All Blacks 2024

@booboo said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@Tim said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

Gregor Paul opinion piece, so likely worthless, but sounds encouraging:

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Crystal Ball time:

1 de Groot
2 Taukei'aho
3 Lomax
4 Barrett
5 Lord
6 ?
7 Papalii
8 Savea
9 Roigard
10 McKenzie
11 Telea
12 Barrett
13 Ioane
14 Jordan
15 Barrett

That's not an awful XV (well XIV).

Options at 6 (in no particular order):
Finau
Blackadder
Grace
Ioane
Sotutu
Vaa'i
Ah Kuoi
(The last two speculation on my part.)
Others? Gallagher?

Gallagher ? I guess you meant Gardiner.

@cgrant starts with G

Important year for Gardiner. I was disappointed with his form last year after looking the goods towards the end of the previous year. Injury and being moved between 6 and lock may have stifled him a bit. Let's hope he gets a good run at 6 and stays injury free (the same can be said about Blackadder and Grace).

@booboo said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

Options at 6 (in no particular order):
Finau
Blackadder
Grace
Ioane
Sotutu
Vaa'i
Ah Kuoi
(The last two speculation on my part.)
Others? Gallagher?

Caleb Delany is another 6/lock in the picture. He'll be keen to have a big campaign with the Canes in 2024 to push for a place in the ABs. Superb in the line-out and is now sitting around 115kg.

@Canes4life

I would think that Flanders will get first shot at the 6 jersey, unless they decide to use him at 8 (or is he injured?).

@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

Posting this here because the All Blacks 2024 thread is locked.

In the podcast (link below) Ruben Love talks about his recent trip over to Australia where he invested $$$ to train with their top sprint coach (guru) Rob Fabri, aswell as staying with one of the most talked about league players of 2023, Joseph Suaalii.

Plenty of people I've talked to about Love say he bounces different in terms of the way he carries himself, the way he trains and the commitment he has to get to the top. This move alone is an example of what he'll do to get to the top. After an injury ravaged 2023, I hope he has a big 2024 and pushes for AB selection. More at 15 than 10 though in my view.

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FABRL it is then….

@gt12 Delany will most likely start at lock. I'd say Flanders will be at 8, with Shields at 6. I'm just saying Delany needs to be in the convo because he's play more than half his career at blindside.

@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@gt12 Delany will most likely start at lock. I'd say Flanders will be at 8, with Shields at 6. I'm just saying Delany needs to be in the convo because he's play more than half his career at blindside.

I think that depends on whether they want to go with Flanders at 6, Kirifi at 7, then Lakai / Iose at 8.

I'm not sure that they need Shields as a starter unless injuries strike.

@gt12 if they don’t go with Shields (which I think they will because of his experience) I would go Howden, Kirifi and Flanders. The type of game Flander’s plays seems to be much more suited to 8 than 6, plus Howden hada great NPC in a poor Manawatu side. Then I would have Lakai on the bench who can cover all three back row positions. Iose misses out for me because he isn’t as versatile and if you have him in a loose trio partnership with Kirifi, it’s just too small in my view.

@Canes4life

In which case, Delany is miiiiiiiles away from a 6 jersey at the Canes, let alone the ABs.

@gt12 it all depends on what the coaches do. If they start Sangster and Walker-Leawere as a locking duo then Delany definitely starts at 6 for the Canes.

Delany is similar to Gardiner where he switches between playing lock/6 when needed.

The ABs team I’d like to see in 2024 is

1. Pouri Rakete-Stones
2. Tyrone Thompson
3. Joel Hintz
4. Geoff Cridge
5. IWL
6. MMT
7. Josh Kaifa
8. Devan Flanders
9. Folau Fakatava
10. Lincoln McClutchie (captain / coach)
11. Jonah Lowe
12. Chase Tiatia
13. Nick Grigg
14. Ollie Sapsford
15. Harry Goddfrey

@Yeahtheboys said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

The ABs team I’d like to see in 2024 is

1. Pouri Rakete-Stones
2. Tyrone Thompson
3. Joel Hintz
4. Geoff Cridge
5. IWL
6. MMT
7. Josh Kaifa
8. Devan Flanders
9. Folau Fakatava
10. Lincoln McClutchie (captain / coach)
11. Jonah Lowe
12. Chase Tiatia
13. Nick Grigg
14. Ollie Sapsford
15. Harry Goddfrey

Would struggle against the Western Force.

@antipodean not if you found a way to get Blackadder on the bench.

@Bones said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@antipodean not if you found a way to get Blackadder on the bench.

Before or after he'd broken the bench?

