Field Theory: I'm ever so pissed.
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Phew, I don't have to eat my hat.
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2008 was not a big year for John Smit.
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2008 was not a big year for John Smit.
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Just seen the All Balcks for Saturday...
And...
WTF????? That dopey fat fucker Hanson right royally screws up for years, and our best young lock pays the price??????????????????
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What exactly has Owen Franks done wrong? And Ross?
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Here is a hint for the NZRFU: Sack Hanson, keep Ross, and get someone who knows something about forward play into the coaching panel.
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So Ross did a rubbish job of calling the line-out last week; shouldn’t have been his role anyway.
So I’d have thought the obvious action would be to give someone else that job.
But they drop him altogether!!!
Nice one Steve; going to give Donnelly that job too now?
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To back to my point rather than split hairs on when the equal height Du Plessis officially replaced Smit, the facts are that both SA throwers are six or more centimetres taller than Hore and Mealamu . Add arm length to that youare you are quite a bit further from the ground. Ever wondered why successful basketballers are tall?Ever wondered why lineout catchers are tall? Now tell me why the throwers should usually the shortest person available, in the All Blacks at least.
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What exactly has Owen Franks done wrong? And Ross?
Hanson's finger pointing at the players and blame shifting last week in the media now makes sense.
It isn't that fat pricks fault, it is the jumper and the lifter to blame.
And yet - again - they hang on to Rokococo. Jesus, what has Rokococo got to do to be dropped?
Absolutely disgraceful and self-serving selection decisions that are the final proof that this current selection panel has completely lost the plot.
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Josevata Rokocoko is starting to look like a cat with the number of lives he's had this season. I guess Sivivatu's injury saved him.
The rest looks OK. Ross has got umpteen starts all season and has earnt future games in the black jersey. No harm in giving someone else a start given that the tri-nations is gone. Same with Franks, Tialata could do with another shot, he's been working hard in Wellington despite lack of game time with the Lions.
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And yet - again - they hang on to Rokococo. Jesus, what has Rokococo got to do to be dropped?
I'm beginning to suspect that our friend Joseva has photos of Messrs Henry, Smith & Hansen in compromising positions...
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Ever wondered why successful basketballers are tall?
That's a silly comparison. The guys who throw the ball most accurately, and set up the tall guys in basketball, are the guards, the shortest. They also tend to be great at outside shooting.
No doubt there's many factors which make a hooker a good lineout man. The most important is putting the ball in the right place at the right time. Height might help with that, but 90% of it will be throwing accuracy and timing, all of which are skills regardless of height.
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Ross has got umpteen starts all season and has earnt future games in the black jersey. No harm in giving someone else a start given that the tri-nations is gone.
I don't agree with this, not in the context of Hanson's comments about the lineouts being the result of "human error". Frank's is the lifter and Ross the jumper and - in a frankly bizarre move by Hanson - the key lineout caller. The message is crystal clear - they are carrying the can for the line out woes. Frank's is also getting it in the neck for the scrum woes. So how many props is that that Hanson has tried and discarded? Instead of sacking players who kick on willy nilly, perhaps Hanson should look in the mirror for our forward problems.
Tialata has been tried before and found wanting. Same with the - yet again - reshuffled backline. But Smith and co won't select anyone outside their matey group of elite players. FFS, just pick the best specialist centre playing in the ANZC and slot him into the team. Could we do any worse????
To me this team selection in particular is so self-serving, so much in denial, that it is just outrageous. Henry, Smith and Hanson told the NZRFU they were an all or nothing deal. On that basis, I almost hope we lose on Saturday, if that will get rid of the useless bastards currently coaching the team.
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Deckchairs, Titanic. Same old same old.
Rokocoko?! How many chances do you give a guy?
Ross and Franks have not done much wrong. Their replacements are either unproven or underperforming. If lineout calls are a problem get someone else to do the calling.
Are they trying to lose to Australia this weekend?
