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Ripia..another embarrassing call!! He's got less chance than Toeava ever had.
Nonu, Kahui, Tuatuvake (can't spell it, I'm not Samoan..actually most Samoans probably can't spell it either) are all just hot head show boaters. Make a couple of breaks and then go missing..or maybe get sent off for a senseless shoulder barge and cost the country another four years.
After last Saturdays master class surely Dopey Henry doesn't need to look further than Ellis, Carter, Bateman, Laulala, Hamilton, Sivivatu and McD. Now that's just the mix of talent, experience and rugby brains that the AB's need against what will undoubtably be a much improved Aussie team; now they have the God coach. Oh, lament the great loss!!
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Well Bateman is certainly better than Brett I'll give you that much.
 
We are looking very scarce in the wing department. I hope to god they're not thinking of putting Nonu at wing. He's a 12, f***ing leave it. [/b]



Agreed 100% Luckily I think Wayne Smith thinks the same way - he has often mentioned he sees Nonu as a midfielder (mainly at 12). I was really hopeing Masaga would be included to get him involved in the AB's environment...unfourtunately there are no Junior AB's this year so I think he will have to wait until the end of the year tour to be tested at a higher level...
 
Just out of interest (and because no one seems to be thinking what I'm thinking) what problems do people have with putting Paul Williams in at 14?

He's got an awesome skill set and is huge under the high ball and in defence. He's also solid at ruck time and can break tackles.

Only thing I'd see missing is out and out pace, but that's not to say he ain't quick. He'd be as fast as Nonu or Scott Hamilton, but with a more rounded skill set.

Based on the current squad, he'd be my starter at 14.

I'd have Kahui and Nonu in the Midfield. Kahui has all the skills of a great centre but suffers from some serious bad luck on the injury front. He also leads the defensive patterns very well, especially the line speed under a rush defence pattern, which is what we should be using to compliment the strangling power of our forward pack.

Nonu's distribution and defence have both come along in leaps and bounds. It would be nice if his coaches didn't run patterns that used him as the crash ball EVERYTIME. It just becomes predictable and the fans then start to blame the player saying he can't pass or see space.

It will be interesting to see if the want to stick with Leonard coming off bench as an impact No.9, with Ellis the steady distributor. Or whether they go with Leonard spark from the get go and have their defensive N0.9 (Jimmy Cowan) as a bench option to shore up games late in the piece.
 
Ripia..another embarrassing call!! He's got less chance than Toeava ever had.
Nonu, Kahui, Tuatuvake (can't spell it, I'm not Samoan..actually most Samoans probably can't spell it either) are all just hot head show boaters. Make a couple of breaks and then go missing..or maybe get sent off for a senseless shoulder barge and cost the country another four years.[/b]



Could you give an example of when Kahui has been 'sent off for a senselees shoulder barge' or 'gone missing'? I would be suprised if you could find Kahui doing something along those lines.
 
<div class='quotemain'> Ripia..another embarrassing call!! He's got less chance than Toeava ever had.
Nonu, Kahui, Tuatuvake (can't spell it, I'm not Samoan..actually most Samoans probably can't spell it either) are all just hot head show boaters. Make a couple of breaks and then go missing..or maybe get sent off for a senseless shoulder barge and cost the country another four years.[/b]



Could you give an example of when Kahui has been 'sent off for a senselees shoulder barge' or 'gone missing'? I would be suprised if you could find Kahui doing something along those lines.

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It's called mindless drivel/blantant homerism. He's good at it.
 
<div class='quotemain'> We are looking very scarce in the wing department. I hope to god they're not thinking of putting Nonu at wing. He's a 12, f***ing leave it. [/b]



Agreed 100% Luckily I think Wayne Smith thinks the same way - he has often mentioned he sees Nonu as a midfielder (mainly at 12). I was really hopeing Masaga would be included to get him involved in the AB's environment...unfourtunately there are no Junior AB's this year so I think he will have to wait until the end of the year tour to be tested at a higher level...

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How come there won't be the JABs this year?
 
<div class='quotemain'> <div class='quotemain'> We are looking very scarce in the wing department. I hope to god they're not thinking of putting Nonu at wing. He's a 12, f***ing leave it. [/b]



Agreed 100% Luckily I think Wayne Smith thinks the same way - he has often mentioned he sees Nonu as a midfielder (mainly at 12). I was really hopeing Masaga would be included to get him involved in the AB's environment...unfourtunately there are no Junior AB's this year so I think he will have to wait until the end of the year tour to be tested at a higher level...

