Beauden at 10 was a mistake
Gave the TAB my NZ$20 on Perofeta starting round one and even the punter beside me laughed, sure thing, mate. Eden Park was chanting Stephen's name last season before the injury, and the coaches still reached for the big name the second he was fit again. Never won a thing with sentiment, that lot. Wait for the fanboys to pile in 😏
13 posts
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✓Gave the TAB my NZ$20 on Perofeta starting round one and even the punter beside me laughed, sure thing, mate. Eden Park was chanting Stephen's name last season before the injury, and the coaches still reached for the big…That NZ$20 is doing more work in your argument than the footy ever did, mate. Eden Park chanting his name is a nice memory, but crowd noise doesn't win you a selection battle, what was Perofeta's actual record before the injury, beyond vibes and a few good patches? Because the same blokes singing in the stands go quiet pretty quick when the playmaking gets shaky against the Crusaders. I'm not saying Beauden at 10 is beyond question. His form last season was hardly untouchable, but "fans chanted, therefore the coaches got it wrong" is gut feeling dressed up as analysis. If Perofeta was genuinely the better option, show me the games where he ran the show against top opposition. Otherwise your TAB slip is the only concrete evidence in this whole thread.
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Vibes?? I was at Eden Park when Stephen torched the Crusaders. Whole stands up, chanting his name, half the boys round me said best 10 performance in years 😱🔥 Beauden's a legend, love the man, but form is form and Stephen had it. Then the injury hits and the jersey just gets handed back? Nah, that's soft coaching tbh. Ah well, nowt to do 💪You don't abandon your own.
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GloryDays, the record question deserves an answer, so here's mine from the spreadsheet I keep. Stephen's 2024 run before the injury wasn't a few good patches, he started well against the Crusaders and kept the level up across the stretch, and the attack clearly shaped itself around him at 10. Small sample, granted, and I could be wrong, but you watch the tape back and the difference is obvious: with Beauden we go wide and hope, with Stephen we play off the front foot and hit the line at pace. I say this with full respect for Beauden, one of the greats and he's earned every bit of his reputation. But selection should track the season in front of you, and the season in front of the coaches had Perofeta playing the best rugby of his career while the whole of Eden Park could see it. Handing the jersey back on name value sends the wrong message to the whole squad 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Reminds me of the Grant Fox debates when a challenger got hot. Form never mattered once the big name was fit. Stephen earned that jersey, simple as. 😄Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Funnily enough, Grant Fox kept his jersey by kicking goals you could set your watch by, and Stephen was doing the modern version of that with the whole attack humming round him. Back in the day the big name got the benefit of the doubt more often, fair enough, but a fit in-form 10 who had Eden Park on its feet deserves better than a courtesy call. Ah well, we'll see how long the coaches hold the line. 😄Seen it all, lads.
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Not convinced the big name earns anything by default. Stephen was shaping the whole attack before the injury. You don't hand that back on condition that the rehab went to plan. Show me the numbers for that call.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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RobbedAgainHater318, I'm with you on the last point, a rehab going to plan doesn't win a jersey back, weeks of footy do. I sat in the north stand when Stephen was carving up the Crusaders and the place was loud in a way I hadn't heard at Eden Park in years. One caveat from my own spreadsheet though 📊: the sample before the injury was short, so the coaching call is debatable rather than madness — just the wrong sort of debate to have when Bledisloe selection was looming.Numbers > vibes.
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Chur BadBeatKing, that north stand noise was something else. Coaches picking names over form, same old story, and Beauden at 10 proved it. Stephen was robbed, full stop 😏Any stat can be bent.
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Yeah nah, I keep my own spreadsheets on this and even I'll admit the sample on Beauden at 10 is too small to bury him outright, but Stephen's pre-injury tape against the Crusaders stands on its own. Rehab ticking along doesn't earn a jersey, form does, and the coaches never let him bank that form again. So the argument stays open for me until someone shows me numbers that beat what Eden Park saw last season 📊
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Yeah nah, I keep my own spreadsheets on this and even I'll admit the sample on Beauden at 10 is too small to bury him outright, but Stephen's pre-injury tape against the Crusaders stands on its own. Rehab ticking along d…@FixIsInPTSD so even a small sample means we can't fully blame Beauden? What counts as enough games then, just curious 😅 watching from the couch I honestly couldn't tell who was better.
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Yeah nah, I keep my own spreadsheets on this and even I'll admit the sample on Beauden at 10 is too small to bury him outright, but Stephen's pre-injury tape against the Crusaders stands on its own. Rehab ticking along d…@FixIsInPTSD word going round the club is the rehab was ahead of schedule weeks before anyone picked him, so the jersey call was made well before form could matter 🤫 Won't say more here, but those who know, know. Spreadsheets won't catch that sort of thing eh.Screenshot this.
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RideOrDieLegend, same boat here, I only started following selections closely this season 😅 What counts as a fair sample sounds like one of those things everyone argues about anyway. Maybe I'm wrong but feels like Stephen's form before the injury spoke for itself, rehab timing stuff just makes it murkier.