@nepia said in Super Rugby Final 2018:
@kev said in Super Rugby Final 2018:
@sammyc I would say that the Blues are full of overhyped players. Suggest they would be better of with less guys that plays like stars and more guys that just play for the team. The great thing you see with Crusaders is how hard they work to stay in a team pattern and to get off the ground to get back for their mates. I laughed when I saw the ratings for players in Stuff. They rate based on hero moments. Glad we don’t select the ABs on that.
That is simply not true, the Blues have the worst NZ squad with hardly any star players - they're easy to pick out, the Ioane brothers, a broken SBW and an aging Kaino. Not that many of the Blues players are overhyped, it's laughable to suggest that.
Having a shit squad doesn't automatically mean players don't play for the team.
When you have Moody, Crockett, Taylor, Whitelock, Barrett, Tood, Read etc in your team it's a lot easier to stick to a pattern than when you have who ever the fudge make up the Blues pack outside of Ofa and their loose forwards.
Hmm, I read @kev 's post literally "guys that play like stars" instead of "guys that just play for the team". There is a point in that. One of the major problems of the Blues over the years, IMHO, is that they play like a group of individuals, instead of playing like team players. It just doesn't seem to gel for some reason. Tana moving players out of position obviously doesn't help, but there does seem to be something off in the team dynamic as well. This has been discussed in several threads.
And do the Blues really have "hardly any star players"? Even if true, the Blues do have several players of whom it was thought they were going to be stars (had star player potential), but that hasn't materialised or it has faded away. One extreme example is Perofeta, who was hyped up by many Blues fans and media as the third ABs 10 instead of Mo'unga last year. Totally crazy, of course, also a year ago, but he hasn't lived up to last year's hype. Blame Tana if you like, and he may not be a star (yet), but he was definitely overhyped. It (becoming a star) may still happen though, with better coaching and a change of culture.
And where were the guys who have in the ABs environment? Weren't they "stars" (at least at SR level, enough to warrant a AB call-up) at some point? Duffie got enough game time, but has thoroughly disappointed. Pat T , same story. Kaino was a shadow of his former self. Parsons has played for the ABs, also disappointed big time. Pauliasi Manu, Augie Pulu. Also guys who didn't live up to their history.
I thoroughly hope the new assistant coaches can bring positive change, so that players like Black, Perofeta, Clarke, Plummer etc can develop into stars - at least at SR level - and are no longer being wasted and feeling the need to move elsewhere like Naholo, Fekitoa, etc.