This surely has to be crunch time for the blues and Pat Lam in particular
To not get home finals and make the final if not win the thing this year with the Big player names signed to the blues I think should spell the end for pat Lam.
On Paper they are surely in the top 4 strongest teams and if they had a more experienced 10 I think they would be strongest on paper overall. With almost an all All Black tight 5 and the ability to name a starting 15 with current or former All Blacks in "almost" every position.
1, Woodcock
2, Mealamu
3, Faumuina
4, Boric
5, Williams
6, Kaino
7, Braid
8, Peter Saili
9, Mathewson
10, Weepu
11, Ranger
12, Nonu
13, Stanley
14, Wulf
15, Toeava
That's 13 Test players!
Backed up by some quality super players like Tom McCartney & Luke Braid.
Will be interesting to see how Brad Mika goes? Big questionmark over him, he was a good player a few years ago but what has he done lately? Didn't get any time last year, maybe he's a mate of Lam? Who knows...
The blues can't keep going on with a roster this strong and not get results, that's why I believe it's do or die time for Lam.
It may be true that up to the point Toeava pulled out due to his ongoing injury problems the Blues were the best team in the whole comp last year but losing one player shouldn't upset a team as much as it did the blues. Heck the crusaders always seem to be able to truck on and get results when Carter or McCaw are out. Why should the blues fall to bits losing one player like they did with Toeava last year?
The key for them is 10...
If one of the guys can put their hand up at 10 then they are set. I personally hope Gareth Anscombe or Michael Hobbs steps up at 10 to allow Weepu to play 9. The talk of Donald being linked with the blues made a lot of sense at the time and Beaver would have enjoyed working behind a tight 5 at the blues that is Massive in terms of size and experience compared to the chiefs outfit.
To not get home finals and make the final if not win the thing this year with the Big player names signed to the blues I think should spell the end for pat Lam.
On Paper they are surely in the top 4 strongest teams and if they had a more experienced 10 I think they would be strongest on paper overall. With almost an all All Black tight 5 and the ability to name a starting 15 with current or former All Blacks in "almost" every position.
1, Woodcock
2, Mealamu
3, Faumuina
4, Boric
5, Williams
6, Kaino
7, Braid
8, Peter Saili
9, Mathewson
10, Weepu
11, Ranger
12, Nonu
13, Stanley
14, Wulf
15, Toeava
That's 13 Test players!
Backed up by some quality super players like Tom McCartney & Luke Braid.
Will be interesting to see how Brad Mika goes? Big questionmark over him, he was a good player a few years ago but what has he done lately? Didn't get any time last year, maybe he's a mate of Lam? Who knows...
The blues can't keep going on with a roster this strong and not get results, that's why I believe it's do or die time for Lam.
It may be true that up to the point Toeava pulled out due to his ongoing injury problems the Blues were the best team in the whole comp last year but losing one player shouldn't upset a team as much as it did the blues. Heck the crusaders always seem to be able to truck on and get results when Carter or McCaw are out. Why should the blues fall to bits losing one player like they did with Toeava last year?
The key for them is 10...
If one of the guys can put their hand up at 10 then they are set. I personally hope Gareth Anscombe or Michael Hobbs steps up at 10 to allow Weepu to play 9. The talk of Donald being linked with the blues made a lot of sense at the time and Beaver would have enjoyed working behind a tight 5 at the blues that is Massive in terms of size and experience compared to the chiefs outfit.