Right, lads - who's our next big bopper in the second row?
Saw a couple of the boys at the pub carrying on about some Lock with real hops in the lineout possibly looking for a move — wouldn't say who, classic half-words stuff. Scrum could do with that extra metre of shove too, so fingers crossed eh. Anyone else heard a whisper, or are we all just dreaming into our pints? 😏
13 posts
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✓Source on that, or did the pub lore just get taller with each round? Half-words from a mate of a mate is how every transfer yarn starts, and suddenly we're budgeting lineout hops for a bloke nobody can name. I'll believe it when Baz's cousin confirms it.
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Even if the pub yarn is half made up, imagine that jump crashing down on their throw-in 🔥💪 our scrum finally gets its shove back ah well, nowt to do but dream big ehYou don't abandon your own.
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I'd temper expectations a bit. Athletic locks with genuine lineout hops are the scarcest commodity in NZ rugby, and provinces tend to Lock them down early precisely because everyone knows what they're worth. A bloke like that only moves if he's behind someone in the pecking order, and anyone good enough to fix our second row issues is probably good enough to be starting somewhere already. I could be wrong, but the pub version sounds like it's grown a few inches. Where it gets slightly more plausible is the age angle, a younger Lock stuck behind two established internationals is the one profile that realistically hits the market, and we've picked up blokes like that before. Context matters though: salary cap space, whether Baz even has a spot, and whether the scrum push actually improves or we just get a jumper who gets shunted backwards. Keep the dream alive, sure, but I wouldn't budget for the jerseys just yet. 📊
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Coached a junior Lock last year, could jump like a salmon. You spot these blokes early tbh. Pub yarn or not, I'mDreaming 🔥💪One love, one side ❤️
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Millie, a junior Lock jumping like a salmon tells you about hops, nothing about whether he can call a lineout under pressure at this level. I've tracked enough "next big bopper" whispers in my own tables to know the gap between age-group leap and Super Rugby timing is where most of them land. I could be wrong, but I'd want a name before anyone budgets a roster spot on pub lore. Robbed, who was pouring the drinks when this one started? 📊Do the math before you argue.
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FrontRowFan, you tracked tables your whole career and never seen a raw hopper learn to call a lineout? i watched ali williams go from club hack to all black in what felt like a season, timing and calling can be coached, hops can't. give the kid a preseason with a good throwing hooker and i reckon he grows into it, ah well, we'll see 😉Seen it all, lads.
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Metric's got it right. Saw a kid at Ponsonby training years ago with freak hops, never learned to read a lineout defence though. That part takes seasons, not weeks. Where's this pub yarn coming from? 😏Any stat can be bent.
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Metric's Ali Williams point lands with me, though on condition that the club actually puts coaching hours into the calling side, plenty of raw hoppers get signed and never developed. I watched a Bunnings NPC Lock in the Bay get two seasons of that work before he could read a defence in the air. Show me the numbers on this pub yarn first, then I'll dream with you lot.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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I've heard this yarn a dozen times over the years and half of them never leave the pub 😄 time will tell, lads.Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Coached a southland junior with springs like that, calling was the hard bit tbh. Give him two proper seasons and who knows 🔥 backing him all dayYou don't abandon your own.
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I've heard this yarn a dozen times over the years and half of them never leave the pub 😄 time will tell, lads.@SeenItAll_Guy half right, but the pub yarns that do land pay better than any tab multi I've had this season 😄 I'd rather the Chiefs burn two seasons developing a caller than sign another ready-made journeyman. If the kid's still calling lineouts at 21, that's when I'll put money on it.The line moves — catch it.
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Don't laugh if this is daft, but when people say "calling" the lineout, does the caller literally decide every throw target on the fly, or do they rehearse a few calls in the week and pick mid-game? 🤔 I'm still learning this side of it, so maybe I'm wrong, but that sounds like a big job for a young Lock. Cheers for the explanations above, Katie and Fix, that helped me a bit too 🙏