1
RTS
2 ISP Winger
3
Beale
4 Some ISP guy e.g
Milne
5 Big Ken
6
CHT
7
Green
8
Ah Mau
9
Roache
10 Passi
11
Papali'i
12
Harris
13
Burr
14
Afoa
15
Jazz
16
Lisone
17 Sao
I have had a long hard think and I want the following players dropped
1)
Blair. He was brought here as a prop. Then he said he didn't want to be a prop because he didn't like the hard contact associated with hitting the ball up. He wanted to coast around and pick his spots as a back rower. He should have been dropped immediately for making that suggestion. He hasn't really show good enough passing skills to be a back rower anyway. E.g .butchering a try last night. His performance last night was ridiculously bad.
2)
Hiku. He is in some sort of negative head space where everything he touches turns to lead not gold. Two errors last night that were stupid.
The defining moment of this was last season against the panthers where he started walking instead of running back after a player who made a line break. This was the game which led to him being dropped. If he had've kept running he would have caught the line breaker who slowed up. And again last night after a chip kick the ball bounced near the goal line and bounced through his hands and a try went missing. His reactions weren't fast enough because his mind isn't clear. It is full of negative thoughts I speculate. The main reason I have such a detailed theory is I remember being in a negative cycle after my divorce. I see the same thing in him. He isn't thinking straight. He is not necessarily a "loser" but he is thinking and behaving like one and we need to distance ourselves from him until he gets in a better space. I would trade him for anything I can get as he needs a change of scenery and a sports psychologist. I am not taking shots at him or being sarcastic. Both the ABs and the blackcaps have a permanent psychologist as part of the team environment so it is just a new best in class practice. Without that help
Hiku will always foul up.
3) Kata. I have been defending him or at least pointing out the other side of the coin in discussions about him. I simply don't agree that he is bad defender, because he usually ranks well on defence in the entire league when you study the stats after a decent number of games. I think we just underestimate how hard playing centre is from a defensive perspective. He is an above average defender. What bothers me is two plays this season. In a critical moment on tackle 1 in game 2 of the season 5 metres out from the line he tries a dummy half scoot and knocks it on because he is not gifted with good hands. This was the first tackle of our first chance to raid in the red zone in the game. It was an inexcusable decision and he should have received corrective coaching after the game. Instead he did something stupider last night with a 20 metre dummy half scoot which spoiled a near certain try.
Now maybe it isn't his fault he didn't learn after the first time in Game 2. Maybe
Kearney doesn't believe in being "mean" to the players and informing them when they have done something wrong. Maybe this is on
Kearney for running a laissez faire regime where each player gets to express themselves with no corrective coaching. Either way he has to go as those plays are destroying our chances of winning and it
he isn't going to change.
4) Luke. At least temporarily. Just send him off with the personal trainer for a month and come back then. In the mean time I think
Jazz is a capable hooker cover - just don't play him at 13.
12 - 13
