition thread already for the NZ teams.

Will do it ASAP.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

where's mike delany? apparently he's about to become an all black... yet I can't see him in an s14 squad.

 

[candybum]

The Chiefs

 

[darwin_23]

Just for kicks I will post a possible Highlanders 22:

1: Jamie Mackintosh
2: Jason Macdonald
3: Clint Newland
4: Tom Donnelly
5: Josh Bekhuis
6: Adam Thomson
7: Alando Soakai
8: Nasi Manu
9: Jimmy Cowan
10: Robbie Robinson
11: James Paterson
12: Jayden Hayward
13: Jason Shoemark
14: Ben Smith
15: Israel Dagg

Bench:
Jason Rutledge
Bronson Murray
Hayden Triggs
Tim Boys
Sean Romans
Matt Berquist
Kendrick Lynn

A very similar looking team to last year. The tight forwards should be competitive in forwards as usual - they certainly have plenty of size! The loose-forwards are ok. Thomson excels at this level, Soakai is solid at 7, but the number eight position is not strong - though Nasi Manu (from Canterbury) has a lot of potential so hopefully this is the season he steps up.

The backs should be better than last year, especially if they play Robinson at 10. Though he's still very raw he can set a backline alight. They may, however, take the more conservative approach and play Berquist at 10 with his superior goal-kicking and ability to control a game. The starting mid-field should be solid, but injuries to either Hayward or Shoemark could cause trouble. There is some talent in the outside backs (not seen in Otago since the departure of Jeff Wilson) - both Dagg and Smith are young players who are improving with every game. There is probably a three-way battle for the remaining wing spot between Lynn, Vainikolo, and Paterson, though there is also the possibility that Robinson may get some time at fullback with Dagg and Smith on the wings.

 

[Juggernaut]

Picking who to play in the Blues backline would be a massive headache, especially if they're all injury-free and in tip-top condition...all raring to go.

This would be my XV:

1. Tony Woodcock
2. Keven Mealamu [C]
3. John Afoa
4. Anthony Boric
5. Ali Williams
6. Jerome Kaino
7. Serge Lilo
8. Chris Lowrey
9. Alby Mathewson
10. Stephen Brett
11. Joe Rokocoko
12. Luke McAlister
13. Isaia Toeava
14. Rene Ranger
15. Paul Williams

16. Tom McCartney ( :wall: ), 17. Tevita Mailau, 18. Kurtis Haiu, 19. Viliame Ma'afu, 20. Chris Smylie, 21. Benson Stanley, 22. Anthony Tuitavake

 

[roscommon guy]

last years jersy's where cool.loved the canterbury one.dissapointed for this year