Harbour's problem isn't the forwards
Two seasons of the same midfield and we're all surprised the attack looks like it's running on dial-up. Meanwhile there's a young second five tearing up Premier reserve footy at North Harbour Stadium every Saturday while two blokes in the black and white stripes keep getting picked on reputation alone. And in reality? The coaches have had enough footage to know this combo doesn't work, they just don't have the nerve to bin it.
Honestly I'd put my TAB money on the reserve kid making more line breaks in three weeks than our current pairing has managed since last season, and that's saying something because the punters in here know I don't lose bets 😏 How many more flat second fives before someone at Albany grows a spine and picks on form instead of loyalty? 🤡💸
16 posts
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✓Two seasons of the same pairing does sting, I'll grant you that, but "tearing up Premier reserve footy" isn't the argument you think it is, reserve grade defence is nothing like NPC midfield traffic, and plenty of guys have looked world-class there then vanished at senior level. If the kid is genuinely ahead of the incumbents, name what he's actually shown against first-choice opposition, because otherwise it's just a nice story we keep telling ourselves. Pick on merit, not on vibes.
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Josh, how's he supposed to handle NPC traffic if we never give him a proper go? 🔥 Every good midfielder started somewhere. Back the kid, coaches! 💪Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Josh has a point about the step up, but we'll never know if the kid handles it until he gets actual game time. Depends how you count a "proper go", though - twenty minutes off the bench doesn't cut it.Numbers > vibes.
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I remember when Harbour gave young fellas a real go in the old days, back in my day a raw midfielder would get thrown into an NPC game against someone like Canterbury at Onewa Domain and learn the hard way, in front of a few thousand of us yelling at him. Some sank, some came right. That's how it used to be and that's how you found out what you had. Josh is right that reserve grade isn't NPC traffic, no argument there. But BadBeatKing nails it, twenty minutes off the pine tells you nothing either. Give the kid a start or two in games we're not expected to win anyway, and see. Seen worse gambles than that from this union, believe me. 😄Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Josh, i hear what you're saying about reserve grade, honest I do. But back in my day the same argument got used to keep blokes parked in the twos for years, and half of them we never saw again. Remember how some of the great midfielders learned their trade, thrown in against Canterbury with no soft landing, made mistakes, came right. You can't judge a kid on NPC traffic he's never been allowed to drive in. Two seasons of the same pairing and hoping is the bigger gamble here, if you ask me. The young fella might sink, sure, but at least we'd know. Watching him carve up Premier reserves every Saturday while the midfield stalls does nobody any good. Give him four or five proper starts, not twenty minutes when the game's already gone. That's all us old fellas are saying. 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Fair question from MatchdayTillIDie, but here's the part nobody's addressing: it goes both ways. Twenty minutes of garbage time against a dead rubber late in the season isn't development either, and that's exactly what we've been dishing out to Josh while the same two midfielders run the same plays into the same defensive line every week. Sounds good when coaches say they're "building continuity", but what's the receipt there? Where's the evidence that pairing has produced anything two seasons in? A bloke playing regular footy in Premier reserves at our own ground, with actual ball in hand and actual decisions to make, is at least getting reps that transfer. Reserve grade traffic versus NPC traffic, sure, gap exists. But you don't cross a gap by standing still. Give the kid three full starts and find out. Worst case, we learn something true instead of hoping something comfortable.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Paul_Fan nails it, twenty garbage-time minutes teaches a young second five nothing either way. Only caveat: small sample though, we've maybe had three decent windows to judge him properly. 📊
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Small sample? Sure thing, mate. We've been taking small samples of this midfield for two full seasons and somehow that counts as proof they work. 😏 Here's what gets me: everyone's terrified the kid gets roasted by a proper Bunnings NPC side for 80 minutes, but he's already getting roasted in a different way - 20 minutes here, dead rubber there, no rhythm, no consequence. At least a full start against someone like Canterbury teaches you what hurt actually feels like. I'd rather lose two games finding out if the young fella's the real deal than lose six more watching the same straight-line running into touch. Which, let's face it, is the more likely outcome with the current pair. Just asking the obvious: what exactly are we waiting for? 🤡Any stat can be bent.
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Gary with the facts 🔥 kid's already copping it in the twos, how's proper NPC footy worse? Give him a go... what are we actually scared of?? 🤬One love, one side ❤️
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i'll push back gently here - i've watched npc footy since the amateur days and seen plenty of kids get fed to the wolves and come out better for it, but throwing a young second five into a proper Bunnings derby cold, with no real minutes behind him, can break a fella too 😄 seen worse than what Josh's copping, and my worry is one shocker against Auckland and his confidence goes the way of the moa. ease him in properly instead of either extreme.Been here longer than some have followed.
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Underdog's got a point worth testing. Seen the kid at Onewa Domain in the twos. Looks comfortable, but a cold NPC derby is a different animal. Can't argue with either side fully.
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Underdog's got a point worth testing. Seen the kid at Onewa Domain in the twos. Looks comfortable, but a cold NPC derby is a different animal. Can't argue with either side fully.@GloryDays_4Life every kid looks comfy in the twos mate, trust me 😅 bench him first like FrontRowFan says, see if he bites in. Why rush him into a derby?On the terraces since I was a kid.
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GloryDays, I'm with you and Underdog both, mostly. I could be wrong, but there's a middle path nobody's mentioned: give him fifteen off the bench against a side we should beat at home first, before anyone talks about a cold start in a derby. I keep my own stats sheet every round and the midfield combinations have barely changed in two seasons, so what exactly are we protecting by keeping the kid parked in Premier reserve?Do the math before you argue.
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Read the whole thread twice with my coffee this morning and honestly nobody's wrong, which is the annoying part. The selection inertia is real - two seasons of the same pairing and expecting a different attack is its own kind of madness. But Underdog and GloryDays are right that a cold start in a Bunnings derby against a full-strength midfield is a different animal to Premier reserve footy, no matter how good the twos form looks from Onewa Domain. Where I land, for now: FrontRowFan's bench path makes the most sense on the evidence we actually have. Fifteen minutes against a side we should beat at home, track his decision-making under NPC pace, then reassess before anyone throws him into a derby start. I keep my own tables every round and even I can't produce a sample size big enough to settle this one, the kid hasn't played the minutes. So I'm happy leaving the argument open.Do the math before you argue.
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Seriously @ChrisDiehard387, selection inertia is where teams go to retire in style, I guess. You put the same squad together and wonder why they're still acting like they're running a corporate synergy seminar? Makes watching the NPC look a bit like waiting for a perfectly aged bottle of sauvignon blanc... only the flavour is usually just salt. 😂🍿Hold my pint.