@Steven-Harris said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

@Canes4life
JGB 100 x games
On a negative note ticket sales are not going well according to a contact at the Union office which is a real shame with the bad weather and the long weekend possibly 3-5k.
Its a real shame this is going to be one hell of a match up
I suspect Wellington Rugby cant wait until their contract with the Sky stadium expires then a shift is well truly on the cards

They should build stands at NZCIS, it will well and truly pay off over time.

@Canes4life I’m not going because this is incredibly stupid but the last two NPC finals I went too we lost. So hoping if I don’t go we’ll win. But seriously I’ve already taken my boy to a game and is more into the Phoenix now that he’s playing Football.

TAB odds feel about right. And also good because we're not that far out either.

@mikey07 So to summarize.....scared

Has anyone noticed the game has been pushed back to 3:05pm?

@barky1 wasn't it always 3.05pm? I think 2.30pm is build up on Sky.

Pretty sure it was advertised at 2:05 up until a day or two ago

@barky1 No it’s a cost thing we’re going to the Auckland FC game he’s been to the BOP round robin game. With the cost involved with transport food etc just can’t afford to go to 3 games this year.

@barky1 it was mentioned 3.05pm kick-off on the Breakdown on Sunday.

A BOP win will give the Chiefs region the full set of provincial trophies:
Ranfurly Shield
Meads Cup
Lochore Cup
FPC

@Canes4life
Must be going senile

@barky1 said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

@Canes4life
Must be going senile

To be fair, it is a weird time and I can't recall a game starting at 3.05pm before. 2 or 2.30pm is what we are used to for afternoon footy so I bet it will be confusing for a lot of people. Let's hope the rain stays away.

Sky are wanting the NPC final to lead into the AB-Japan test coverage.

Is it Hika Elliot I wonder?

@foobaNZ said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

Is it Hika Elliot I wonder?

Wouldn't be the worst SOS in the world.

@foobaNZ wow unreal if it is. Saw he was named in Heartland XV so must be keeping fit somewhere

Confirmed, it is Hikawera Elliot.

@Canes4life said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

Confirmed, it is Hikawera Elliot.

Lions debut at 38?

@Canes4life Very surprised the Lions did’nt look at Wairarapa Bush hooker Bruce Kauika Peterson who has been a stand out in heartland rugby this year
also lets not forget hes played 2 season with Northland and has a handful of games for Wellington
Its a great storyline for Hika Elliot but i personally think it would have been an even better storyline for a heartland team thats part of the Canes franchise.

Was Hika playing hooker at SC? I read he sometimes played flanker. He looked in good condition when I saw him running the line for the Chiefs U18s.

Or if the NPC was a rep competition they could pick the next best hooker out of Wellington club rugby

@Duluth said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

Or if the NPC was a rep competition they could pick the next best hooker out of Wellington club rugby

Pretty sure most of them are unavilable. O'Reilly, Poasa, Aumua (with ABs), Press, Tuiloma and Gaulalofa are all injured.

It's not that simple if the club players haven't been playing for 2 months. TTT ended up on the bench for Waikato in the 2021 NPC final for the same reason.

yet another piece of evidence to show how our structure makes no sense

Wellington did something similar for their semi-final v HB last year when they brought in Morgan Mitchell on loan from Southland.

This explains what happened:

@Bovidae said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

This explains what happened:

View embedded content

I was already cheering for the Bay, now I want them to win even more.

I always liked Hika Elliot and thought that he was another one who was treated rottenly by the All Blacks. Anyway, welcome to the Lions!

@sparky said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

I always liked Hika Elliot and thought that he was another one who was treated rottenly by the All Blacks. Anyway, welcome to the Lions!

Why, because Mealamu and Hore were better players than him? And Henry and co thought Flynn was a better thrower?

On par with AdM and both got about the same opportunity given who were ahead of them.

@ACT-Crusader said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

@sparky said in NPC Final: Wellington vs Bay of Plenty:

I always liked Hika Elliot and thought that he was another one who was treated rottenly by the All Blacks. Anyway, welcome to the Lions!

On par with AdM and both got about the same opportunity given who were ahead of them.

Still feels wonderfully unreal. We're in the Final.

Not the Championship Final
Not the Division 2 Final
Not the Promotion-Relegation Final.

The Final.

Stoked!!!

@Donsteppa Enjoy!

But, hopefully, not the result.

@Donsteppa bathe in it. We're on the plane mid morning