Blues v Force Eden Park 26 March 2023

[volvo]

Also, great debut from Marley Pearce. He did not look out of place

[valzc]

Individual players playing well individually - if they could just get their shit together at the same time consistently would make a big difference. Really like Hamish’s running, he always takes the run straight ahead & puts some other boys to shame. Kicking ball away does my head in! And Bayley left 7 points on the field, has he now forgotten how to kick? Saw Isaac get yanked by the hair at one stage - ref no comment. Kiwi teams always have a player running off the shoulder in support, is it that hard to do? And yes - they really need to analyse the refs.

[boof1050]

Awful lot of passengers in the forwards in the first half. As soon as Wells, Williams and Faingaa came off we started to show some goods. Jeez the front rowers were immense. Kuenzle in defence had to do a lot of work as well, but for fuq sake keep him away from the goal kicks.

[boof1050]

All in all I think a much more connected performance, not good enough to stick with the blues, but I think if we had some more of our big names on the field the story would have been different.

Anstee looked great as a hybrid 7/6, spink, kibirige and Simpson were threatening the whole game. Tiatia and pulu were brilliant.just some of the little finishing off things to touch up on.

Poolman with another dumb play throwing a pass that shouldn't have been thrown, surely he's on last chance.

I liked Stewart at 10 this week.

It would have been nice to get those 2 advantages and we were cruelled by virtually no reffing at the breakdown, including them taking our halfback out 3 times and again cleaning miles past the ruck.

With stuff like that being ignored last week, being stuffed by the same thing this week suggests the coaches aren't sufficiently analysing refs.

Australian sides are too honest when it comes to the dark art’s always have been. But yet again the captain was saying sweet bugger to the ref about it.
As for Poolman maybe it’s time to give him a rest.
Strachan looked pretty tidy when he came on as well.

[WFDom]

The little things make the difference. Mistakes made at vital moments

I’ve not seen Medrano have a better game
Kalapu was very good
Spink carried so well & makes a huge difference defensively. Hard Hard bloke
Back 3 impressed
Callan offers so much but undoes his good stuff with stupid mistakes
Poolman is too loose
Hamish is the hardest tacking 10 in the comp

Wells again way too quiet

Better. But some way to go yet

And congrats Marley!

[valzc]

Tiatia was immense too, at one stage he did about 4 consecutive tackles, jumping up and onto the next! Wish they all showed as much initiative as some players seem to go to sleep.

[SNOB]

Tiatia was immense too, at one stage he did about 4 consecutive tackles, jumping up and onto the next! Wish they all showed as much initiative as some players seem to go to sleep.

Think you’ve nailed it Valzc! We always seem to be one man short. If they all played to their potential we would have more Ws than Ls!
Definitely a better performance than the game against the Reds but I don’t think much improvement on last week. Certainly didn’t help have having Hegarty dropping out at the last minute. Front row were fantastic and If Medrano isn’t mentioned in the team of the week I’ll put my tinfoil hat back on. Disappointed that we lost yet again but at least it wasn’t a cricket score. Next week will be a whole new story.

[.X.]

I dont get Poolman. He just seems like a bunny caught in the headlights whenever he is on the field.

What am I missing?

[shasta]

Next week will be a whole new story.

Maybe not. They might take the opportunity to rest their AB's too; play well again then belt the Tahs. Considering our situation, not totally frustrating today.

[SteveWA]

I dont get Poolman. He just seems like a bunny caught in the headlights whenever he is on the field.

What am I missing?

His age and experience at this level?

[WFDom]

His age and experience at this level?

Maybe one of the leadership group / coaches could have a word and tell him to cut the dumb shit out.

No speccy passing, take the ball in to contact and retain possession. Don’t get isolated etc

[palitu]

to be honest, i thought they played well, and better than expected. We didn't quite close out those opportunities, but man, this is the first year in many that i remember actually making the opportunities.

Like many are saying, the back three have been electric. Pulu, Kibannaci and TiaTia have been wow. i also dont remember the last time i constantly saw dominating tackles.

I rubbished the team at the start of the year. i hope that i am wrong, but i really feel like it is coming together. I feel bit bad for Kuenzle. He is obviously NOT a kicker, but is there in the absence of anyone else.

Kicking is an issue - we need a kicker to be able to get points and decent field position.

My whinge from the game - The Blues constantly took us past the ruck, and held on past the ruck, or brought them to ground, past the ruck. It is all on the edge of legal, but never quite over it. would have loved this to been brought to the refs attention, as it could have been managed better. I saw a comment above where we always seemed a man short, i think this is part of the reason.

[Tazzmania]

Wells again way too quiet
!

Not sure what you want from Wells, he played 40 Minutes, scored 1 Try, made 11 Tackles missed 1, won 1 lineout and conceded 1 penalty. For 40 minutes that is a huge amount of tackles.

[palitu]

Not sure what you want from Wells, he played 40 Minutes, scored 1 Try, made 11 Tackles missed 1, won 1 lineout and conceded 1 penalty. For 40 minutes that is a huge amount of tackles.

I think we are all a bit bitter at him swanning in and taking the captaincy away from a player that we like/are familiar with. he needs to be a pockok for us to be happy. He is also a quiet grafter, not a flashy obvious player.

[Tazzmania]

Awful lot of passengers in the forwards in the first half. As soon as Wells, Williams and Faingaa came off we started to show some goods. Jeez the front rowers were immense. Kuenzle in defence had to do a lot of work as well, but for fuq sake keep him away from the goal kicks.

Please look at the stats to see the hard work some of the players you mention are passengers:

Wells see my post above.

Williams: 13 Tackles 3 missed, 2 Turnovers won, made 12 metres with 6 carries, line outs won 5.

Faingaa: 2 carries for 2 Metres, 15 Tackles 1 missed, and 1 turn over won.

I would not classify those stats as passeneger stats.