@Yeahtheboys said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

The ABs team I’d like to see in 2024 is

1. Pouri Rakete-Stones
2. Tyrone Thompson
3. Joel Hintz
4. Geoff Cridge
5. IWL
6. MMT
7. Josh Kaifa
8. Devan Flanders
9. Folau Fakatava
10. Lincoln McClutchie (captain / coach)
11. Jonah Lowe
12. Chase Tiatia
13. Nick Grigg
14. Ollie Sapsford
15. Harry Goddfrey

I like it. 15 debutants and no living off past glories ( making a World Cup final isn’t that big a deal, it’s not like they won it )

I’ve read up quite a bit on this McClutchie guy, he sounds like the real deal. Lots of talk on him on some pretty reputable Rugby sites.

Some interesting and thought-provoking insights from Mr Kitshoff on the benefits of allowing overseas players in the Boks. Makes you wonder if it would benefit the AB's

@Victor-Meldrew senior ABs do get a sabbatical. Maybe expand on that to allow them to play overseas for a couple of years and still be available for AB selection, but I wouldn't want to see anything more than that.

@Bones perhaps for known quantities; those who are near certs to start and have 50 caps or something like that...

@antipodean yeah it doesn't set their selection in stone, but say Smith, Whitelock had been playing overseas last couple of years, they'd still be invaluable.

@antipodean I thought you had to have a certain number of caps to get a sabbatical anyway?

@Tim excellent development. Someone at HQ is thinking.

@Bones

It was the idea of grabbing knowledge from overseas which appealed to me. And yeah, don't want us to go down the full Bok route as I think our structure is different and it would be detrimental.

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@Bones perhaps for known quantities; those who are near certs to start and have 50 caps or something like that...

Some sort of set criteria could be really good. Provide an incentive and ensures the more experienced players get to absorb any knowledge and can share ir

@Bones said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@antipodean I thought you had to have a certain number of caps to get a sabbatical anyway?

I suspect that you are correct. Since it doesn't seem to happen very often I can't recall a pattern other than NZR believe certain players are worth extending this opportunity to retain them.

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@Bones said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@antipodean I thought you had to have a certain number of caps to get a sabbatical anyway?

I suspect that you are correct. Since it doesn't seem to happen very often I can't recall a pattern other than NZR believe certain players are worth extending this opportunity to retain them.

Think it's probably 50/50 as to whether it's been successful at AB level so far too - but probably a lot more valuable lower at lower levels.

@Victor-Meldrew I don't think it would work for the ABs, bc:

1. The ABs play an uptempo/high octane style while in Europe they play a slower game. Much more suited to SA.
2. The European game is great for props and locks mostly. Otoh, Richie Arnold looked good in France and turned out to be awful for the Wallabies.
3. Fitness levels will be a problem for the ABs management. For example, even the top league in Europe (France's Top14) has a huge variance in focus on fitness from club to club.

@Tim What on Earth are NZR going to do when Wayne really does pack it in? He has been incredible in this type of role across NZ rugby.

Who is the next big brain in NZ? I wonder if Razor will ultimately take on this role once his head coaching days are behind him. WS will be mentoring him, so it isn't inconceivable.

@stodders They're going to employ me. Next question.

@Tim how is the Eden park DJ going to be executed?

@Bones Guillotine. I told him to use Sirius by The Alan Parsons Project.

@Canes4life I bloody impressed with Loves work and doing extras mate. That is the kind of commitment I want to see , and now I really on the Love wagon and hope he reaps the rewards. I always say the very good ones are the ones who do all these extras.

Is the word "am" going extinct or are we all moving to Yorkshire

@stodders said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

What on Earth are NZR going to do when Wayne really does pack it in?

They should start looking for his replacement now.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@stodders said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

What on Earth are NZR going to do when Wayne really does pack it in?

They should start looking for his replacement now.

Game changing stuff

@Yeahtheboys said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

The ABs team I’d like to see in 2024 is

1. Pouri Rakete-Stones
2. Tyrone Thompson
3. Joel Hintz
4. Geoff Cridge
5. IWL
6. MMT
7. Josh Kaifa
8. Devan Flanders
9. Folau Fakatava
10. Lincoln McClutchie (captain / coach)
11. Jonah Lowe
12. Chase Tiatia
13. Nick Grigg
14. Ollie Sapsford
15. Harry Goddfrey

I wanted to give it a like but Tiatia? Come on bro.

@stodders It's virtually impossible to train or mentor someone to be the next Wayne Smith. The best the NZR can do is get Smith to articulate and codify his unconventional approach to problem-solving in rugby (i.e. write a manual or loose framework). This is a difficult thing to do if you didn't think about it at the time (e.g. Now having to articulate how he came up with for example that defensive system that saved the ABs rwc cup campaign all those years ago, etc.). You know, memories fade. The other thing that NZR can do is is give the person or persons they tap to succeed Smith the same freedom (ito of time and space to in innovate) without feeling that one failure means the end.

@Dan54

Danny, you are mixing metaphors. You are either on the love train or the shaggin wagon

@DaGrubster said in All Blacks 2024 - no interminable Foster arguments:

@Dan54

Danny, you are mixing metaphors. You are either on the love train or the shaggin wagon

::grinning_squinting_face: C.mon Grubs a man's got to mix something