Blues win percentage against NZ teams

That 2011 Reds team was bloody good, it would be churlish to downplay it. If we follow the "rules" we have established for a successful Super Rugby team, then they ticked them off.

Genia was arguably the best halfback in the world at the time, and Cooper was in career best form (playing the kind of game that wins Super Rugby matches). Ioane was in career-best form, on the other wing they had Davies with his pace. The midfield was solid if not spectacular, but their job was to run at holes with Cooper hitting them with flat balls.

In the pack, Horwill was as good a lock as anyone that year. There was career-best form from Samo and Higgenbothom. Simmons was a role player, they had two good opensides. Holmes, ladyboy and i think it was Daley were a more then competent front row. It was a bloody good side. And MacKenzie was a good coach. Yes they had the "benefit" of the Crusaders being disadvantaged, but they more than deserved that title.

MacKenzie inherited a good squad, and got them playing better. I am loath to give them credit, but it's due for that year.

@Chester-Draws

Rennie had a huge cleanout when he took over before the 2012 season. Something like 13 new players, the majority from outside the region, and many not household names (e.g. Tikorotuma). The likes of BBBR and Tameifuna played much bigger roles than expected. I know that the coaches spent a lot of time analysing players during the NPC and were meticulous in their recruitment.

I don't think that the Blues would need to do something so drastic as there is the nucleus of a good team there. But having the right players in key positions and leadership are important factors to success.

@rancid-schnitzel said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

To give him his due, I think Hammett stamped out some bad habits and Boyd has benefited from this. But the problem is that in doing so he threw the baby out with the bathwater. He was also tactically inept and the quality of rugby his team played was terrible. No way would a Hammett coached team be playing in the manner the Canes have played for the past 4 years.

There are a number of different factors that go into a successful rugby team. You can have them training up a storm and buying into the coach's vision, but that doesn't mean anything if the tactics or game plan are crap. On the flip side you can have awesome players and tactics, but if the players are lazy and unfit then you won't succeed.

The Blues have heaps of talent but dont have any brains or leadership on the park and subsequently play dumb rugby. The selections are also somewhat dubious. IIRC the Highlanders had similar issues regarding leadership and brains during their tough run. They didn't necessarily have the Blues talent but shit they played some gash rugby.

Not sure how the Blues turn that around. There is zero leadership at the revolving 10 position for instance and the forwards aren't much better.

Yeah, I'm willing to give Hammett his dues as a bit of a hit-man that made some pretty significant changes to the culture which we have benefited from. But as you say, he was severely limited as a head coach and the tactics under his reign were laughably bad. Most of that is probably due to a lack of experience in the role (I.E. absolutely none). I wouldn't write him off in the future as he learns his trade, but he was not up to the job at that time.

You could say similar things about Tana right now TBH (not the hit-man part). He's out of his depth at Super level - an assistant role would have benefited him at this time. Head coach is a seriously tough gig, throwing people into the role with little experience at SR level is pretty brainless stuff.

@rancid-schnitzel said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

He was also tactically inept and the quality of rugby his team played was terrible.

In fairness, that was his major failing.

He clearly changed the culture at the Canes and, in fact, built a team with the capability to go close to winning the championship - but, they didn't really come close under him.

@bovidae said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

Rennie had a huge cleanout when he took over before the 2012 season. Something like 13 new players, the majority from outside the region, and many not household names (e.g. Tikorotuma). The likes of BBBR and Tameifuna played much bigger roles than expected. I know that the coaches spent a lot of time analysing players during the NPC and were meticulous in their recruitment.

Yeah, I was absolutely gutted with that squad he'd cobbled together. From my uneducated eye, a bunch of 20 year old nobodies. Brodie Retallick!? We're screwed!

When Ben Tameifuna waddled onto the field as an injury replacement against the Blues I thought I was about to see a car crash.

Also, I wasn't a Cruden fan... didn't think he was really up to it and couldn't get past the fact he looked like he was there thanks to the make-a-wish foundation.

Yup, I know my stuff.

@mariner4life

When a coach has all these guys in "career best form", has it occurred to you that it might be caused by the coach.

McKenzie did it with players, Genia aside, who suddenly lost form after him. I say that's because he was responsible for making them play above themselves, not because he somehow got super lucky and arrived just as his team got all these guys playing coincidentally at the peak of their careers.

The players Smith had held their form for pretty much every coach they had. He built the team, but they were a team that had a solid base.

The Reds returned to utter dreck a couple of years after McKenzie.

@chester-draws indeed. I never said it wasn't the coach. I got the feeling from a couple of posts that the Reds win was being written off as some kind of fluke. I was simply refuting that. The Reds were a talented team well coached.

