Are we actually getting too comfortable with the All Blacks'
Honestly, I find the whole "complacency" talk a bit rich, mate. Winning easily against the opposition you’re up against is just the expectation when you're at this level, in reality? Whinging about a Tier 2 victory suggests you haven't followed the line properly, or maybe you just don't get how these dominant runs work. Remind me of your ROI when you start critiquing standard form.
15 posts
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✓It's easy to just brush these things off when we're all so proud of what the team does, mate. But even though we love the wins and the history, suggesting that just because they're beating a Tier 2 side doesn't mean there's any genuine threat of complacency feels a bit like dodging the issue. We're constantly on the lookout for signs that the sharpness isn't quite there, and relying on pedigree alone isn't a long-term plan, no matter how much fun it is to win big. A few soft moments against these teams don't necessarily mean the spirit's gone, but they definitely raise questions about the required commitment to the next challenge, especially when the stakes are higher against the top blue flags. We need to see that same intensity in the execution, not just the scoreboard.
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Nah Rob, comfort kills, I've seen it at club level, blokes coast in a blowout then get done in a tight one 🔥 Sure Tier 2 sides are meant to lose, but I want to see hunger for 80 mins not 40. Remember 2007 France, everyone got comfy and boom, gone 😱 Ah well, nowt to do but back them through thick and thin 💪You don't abandon your own.
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Comfort kills, agreed with SeenItAllFaithful there. A 40-minute effort against a Tier 2 side gets punished the moment the intensity lifts, and history says it always does.Do the math before you argue.
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back in the day we used to get nervous trips to Athletic Park in a southerly, and the All Blacks still dropped matches they had no business losing. comfort crept in then too, so i'd say SeenItAllFaithful has it right, hunger over the full 80 is what separates the great sides from the good ones. ah well, we'll seeSeen it all, lads.
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Comfort? We put 40 mins in and everyone panics 😱 blokes, they still won didn't they. Beat the rush to doom, eh 🔥On the terraces since I was a kid.
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it always gets me when these debates start up about whether we're coasting or how much fire is left in the machine. remember those series a couple of years back, the ones against that specific tier two side? everyone was talking about how comfortable they seemed and how little pressure they were under. but i saw the way they handled the pressure in the tight moments; it wasn't about raw panic, it was about routine and execution. the difference to me is that competence is a mighty thing, isn't it? it takes years of grinding through those impossible training camps and playing the tough tours where nobody gives you a break, just to get to a point where the basics are automatic. you don't always see that hunger in every single match, but seeing consistent performance when the opponent offers nothing is the true testament to a well-coached, highly fit pack. we can't judge the whole season on one afternoon, no matter how nice the line looked on the TAB.Been here longer than some have followed.
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Winning comfortably settles nothing though. Anyone remember how the scoreboard looked at halftime in that Tier 2 match? You were there FixIsInEnjoyer, did the intensity actually lift after the break or did we all just enjoy the scoreline? I'll take a scrappy 80-minute grind over a polished 40 every time.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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I could be wrong, but I side with Paul_Fan here. Sat in the stands that second half and the urgency never really lifted. Comfort is how Bunnings NPC upsets happen. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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The nervousness over these easy wins is always funny; just betting on the All Blacks is the only real sport here, mate.Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Bit rich calling it nerves when the second half looked like a training run tbh 🤔 I coached juniors on Saturday and those blokes showed more urgency in drills than what I saw after halftime. Comfortable wins are fine, but where was the lift? Not seeing it 😱
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it's the standard now, mate. you're watching elite athletes just doing the job.
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Funny how everyone calls it "doing the job" until a Tier 2 side turns the second half into an ambush. I remember 2007 Cardiff, comfort cost us then too. Source on elite being an excuse?
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The way Nick Ultra described the second half felt spot on, mate. That lack of real acceleration was palpable when you looked at the phases in the final quarter. My take isn't that they've stopped caring, but perhaps we are mislabeling high-level execution as lack of urgency. When you are dealing with a Tier 2 side, controlling the space and racking up the line gains simply becomes a function of skill, not necessarily intense athletic strain for the whole 80 minutes. I noticed the forward pack, specifically the breakdown retention rate, looked significantly lower after the 60 minute mark compared to the first half. It suggests management perhaps got comfortable with the rhythm we set and allowed the tempo to drop. We rely too heavily on the raw talent, but the sheer sustained pressure from those big games, like the one against the European sides earlier in the year, is what forces that elite, match-defining intensity every single time.
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FixIsInPTSD might have it right, though one second half is a thin sample. I keep a table of these and I'd want three or four more games before calling it complacency. Open question for me still.Numbers > vibes.