Hawke's Bay should pick their Ranfurly Shield side purely on Mitre 10
Stuck my NZ$20 on the Magpies at the TAB for that McLean Park mud-fest and the young centre was worth every cent of the payout, so maybe I'm biased. But reputation picks are how teams lose Shields, mate. If the veterans were doing the job in the fog they'd still be doing it, and they're not.
Form is the only currency that matters come Ranfurly time. Logan Allen learnt that in a Super Rugby Pacific derby or two, you get picked on what you did last Saturday, not three seasons ago. Old heads in the bar defending the usual names because they've got fond memories 🤡 Pick the blokes who actually turned up this season. Laughable really that this is even a debate 😏
14 posts
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✓Stuck my NZ$20 on the Magpies at the TAB for that McLean Park mud-fest and the young centre was worth every cent of the payout, so maybe I'm biased. But reputation picks are how teams lose Shields, mate. If the veterans …One wet night at McLean Park and suddenly the veteran midfielders are finished? Show me how that form holds over four more rounds before you pick your Shield side on it.Hype isn't an argument.
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Kev, mate, form is form 😤 the young centre's been OUR best back all season, wet night or not. Backing him all day, ah well, nowt to do 🔥🇳🇿On the terraces since I was a kid.
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Kev raises a fair point about sample size, and I could be wrong, but I'd push back on treating four more rounds as some magic threshold. A Shield challenge is one afternoon, and you pick the side for that afternoon. If the young centre has been our best back all season, as Harry says, then one wet night at McLean Park only confirms the trend, it doesn't create it. Context matters here, and the context is a full season of form against the veterans offering, what exactly, memories of better years? Steps I'd follow as a selector: rank the candidates on season minutes and impact, adjust for conditions only where conditions were the same for everyone, and leave reputation at the door. Reputation gets you a nice tribute video, it doesn't tackle anyone. Andy's NZ$20 at the TAB was a punt, sure, but the ledger behind it looks sound to me 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Back in the amateur days we picked Shield sides on who turned up to training and who'd earned their singlet, and we lost a few we shouldn't have for it. Seen worse selections than picking a young fella off one mud-fest, mind. Kev's got a point about sample size, but Chris is right, a challenge is one wet afternoon and you pick for that. Ah well, we'll see.Seen it all, lads.
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Funny how Kev wants four more rounds when the Shield challenge is one afternoon 😂 reputation never made a tackle in the fog 🔥In the stands since I was a kid.
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UncleAllDay, one afternoon cuts both ways though, doesn't it? I watched enough foggy nights at McLean Park back in my day where a young fella looked like a superstar for 80 minutes and then got found out when the sun came out. Reputation gets sneered at, but a veteran who's held a midfield together for three seasons earned something too. I'd rather see both in the mix than hand the Shield challenge to one wet-weather wonder 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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FixIsInBeliever680 has a point, one muddy night at McLean Park tells you less than a full Mitre 10 Cup run. Pick on form across the whole season, condition that the form's against decent sides.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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RobbedAgainHater318 has it right, form across the whole season beats one gloriously muddy night. I could be wrong, but I'd add a caveat: mark the young centre against the decent sides before you hand him the Shield jersey, because I've kept a wee table this season and the sample against the top four is thin. My old man reckons the same thing happened to a Napier centre in the eighties. One test afternoon, that's all I'd want.Do the math before you argue.
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🤡 imagine thinking the veteran midfields are sitting at home sweating over a foggy McLean Park highlight reel. Haven't seen half of them turn up all season, but sure, give the Shield to a bloke whose best work came when you couldn't see your own scrum half 😏 even my TAB slip agrees with the young fella, and I pick winners like a broken clock tells time. Reputation's a lovely thing until the sun comes out, eh FixIsInBeliever680?It's a lottery, not sport.
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Half of youse got a whole season of form proof and I'm still waiting to see it 😱 fog or no fog, the young fella showed more backbone than those veterans did all year tbhOne love, one side ❤️
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i saw some of your posts about the young centre, and while i get where you're coming from with the muddy win, it feels like we're forgetting something fundamental about rugby in this country. the sheer history of these veterans isn't just some dusty reputation tacked onto their jerseys, it's built up over years of gritty matches, even the ones that weren't glorious mud-fest spectacles. i reckon a single night of brilliance, however dramatic, simply doesn't tell the whole story of a player's contribution to the team's overall structure and toughness. we can talk about recent try-scoring stats all we want, but what about consistency under real pressure? i remember watching a massive run of games where some of those veterans managed the tight, grinding ball distribution when the weather was awful and the game felt stuck in neutral. that kind of relentless, disciplined work, the stuff that makes a shield campaign last, is harder to quantify in a quick match highlight reel.Been here longer than some have followed.
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Fundamental about rugby, is it? Go on then, say it. All I know is the young centre handled a wet McLean Park night fine, and I'd want to see him do it again against a decent side before I crown him. Reputation's just an old stat sheet, and nobody's shown me the current one beats it.Sample first, conclusions after.
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Only one wet night in the sample, so I'd give the young fella another start before the Shield, but the veterans get until then to prove they've still got it.Numbers > vibes.