I think the current Test setup is coasting entirely on reputation
Reputation keeps names in the squad long after the form has gone, and I reckon that's exactly where the next big series will bite us. I keep my own tracking sheet each round and the pattern is always the same: established picks get an extra season of benefit of the doubt while a versatile young forward has to be flawless just to make the bench. I could be wrong, but selection on versatility over name value has to start now, not after we've been exposed.
6 posts
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✓Nah mate, you're spot on with the reputation thing 😤 our lot never make it easy, do they? Pick the young versatile fellas NOW and back them, because heart says it all but heart doesn't tackle. My whole junior squad plays every position, why can't the Test setup do the same? 🖤💚
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been watching these series since the old amateur days and this argument never goes away, fellas. every era someone says the established names are riding on reputation, and every era a few of them prove us wrong and a few don't. i sat in the rain at Eden Park more nights than i can count watching picks that "shouldn't" have been there win Bledisloe tests on pure stubbornness. versatility's a fair point, ah well, we'll see. 😉Seen it all, lads.
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Fair point Metric_nerd, every era has this argument. But your claim cuts both ways, doesn't it? If a few always prove us wrong, how do you know which names deserve the benefit of the doubt before the series exposes them? Sounds good but I'd like the receipts on who's actually earned another season.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Paul_Fan has a fair point, and I'll cop to it: without a proper sample you can't separate a name on reputation from a name still earning it. I don't have hard recent figures for the Test side to point at, so my rule of thumb is versatility under pressure. If a bloke covers two positions and still holds his own, that's the receipt I'll take before a series exposes anyone. 📊Numbers > vibes.
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Plenty of sense in this thread from the young lot, I'll grant that. But seasons have a way of sorting the talkers from the tacklers, eh. We'll see come the next series. 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