Be honest, lads, this year's Crusaders are carrying on reputation
Honestly, I reckon any punter who backed us at home this season deserves a refund. Three losses at Rugby Park? Razor's sides used to treat that ground like a fortress. Reputation alone won't beat anyone in 2024, and deep down you all know I'm right 😏
14 posts
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✓Reputation alone? Razor's rebuild took a few seasons too, unless you've forgotten 2017 already. Give the new coach more than three home losses before writing the obituary.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Three home losses hurts, sure, but writing the obituary already? 😤 Half these derbies were one bounce away. Back the lads through thick and thin. Crusaders till I die 💪One love, one side ❤️
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Hater318's got the fairer read here, honestly - Razor's first couple of seasons had stumbles too, and rebuilding a side after that much experience walks out the door was always going to sting. Depends how you count it, mind: three home losses is a small sample though, and two of those derbies were decided by one bounce and a refereeing call. I'll back the coach before I write anyone's obituary. 📊Numbers > vibes.
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I've got to side with Paul_Fan here, mostly. I keep my own table every round and the thing that jumps out at me isn't the three home losses as a raw number. It's when they happened and who was wearing ten in each of them. I could be wrong, but the pattern reads more like selections than game plan to me, because when the shape has looked right, it's looked genuinely right. Caveat though: Paul's framing about Razor having his ten sorted "by year two" is a touch tidy. Depends how you count it. There were weeks in 2017 where the midfield combination was still being chewed over and nobody called it a crisis then. I was at the Highlanders derby this season sitting near a bloke who's had the same seat since Lancaster Park days, and even he said the plan looked fine, the execution at the key positions didn't. Context matters, and one bounce in two of those derbies and we're having a different conversation. Not obituary time yet. 📊
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Nick's onto something with that ten comment. Selections over game plan, easy. Razor had his picks locked by year two, this mob's still tossing coins at training 😏Any stat can be bent.
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Nah Andy, selections aren't the whole story 😤 Who's running the defence lineout? Ten's easy to blame when the forwards get rolled up front 🔥
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StandsGuyFan1986, I was at the Bledisloe nights at Eden Park when ten didn't matter because the forwards gave the bloke half a second to breathe, so I'm with you. Back in the day we blamed the pack first and asked questions later. Seen worse seasons than this too, mind - but you're right, no forward platform and no game plan survives, whichever jersey number wears ten 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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SeenItAll_Guy's got a point worth pinning down. Define "rolled up front" though - scrum, maul, or breakdown speed? The answer changes who we're actually blaming here.
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OffsideKing_Gate asking for definitions is the right instinct, because I keep my own breakdown numbers round by round and the breakdown loss at the tackle is where our matches have been dying, not the set piece. Caveat though: three home defeats is a tiny sample, one rotten afternoon against a strong Hurricanes pack can skew the whole picture. Saw it live from the stands and the ten barely got front-foot ball all second half.Numbers > vibes.
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BootToBallGuru's tackle-area tallies line up with what my own sheet says, breakdown loss rate is the one metric that's moved year on year, while the scrum stats have barely shifted, and that nuance matters before anyone pins it on the ten. Three home defeats is a small sample though, so I'd hold off on the funeral until we see how the Chiefs match goes. Different problem, same argument next round, I reckon.
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Nah watch a game from the chair sometime, the cleanout speed is the killer 🔥 I coach the juniors and even they know first man in wins the breakdown. Hard out on the pack taking the blame tbhIn the stands since I was a kid.