Pretty settled side to be honest, interesting to see Brett Cameron get the nod without taking the field yet. Dane Coles to captain the side, Flanders back at 6, Lakai to start in his favoured position for the first time.
Bring it on Blues. If we can get up without our charismatic leader, that will be massive for our season.
1 Joshua Fusitu’a
2 Ricky Riccitelli
3 James Lay
4 Patrick Tuipulotu
5 Cameron Suafoa
6 Tom Robinson
7 Dalton Papalii
8 Hoskins Sotutu
9 Finlay Christie
10 Beauden Barrett
11 Caleb Clarke
12 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
13 Rieko Ioane
14 AJ Lam
15 Stephen Perofeta
Reserves:
16 Kurt Eklund
17 Alex Hodgman
18 Nepo Laulala
19 James Tucker
20 Adrian Choat
21 Taufa Funaki
22 Bryce Heem
23 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens
Players not considered: Sam Darry (knee), Akira Ioane (knee), Sam Nock (calf), Harry Plummer (ribs), Mark Telea (concussion), Ofa Tuungafasi (concussion)
Yes, broken record:
Again, no Zarn Sullivan! :angry_face:
Sad that he's contracted to the Blues until the end of the 2024 season. He should ask for an early release so he can move elsewhere.
Hurricanes media release:
Blues media release:
@Canes4life Good to see Flanders and PRS back in the team
But still no Bird. I would prefer Delany to cover 6 with Lakai covering 7. And Flanders 8
Franks dropped. Or just rested
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
Pretty settled side to be honest, interesting to see Brett Cameron get the nod without taking the field yet. Dane Coles to captain the side, Flanders back at 6, Lakai to start in his favoured position for the first time.
Bring it on Blues. If we can get up without our charismatic leader, that will be massive for our season.
If Cameron is no good (hope he steps up though) then I would like to see Barrett tried at first in some games. Higgins at 2nd. Canes can't win it all with a limited 1st
Expect an easy enough blues win
Coles as captain is surprising. Kirifi is likely to last on the field longer. Barrett is another option. There's always Blackwell too. But maybe it's best to start with Coles
And Dan Sinkinson has been removed at last so 
@Winger an easy Blues win, even after last week? You're confident.
I feel like we've got more experience across the board but I get what you're saying. Brett Cameron will need to take command.
6-15 the Blues look very strong.
It would also make more sense to throw Love the 10 jersey, bring Higgins into 12 and move Barrett back to fullback.
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
@Winger an easy Blues win, even after last week? You're confident.
I feel like we've got more experience across the board but I get what you're saying. Brett Cameron will need to take command.
6-15 the Blues look very strong.
It would also make more sense to throw Love the 10 jersey, bring Higgins into 12 and move Barrett back to fullback.
An easy ENOUGH win. Not a thrashing but say a 10-15 point win (due mainly to a superior backline. And without Savea loose forwards). And overall dominating the game. But Canes could still cause an upset even without Savea. Home advantage is one factor but this team if it clicks could beat anyone.
Regarding Love at first. He hasn't shown yet that he's got the qualities as a 1st 5. Even at NPC level. He might eventually make it but on the other hand he looks like a FB. And I doubt if Jordie wants to move back to FB when there are 2 other options. But a few games at first due to a Cane's weakness (assuming Cameron is only OK) will likely be acceptable. And the team needs to keep the best players happy. So Savea plays 8 not 7 as another example
@Winger said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
@Winger an easy Blues win, even after last week? You're confident.
I feel like we've got more experience across the board but I get what you're saying. Brett Cameron will need to take command.
6-15 the Blues look very strong.
It would also make more sense to throw Love the 10 jersey, bring Higgins into 12 and move Barrett back to fullback.
An easy ENOUGH win. Not a thrashing but say a 10-15 point win (due mainly to a superior backline. And without Savea loose forwards). And overall dominating the game. But Canes could still cause an upset even without Savea. Home advantage is one factor but this team if it clicks could beat anyone.
Regarding Love at first. He hasn't shown yet that he's got the qualities as a 1st 5. Even at NPC level. He might eventually make it but on the other hand he looks like a FB. And I doubt if Jordie wants to move back to FB when there are 2 other options. But a few games at first due to a Cane's weakness (assuming Cameron is only OK) will likely be acceptable. And the team needs to keep the best players happy. So Savea plays 8 not 7 as another example
Love is a better option at 10 than Jordie lol. Love hasn’t played 10 for over a year anyway, he clearly sees himself as a fullback so I don’t think it will matter much, they clearly see their generals as Cameron or Morgan. Atleast Cameron is a sharp shooter at goal.
The Blues have a weaker front row than usual, they have a loose forward playing lock, and they have a 10 that kicks all their ball away, plus they don’t have the best record at the Cake Tin.
I think it will be a lot closer than you think. Ardie’s a big loss yes but so is Mark Telea for the Blues taking into account the way he is playing. If Peter Lakai steps up and Cameron runs the cutter well it could quite easily be a 10-15 point deficit the other way which makes this match-up a tasty one.
If we have a match that replicates the one under the roof in Dunners last year, then we’ve got something to look forward to.
I hope you are right.
Regarding Barrett. He kicks too much now. Maybe Im remembering incorrectly but I think he never use to until Clark Laidlaw left (after 2015 super rugby) then it was kicking for position. In 2015 he was brilliant but the Canes still lost the final. But until then they were the best team. Then we won in 2016 and it was this year that started the Barrett decline. From brilliant to not as good
@Winger said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
I hope you are right.
Regarding Barrett. He kicks too much now. Maybe Im remembering incorrectly but I think he never use to until Clark Laidlaw left. then it was kicking for position. In 2015 he was brilliant but the Canes still lost the final. But until then they were the best team.
The Canes were stacked with a team that was geared towards running the ball in 2015. Barrett was full of running in that 2016 season aswell. Ironically the best try he set up against the Chiefs in the semi was from a kick, but it was the intent to attack which really made him standout at the time.
@cgrant said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
When is Perenara back ? He could be a stop gap at first five, considering that Roigard and Booth have played very well so far.
Are we really that desperate? Let's give Cameron a chance to show what he's got and then we can panic after that. At the end of the day if it means we have to give Love another crack in the ten jersey, or promote Godfrey earlier than expected, then so be it.
@Winger said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
@Winger an easy Blues win, even after last week? You're confident.
I feel like we've got more experience across the board but I get what you're saying. Brett Cameron will need to take command.
6-15 the Blues look very strong.
It would also make more sense to throw Love the 10 jersey, bring Higgins into 12 and move Barrett back to fullback.
An easy ENOUGH win. Not a thrashing but say a 10-15 point win (due mainly to a superior backline. And without Savea loose forwards). And overall dominating the game. But Canes could still cause an upset even without Savea. Home advantage is one factor but this team if it clicks could beat anyone.
Don't forget that same backline struggled to dominate vs the Brumbies last week. If the Blues can sort out their set piece and hold onto the ball they should do much better but I think this could go either way.
