Highlanders 2025

@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:

Hastie being slow? You mean speed? I'd say it is probably his only saving grace, apart from his kicking game. He has filled in from time to time in the back three. Hasn't got into the open field very regularly.

So slow to the breakdown. He might be quick once he gets moving, but it's all about ruck speed. No coincidence we looked better when Pledger came on.

I'd hate to write off Faleafaga from Otago now. I also doubt there is space at Auckland for him with all the talent they have. Best he sticks with us. He is still only 21.

Faleafaga needs to be playing. If he goes to Counties for example, it is not writing him off, but at the moment the 10 jersey belongs to Millar.

I don't think there is anything Henry Bell can do that Jack Taylor can't. Taylor is slightly taller, and will fill out more than Bell. He'd be quicker as well. At 25 Bell is 106kg. Taylor's listed as the same right now, and will fill out over the next couple of years.

I never said there wasn't, and I think they can quite easily co-exist as a second and third choice in your squad. My comment was on current evidence. There is a reason why one started as many games as he did.

@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:

@reprobate said in Highlanders 2025:

I'd hope Fakatava would hang around. He still makes too many mistakes / poor decisions, but if you're looking for a sniping halfback offloading to forwards to get go-forward around the ruck, he is probably the pick of the NZ halfbacks, and his speed of delivery from the ruck is pretty good.
FF + Ledger would be a really strong combination.

The good advice will be saying to leave, if he is the 5th choice NZ halfback. Especially being eligible for Tonga at the end of next year. Of the players rated above him, only Christie is older. He'd be much better off to take the money and have a long career with Tonga internationally.

He sacrificed a lot to come to New Zealand though don't forget. He'll want to be an All Black... can take a while to shake off an injury, he has been excellent and accurate for Hawke's Bay. I don't think it is inconceivable he sticks around until 2027, when he will still only be 27. The money for top-end Super players is also a lot better than people realise.

Fifita still in NZ so his mission hasn't started yet and his mission will be for two years I beleive

@reprobate said in Highlanders 2025:

I'd hope Fakatava would hang around. He still makes too many mistakes / poor decisions, but if you're looking for a sniping halfback offloading to forwards to get go-forward around the ruck, he is probably the pick of the NZ halfbacks, and his speed of delivery from the ruck is pretty good.
FF + Ledger would be a really strong combination.

Fakatava sounds like a good bench option. In 3 years we will have 2 to 3 good HBS but likely at least one will be injured.

@frugby you are always going to side with the Bell boys. Henry Bell is a handy hooker. He is just the less good version of his brother. Of course he got the starts this season. Taylor is still filling out, and had played fewer than 10 senior games prior to the season starting. Jackson was a, shit, we have no one else selection. At the moment Bell isn't even the top Otago hooker. Having slipped behind Coltman. Henry Bell's biggest upside has been his running game. Apart from that he is just a small hooker who is currently struggling with his throwing. He's smaller than Ricky Riccitelli. There isn't a lot between the three hookers. Any of them can start next year. I think Jospeh will go with the beat thrower. We aren't good enough to throw ball away in attacking positions with good lineout options. On NPC form, Taylor has been the best of the three.
With Fakatava, certainly agree he moved to NZ and away from his family for footy. So do dozens of young lads from the islands each year. His priority, like many others will be to get as much as possible for his family, both here and at home. This will be a wait and see approach.
Faleafaga, as soon as you say off you go, you lose oversight. With a player who is still that young. It is a foolish decision. It is my preference we keep him for at least another couple of years.

@ploughboy said in Highlanders 2025:

Fifita still in NZ so his mission hasn't started yet and his mission will be for two years I beleive

Disappointing if he is still waiting that he hasn't played any footy while waiting. Could have played club footy and potentially some rep stuff

Haig's too articulate to be a tight forward..Needs a few months to practice his grunts. Oh and maybe let slip he could play for others, his agent has probably gone ballistic he's admitted his loyalty...

@nostrildamus Scottish grandparents as well. So that’s a fourth country ( though who wants to play for Scotland)

@KiwiInLondon said in Highlanders 2025:

@nostrildamus Scottish grandparents as well. So that’s a fourth country ( though who wants to play for Scotland)

Don't tell you know who on here, he's trying to change Scottish rugby into something akin to the French Foreign Legion.
NB Haig (high, noble) is also originally a Viking/Norse name.

@KiwiInLondon said in Highlanders 2025:

@nostrildamus Scottish grandparents as well. So that’s a fourth country ( though who wants to play for Scotland)

They are well and truly a team on the up and would probably give us a good run for our money right now

Looks like we are in agreement Haig will play international rugby. Just a question of for who. Hopefully it will be for us, and we have a dutchman and an English accent in our starting pack.

@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:

Looks like we are in agreement Haig will play international rugby. Just a question of for who. Hopefully it will be for us, and we have a dutchman and an English accent in our starting pack.

And maybe a German.

i acknowledge my bias right, we can get past that

he's exactly the kind of person i was hoping would be a bolter this year...loosies for the ab's havent really jelled for a while...and yet we still try and use the same 6 guys

Imagine the poaching chat if we have those three in black. @Kiwiwomble agree, a lot of the loosies we are picking at the moment play in a very similar style to eachother too.

@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2025:

i acknowledge my bias right, we can get past that

he's exactly the kind of person i was hoping would be a bolter this year...loosies for the ab's havent really jelled for a while...and yet we still try and use the same 6 guys

I like the fact he is a specialist 6* and just wants to do the core roles well, plus that height would be useful in the lineout

*ok, can be a lock a well.

@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2025:

i acknowledge my bias right, we can get past that

he's exactly the kind of person i was hoping would be a bolter this year...loosies for the ab's havent really jelled for a while...and yet we still try and use the same 6 guys

Yes plus we have to develop new 7s.

