Forget the imports, our best halves pairing next season is homegrown
Watched that trial at HBF Park and the kid ran circles round the marquee signing while the coaching staff pretended not to notice, pecking order was sorted before he even laced his boots, mate. Wait for the fanboys to pile in defending the import like he's on a NZ$ million contract... oh wait 😂 If you fancy a flutter, take the field that the academy boy doesn't start round one, easy money at the TAB 💸
15 posts
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✓One tidy trial in February and suddenly the kid's the second coming? I've watched enough pre-season runabouts at HBF Park to know they're worth roughly nothing. Marquee signings take weeks to click into a new system, ask anyone who's followed Super Rugby Pacific long enough. And "ran circles round him", on what exactly, mate? Line breaks, metres, or just looked lively for twenty minutes against a near-full opposition pack? Coaches see fifteen training sessions a week we never clap eyes on. If the academy boy is genuinely ahead by round three, fine, I'll happily say I was wrong and you can buy me a beer at the clubhouse. Until then I'll back the staff picking the bloke they pay to start over vibes from a trial.Sample first, conclusions after.
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Hannah, mate, the kid didn't look "tidy" — he ran the show while the import looked lost 😱 Weeks to click? Trial like that and you still start him... pecking order sorted, no doubt 💪🔥One love, one side ❤️
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Hannah's got a point that one trial is a small sample, but here's the nuance: the kid didn't just have a tidy half, he outplayed a marquee signing playing the same game plan with largely the same 15, which is exactly the controlled comparison you want from a February runabout. Coaches don't start the import on reputation alone if the gap were genuinely nothing. Selection order at round one will tell us more than any of us guessing now. Give it three rounds of the table before we crown anyone.Numbers > vibes.
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Back in the day Force sides picked on form and nothing else, and you know what, the young fellas usually repaid the faith. Seen this movie before too. Import arrives with the fanfare, academy kid outplays him in the trials, coaches still go safe for round one. Hannah's got a point that February footy flatters nobody, but if the pecking order's written before a ball's kicked for points, I'll be grumbling from the couch with the rest of you 😉Seen it all, lads.
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BadBeatKing nails it, same system, same teammates, still outplayed him. My caveat: one trial, tiny sample. Trust the academy, but give the import till round four before we bury him. 📊
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Round four? I've put money on the kid starting by round two, would happily take that at the TAB over the import holding the ten jumper 😏🤡Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Nah mate, round two?! Coaches never drop a marquee signing that fast, they'll back him till it hurts 😤 take your NZ$ and bet the season, not the trial 🔥On the terraces since I was a kid.
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Round two sounds bold but I've watched footy long enough to know coaches protect their NZ$ investments, eh. Seen worse stubbornness than that. Still, if the kid keeps serving up what he did at HBF Park, even the safest coach has to crack eventually. Back your academy boys, they usually repay the faith. 😉Seen it all, trust me.
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FanaticTillIDie, I'm with you on coaches protecting investments - I could be wrong, but I've tracked every Force halves rotation in my own spreadsheet since 2019 and marquee signings basically never get benched before round four regardless of trial form. That said, Paul_Fan has half a point: one February trial at HBF Park is a small sample, and pre-season defensive lines are munted compared to a proper Super Round hit-out. My caveat is this. Watch the first two trial minutes each half, that's where coaches actually audition their real pecking order, everything else is window dressing. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Good point from ChrisDiehard387 about the round four pattern, that matches what I've got scribbled down too, and I've been keeping halves minutes on a spreadsheet for years now. The wrinkle here is that a trial in February tells us about hunger and fit, while round one tells us about trust. Those are different samples with different weightings, and I could be wrong, but coaches rarely re-weight on the strength of one pre-season outing no matter how clean the tape looked at HBF Park. So where does that leave the academy kid? Somewhere between "already decided" and "round two revolution", honestly. If the import struggles through the first month and the kid keeps stacking good minutes, the pressure builds faster than most marquees expect. If the import plays competent footy, the investment wins by default. I'd keep watching the bench split in the early rounds. That tells you more than any trial. No final call from me yet, this one deserves to breathe. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Good point from ChrisDiehard387 about the round four pattern, that matches what I've got scribbled down too, and I've been keeping halves minutes on a spreadsheet for years now. The wrinkle here is that a trial in Februa…@FrontRowFan nah that's spot on about trust. Coached juniors long enough to know - hunger wins trials, trust wins round one. You just know the kid's gotta keep turning up anyway 🔥
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Trust wins round one, nah I've seen it a hundred times coaching the juniors 😅 the hungrier kid gets the nod in Feb, then round one rolls round and the paid man starts. Seen it at every level tbh. Still, fair play to the kid if he keeps turning up like BadBeatMerchant says... that's ALL you can ask. Our lot never make it easy 🔥 but when a homegrown half puts his hand up week after week, the crowd gets right behind him and that counts for something too. Coaches feel that pressure whether they admit it or not 💪Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Blokes out here with spreadsheets tracking halves rotations since 2019 and I'm just proud I know the scoreboard works 😂 trust me, the kid keeps turning up, that's all we ask 🍿Hold my pint.