Rumours and Stuff

[Poupou Escobar]

I'd say Takairangi is ahead of Hoffman. Reshuffle.

 

[hindy111]

Taka may end up in backrow.

 

[Bazal]

I'd say Takairangi is ahead of Hoffman. Reshuffle.

Given he's not a winger, BA has openly said French's future is at fullback, and Gutho is also not a winger, I'd say Hoff is ahead of Taka.

Taka would probably be ahead of Arrrvarararararararrr if he could play wing. But he can't.

 

[Bazal]

Taka may end up in backrow.

But again, who does he replace?

Wenty for Taka at full strength tbh.

 

[hindy111]

So why did BA extend Taka.

 

[oldmancraigy]

What about Taka on the bench? Provides cover for pretty well all positions in case of injury.
With no injuries gives good spot minutes as a wide running back rower - he is big and can offload.

If everyone is fit it is still hard not to have him in the squad!

 

[Bazal]

So why did BA extend Taka.

How much did he pay?

If you're going to use his extension as a reason for him to start, you need to look at all the facts. Did he extend for definite FG money? Or is he in that range that someone like Terepo or Vave is in as a bloke who is likely to play quite a bit of FG but not a definite starter?

Do you think he will make the bench over Kenny Edwards?

French will start the year at fullback, that's 100% with Gutho being injured. We won't move him unless he's not performing. That's the only way I see Taka being in FG at full strength, if French isn't performing at the back. Then French will take Auva'a's spot on the wing and Taka and Auva'a will be fighting for the centre spot.

 

[Bazal]

What about Taka on the bench? Provides cover for pretty well all positions in case of injury.
With no injuries gives good spot minutes as a wide running back rower - he is big and can offload.

Yes but the question is the same. Who does he replace? I like Taka but the simple fact is at full strength I just don't see a spot for him.

Backrow will be Ma'u and Tep. Bench will likely one of Pritchard/King, Alvaro, Scott, Edwards. And if we don't carry a hooker (which I think we will) BA has shown a liking for either another middle forward, given the minutes we can get out of our edge players, or for Will Smith who can cover spine positions.

 

[oldmancraigy]

Yes but the question is the same. Who does he replace? I like Taka but the simple fact is at full strength I just don't see a spot for him.

Backrow will be Ma'u and Tep. Bench will likely one of Pritchard/King, Alvaro, Scott, Edwards. And if we don't carry a hooker (which I think we will) BA has shown a liking for either another middle forward, given the minutes we can get out of our edge players, or for Will Smith who can cover spine positions.

BA hasnt carried a hooker on the bench unless forced to. I see him preferring an 80 minute player who is solid. My impression is that he trusts King with that spot. Kritchard would then be competing with Taka for a bench spot.

Why would Kritchard be ahead of Taka in order of preference?

Mind you, my assumption is based on a gut feel of where Arthur is coming from - but I guess so is everyone else?

 

[Twizzle]

Taka is a good utility player, every club needs a Taka.

The thing is, teams are very rarely, if ever, at full strength

 

[Bazal]

BA hasnt carried a hooker on the bench unless forced to. I see him preferring an 80 minute player who is solid. My impression is that he trusts King with that spot. Kritchard would then be competing with Taka for a bench spot.

Why would Kritchard be ahead of Taka in order of preference?

Mind you, my assumption is based on a gut feel of where Arthur is coming from - but I guess so is everyone else?

He's almost always carried a bench hooker unless he couldn't, tbh. So I'm assuming he'll continue with that. I could be wrong though. Plus King and Kritchard are both injury prone and IDG is clearly not going to play again so he might be forced into not carrying a bench hooker like he was this year

 

[Eelementary]

I too feel like Takairangi is a problem. Gutherson's defence is wasted on the wing. Auva'a is a first grader too, so he should stay in the top 17. What's the go with Taka next year? His defence has been hidden since moving to the left, since teams are focusing on our right side. He probably makes the fewest tackles of any centre in the NRL. The last time he made double digits in tackles was against the Bulldogs two months ago. Since then he has averaged seven tackles per game (he only made TWO against the Broncos on Thursday). And he is missing more than one per game (eight missed in seven games) for an 86% tackle effectiveness in that time.

In the meantime (since the Bulldogs game in June) Jennings has been called on to make 118 tackles (16.9 per game) with only 13 missed (90% effectiveness). So not really a slight on Takairangi so much as a massive credit to Jennings. 90% for a centre is awesome. I think Gutherson would probably put up similar numbers at centre.

Despite his limitations, I'm a huge Taka fan - he brings a great running game, a solid passing game, and a handy short kicking game.

He's also one of those personalities that teammates love to have with them in the trenches (like Kenny).

But where do we play him at full strength?

Quite the pickle.

 

[Eelementary]

How much did he pay?

If you're going to use his extension as a reason for him to start, you need to look at all the facts. Did he extend for definite FG money? Or is he in that range that someone like Terepo or Vave is in as a bloke who is likely to play quite a bit of FG but not a definite starter?

Do you think he will make the bench over Kenny Edwards?

French will start the year at fullback, that's 100% with Gutho being injured. We won't move him unless he's not performing. That's the only way I see Taka being in FG at full strength, if French isn't performing at the back. Then French will take Auva'a's spot on the wing and Taka and Auva'a will be fighting for the centre spot.

How good is it, though, to know that if we have injuries and/or suspensions, we have pretty bloody handy players like Taka we can count on?

Much better than our past few years, where we used players like that winger who broke Vatuvei's arm (Uaisele?), Tautai, etc.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Given he's not a winger, BA has openly said French's future is at fullback, and Gutho is also not a winger, I'd say Hoff is ahead of Taka.

Taka would probably be ahead of Arrrvarararararararrr if he could play wing. But he can't.

Auva'a wasn't a winger either but now he is. Takairangi has proven he's good in the air, and his go forward is good. Why isn't he a winger?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

What about Taka on the bench? Provides cover for pretty well all positions in case of injury.
With no injuries gives good spot minutes as a wide running back rower - he is big and can offload.

If everyone is fit it is still hard not to have him in the squad!

We could see Moeroa move permanently into the middle, with Takairangi playing his minutes at edge forward.

 

[Bazal]

Auva'a wasn't a winger either but now he is. Takairangi has proven he's good in the air, and his go forward is good. Why isn't he a winger?

Because he's slow as f**k and he turns like the Exxon Valdez?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

and a handy shirt kicking game.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Because he's slow as f**k and he turns like the Exxon Valdez?

It's a good reason not to play him at centre either, yet here we are.

 

[hindy111]

I reckon Taka is a genuine nrl player and him and his manager know it. Not over the hil age wise. And proven himself.
I doubt he signed for anything less then 250k+ Deff not signed for back up money.

 

[Bazal]

It's a good reason not to play him at centre either, yet here we are.

Yeah but at centre his speed is less of an issue and he has a winger outside him to turn and chase kicks.

Camping him out on the wing would be a disaster IMO because it would be so easy to get kicks in behind him. Plus it exacerbates his poor defensive decisions and when he inevitably gets caught out he's absolutely no hope of turning and recovering the situation.