Been a week since the grim reaper shut the book on the season and I have a bit of time WFH...
So here is a quickish season review:
The season was over before the side ran out on Forsyth Barr for its best performance of the season, the opening round win against the Crusaders on 13 February. Injuries happen to every team, sadly the two players sidelined in Dylan Pledger and Fabian Holland would have been two of our most prominent players during the season. As it turned out, our lineout was a major weakness, and we couldn't decide on who our top halfback was. The class of Pledger was plain to see for the NZ U20s and he took a lot of pressure off Cam Millar, acting as the primary playmaker for Otago.
Not saying that these two would have catapulted us into the top 4. Their inclusions though might have been a point of difference in the tight games against the Chiefs (round 2), Crusaders (round 5), Brumbies (round 9) and Drua (round 12). Changing us from finishing either 9th or 10th, to competing to squeeze into the top six.
We played a lot of shithouse rugby. Mixed in with some at times, very exciting footy. When we looked good, we looked great. When we looked poor, it was a very tough watch.
What went well:
The scrum and Caleb Tangitau. They are the obvious ones.
If we go back to 2025, our scrum was a major weakness. From memory, the 23 - 29 loss to the Reds, We got hammered in the scrum. It lost us the game. There were several other games that it cost us big time. We often went backwards, got penalised, it was a massive issue. To turn it around and have the most dominant scrum in the comp was a huge swing. Massive credit to guys in the paddock and the coaching staff to make the required changes.
Caleb Tangitau. Again, wrecked by injury. So good when on the paddock. He'd be even better if the game plan of give him the ball wasn't so clear and obvious. Hopefully he can come back well from injury and get back to his best.
What didn't go well:
There is a list.
- Lineout (early - mid rounds)
- Getting bullied at the breakdown
- Not knowing what our loosie trio should be and its roles
- Injuries to key players
- Aimless kicking
- Poor attacking formations
- handling and an inability to finishing when on attack.
The lineout this year, was a bit like our scrum last year. It just didn't work. Fortunately, it did show a fair bit of improvement over the last few rounds.
The breakdown was a tough watch at time. We just got pushed around and lost ball in the wrong areas. Lacked a big body or a couple of dominate and own the space. Which is particularly tough, when we had loosies at lock, dual opensides, a small 8. Nothing really fell into place for our loose trios or our forward make up. At times, it looked very patched together.
The kicking was frustrating. You can understand what they were trying to do. It appeared to be a case of too often and too inaccurate. If the team was wanting to put up contestable kicks. They need to be just that, contestable. Too often they were too long, to the wrong part of the field and just giving the ball back to the opposition. While we scored quite a few tries off kicks. Our opposition did as well. The risk v reward equation did not add up.
The handling and attacking formations. This was at its worst when we played against the Drua in a hot and muggy day in Fiji. That was a tough watch. There seemed to be a lot of bunching, just shit handling. Not good enough.
Cam Millar for his steady approach and goal kicking lacks the ability to inject himself into a game and offensively run a backline. We tried to play a game our 10 could not handle and should have made a change to our approach once Pledger was out for the season.
Culture:
This is an interesting one.
There seems to be a lot of guys who buy in. Easily identifiable as a lot of the front liners. There does appear to be some guys who have seemed to be a bit frustrated, especially with players who have been recruited over the top of them and have since received limited opportunities. For the most part those guys are rumoured to be leaving in 2027. Which is both good for continuity and squad harmony and a negative for not being able to maintain players in the playing group. Especially those schooled and developed in the region.
It is always tough to maintain a decent culture when you lose more than you win. I am hopeful we can continue to build a strong culture, which will be added to by the new arrivals. Ethan de Groot's speech at the end of season do, appeared to be quite positive.
Best players:
All aligns with the team's end of season shin dig:
Forward and player of the year:
Ethan de Groot. New dad and playing the best footy of his career. Gone from people doubting his spot in the national side to one of the premier loosehead props in the world.
Shout out to Jack Taylor. His around the field play was awesome and his lineouts improved. Is still only 22.
Back of the year:
Caleb Tangitau. Shit he is good and here is hoping he can bounce back well and finally land that AB jersey he deserves in 2027.
Rookie:
Lucas Casey. First full year of professional footy and taken to it like a duck to water. Need to work out whether he is a seven or an 8.
Our spot on the table and final rating:
My guess prior to round one and after the injuries to two of our premier players was we would finish either 8 or 9. It will be either 9 or 10. I had us winning six games, we should have beaten the Brumbies.
I will give the season a 5/10. It was never going to be a success after the season ending injuries.
Next year:
The competition is only going to get more difficult. Likely to be fewer teams in the finals and MP goes so fewer 'easy' games.
Bringing in fit players in Pledger, Holland and Hurley, plus adding in Moananu, Frizzell, Jacomb and whoever else will be an improvement.
Out of the 12 players we are rumoured to be saying goodbye to, none would be guaranteed starting players. We are rotating out squad depth and brining in starting players. It is an improvement.
JJ knows he hasn't covered himself in glory over the last couple of years. Next year will be his opportunity to run his squad for the first time.
I am interested to see who the replacement players will be.
What we need to see if better squad rotation and handling of the players available. We can't run guys into the ground.
What is clear is that there is a loyal fan base. An average crowd of 14k+ is pretty impressive.
If we could win more than we lose next year, that'd be awesome.