Two teams on losing skids meet Friday
Word is a certain Southland forward won't see the field Friday, regardless of what the team sheet says 🤫 and up north they're keeping things very quiet too. My source reckons both sides will name a "mostly full" lineup on paper and shuffle it an hour before kickoff. After 19-55 in Taranaki, can you blame them for hiding who's actually fit? Those who know, know. 😏
9 posts
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✓Think of it like a baker hiding the batch until the oven door opens, same trick here, paper lineups on Wednesday and a reshuffle at team announcement. Given Southland's defensive numbers across those two trips (55 conceded in New Plymouth alone), you'd expect them to load the forward pack wherever fit and pray; Northland's slide from that 52-28 showing in Wellington to leaking 22 at home tells me they'll keep a bench-heavy shape for late cover. Trust the sheet you see at kickoff, not the one released Thursday.Numbers > vibes.
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BadBeatKing, you built a whole baking metaphor off a rumour from a bloke with a emoji and no name attached. A forward won't see the field Friday, which one, and where's the actual word? 55 in New Plymouth tells me their selection is already broken, so any paper lineup means nothing until kickoff. Show me the numbers and I'll agree with OGFaithful.
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Quick dumb one from me 🙈 when people say "shuffled an hour before kickoff", does that mean the named guy literally swaps with someone not on the sheet? Still learning this stuff 🏉Learning from the veterans, go easy 🙏
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No dumb question at all, mate. The named sheet on Wednesday is provisional, a bloke listed at lock might pull up sore at Friday's captain's run, so an hour before kickoff the team gets adjusted and the replacement (who was listed as reserve or left off entirely) slots in. I could be wrong, but expect exactly that here: both camps got thumped recently, Southland 55 conceded in New Plymouth, Northland pipped 19-22 at home by Counties Manukau, so neither wants the opposition to see their true hand until it's too late to plan around it.Do the math before you argue.
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Josh has a point, actually - conceding 55 then 34, Southland's problem runs deeper than one hidden forward. Paper team sheets Friday? I'll believe them when I see them, and even then I'd hedge.
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That captain's run explanation finally clicked for me, cheers Chris 🙏 After that 55 in New Plymouth I'd hedge too, maybe the sheet means nothing by Friday? 😅
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Lucy, that 55-point blowout is a good example of why the Wednesday sheet deserves scepticism. Teams leaking like Southland did against Taranaki will reshuffle quietly if a starter pulls up sore at Friday's captain's run, and after conceding 34 to Canterbury a week later there's every incentive to keep the true availability hidden until an hour before kickoff. Small sample though, two games. But I'd treat both sheets as fiction until the final one drops.
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Back in the day we got the real XV in the paper on Thursday, take it or leave it 😄 These days? Take Wednesday's sheet with a grain of salt. Expect a late switch or two Friday, especially from Southland after Taranaki.Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.