@mariner4life said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Chris said in Blues vs Stormers:

@mariner4life Being an ex mid field back not my favourite part of the game,But its what we have in the game so better now than before

i was the guy in the middle of that maul directing traffic. yelling, slapping backs, informing the ref what was going on, and getting shoulders smashing in to my kidneys for my trouble. god i miss that

So you were the one doing no actual work The real maulers have their head down and can’t be seen, Reuben Thorn for example

@SammyC said in Blues vs Stormers:

@mariner4life said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Chris said in Blues vs Stormers:

@mariner4life Being an ex mid field back not my favourite part of the game,But its what we have in the game so better now than before

i was the guy in the middle of that maul directing traffic. yelling, slapping backs, informing the ref what was going on, and getting shoulders smashing in to my kidneys for my trouble. god i miss that

So you were the one doing no actual work The real maulers have their head down and can’t be seen, Reuben Thorn for example

Reuben obviously wasn't smart enough to be trusted to organise everything. Someone also has to be trusted to pull down the lineout. Reuben obviously couldn't be trusted with that either.

@Canes4life said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Duluth Yeah but Canterbury are an exception. They have always played a very structured style of rugby which is bread into them from a young age - they master the basics of rugby really well hence why they win more often than not in playoff footy.

In contrast for example, the Canes and Wellington sides might not be good at maul play etc, but they are renowned for their ability to rip teams apart even when their forwards are back peddling because they have always had x factor loosies and great backs to do that.

Tbh i'm glad most teams in NZ don't focus too much on the maul. It might be a safe option in finals footy etc but as a spectacle it is a bloody bore to watch. We need variety in the game so I guess our teams will always be fairly poor at stopping the maul.

A maul provides variety

@booboo said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Canes4life said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Duluth Yeah but Canterbury are an exception. They have always played a very structured style of rugby which is bread into them from a young age - they master the basics of rugby really well hence why they win more often than not in playoff footy.

In contrast for example, the Canes and Wellington sides might not be good at maul play etc, but they are renowned for their ability to rip teams apart even when their forwards are back peddling because they have always had x factor loosies and great backs to do that.

Tbh i'm glad most teams in NZ don't focus too much on the maul. It might be a safe option in finals footy etc but as a spectacle it is a bloody bore to watch. We need variety in the game so I guess our teams will always be fairly poor at stopping the maul.

A maul provides variety

No!! no variety!! the only tries worthwhile are long range tries scored by backs. In fact, they should be worth more than some fat idiot crashing over from a yard out.

Hurricanes fans would looooove Western Australia's circus rugby.

@booboo Booorrrrrrinnnnggg

@Canes4life said in Blues vs Stormers:

@booboo Booorrrrrrinnnnggg

They are exciting when your team scores from them, you might have to use your imagination...

@Kirwan it's also exciting when your team makes the playoffs... oh wait.

@Canes4life it's also exciting when your team wins multiple titles...oh wait.

@KiwiMurph the excitement has surely worn off after 16 years hasn't it? Although I suppose you haven't had much to get excited about since your last title.

@Rocky-Rockbottom said in Blues vs Stormers:

Blues must be back in business if posters are no longer silently pitying our inept dogshit team

Fark yeah, feels good not to have pity. That shit sucked.

Now is the moment the Blues go full Temple Of Doom and pluck our beating hearts out by breaking Reiko and/or Akira on Saturday night ... or MacDonald gets poached to the ABs ... or we get a combo of JK, Tana and Jed Rowlands selecting and coaching

@Rocky-Rockbottom said in Blues vs Stormers:

@nzzp said in Blues vs Stormers:

Now is the moment the Blues go full Temple Of Doom and pluck our beating hearts out by breaking Reiko and/or Akira on Saturday night ... or MacDonald gets poached to the ABs ... or we get a combo of JK, Tana and Jed Rowlands selecting and coaching

ha. Panadol replaced by cartel of Tana, JK and Michael Collins as player/coaches.

Akira signs overnight for the Bristol Bogsnot Barnacles, effective immediately.

Wouldn't it be worse if Akira and Reiko sign for the Crusaders?

@Rocky-Rockbottom Michael Collins as AB skills coach.

@Tim said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Rocky-Rockbottom Michael Collins as AB skills coach.

TROLL

@Rocky-Rockbottom Haha and we've still got a crap record of 2 from 5. Imagine if we actually had more wins than losses.

@nzzp said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Tim said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Rocky-Rockbottom Michael Collins as AB skills coach.

TROLL

He'd be the communications advisor

@African-Monkey said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Rocky-Rockbottom Haha and we've still got a crap record of 2 from 5. Imagine if we actually had more wins than losses.

They're clearly frightened of us

@nzzp Oh yeah of course haha we might come 9th this year.

15 Melani Nanai, 14 Tanielu Tele’a, 13 TJ Faiane, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Otere Black, 9 Jonathan Ruru; 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Tom Robinson, 5 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Sione Mafileo, 2 James Parsons, 1. Alex Hodgman
Reserves: 16 Matt Moulds, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Augustine Pulu, 22 Harry Plummer, 23 Sonny Bill Williams

Not considered because of injury: Jimmy Tupou (knee), Jacob Pierce (ankle), Ezekiel Lindenmuth (knee), Stephen Perofeta (shoulder/pectoral), Caleb Clarke (knee), Jordan Trainor (thigh), Josh Goodhue (Shoulder)

@Duluth that's a decent 23, with a very strong bench. Hope we score another dubya

looks like Rieko will be rested v Tahs then.