Any new signing rumours?

@HLD2023Champions said in Highlanders 2025:

Any new signing rumours?

Two locks and a prop are where the gaps are... sounds like the prop will come from off-shore (either in the form of a NZer or a straight-up international)

Have heard nothing about locks, other than our only two currently signed being Holland and Dunshea.

@frugby wonder where they’d be getting locks from. NZ in general is incredibly short on locks and no one in club rugby seems to be putting their hands up

@KiwiInLondon said in Highlanders 2025:

@frugby wonder where they’d be getting locks from. NZ in general is incredibly short on locks and no one in club rugby seems to be putting their hands up

Hugo Plummer has been looking good for Wellington. I hope he is back again. Another lock. Bit of a lottery.

Can anyone do a rough idea of the Highlanders Squad next year?
Cheers

@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:

Imagine the poaching chat if we have those three in black. @Kiwiwomble agree, a lot of the loosies we are picking at the moment play in a very similar style to eachother too.

Added bonus of knowing the Springboks lineout calls.

@HLD2023Champions said in Highlanders 2025:

Can anyone do a rough idea of the Highlanders Squad next year?
Cheers

You’ll see it further up the thread mate. There’s been a couple updated ones.

fifita off to tonga nov 15 so will be playing again 2027

@ploughboy said in Highlanders 2025:

fifita off to tonga nov 15 so will be playing again 2027

So 21 when he returns?

@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:

@ploughboy said in Highlanders 2025:

fifita off to tonga nov 15 so will be playing again 2027

So 21 when he returns?

sorry not to sure

Not player related. But all club members apart from premium/elite north stand members are being forced to move into the speights stand. If they want to continue being a gold member or below ( being combined as a standard membership) for 2025

@cala7x i prefer the north stand myself, great view....but i get it, will look better on TV, might even build a better environment have more people together

Agreed. We have only ever had north stand memberships. So it's bitterly disappointing. And suggesting we can pay an extra $400 for two of us to stay in the stand is silly.

Much of the ticket pricing is dictated by Forsyth Barr, not the highlanders. The prices they pay to practice on the pitch are absolutely absurd. The agreement they have is ridiculous

Signing News.
TK Howden to the Highlanders, Will Tucker going the other way to the Canes - we are carrying three locks, that player is still TBC
Josh Bartlett is the prop from Australia... young Kiwi boy who played Western Force

NZ XV News
Jack Taylor, Oli Haig and Sean Withy expected to be named in the squad.

@frugby said in Highlanders 2025:

Josh Bartlett is the prop from Australia... young Kiwi boy who played Western Force

He is in the BOP squad again, and played one game for the Chiefs back in 2022. I'm not sure Bartlett is a better option than say Coxon.

@frugby said in Highlanders 2025:

Signing News.
TK Howden to the Highlanders, Will Tucker going the other way to the Canes - we are carrying three locks, that player is still TBC
Josh Bartlett is the prop from Australia... young Kiwi boy who played Western Force

NZ XV News
Jack Taylor, Oli Haig and Sean Withy expected to be named in the squad.

Really interesting loosie options with some big lads who can all switch into lock. Jospeh has talked about wanting to be the fittest pack, and not worry about being the biggest. This reflects it. Glad Taylor, Haig and Withy are being lined up. Hopefully they will be joined by some others like JRK, and even Ma'u. Millar should get a chance too

It's our season! (Second team, I'm clearly a sado-masochistic bandwagoner)..

So just racking the brain, a few things to note with the squad:

Props: I have heard Bartlett (player is from the Rebels or Force), but still not 100% on that one, as he is a loosehead. Potentially we are contracting seven props and have cut someone else? The other one from the Force could be Joel Hintz (would be a bizarre pickup I think?)... from the Rebels, Cabous Eloff could fit the bill.

Locks: JJ happy to carry three locks, as they are happy enough to get away with Stodart (and presumably Haig) on a matchday whilst they call someone else in. As for who that player could be, if they have let Tucker go, it is in theory someone better. Can discount Southland and Otago's others I think, so likely someone out of the region. Allan Craig, Hugo Plummer & Antonio Shalfoon are the first three who jump out - any other ideas?

Loose Forwards: We now have:
(6): Haig, Howden, Sanders
(7): Lasaqa, Withy, Michaels
(8): Renton, Stodart, Broughton

Sanders is a candidate to have potentially been cut, because he has been unsighted and listed as a largely unexplained injury for Otago... could have made room for Howden, or they are simply carrying 9 because that was where the quality was available.

In theory the squad breakdown by position assuming nobody has been cut is: HK (3), PR (6), LK (3), LF (9), HB (3), FH (2), MF (6), W/FB (6)

Has Lowe and/or Sanders taken an early release so we can carry a third first five?

@frugby Who are the Midfielders?

@HLD2023Champions said in Highlanders 2025:

@frugby Who are the Midfielders?

Gilbert, Umaga-Jensen, Tele'a, Whaanga x 2, Te Hiwi is my guess at the six. Matt Whaanga has been injured for Southland. The six outsides are' JRK, Tavatavanawai, Nareki, Tangitau, Hurley and Lowe.

@SouthernMann shit I liked that before clicking to Lowe. I guess in form he can do a job, that's very infrequent though.

@Bones said in Highlanders 2025:

@SouthernMann shit I liked that before clicking to Lowe. I guess in form he can do a job, that's very infrequent though.

Yeah the joy of signing him to a three year deal. He is going to get plenty of good tackle bag holding time next year. He probably still isn't going to be ready until a good few weeks into the comp. Peni from Southland could be worth a go. He just needs to get fit.