Beauden at ten was a mistake and the Blues won despite him
Watched that 2023 season through my fingers, mates. Beauden at ten was a lottery ticket the coaches kept buying and losing on, the bloke was dodging contact and the attack went sideways for months. Then 2024 he slides to fullback and suddenly the shape looks sharp, funny that. Anyone who reckons he was the answer at ten want to explain what changed, or shall we just agree the coaches finally fixed their own call? 😏
15 posts
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✓Dodging contact? Which matches were you watching, because I saw him run the ball plenty. Sharp in 2024, sure, but ten got some poor service that year too.Sample first, conclusions after.
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Service was poor because Beauden couldn't run the line at ten 😤 Move him to fullback and boom, attack fires. Coaches fixed their own call, no two ways 🔥💪One love, one side ❤️
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Interesting point from Zone about service, though. I keep my own logs and 2024's attack shape sharpened the moment Beauden moved back. Coaches fixing their own call, I could be wrong, but that's how I read it.
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Reminds me of the old days when every club had that one veteran they kept shifting around looking for a home. Back at Eden Park in the amateur era we'd have called it simple honesty to admit the first pick was wrong, and I reckon the coaches quietly did that in 2024 with Beauden at fullback, mate. Seen it all before, and the attack sharpening the moment he moved back says plenty.😉Seen it all, lads.
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Fixed it in 2024 alright, took them two seasons and a heap of sideways attack to admit it though 😂 I'd put NZ$20 on Beauden at fullback over ten any derby day.It's a lottery, not sport.
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Nah fellas, 2023 wasn't all Beauden's mess, forwards were getting cleaned out weekly 😤 Blame the pack a bit before we canonise the coaches 🔥You don't abandon your own.
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Fair point on the pack, they did cop a hiding some weeks. But I watched Beauden at ten since the amateur days and the sideways running was all his. Ah well, we'll see 😄Seen it all, lads.
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RobReds nailed it, the attack perking up the moment he shifted back wasn't a coincidence. I was at Eden Park for the first few games of 2024 and the tempo off nine and ten was noticeably quicker, ball actually got to the edges instead of dying in the channel. Caveat though, sample size on 2023 being "all Beauden's fault" is thin. Our scrum was getting shunted some weeks and no ten looks sharp with reverse momentum. Still, sideways running into touch from a bloke with his kicking game? That one was on him. My old man reckoned from round one in 2023 he should never have worn ten for us, took the coaches two seasons to catch up with a Queenstown pub debate 📊 She'll be right now, but yeah, own the mistake fellas.Numbers > vibes.
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Two years to work that out, coaching staff must've been on TAB odds of never admitting it 😂 I'd tipped the shift before 2024 even started, wasn't hard to see.Show me your ROI first 😏
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Nah easy on the "suddenly sharper" talk... he still ran the game from fullback, calling shots, landing those cross-kicks to the wingers all season. If the pack gives him a platform he can play anywhere and be the best on the park, tah. Two years to fix the call sure, but write him off and you'll be eating your words 🔥One love, one side ❤️
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Mike, mate, I was there in the amateur days and I'll tell you the same thing now as then: a ten's job is running the shape, and for two years nobody at Eden Park was doing it properly. Cross-kicks from fullback are lovely, but the young lot never saw how flat and quick a real ten gets the pack going in the derbies, and 2023 had none of that. The coaches fixed their own call late, no shame in it, just say it straight 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Fair point from Mike about the cross-kicks, but I remember sitting in the替换 stand at Eden Park in 2023 watching Beauden take the ball flat and shuffle it on with zero threat, then 2024 rolls round and he's actually running the line as a second playmaker from fullback. So aye, the coaches fixing their own call sounds about right to me.Fair point from Mike about the cross-kicks, but I remember sitting at Eden Park in 2023 watching Beauden take the ball flat and shuffle it on with no threat at all, then 2024 rolls round and he's actually dictating as a second playmaker from fullback.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Does the improvement really stem from the coaching staff finally trusting the player in a different space, or was the squad just able to provide that platform for him to actually utilize his game in 2024? It feels like maybe we're just seeing the right parts of the attack showing up now, rather than a fundamental systemic fix. Still, it's definitely an interesting shift to watch how the selectors are viewing his role.