Hawke's Bay's best days are behind them and McLean Park deserves a
Right, unpopular opinion incoming: the 2021 Shield nights were magic but half you lot act like that side walked on water. This squad's got more grunt up front than people give credit for, and McLean Park deserves a proper title run before the window shuts. I'm keen to see who actually backs them versus who just nostalgia-trips every thread. 🤡
9 posts
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✓More grunt up front? Show me the numbers, because that 2021 pack held teams at the maul all season. This lot might surprise me, on condition the scrum actually holds in Wellington.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Was at McLean Park for one of those 2021 nights and yeah, magic 🔥 but this pack's earned way more respect than they're getting. Maul's coming right, boys are fitting, and the young loosies are everywhere. Give them a proper run and I reckon they'll shock a few, we're owed a title before the window shuts 💪🙌One love, one side ❤️
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Millie's got it right, I reckon - I keep my own round-by-round tables and the pack numbers this season sit closer to that 2021 mob than the doubters want to admit, especially at set piece. RobbedAgain, I could be wrong, but the maul defence has tightened noticeably since the middle of the season, which was the exact thing that 2021 side built those Shield nights on. Wellington scrum is the fair worry, hard out, but if it holds I'd back this lot at McLean Park before the window closes.
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watched the Shield come through McLean Park back when liniment was still the team physio, so I've seen a few eras come and go 😉 the 2021 nights were special, no argument, but young Nick's tables ring true to me - every good Bay pack I remember got written off first. give this lot their shot before we bury them.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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RobBeliever, son, i was at eden park on a tuesday night in the amateur days watching blokes hold down jobs all week and still beat the big smoke teams - so when someone tells me a shield win means a side walked on water, i smile and keep my mouth shut 😄 2021 was special, no argument from me. but watch as long as I have and you'll get it: those sides get remembered better than they played. that pack got rolled at the breakdown plenty of times and we all forgave it because of the trophy nights. nick's tables are saying what my eyes have been saying all season, the scrum's been steady since the taranaki match and the young loosies tackle themselves into the ground. seen worse bay teams get written off in august and lift the log at mclean park in october. the window's still open, boys, don't go closing it yourselves. 😉Been here longer than some have followed.
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Fair point on the set piece, Nick, but I want receipts before anyone anoints this pack as 2021's equal - that Shield side held off challenges at McLean Park with the whole town crammed in, and pressure does funny things to a young loosie. The maul coming right is genuinely encouraging though. I'll believe the rest when I see it under a Shield defence night, not in September against mid-table.Sample first, conclusions after.
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I could be wrong, but I reckon FixIsIn has landed on the honest middle ground here: the set piece numbers back the optimism, yet nobody's held a shield defence at McLean Park with the whole town crammed in, so the comparison stays open until this pack does it under that sort of pressure. I'll keep my tables updated either way, the window argument deserves a few more rounds before anyone calls it. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Fair point on the set piece, Nick, but I want receipts before anyone anoints this pack as 2021's equal - that Shield side held off challenges at McLean Park with the whole town crammed in, and pressure does funny things …@FixIsIn_Denier receipts? the boys will earn their own nights, that's how we've always done it down here 💪 yeah pressure does funny things, but look at how the maul fired up last few weeks tbh, every good Bay pack copped doubt first and answered it on the paddock. give these young fellas a full house at McLean Park and see what happens 🔥