Eddie started the build, McKenzie was the real driving force, bloke was a bloody good coach. Getting him fired was the dumbest thing the ARU did

@mariner4life said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

Eddie started the build, McKenzie was the real driving force, bloke was a bloody good coach. Getting him fired was the dumbest thing the ARU did

He was a regular contributor to Ruggamatrix and I used to enjoy listening to his thoughts on rugby. A real thinker of the game, which by the looks has now been lost from rugby altogether.

@milk said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@bovidae said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

Rennie had a huge cleanout when he took over before the 2012 season. Something like 13 new players, the majority from outside the region, and many not household names (e.g. Tikorotuma). The likes of BBBR and Tameifuna played much bigger roles than expected. I know that the coaches spent a lot of time analysing players during the NPC and were meticulous in their recruitment.

Yeah, I was absolutely gutted with that squad he'd cobbled together. From my uneducated eye, a bunch of 20 year old nobodies. **Brodie Retallick!? We're screwed!

When Ben Tameifuna waddled onto the field as an injury replacement against the Blues I thought I was about to see a car crash.**

Also, I wasn't a Cruden fan... didn't think he was really up to it and couldn't get past the fact he looked like he was there thanks to the make-a-wish foundation.

Yup, I know my stuff.

Clearly you hadn't watched the 2011 Magpies run to the semi final ;).

Or apparently any Poo games or the U20s.

Edit: Hmm, why isn't the bold working for me?

@nepia said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@milk said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@bovidae said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

Rennie had a huge cleanout when he took over before the 2012 season. Something like 13 new players, the majority from outside the region, and many not household names (e.g. Tikorotuma). The likes of BBBR and Tameifuna played much bigger roles than expected. I know that the coaches spent a lot of time analysing players during the NPC and were meticulous in their recruitment.

Yeah, I was absolutely gutted with that squad he'd cobbled together. From my uneducated eye, a bunch of 20 year old nobodies. **Brodie Retallick!? We're screwed!

When Ben Tameifuna waddled onto the field as an injury replacement against the Blues I thought I was about to see a car crash.**

Also, I wasn't a Cruden fan... didn't think he was really up to it and couldn't get past the fact he looked like he was there thanks to the make-a-wish foundation.

Yup, I know my stuff.

Clearly you hadn't watched the 2011 Magpies run to the semi final ;).

Or apparently any Poo games or the U20s.

Edit: Hmm, why isn't the bold working for me?

nobody's got time to watch that dross mate. Had you jumped ship at that point? Or was it in the lead-up to the 2012 finals?

@mariner4life said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@nepia said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@milk said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@bovidae said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

Rennie had a huge cleanout when he took over before the 2012 season. Something like 13 new players, the majority from outside the region, and many not household names (e.g. Tikorotuma). The likes of BBBR and Tameifuna played much bigger roles than expected. I know that the coaches spent a lot of time analysing players during the NPC and were meticulous in their recruitment.

Yeah, I was absolutely gutted with that squad he'd cobbled together. From my uneducated eye, a bunch of 20 year old nobodies. **Brodie Retallick!? We're screwed!

When Ben Tameifuna waddled onto the field as an injury replacement against the Blues I thought I was about to see a car crash.**

Also, I wasn't a Cruden fan... didn't think he was really up to it and couldn't get past the fact he looked like he was there thanks to the make-a-wish foundation.

Yup, I know my stuff.

Clearly you hadn't watched the 2011 Magpies run to the semi final ;).

Or apparently any Poo games or the U20s.

Edit: Hmm, why isn't the bold working for me?

nobody's got time to watch that dross mate. Had you jumped ship at that point? Or was it in the lead-up to the 2012 finals?

I jumped shit at the end of the 2011 Super comp, so before the finals .

@chris-b said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@rancid-schnitzel said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

He was also tactically inept and the quality of rugby his team played was terrible.

In fairness, that was his major failing.

He clearly changed the culture at the Canes and, in fact, built a team with the capability to go close to winning the championship - but, they didn't really come close under him.

Agree, but the team he took over also had the capability of winning and should have walked into the play-offs.

But he's clearly a very capable assistant and he seems to be happy enough to have that role now.

16 games and 1 win for Umaga

6.25%

17 games and 1 win for Umaga

5.89%

@duluth

You might as well update next week's stats now.

@duluth said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

17 games and 1 win for Umaga

5.89%

On the positive side, don't we have a draw in there too? So it's 1-1-15, with a losing percentage of only 88%.

We are the anti-all blacks.

Just checking, this stat can’t go into the negatives can it?

@kirwan said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

Just checking, this stat can’t go into the negatives can it?

BLUES CAN DO ANYTHING

THIS IS OUR YEAR

BETTER NEVER STARTS

1 win out of our last 27 against NZ teams aint bad.

