Right, lads. Who's our dream No. 8?
Yeah nah, hear me out lads. Word is one of the All Blacks loosies might actually be off contract come 2026, and the whispers I've caught suggest the Tahs are sniffing around with proper money. Talking the kind of coin that makes your eyes water, NZ$1.2m a season territory.
And in reality? If the bloke's keen and the back row finally gets sorted, I'd lump on that being the best spend this club's made in a decade. Put my TAB multi on us making the top four the year after he signs, that's how sure I am 😏 Anyone else hearing the same noise or am I dreaming?
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✓Whispers you've caught, from whom exactly? Name one source with a track record and I'll take it seriously, otherwise this is standard silly-season nonsense that gets recycled every winter. NZ$1.2m for a bloke who hasn't been named is a big call - I'll believe it when the contract's signed, not before.Sample first, conclusions after.
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Honestly if we pulled an All Blacks quality 8 for NZ$1.2m I'd sack the whole recruitment team 😱💪 imagine that size and skill rolling off OUR scrum, dream on lads 🔥One love, one side ❤️
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I could be wrong, but the age profile is the first thing I'd check here. An All Blacks loose forward who'll be off contract in 2026 is likely the wrong side of 30 by the time he pulls on sky blue, and No. 8 is a position where you want your big money spent on a guy who's got four or five seasons in him, not two. NZ$1.2m a season across a short deal is a lot of cap space tied up in a player whose best years we'd be renting, and I'd want to see how his body's held up over the next 18 months before anyone cheers. Second thing, and it's the boring one: would NZ Rugby even let him walk? They've been squeezing the wallet to keep the best loose forwards home, so the rumor only makes sense if there's a contract dispute or a logjam in the back row. If he's genuinely surplus there, brilliant, sign him tomorrow. But I'd want the recruitment team's Plan B sorted first, because chasing a big-name signing that falls through in October is how you end up scrambling for a journeyman in January.Do the math before you argue.
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FrontRowFan's got a point about the age but back in the day we wrote off fellas at 30 and lived to regret it. Kieran Read was still bossing Test footy well into his thirties, and a proper No. 8 is more about smarts and workrate than pace anyway. Ah well, we'll see 😉Seen it all, lads.
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Funny how every bloke I'd put a TAB multi on to leave NZ rugby ends up in a Tahs jersey rumour 😂 If he fronts derbies in sky blue I'll cop it, but I'll believe it when I see it 😏Any stat can be bent.
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Metric_nerd, sounds good but Read had a decade of Super form behind him. Show me the numbers on this bloke's last two seasons before we spend NZ$1.2m on vibes.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Nah vibes is exactly what a No.8 runs on tbh 😂 workrate + smarts, you just know when a fella's got it. Backing him all day 🙌💙Heart with the team, head on pause.
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RobbedAgainHater318, happy to show you the numbers, but there's a nuance here. Workrate stats only mean something next to the quality of the pack around him. Same bloke behind a beaten forward pack looks like a 6 out of 10; give him front-foot ball and suddenly he's "bossing tests". I keep my own per-round table on carries after contact and defensive ruck arrivals, and that's the bit nobody quotes in these threads because it's harder to cherry-pick. That said, NZ$1.2m is a lot of salary cap for a No. 8 whose best work might rely on an All Blacks calibre pack we don't have yet. Pay that money and you're building the whole back row budget around one signature. Worth it if he fronts, sure, small sample though on how he'd travel to a new system entirely. I'll believe the rumour when I see him at training photos, same as BadBeatAndy.Numbers > vibes.
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Seen this movie before, young fellas - remember the big signing whispers a few years back that had everyone booking flights to the SFS, then the bloke re-signed across the Tasman a fortnight later? 😄 NZ$1.2m talks loud but time will tell, that's all I'll say.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Seen this movie before, young fellas - remember the big signing whispers a few years back that had everyone booking flights to the SFS, then the bloke re-signed across the Tasman a fortnight later? 😄 NZ$1.2m talks loud b…@MatchdayTillIDie ha, that one hurt at the time, I remember my flatmate going on about it for weeks 😅. NZ$1.2m is a lot of faith to put in anyone before they've even trained with the squad though, so I get the "wait and see" thing. Go easy on me if this is daft, but is it really the same situation, or am I mixing up my signings? 🤔New here, soaking it up.
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BadBeatKing nails it tbh. Remember our lot in the club days, one bloke looked average behind a shunted pack then a weapon with front-foot ball 😱 backing him all day 💪Heart with the team, head on pause.
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BadBeatKing nails it tbh. Remember our lot in the club days, one bloke looked average behind a shunted pack then a weapon with front-foot ball 😱 backing him all day 💪Seriously tho, they look like a dud until they get the right scrum machine behind them. Magic! 🤣🍿😂Memes are analysis too.