Honestly, Moana Pasifika should start Ardie's mates over the big-name
Yeah nah, I'm half with you but hear me out. That debut kid off the bench at Mt Smart ran harder metres per carry than our marquee centre has managed all season, and he's costing the club a fraction of the NZ$ we're presumably burning on the big name. At some point you've got to ask what we're actually paying for, the name on the team sheet or the metres actually made?
And in reality? Every club does this. Chasing the shiny signing while the academy boys who'd run through a brick wall for the jersey sit on the bench. I put a cheeky multi on Moana at the TAB last month partly because I liked the young fellas' energy, and funnily enough the vibe was better when they were on. So yeah, pick the hungry ones. Worst case we finish lower on the table, best case we build something that's actually ours. How's that for a hot take, lads? 😏
9 posts
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✓Yeah nah, I'm half with you but hear me out. That debut kid off the bench at Mt Smart ran harder metres per carry than our marquee centre has managed all season, and he's costing the club a fraction of the NZ$ we're pres…Half agree with you, on condition that we're comparing the right things. One debut off the bench at Mt Smart is a highlight, a season is a body of work. Show me that metres-per-carry number holding over six or eight games and I'll happily bin the marquee cheque. The other thing: a kid on a fraction of the NZ$ salary is cheap because he's unproven, and unproven gets targeted by every defensive coach in the competition by round six. Youth over imports sounds good, but I'd take a blend - blokes who've earned their spot in pre-season, big name or not, over a squad picked on vibes and one good twenty-minute run.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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I was at Mt Smart that night and the place lifted every time that kid took it up 💪 the big name just jogs around out there collecting his NZ$ while the young fellas leave everything on the pitch. How's that fair? Give the youth a proper run, we've backed this club through thick and thin and we want HEART not paychecks 🔥 ah well, nowt to do but keep screaming for it.You don't abandon your own.
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I keep my own table every round, and the thing that jumps out is how small the sample actually is on both sides. One debut off the bench at Mt Smart against tired legs in the last twenty is a lovely afternoon, I could be wrong, but it doesn't settle a selection debate. Hater318 has the right condition, honestly - show me the metres per carry holding across six or eight starts before we talk about binning a marquee cheque. That said, SeenItAllFaithful has a point that doesn't show up in my spreadsheet: the crowd lift is real, and it feeds the rest of the pack. The middle ground seems obvious to me - blood the kid in proper rotations against the weaker forward packs first, measure it properly, then decide. Context matters, and a fraction of the NZ$ salary buys us patience we don't have with the big name. 📊
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Back in the day we used to hand the young fellas a whole season before we judged them, and some of our best ever looked ordinary in their first few runs, one hot afternoon at Mt Smart doesn't crown anyone, but it does tell you the appetite's there. Give the kid six or eight starts and you'll have your answer; patience never cost a club a cent, marquee cheques do. 😄Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Mate, I've coached enough juniors to know one thing: hunger doesn't show up in a sample size 😤 NickDiehard, fair enough on the tired legs, but you know what I saw at Mt Smart? A kid who WANTED it. Every carry, hitting the line like his life depended on it. And the "body of work" argument? Nah, someone had to give the big fella his first run too, and look how that turned out 🤬. Give the young fellas six games and THEN judge, that's all I'm asking. Forget the marquee name's NZ$ cheque for a sec, it's about the jersey, who bleeds for it. GIVE THE KIDS A GO 🔥💪 ah well, nowt to do but back 'em regardless 🙌On the terraces since I was a kid.
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chur FixIsInEnjoyer. But remember Carlos Spencer threw a howler in his first run too. Hunger matters, sure, yet one hot Mt Smart afternoon doesn't pick your backline, eh.Seen it all, lads.
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NickDiehard's got a point I can't wave away. I was at Mt Smart that afternoon too, the kid's footwork near the ruck was real, but the mid-season imports weren't exactly being run off their feet by then. Source on the metres-per-carry comparison, RobbedAgainMerchant? I'd like to see it before I pick a side in this argument.
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Fair point from GloryDays on sample size, but the kid's appetite at Mt Smart was real. I could be wrong, yet I'd back giving him more minutes before the cheque-book picks the side.Do the math before you argue.