[/b][/quote]



How come there won't be the JABs this year?

[/b][/quote]



The NZ Maoris are taking there place periodically in the Pacific Nations (or whatever it's called now...).



I don't think it's a good idea. As racist as this might sound, we want the best players playing, not the ones with the most Maori 'heritage'. You don't see the Austrailian Aboriginees in the comp (do they exist?). All it means is that players like Masaga and possibly Donald aren't going to get a good chance to improve if they are left out of the ABs (in Masaga's case).
 
I don't know if it's even occuring this year.

Wait no, just checked. It looks like Argentina A are playing instead of the NZM this year.
 
Just out of interest (and because no one seems to be thinking what I'm thinking) what problems do people have with putting Paul Williams in at 14?

He's got an awesome skill set and is huge under the high ball and in defence. He's also solid at ruck time and can break tackles.

Only thing I'd see missing is out and out pace, but that's not to say he ain't quick. He'd be as fast as Nonu or Scott Hamilton, but with a more rounded skill set.

Based on the current squad, he'd be my starter at 14.

I'd have Kahui and Nonu in the Midfield. Kahui has all the skills of a great centre but suffers from some serious bad luck on the injury front. He also leads the defensive patterns very well, especially the line speed under a rush defence pattern, which is what we should be using to compliment the strangling power of our forward pack.

Nonu's distribution and defence have both come along in leaps and bounds. It would be nice if his coaches didn't run patterns that used him as the crash ball EVERYTIME. It just becomes predictable and the fans then start to blame the player saying he can't pass or see space.

It will be interesting to see if the want to stick with Leonard coming off bench as an impact No.9, with Ellis the steady distributor. Or whether they go with Leonard spark from the get go and have their defensive N0.9 (Jimmy Cowan) as a bench option to shore up games late in the piece. [/b]

As you mentioned the problem with Williams is his pace (or lack of it)... as you said he has the same pace as Nonu or Hamilton, but personally I don't believe it is up to the standard required of a All Black winger (I would however much rather have him on the wing than either Hamilton or Nonu...). Having (unfortunately) watched most of the Highlanders game this year he was much more effective at fullback than on the wing...similarly when he has played for canterbury on the wing he has not really impressed me at all.. not sure why - he just seems more comfortable at fullback (where I do rate him very highly). Personally i think they will play Muliana on the wing with MacDonald at fullback.

In midfield I'd go for Nonu/Smith combo - I have been really impressed with Nonu this year. If Kahui could manage to string more than a couple of games together I'd be happy to see him there ahead of Smith. I think he is potentially a world class centre if only he could manage to sort out his injury problems...
 
The Junior AB's were apparently scrapped to save the costs.
I remember reading that the Union were looking to get rid of as much uneeded spending as possible. They described it as going as far as getting rid of the fruit bowl on the Board Room table.

The NZ Maori don't get paid as much to assemble, so the fees to run the team will be a lot lower. It is a shame for guys like Masaga and Toeava who are of PI decent though.

The Churchill Cup is actually run by England, the USA and Canada. They then invite other nations to take part in the event. I think Scotland A is the other invitational team this year (after the Argies).

This year we were not invited, probably because the Maori were not available due to Pacific Nations Cup commitments?

Stephen Donald is eligble for NZ Maori too. So won't miss out either way.
The U20 WC players won't be available either. So Poki won't make the Maori team. Will be interesting to see who they pick on the wing. Coz most S14 wingers are of PI decent now, not Maori.

Guys like Rudi Wulf, David Smith, Fetu Vainakolo, Sonseni Anesi, Lelia Masaga and Anthiny Tuitavake would all be ineligible.

Maybe Scott Hamilton and Shannon Paku? Although Paku is leaving now too anyway...
 
I assume the NZ Maori team will be announced at the same timeas the ABs, but does anyone know for sure?
 
How bout when they put Tasesa Lavea on the bench for Nz Maori that just cracked me the hell up. I would of liked to have seen Lelia Masaga or David Smith in the Junior All Blacks squad they would of been lethal.
 

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