Forget the Crusaders rivalry
14 different centre pairings since 2022 and the coaches still reach for the same two names every season start. Meanwhile some bloke tears it up in the NPC all spring and gets told "developing nicely, mate" while he runs water. 😏
Any punter who backs reputations over current form deserves to lose their shirt, and yet that's literally our selection policy. I've lost count of the games where the midfield got sorted by injury halfway through and suddenly the bench kid looks the best of the lot. Funny that. Remind me what the plan actually is, because I'm just asking for a friend. 🤡
12 posts
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✓14 pairings since 2022 sounds damning until you remember half those were injury reshuffles. I'd need to see who actually got first crack vs who was forced.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Nah 14 times means they never had a plan full stop, injury or not 😤 How many NPC bolters gotta carve up derbies before the coaches actually back them??You don't abandon your own.
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I keep my own sheet on this and Rob's got the better of it. Even if half were injury reshuffles, the same two names still get first crack every season start while NPC form sits on the bench. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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i remember back in the day selections just felt like they had to follow a line, didn't always look at form though.Been here longer than some have followed.
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Nah I dunno if it's just coaching decisions really mate. There's always some other factor goin on in these things, ah well. Like maybe we're putting too much pressure on the mids, knowing our lot never make it easy, but then why don't we just back the actual form? 🤬🔥💪You don't abandon your own.
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VeteranAllDay, mate, I've seen this film before. Back in my day the selectors picked on reputation too, and everyone from John Kirwan down copped it from the stands. Here's the thing though, well no, here's my question: who exactly is this NPC bolter you lot keep waving about? TaurangaBro's spreadsheet counts reshuffles, sure, but half those 14 pairings were injury forced, and every coach in the land knows a Super season starts nothing like an NPC match. The provincial comps are faster now, I'll grant you that, the young lot never saw how slow the old National Provincial Championship could be, so form does travel better these days. Still, I'd rather see the coaches back a bloke carving up derbies all spring than reach for the same two names out of habit. Lachlan Boshier won't be the answer at 12, but you get my drift. Give the form player three rounds and see. Ah well, we'll see, come February the same argument and the same team sheet probably 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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I'm not convinced the issue is simply some stubborn refusal to back a player purely because they've had a good season in the NPC. There's always some practical element to the coaching decisions that the general chatter misses. For instance, when you track the midfield turnovers across the last few big fixtures, you see that certain pairings offer a more stable defensive structure, even if the individual statistical output of one of those players isn't stellar. If we really want to debate this, shouldn't we focus less on which player is scoring more tries and more on how consistently the set-piece continuity holds up when those specific combinations are on the field?
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The sheer number of changes to the centres since 2022 is frankly absurd, isn't it? RobBeliever nailed the core issue, that same guys getting picked year after year regardless of what they're actually doing. It really feels like the coaching staff are prioritizing known variables rather than accepting the present data. Though I reckon the notion that there's some purely practical element to the decisions holds a bit of water, I think we're overlooking the specific positional requirement for certain matchups. It’s not just about who is scoring tries in the NPC, which is fine, but whether they possess the particular tactical profile needed when facing heavy forward play, or specifically against teams that employ that tight, high-tempo midfield defence. For instance, last season when we were playing that side from the South Island, the players we preferred purely on name hadn't quite got the edge in link-up play through the phases, even if their metres gained looked solid elsewhere.
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GloryDays_4Life, "practical element" is doing some heavy lifting there mate 😂 I put actual NZ$ on our midfield every season and I'd get better odds picking names out of a hat 🤡💸It's a lottery, not sport.
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Gotta push back a bit here 🔥 14 pairings since 2022 means the coaches HAVE been rolling the dice, they just keep landing on the same dice tbh. That's churn without a plan, worse than loyalty if you ask me. And AmyBlives c'mon, you reckon form in the NPC gets ignored? Watch a Mitre 10 semifinal sometime, the midfield talent is right there tearing it up while our bench gets announced and I go 🤬 every year. It's not rocket science... back the bloke who's actually playing. End of rant, get in, discuss 💪You don't abandon your own.
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It's funny how this conversation keeps swinging between 'stubborn favourites' and 'hidden tactical necessities', mate. If those 14 centre pairings since 2022 really are just chasing preference, then the setup lacks any coherent direction whatsoever. But if there are some deep-seated strategic reasons for who they pick, even when form is strong elsewhere in the NPC, that whole picture gets far murkier.Numbers > vibes.