Right, lads, who's our next big bopper?
Right, someone's gotta say it before the fanboys pile in, word doing the rounds is there's a 2.04m lock plying his trade in the Bunnings NPC who the franchise reckons could come cheap before the cap really bites. Won't name names cos I'd be guessing same as you, but mate, a lineout target that tall to partner the skipper? Yes please.
Second row's been crying out for a genuine big bopper since forever, and if he costs sweet buggar-all then that's just good business. Anyone else heard whisper of who it might be? 😏
9 posts
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✓2.04m and cheap? Sounds good, but show me the numbers, who's actually tipped this bloke in, or is it just your mate's cousin's mate again?Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Who cares who tipped him in, 2.04m off a singleNPC budget?? Sign him up yesterday 😱🔥 We've been crying out for a genuine second jumper to take the lineouts off the skipper's shoulders for seasons... imagine that glue pot at the tail with our loosies round the corner 💪 Mean if it's true.One love, one side ❤️
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RobbedAgain has a fair point, we don't even have a name, so temper the hype. But the logic stacks up more than you'd think: a 2.04m lock sitting in the NPC is exactly the profile franchises hoover up on development deals before the cap proper kicks in, because the salary hit is minimal and the upside is a second lineout jumper nobody has to pay for yet. Age is the real question. If he's 20-22, this is a standard development project; if he's 26 and still unsigns in the NPC, I'd want to know why before anyone celebrates. I could be wrong, but the realistic version here is a training squad spot with development contract money, not an immediate starting berth beside the skipper. Cheap now, judged in three seasons. Which, given how we've mined the NPC for forwards over the years, is honestly how most of our good ones arrived anyway. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Fair shout from FrontRowFan but one NPC season on a development deal tells you nothing, small sample though it fits the recruitment pattern. I'd want lineout win rate on his own throw against real packs, not just height and a cheap price tag. If someone can actually name the bloke I'll pull his numbers tonight. 📊
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Seen worse punts than a kid learning his trade in the NPC, believe me - back in my day half the All Black locks started as gangly no-names nobody had heard of. One season of tape tells you plenty if you actually watch the feet and the hands, not just the throw stat. Cost us next to buggar-all, so what's the risk, eh 😄Been here longer than some have followed.
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Watching a heap of NPC this season and the tall timber who actually stands out are the ones jumping at 2 at club level already, not just in lineouts. Blokes standing over the ball in maul defence, that's the tell. So yeah I'd back UnderdogNightmare, feet and hands on tape before we anoint anyone. If he's genuinely 2.04m AND mobile we're winning regardless, cheap as chips is just gravy 😏It's a lottery, not sport.
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Model_Head's maul defence point is the only bit of this thread I'd actually sign off on, height means nothing if a journeyman front rower walks him back five metres every scrum. My caveat: one good NPC tape session tells you a bloke can play NPC, plenty have stopped right there. I watched half a season of Bunnings from a mate's couch in Hamilton two years back convinced a lock was the next big thing, and he's now scrumming for one of the King Country clubs. Source on the 2.04m kid even having a name, or are we scouting rumours now?
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heard this tune before, lads. Remember the 2-metre freak from a few seasons back everyone swore was the next big bopper? never threw a ball in anger for us. glorydays has it right, npc tape is a start not a finish. time will tell, as the old coaches used to say 😉