Who will start up front for Otago against Auckland on 1 October?
Word from a source down this way is Otago won't rip the thing up after Harbour slotted 32 on them — same pack that buried Counties Manukau by plenty, just a shuffle in the midfield and one fresh face on the wing. Those who know, know why the backline got a tweak 😏 Can't say more, naming day will tell you the rest.
Auckland's camp has been quieter than a Monday morning in Dunedin, and after Manawatu put 40 on them at home you'd think changes are coming whether the coaches like it or not. Word is they'll start mostly settled too, though - we'll all find out soon enough 🤫
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✓BenBlues, that whisper sounds tidy but "one fresh face on the wing" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Who is it? And whose spot does he take? If the midfield shuffle is injury-driven rather than tactical, that changes the read entirely - NickDiehard is calling it a patch job, but a patch job assumes the coach had a choice. Harbour ran 32 on them and if one of those busted channels was because a centre is crook, keeping the same pack forward doesn't fix the actual leak. I'll concede the Counties Manukau win counts for something, on condition that you remember Counties shipped points to everyone this season. Fifty from them proves very little about how this defence holds against an Auckland side that put 40 past Manawatu even while losing at home. Show me the numbers on who's actually in the gym this week - until the team list drops, every insider whisper is just a punt with better manners.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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If BenBlues' whisper is right, I'd back the call to keep that pack, they put 50 on Counties Manukau nine days earlier, and Harbour's 32 came off turnovers and busted midfield channels, not upfront dominance, so a midfield shuffle plus a fresh wing reads like the correct patch job. I could be wrong, but on Auckland's side the 34:40 home slip against Manawatu says their edges got exposed too, and I'd expect at least one change in the outside backs on naming day. The team sheets on 1 October will tell us more than any leak, honestly 📊
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Sorry, dumb question incoming 😅, when you blokes say "patch job", does that mean like a quick fix that only works for one game? NickDiehard said the midfield shuffle reads like the correct patch job and I get the gist but want to be sure I'm reading the thread right 🙏 cheers!New here, soaking it up.
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Good question Josh, nobody minds a vocab check. A patch job means exactly what you think - a minimal fix that plugs the obvious leaks without rebuilding anything. So swapping two midfielders and adding a winger is Otago papering over those busted channels Harbour exploited at 32 points, while backing the same forward pack that racked up 50 against Counties Manukau.Numbers > vibes.
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To answer RobbedAgainHater318's scepticism, I could be wrong, but the injury question cuts both ways here: if the midfield shuffle is forced, Otago have very little choice, because they conceded 32 to North Harbour through those busted channels and simply have to change something before Auckland arrive on 1 October. The Counties Manukau 50 was nine days earlier and against a looser defensive set, so the two results aren't equally weighted when you're picking a side. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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ChrisDiehard makes sense to me, if Harbour carved you up through those channels, you can't really back the same midfield twice in a row. Though maybe I'm wrong, but I'd have thought a coach would at least rotate one lock after a 21:32 night like that. Bit of a solo perspective: I watched the Counties Manukau game with my flatmate (he's an Otago man, I'm just a neutrally curious barista 😅) and they looked so sharp that night it feels weird they'd change much at all. Maybe keeping the settled 50:21 pack is the right call rather than panicking over one loss? Also Josh, your question wasn't dumb at all, I was wondering the same thing earlier in the thread 🙏
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Lucy, rotation makes sense on paper, but the Counties Manukau pack earned their spots, fifty points covers a lot of defensive sins. I'd back the same eight at Dunedin.Do the math before you argue.
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Seen this movie before, haha, coaches talk tough during the week then pick near enough the same fifteen anyway. Fifty past Counties buys the pack another trip, agrees with FrontRowFan, but Harbour made 32 look far too easy out wide so expect the backs shuffled proper come naming day. That being said, leaks travel fast these days; half the country will have the team sheet before the official email lands 😉 Anyone remember how quick the score used to spread at Eden Park back in my day? Women whisper louder now... at odds, NZ forums stand still while 😏Remember when the grass was greener 🌱