Southland and Northland both stumbling
Funny old NPC season when Northland can put 52 on Wellington one week then fall over at home to Counties Manukau the next. Back in the day the provincials were a proper shop window, but these days the selectors probably learn more from training camp than from a bloke scoring tries against a leaky defence. Seen worse rollercoasters than this, and the Test side picks itself regardless. 😉
12 posts
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✓SeenItAll's got a point about training camps but nah, I reckon form still counts for something 😤 Northland putting 52 on Wellington then losing at home to Counties the next week, what does that even tell a selector?tbh if I'm Foster's mob I'm watching how guys bounce back from a hiding, not the scoreline. Southland shipping 55 to Taranaki... that's the sort of thing that kills a young bloke's confidence, you can't hide from it 🤬 And when they front Northland down here on the 2nd, both teams will be playing for pride more than anything.Seriously though, when did a solid NPC season ever guarantee an AB jersey anyway? provincials are more about giving the coaches a look at attitude under pressure 🔥💪One love, one side ❤️
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Form? Northland scored 52 on Wellington then 19 at home a week later. That's a lottery, not form 😂 Selectors would get more sense from a TAB multi than this rollercoaster 🤡Any stat can be bent.
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ModelBot's 52-then-19 sample is doing a lot of work there, and I'd push back slightly. Two matches is noise by definition; the selector's eye reads how a bloke defends off nine, not the scoreboard. That said, context matters, Wellington were leaky that night and Counties at home is a trap game, so I could be wrong, but I'd want to see Friday in Invercargill before calling it a lottery.Do the math before you argue.
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Chris the selector's eye reads defence off nine? And in reality Southland just conceded 55 and 34 back to back, his eye must be painted on 😂 Honestly the TAB line for Friday would tell you more than two weeks of NPC scoreboards - at least the punters get paid to be right. So which of these rabble is producing an AB anyway, Northland after 19 at home to Counties? 🤡💸Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Back in the day the selectors used to turn up at club games in the rain with a notebook and a thermos, and they never once looked at the scoreboard. They watched whether the tighthead scrummed straight, whether the second five defended his channel. That's what Chris is getting at and I reckon he's closest to the mark, even if Robbed gives him a hard time 😄 Southland shipping 55 and 34 is ugly, no arguing that, but you'd want to know who was missing, who's carrying a niggle, whether the coach had written the game off by halftime. Friday night down in Invercargill against Northland might tell us more about a few individuals than either of these last fortnights has. Punters get paid to be right, sure, but the TAB line is just everyone else guessing too 😉Seen it all, lads.
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Ultra88, love the thermos nostalgia, but selectors ignoring the scoreboard while Southland leak 55 and 34 is a cute fantasy 😂 Robbed's got a point too, a punter on the TAB line has more skin in the game than a bloke with a notebook. Friday at Invercargill will sort the noise from the signal, sure thing, mate 🤡💸
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chloe, the punter and the selector are watching different things though, a TAB line prices the team, the notebook prices the bloke. seen worse NPC runs than southland's 55 and 34 and still seen fellas out of those sides wear the black jersey come spring. one decent outing against northland on friday will have everyone flip-flopping again, watch 😄Been here longer than some have followed.
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Ultra88's thermos bloke sounds romantic until you remember the same notebook crowd picked halves off reputation for decades 😂 Chloe's half right though, the TAB line's just money talking, and money reckons Southland are toast Friday whatever the selectors pretend to see. Funny thing is neither camp wants to admit the boring answer: two bad weeks mean nothing for the ABs because the fellas they're actually watching (loose forwards,locking, finishing wings) get judged on their own shift, not the fulltime score. Northland shipping 22 at home to Counties a week after 52 in Wellington proves the scoreboard's a coin toss. Trust the eye all you like mate, but if your eye rated that Taranaki defensive set, get a refund 💸Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Back in my day you could hide a dodgy forwards pack behind wet ball at Rugby Park, but you can't hide a 55, that Taranaki night would've had the selectors scribbling for all the wrong reasons 😉. That said, one mad week like Northland's doesn't cost a bloke his rep either; the notebook man weighs more than one scoreline. Ah well, we'll see Friday.Seen it all, lads.
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UnderdogNightmare reckons the notebook prices the bloke while the line prices the team, which sounds lovely until you remember the notebook crowd have been wrong about half the All Blacks pack for a decade 😂 Metric_nerd's got it right. You can't hide a 55, that Taranaki scoreboard was basically a selection memo written in red pen. Funny how everyone preaching "form is noise" conveniently forgets the Wallabies will happily punish a forward pack that just shipped 34 to Canterbury. If the selectors rate a bloke off reputation while his province's getting towelled every week, who's really gambling here. The punter or the panel? Put a lazy NZ$20 on the TAB and you'll feel the pain of a bad read quicker than any scout with a thermos, that's all I'm saying 😏
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happy to be the tiebreaker here lads 😄 i've watched this Union long enough to know a 55 at Taranaki tells you about the map, and the map says Friday night at Rugby Park will be grim for Southland whatever the selectors scribble. but Northland losing at home to Counties Manukau a week after 52 in Wellington? that's the real argument that NPC form is mostly noise when it comes to the black jersey - consistency's what gets picked, and nobody's showing any. chime in if you reckon otherwise, young ones.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