Blues 2018

[morepork]

A cultural oasis.

Why don't they just give you some chips man?

[zer0]

Blues are now 2/2 against the top ranked Australian (Waratahs) and South African (Lions) sides. Yeah bitches.

[Spy]

Good defensive effort to hold the Waratahs out late in the game. That was a good win.

[Lizard]

It felt weird actively wanting the Blues to win, but it was worth it to see the look on the face of the Waratahs fan down the hall. I hadn’t got to within 3m of his desk when he said, “Don’t even talk about the fuckin’ rugby, alright?”

[Scrumhead]

Gerard Cowley-Tuioti is a North Harbour lock who did quite well last year in the Mitre 10 Cup. Josh Goodhue is Jack's twin brother. Decent lock, but still very young.

Meanwhile, Matt Vaega still hasn't been called in as midfield cover. Orbyn Leger? Who?

Leger was on of the stand out players in the U20 World Cup last season. He’s a tall rangy centre.

[Spy]

Poor effort against the Rebels, and the Blues remain winless at home this year. The bag of spuds at my feet is small consolation.

[rowan]

Now I understand why the Blues fans all seem so keen to have the Sunpoodles around. Without them, the Aucks would be the undisputed laughing stock of the competition.

[zer0]

The Blues biggest problem is that they're, quite clearly, a big game team. Best South African side in Johannesburg? Bring on your biggest homer of a home town ref. Best Australian side in Sydney? Will do it with a collective hand tied behind their collective back, and one collective eye closed. Such a big game temperament results in the Blues winning 73% of their postseason matches. For comparisons sake, the Chiefs have an unmanly postseason record of 54%. The Hurricanes a contemptible 43%. The Crusaders a respectable 70%. The Highlanders an appalling 42%. Such a dominant -- intimidating, even -- postseason record has returned three titles, bettered only by one side in the entire southern half of the planet.

Of course, this big game temperament does have a downside, and there has been many a slight hiccup in matches of lesser importance. Such as the Rebels, for instance.

[rowan]

The Blues biggest problem is that they're, quite clearly, a big game team. Best South African side in Johannesburg? Bring on your biggest homer of a home town ref. Best Australian side in Sydney? Will do it with a collective hand tied behind their collective back, and one collective eye closed. Such a big game temperament results in the Blues winning 73% of their postseason matches . For comparisons sake, the Chiefs have an unmanly postseason record of 54%. The Hurricanes a contemptible 43% . The Crusaders a respectable 70% . The Highlanders an appalling 42%. Such a dominant -- intimidating, even -- postseason record has returned three titles, bettered only by one side in the entire southern half of the planet.

Interesting stats, but you must have been up half the night with your calculator figuring that out. I mean, wouldn't the Blues's playoffs fixtures mostly date back to a bygone century?

[morepork]

Zero is just being a dryballs.

Is Tana brown bread after this season?

[morepork]

No.2 is a stretch man. And not a solid viable business plan kind of speculator. I'll give you injuries, but with player resources from the Cape to wherever the fuck just short of the Waikato, why haven't the traditional victorious domestic campaigns of yesteryear transformed into a sustained professional powerhouse? There is something fucked up at the top that is insulated from the trenches.

[Lizard]

The Blues biggest problem is that they're, quite clearly, a big game team. Best South African side in Johannesburg? Bring on your biggest homer of a home town ref. Best Australian side in Sydney? Will do it with a collective hand tied behind their collective back, and one collective eye closed. Such a big game temperament results in the Blues winning 73% of their postseason matches. For comparisons sake, the Chiefs have an unmanly postseason record of 54%. The Hurricanes a contemptible 43%. The Crusaders a respectable 70%. The Highlanders an appalling 42%. Such a dominant -- intimidating, even -- postseason record has returned three titles, bettered only by one side in the entire southern half of the planet.

Of course, this big game temperament does have a downside, and there has been many a slight hiccup in matches of lesser importance. Such as the Rebels, for instance.

Yes, the Blues post-season record against the likes of Natal and Northern Transvaal is very impressive!

[rowan]

The Blues biggest problem is that they're, quite clearly, a big game team. Best South African side in Johannesburg? Bring on your biggest homer of a home town ref. Best Australian side in Sydney? Will do it with a collective hand tied behind their collective back, and one collective eye closed. Such a big game temperament results in the Blues winning 73% of their postseason matches. For comparisons sake, the Chiefs have an unmanly postseason record of 54%. The Hurricanes a contemptible 43%. The Crusaders a respectable 70%. The Highlanders an appalling 42%. Such a dominant -- intimidating, even -- postseason record has returned three titles, bettered only by one side in the entire southern half of the planet.

Of course, this big game temperament does have a downside, and there has been many a slight hiccup in matches of lesser importance. Such as the Rebels, for instance.

Yes, the Blues post-season record against the likes of Natal and Northern Transvaal is very impressive!

No wins against Rhodesia?

[Spy]

The Blues biggest problem is that they're, quite clearly, a big game team. Best South African side in Johannesburg? Bring on your biggest homer of a home town ref. Best Australian side in Sydney? Will do it with a collective hand tied behind their collective back, and one collective eye closed. Such a big game temperament results in the Blues winning 73% of their postseason matches. For comparisons sake, the Chiefs have an unmanly postseason record of 54%. The Hurricanes a contemptible 43%. The Crusaders a respectable 70%. The Highlanders an appalling 42%. Such a dominant -- intimidating, even -- postseason record has returned three titles, bettered only by one side in the entire southern half of the planet.

Of course, this big game temperament does have a downside, and there has been many a slight hiccup in matches of lesser importance. Such as the Rebels, for instance.

Outstanding stattage, zer0.

[rowan]

How many Blues rugby players does it take to change a light bulb?

Makes no difference. They can't climb a ladder!

Boom! Boom!

[morepork]

Get with the warriors boys. Shan Johnson is back strutting is stuff.Surely you can get a pie and a flat white in Penrose?

[Spy]

I can hardly tell you how good it was to watch a game in which the team we're supporting both played well and won. We were all buzzing with the novelty of it.

[morepork]

Crikey.

[Spy]

Umaga resigned. Not re-signed. Still in the coaching team, though. Probably for the best. He's not been able to sort the Blues myriad issues, many of which are probably out of his control, but that's the nature of the beast.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/a ... d=12160628

[Lizard]

Probably for the best.

[zer0]

Honestly, they need to reduce Auckland's influence on the province. It's clear that they can't hack it any more, and that the talent in the region is north of the bridge.

Build the 2019 squad around North Harbour, with a decent addition of Northland and a smattering of Auckland boys. Northland punched above their weight, turning their patch in Whangarei into a fortress, and while they lost their share on the road, at least their opponents knew that they had to earn their wins.

North Harbour were the leading lights in the Auckland region, absolutely clowning Auckland at Eden Park, and making Canterbury earn their wins over them during the season. In fact, the only teams that were able to beat Harbour were the two finalists (Canterbury and Tasman), and the fact that the Naki ended their round robin with a 60-point beat down in a match where the Shield wasn't on the line does have a bit of a "what if?" about it.

Auckland, by contrast, were a fucking joke.

Any update on this position? Surely if we're going off NPC form then we should've just be transplanting the entire Auckland side into the Blues, right? I mean they did win the thing by beating Tasman, Canterbury (twice), Northland and Harbour. It's quite clear that the talent in the region is south of the bridge...