Ardie saving his best games for the All Blacks while our halves keep
Ardie playing superhuman every time the All Blacks selectors are in the stand while we churn through a new halves combo each week. Funny how that works π. And here I was thinking the coach picks the team, not the star flanker's schedule. Maybe the next halves pairing should be chosen by whoever the TAB favourites are that week, would probably be more consistent than what we're running now.
And before the North Harbour boys turn up dribbling about some club footy legend in NZ$2 socks at Albany. Mate, if he was the answer, someone would've signed him by now. It's a lottery, not sport, this selection stuff π€‘
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βArdie playing superhuman every time the All Blacks selectors are in the stand while we churn through a new halves combo each week. Funny how that works π. And here I was thinking the coach picks the team, not the star flβ¦The conspiracy writes itself when you want it to, doesn't it? Ardie's a good enough forward that playing well against anyone shouldn't need explaining. Halfbacks get rotated because Moana have been forced into it, injuries, NPC call-ups, the lot, and no club player at Albany is suddenly walking into a Super Rugby Pacific starting side on Harbour faith alone. Source on the "saving his best" bit, or is that just a vibe?Sample first, conclusions after.
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Ardie leaves his BODY on the pitch every week, selectors there or not π€¬ Show me one lazy game in that jersey, I'll wait πͺHeart with the team, head on pause.
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I've got the halves churn on my spreadsheet and it's grim viewing π. We've rolled out a different pairing in nearly every match this season, which is a recipe for zero combination and slow ball at the base. Sam's dead right about Ardie, though. Any forward who turns up against the Crusaders' pack the way he does isn't saving anything for later; the tape shows the same workload week after week. Selectors in the stand or no, the man just plays. Where I'd push back on the conspiracy is the sample. Rotating halves tells me the coaching box genuinely doesn't know their best combo yet, which is a selection problem, plain and simple. A player doesn't get a say in that. Could be wrong, but if Ardie were truly picking the team, the halves would've been settled by round six. The North Harbour kid at Albany in the NZ$2 socks? Happy to look at his club numbers before I laugh it off. Context matters.Do the math before you argue.
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back in my day at Carisbrook the halves picked themselves because you could only afford the one halfback and he played with a broken finger most of winter π. watched as long as I have and you'll get it β churn like this usually means nobody upstairs trusts anybody, and that's a coach problem, not Ardie's schedule. seen worse seasons though, barely.Been here longer than some have followed.
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FrontRowFan's spreadsheet sounds like the TAB should sponsor it π. I'd wager a decent chunk of NZ$ that half the churn is injury luck, nobody flips combos on purpose. And this North Harbour myth about some club savior in NZ$2 socks, if he was the answer, every Bunnings NPC scout would've signed him by now, sure thing mate π€‘Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Nah Ardie's not picking the team π€ injuries happen every club, we just cop em worse. Trust the coach, through thick and thin. Recall that derby scrap we got stuck in? Ah well, nowt to do π₯You don't abandon your own.
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Trust the coach he says π mate I've watched selections since before Super Rugby even had a name, and no side wins anything with a new halves pairing every week - combination is everything, always has been. Seen worse seasons than this mind, but only just. And if Ardie's timing his best games with the All Blacks selectors in the stand, that says more about who's actually planning things than any of us would like to admit πWatch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Funny how everyone calls it injury luck yet nobody's produced the actual injury list week by week. If half those changes were forced, show me who was ruled out and when, receipts please. Until then "bad luck" looks a lot like a coach who hasn't settled on his best pair and knows it.Sample first, conclusions after.
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FixIsIn_Denier has a point about receipts, though my own tracking sheet backs the injury story more often than not. I log every forced change and most of the halves churn has been availability, not preference. Small sample though, and I'll concede two of the pairings looked like genuine "coach hasn't decided" calls. For what it's worth, my sheet lives in the same notebook as my Auckland derby notes, and even I can't make the numbers fully exonerate anyone yet π
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I'd take the TAB line on Ardie's carry count before an All Blacks window any week, they always spike π. And in reality? Availability beats combination every time. No coach wins with half his cupboard empty.Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Nah RobbedAgain, "availability beats combination" only works if the availability story actually stacks up and FixIsInPTSD is the only one who's shown any receipts π . Ardie going full beast mode whenever the ABs selectorsβ¦Ha, back in my day we just called it a big fella lifting for the test week. Ardie's always played like that, no TAB conspiracy needed πWatch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Nah RobbedAgain, "availability beats combination" only works if the availability story actually stacks up and FixIsInPTSD is the only one who's shown any receipts π . Ardie going full beast mode whenever the ABs selectors are watching? you just know there's something in that π. And enough with the Harbour club rugby in NZ$2 socks talk, if he's that good put him on the park and prove it π€·Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Funny how a bloke teaching maths on a Monday morning finds himself defending the coach's spreadsheet, but here we are. FixIsInPTSD, I'm with you on the availability angle, my own tally of the halves pairings backs most of the churn being forced, though I'll admit there's a nuance here: forced changes explain the rotating door, they don't explain why none of the pairings have been given two full weeks together when bodies allowed it. That's where the coach owns some of it. As for Ardie, the carry counts spiking around Test windows is the kind of thing you'd expect from any professional with selectors in the stand, and he's earned every stat of it regardless. The North Harbour bloke in the NZ$2 socks can keep dreaming at Albany until someone puts his name on a team sheet. Verdict? I've got my suspicions on both counts, small sample though, and I'll happily eat my words if the next pairing sticks for three rounds straight. πNumbers > vibes.