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I don't agree with this, not in the context of Hanson's comments about the lineouts being the result of "human error". Frank's is the lifter and Ross the jumper and - in a frankly bizarre move by Hanson - the key lineout caller. The message is crystal clear - they are carrying the can for the line out woes.
You've linked together the lineout woes and his dropping, which is possibly the cause, but not necessarily. Henry doesn't tend to carry players through a whole series exactly the same, he gives them breaks and puts in other players to try them out. No one starts all four games on the northern tour, he needs at least three locks that can start a game and he doesn't have that currently. It continues to be our weakest position in terms of top level players and depth.
The Bledisloe Cup is safe, the Tri Nations is gone, this game is a dead rubber. Why not give some players who have been pushing for selection (eg. Thomson, Donnelly) a start?
Tialata has been a successful All Black, covering both sides of the scrum for many years. He had a bad couple of games in South Africa, which doesn't make him a bad player. Franks has done well stepping into the position and will go on the northern tour, no harm him having his first non-start in... five games?
FFS, just pick the best specialist centre playing in the ANZC and slot him into the team. Could we do any worse????
That next best in that position, based on recent form, is Toeava. He was very good on Saturday.
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The Bledisloe Cup is safe, the Tri Nations is gone, this game is a dead rubber. Why not give some players who have been pushing for selection (eg. Thomson, Donnelly) a start?
If I was the All Black coach in this position (god help me), I would want to have the last game of the season in New Zealand be a great big win. Save the new selections for the northern tour
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Thanks to the TAB's current generosity, All Black supporters can hedge their risk of further heartbreak with consolation bets on the Wallabies at $2.50 to win.
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If I was the All Black coach in this position (god help me), I would want to have the last game of the season in New Zealand be a great big win. Save the new selections for the northern tour
But it's entirely consistent with what Henry has done previously with games he doesn't consider to be important. And not unreasonable. Whether or not you believe it, this is the reason on stuff for them not playing:
Young rookie tight five players Isaac Ross and Owen Franks come into the resting category with coaches Graham Henry and Steve Hansen stressing they weren't scapegoats for last week's loss to South Africa.
And to be honest, Ross got plucked up to the big time and was a real chance who came up gold. Now the coach is using a dead game to pull up another person in the same position, we seem to have forgotten how successful it was last time this coach did it with someone in this position.
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Off topic, but gee isn't cricket falling apart. Players trying to be free agents in order to play in the money-making Indian tournaments instead of for their own countries - led by McCullum.
The national bodies need to rein in India and set an international window for private cricketing tournaments like this and keep all other cricket clear of it. McCullum lost almost $300K from only playing part of the tournament, some people are going to make themselves unavailable for their country solely so that they can play a couple more weeks in India.
And the Indian League needs to settle down and start offering sensible amounts of money to these players.
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Kyle,
That linked SMH article would be easier to take seriously if it wasn’t so massively riddled with inaccuracies.
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Off topic, but gee isn't cricket falling apart. Players trying to be free agents in order to play in the money-making Indian tournaments instead of for their own countries - led by McCullum.
The national bodies need to rein in India and set an international window for private cricketing tournaments like this and keep all other cricket clear of it. McCullum lost almost $300K from only playing part of the tournament, some people are going to make themselves unavailable for their country solely so that they can play a couple more weeks in India.
And the Indian League needs to settle down and start offering sensible amounts of money to these players.
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Oops, double message.
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No matter how often you link to it, it's still a shabby piece of journalism :)
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Three times was probably a bit much Kyle so I got rid of it :)
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I’ll keep banging the Jake White drum until I see a logical reason why it can’t be him. BTW, look at how the England football team are going at the moment.
Leggie, totally respect your point of view, but even as an iconoclast's view, that is the most ridiculous statement you've ever made.
If the NZRU were to put every current NPC and S14 coach and their assistancts, every current and former ABs coach and their assistants, and every New Zealander coaching at a high level overseas on a plane, crash that plane in the Andes, and have the survivors eat the dead to stay alive, the NZRU would not pick a foreignerto coach the national team.
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