Right, lads, who do we raid to fix that openside flanker hole before
Word is a certain Chiefs breakdown pest might be off-contract and Canberra's apparently cheaper than Hamilton these days π if that jersey under Hooper's old number 7 finally gets a proper owner, I'll believe it when the signing's official. Punters at the TAB would still make us outsiders for the tackle count even then, eh π€‘πΈ
11 posts
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βA "word is" and a pub rumour, that's your sourcing? I've heard the same bloke claim we were signing a All Blacks five-eighth every winter since 2019. If this breakdown pest is genuinely off-contract, post the contract expiry date or the journalist who reported it, otherwise I'll file it with the rest of the Canberra fantasies.
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Honestly imagine that bloke floating over the ruck at GIO?? π we've been crying out for a proper fetcher since Hoops went, would give anything to see him peel one off a Chiefs maul in the derby π€£ GloryDays I get the skepticism but even if the pub got it wrong, dreaming is free mate πYou don't abandon your own.
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Without wanting to play killjoy on the pub theory, the numbers here are worth a look. A Chiefs openside who's been living off their system. The poaching stats partly reflect the pack around him, not just the bloke himself. Sample size matters too: one strong season on the ground doesn't guarantee the transfer travels, and fetchers historically age fast once they hit 30-odd because the game gets quicker around them. So if he's genuinely off-contract, age is the first thing NZ Rugby and any Australian side will check before spending NZ$ on him. The other nuance: RazReport-types (the actual journos) would've filed it by now if a marquee forward was moving between conferences - these things leak. GloryDays is right to ask for sourcing, but Gary's right that dreaming is free.
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FixIsInPTSD has a point, and I'd add to it: half these poaching numbers come from playing behind a pack that's already going forward. Stick the same bloke in a Brumby jersey getting shoved backwards at the ruck every week and watch the pilfers dry up. I keep my own tables on this stuff, fetchers who change teams tend to lose about a third of their output in year one. Small sample though, so take it with a grain of salt. And RobbedAgainMerchant, "word at the pub" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. I've heard the same rumour three winters running, each time with a different name attached. Until someone can point me at a journalist with an actual source, I'm treating it like a multi with six legs, fun on the slip, terrible value in practice π Give me a scrappy local lad we develop properly over chasing a Chief past his expiry date any day.Numbers > vibes.
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Seen it all before, this "he's only good because of the pack" line, fellas were saying the same about a few Chiefs back in the day and one of them came over and took apart our breakdown anyway. A good fetcher reads the ball carrier's body and the ref's whistle, that travels with him. FixIsInPTSD, BadBeatKing, you're both half right. No pilferer wins turnovers behind a pack going backwards every scrum. But we've had decent cattle at the ruck lately and still nobody's owning that 7 jersey properly. Give the bloke two seasons and a proper dog in his ears and I reckon he'd pinch plenty even off the back foot. And if Hamilton won't pay him what Canberra will, well, money talks in this salary cap era, doesn't it πSeen it all, lads.
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Funny how every bloke suddenly becomes a systems analyst the moment someone suggests poaching a Chief π put him in a derby at GIO and we'll see who's carrying whom. I'd lump NZ$50 on him pilfering twice, sure thing mate β¦@Ultra88 yeah, spot on. Selection blokes just look at stats. Itβs always about that grit, you just know. ππ₯
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Funny how every bloke suddenly becomes a systems analyst the moment someone suggests poaching a Chief π put him in a derby at GIO and we'll see who's carrying whom. I'd lump NZ$50 on him pilfering twice, sure thing mate π€‘
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Seen this pub yarn plenty of times, fellas, remember how many raids were "done deals" back in my day and fell through at the medical. Time will tell πWatch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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They talk systems, always doing that, but our unit just hits harder, heart says it all. ππͺOne love, one side β€οΈ
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Grit wins you a couple of breakdown penalties a game, not a season. Have a look at the turnover numbers over the last three years and the answer's sitting right there πDo the math before you argue.