@african-monkey said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

1 win out of our last 27 against NZ teams aint bad.

Quite the Australian level stat that.

19 matches for Umaga’s Blues - 1 win

5.3%

I think it’s just a bit of bad luck. T deserves his contract extension

Crusaders in Christchurch next week

@duluth so a nice round number to end the season on

@duluth said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

19 matches for Umaga’s Blues - 1 win

5.3%

I think it’s just a bit of bad luck. T deserves his contract extension

Crusaders in Christchurch next week

Whether you think it's his fault or not there's just absolutely no way you can keep a coach with that record on. They are beyond taking the piss with that extension.

Unbelievable stat

I think the damning indictment of Tana is not so much that they've been beaten by the top teams, but that his team has lost too many games they shouldn't have, while winning too few that they shouldn't have.

@kirwan said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@african-monkey said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

1 win out of our last 27 against NZ teams aint bad.

Quite the Australian level stat that.

Speaking of Australian, bring back Nucifora, at least they’d be a finals contender

20 matches for Umaga’s Blues - 1 win

5%

This is the most depressing tracker

Its another big problem for Super Rugby organisers, what should be high profile derby games are now difficult for neutrals to care about. For eight games a year the result is practically foretold...

Wynne Gray must be reading the fern, got his stick out to stir a bit at the end there too. Drop the Blues!

Ah , what I like to call the schadenfreude thread .

@jegga said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

Ah , what I like to call the schadenfreude thread .

There actually hasn't been a lot of gloating - mostly just us Blues guys wallowing in our own misery.

@snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@jegga said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

Ah , what I like to call the schadenfreude thread .

There actually hasn't been a lot of gloating - mostly just us Blues guys wallowing in our own misery.

Twenty odd years back I moved to Auckland, when it was towards the end of its enormous run of victories. Back then far too many Aucklanders were saying that their dominance was good for NZ. I heard many argue that "strong Auckland means strong All Blacks", as if we should all not just lose to them, but enjoy losing.

The ARU gloated about how it's systems ensured that they remained on top. They refused to accept that it was largely due to three very good coaches in a row, and that one wrong move might bring it all down.

I built up a sizeable dislike for Auckland rugby, whereas I had previously grudging admired how good they were. I never ever felt the same way about Canterbury and the Crusader dominance because they never gloated half so much. Sure they tend to over-rate their players who get an armchair ride, but they never acted as if they had a right to win.

As a result, although I largely kept it to myself, I have thoroughly enjoyed the drop in fortunes of Auckland and The Blues. It has given me great joy every time they finished down the table. Especially as the All Blacks have gotten better as they have got worse.

But even I have now had enough. It's no longer fun.

What Chester said, minus the last sentence.

@chester-draws what’s worse is the incredible lack of accountability from the administration that they are big part of the problem.

@chester-draws said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

But even I have now had enough. It's no longer fun.

It's going to be O.K. because I have been informed that next year is our year!

@snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@chester-draws said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

But even I have now had enough. It's no longer fun.

It's going to be O.K. because I have been informed that next year is our year!

NO THIS IS OUR YEAR

oh. wait. yeah, ok Next Year it is. The mythical year that never comes.

to be fair, an ounce of luck and less injuries early on - or some decent coaching- and we might not go into the Lam Death Spiral that we have been in for ever.

@nzzp said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

@chester-draws said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

But even I have now had enough. It's no longer fun.

It's going to be O.K. because I have been informed that next year is our year!

NO THIS IS OUR YEAR

oh. wait. yeah, ok Next Year it is. The mythical year that never comes.

to be fair, an ounce of luck and less injuries early on - or some decent coaching- and we might not go into the Lam Death Spiral that we have been in for ever.

Actually they extended Tana for another year - SO 2020 IS OUR YEAR! Or maybe a year sometime after that. It has already been forever, as mentioned,

@nzzp said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:

to be fair, an ounce of luck and less injuries early on - or some decent coaching- and we might not go into the Lam Death Spiral that we have been in for ever.

quoting myself, but fark it

I remember the start of this shit. We were leading the Canes at home, and just dropped our bundle, kicked it back to them instead of clearing, and just stopped tackling. That was the start of losing a whole shed load on the bounce with Lam, which led to him getting the boot, and the start of our Celebrity Coach Era.

FML.

@nzzp confidence plays a huge part, and if you get down early on it is tough to get out of, especially if you are trying different systems you start questioning them, falling back to old habits and it just keeps getting worSe.

I always wonder how teams like Scotland, Argentina, Samoa etc go about preparing for a game against the ABs...you surely go into every game wanting to win, but knowing this is highly unlikely, how do you approach it?