General 2026 Team

[Playdaball]

Interesting that a few people have named Mellars in their teams for 2026. I would have thought he was very much a development project ? Even with all of Souths injuries this year he was still not able to break into their team.

 

[Christchurch_Warrior]

Interesting that a few people have named Mellars in their teams for 2026. I would have thought he was very much a development project ? Even with all of Souths injuries this year he was still not able to break into their team.

I think you will find it is the anyone but DWZ selection.

 

[CWC]

Heard from a coach on streaming saying the right centre is a key position in defense because that's the attackers' better passing side...makes you think if Pompey should be on the right since he's durable and experienced to provide stability, and he seems to be a leftie so does the sweep passes pretty well for the winger

 

[Cces]

Heard from a coach on streaming saying the right centre is a key position in defense because that's the attackers' better passing side...makes you think if Pompey should be on the right since he's durable and experienced to provide stability, and he seems to be a leftie so does the sweep passes pretty well for the winger

Pompey made Matt Feagai look like an elite Centre when he marked him on the right though

 

[CWC]

Pompey made Matt Feagai look like an elite Centre when he marked him on the right though

Better glide from Metcalf and faster second rowers might help? Otherwise it's Broke Berry or Ankle Ali lol

 

[Dannevegas]

View: https://youtu.be/1eYuX-MRAoM?si=QJ-ggQ38RzYGcigI

What??

Dunno why I thought Tauapiki was 21.
Except for Pompey over Roger and CHT at 6 I like that team. I don’t mind CHT at 6 I just think it’ll be Jye Linnane a halves pairing of Lynnane and Metcalf could be unreal

 

[CWC]

Dunno why I thought Tauapiki was 21.
Except for Pompey over Roger and CHT at 6 I like that team. I don’t mind CHT at 6 I just think it’ll be Jye Linnane a halves pairing of Lynnane and Metcalf could be unreal

That's probably the goal for '27 and how they build towards that in '26? CHT to take TMM's current "utility spot" and Metcalf x Linnane, Berry/Ali, AKP/Kali, Mellars 1st drop winger, Pompey 1st drop centre and Kali 2nd drop centre

Would be nice if Roger is still on fire and keeps 1 wing, then Kali can take a centre spot.

We still need a freaking fullback!

 

[Canonball]

Everyone is going to hate me for saying this but I think we have to think about how our lock plays next year too. Don't get me wrong, Clark had an amazing year and I enjoyed watching him get to work - however his style of play meant that we became limited on attack in an area where we were previously very strong - we had both Tohu and Walker in that role taking on and expanding play-making possibilities close to the ruck - Clark is just an entirely different kind of player - Tohu at his best was a freak, and Walker was a high level ball player - Clark is not that. Was interesting that TMM came in and took on that role to some extent in the finals match - Perhaps we see Vaimauga at 13 more next season? He's got the hands that Clark seems to lack.

 

[Warriors55]

Everyone is going to hate me for saying this but I think we have to think about how our lock plays next year too. Don't get me wrong, Clark had an amazing year and I enjoyed watching him get to work - however his style of play meant that we became limited on attack in an area where we were previously very strong - we had both Tohu and Walker in that role taking on and expanding play-making possibilities close to the ruck - Clark is just an entirely different kind of player - Tohu at his best was a freak, and Walker was a high level ball player - Clark is not that. Was interesting that TMM came in and took on that role to some extent in the finals match - Perhaps we see Vaimauga at 13 more next season? He's got the hands that Clark seems to lack.

I like that idea. I could definitely see Vaimauga as a good 13 for us in the future. Has the power game but also has the ball playing skills.

I could see Clark transitioning into a good prop for us in the future as well.

 

[Noitall]

Everyone is going to hate me for saying this but I think we have to think about how our lock plays next year too. Don't get me wrong, Clark had an amazing year and I enjoyed watching him get to work - however his style of play meant that we became limited on attack in an area where we were previously very strong - we had both Tohu and Walker in that role taking on and expanding play-making possibilities close to the ruck - Clark is just an entirely different kind of player - Tohu at his best was a freak, and Walker was a high level ball player - Clark is not that. Was interesting that TMM came in and took on that role to some extent in the finals match - Perhaps we see Vaimauga at 13 more next season? He's got the hands that Clark seems to lack.

Could be a bit to do with losing Metcalf because from accounts from Metcalf he credited a lot of his success to do with Erin Clark earlier in the season, they had something good going

 

[CWC]

Could be a bit to do with losing Metcalf because from accounts from Metcalf he credited a lot of his success to do with Erin Clark earlier in the season, they had something good going

Clark was telling him off for out of position lol

 

[Theking267]

Everyone is going to hate me for saying this but I think we have to think about how our lock plays next year too. Don't get me wrong, Clark had an amazing year and I enjoyed watching him get to work - however his style of play meant that we became limited on attack in an area where we were previously very strong - we had both Tohu and Walker in that role taking on and expanding play-making possibilities close to the ruck - Clark is just an entirely different kind of player - Tohu at his best was a freak, and Walker was a high level ball player - Clark is not that. Was interesting that TMM came in and took on that role to some extent in the finals match - Perhaps we see Vaimauga at 13 more next season? He's got the hands that Clark seems to lack.

To be honest they need to shift their attack wider just look at the effect Halasima has had with Pompey and RTS double figures in tries and CHT assists and tries.

 

[Noitall]

The Post

www.thepost.co.nz

Quite a good article

 

[Warriorshopeful]

I have no idea about these things but is it reasonably common to do the ACL again after surgery or does the surgery make it stronger? As above, pretty important, bearing in mind the number we have.

Depends on the person but usually for sport around 9 months is the typical safe return time basically back to same or better strength than before injury depending on how well you rehab. The only time people do their ACL's again after a reconstruction is if they don't rehab properly or from a new injury. Rehab's mostly about strengthening up the muscles as you lose strength from not using it plus generally they cut part of the hamstring to create the replacement ACL.

So as long as someone rehabs after doing an ACL properly it's the same risk of reinjuring as anyone else generally. Not like a dislocation where it weakens the joint which can cause repeated dislocations.