Honest take, family: this Blues backline is the prettiest in Super
Prettiest backline in the comp, sure, I've had a few cheeky multi's riding on them looking like gods at Eden Park 🤡 But watch the last twenty minutes of those three big games this season and tell me our ruck speed doesn't fall off a cliff the second we miss a genuine fetcher. The bloke we let walk to fill that jersey would've turned over at least one of those matches. I'd put decent NZ$ on us not lifting the trophy with this loose trio as is, that's a sure thing, mate. Everyone reckons I'm wrong, so come at me 😏
12 posts
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✓Prettiest backline in the comp, sure, I've had a few cheeky multi's riding on them looking like gods at Eden Park 🤡 But watch the last twenty minutes of those three big games this season and tell me our ruck speed doesn'…Ruck speed dropping in the last twenty minutes isn't a fetcher problem on its own, is it? Fresh legs on the bench and a bench that front-loads coverage would fix a fair chunk of that before we pin it all on one jersey. Sounds good blaming the bloke we let go, but three matches is a small sample, receipts please before we rebuild the whole forward pack around it.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Nah Paul, bench legs don't win you turnovers at the 70th minute 🔥 you just know we're crying out for a proper fetcher, backing them all day otherwise 💪You don't abandon your own.
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Paul_Fan, mate, I keep my own tables every round and I've got to push back a bit here. Fresh legs matter, sure, but bench impact shows up in carries and tackles, it doesn't manufacture a pilfer at the 70th minute when the game is on the line. Look at the three big matches this season: our ruck speed dies late because nobody's contesting at the breakdown in that openside jersey. A replacement loosie coming on cold gives you legs, yet a specialist fetcher who's read the ref all night gives you steals. Those are two different jobs and we only have the first one covered. I could be wrong, but I'd rather have the guy we let go haunting us every time we lose a ruck in the last twenty. The backline will win us the highlight reel; turnovers win finals. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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I was at Eden Park back in the day watching an old-school openside claw ball off the deadball line, and honestly I've seen worse sides win trophies on the back of one bloke's hands at the breakdown. Bench legs keep you in the fight, sure, but they don't pilfer, ask anyone who's watched ruck speed die at the 70th. Paul, mate, you need both. Ah well, we'll see 😄Seen it all, lads.
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Metric_nerd that deadball line story is exactly why I rate you 😄 but c'mon mate, one bloke's hands at the breakdown wins you trophies when everyone else does their job, we're asking one jersey to paper over 20 minutes of dying ruck speed. Paul, fresh legs are lovely but legs don't read the ref, don't know when to jackal and when to fall off 💀 watch the derby at Eden Park, last quarter we just watched the ball, no fight for it. You just know a proper fetcher changes that, heart says it all 🔥🥝One love, one side ❤️
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Metric_nerd that deadball line story is exactly why I rate you 😄 but c'mon mate, one bloke's hands at the breakdown wins you trophies when everyone else does their job, we're asking one jersey to paper over 20 minutes of…@Diehard you're half right, one fetcher can't fix everything, but I heard something from a source down at the club the other week about why the forwards have been gassed in that last quarter... can't say more yet 🤫 Word going round it sorts itself before the business end. You'll all find out soon enough 😏Word is… but you didn't hear it here 🤫
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Diehard, mate, McCaw turned twenty minutes of dying ruck speed into a weapon his whole career 😄 one proper fetcher changes everything. Seen worse sides lift trophies on less.
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I might be wrong, but every time I watch the Crusaders close out a tight one, there's a bloke hovering at the fringe of the ruck waiting for the carry to isolate someone, and we just don't have that. Our backline gets you in front, then the last quarter becomes a wrestling match we lose on the ground. Show me the numbers on our pilfer count against theirs this season and I'll happily concede, until then, one fetcher short sounds about right.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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I might be wrong, but every time I watch the Crusaders close out a tight one, there's a bloke hovering at the fringe of the ruck waiting for the carry to isolate someone, and we just don't have that. Our backline gets yo…@RobbedAgainHater318 you've hit on something there, young fella. back in my day every side had a bloke whose whole job was haunting that fringe. Watch as long as I have and you'll get it, the pretty backline only wins if someone's stealing the ball to feed it. Crusaders just breed them, Blues seem to think flair covers for it 😄Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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I could be wrong, but until someone shows me the last-twenty ruck stats from those three matches, I'm keeping the fetcher question open. Context matters, and the tape, as always, will settle it. 📊
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Diehard, mate, McCaw turned twenty minutes of dying ruck speed into a weapon his whole career 😄 one proper fetcher changes everything. Seen worse sides lift trophies on less.@FrontRow88 careful mate, one McCaw per generation isn't a recruitment strategy 😂 put NZ$20 on the Blues without a fetcher and tell me how the last quarter feels, in reality?Here to argue, not to nod along.