Yeah I'm floating in my devils advocate waka out here against a raging tide of Kiwi Awesomeness.
No doubt this is THE team, as far as Kiwi League goes it's a bit of a dream team.
Taking the Devils advocate cap off and daring to dream here's what I see on the positive Ledger for the Kiwis ( all of it's been posted before so I'll try find some other angles on what other Couch coaches have said ).
1. Kiwi league teams are confidence based. Having a World cup in your CV to defend thanks to the 08 team is a psychological position the Kiwis have never had the luxury of enjoying.
Brian Noble made the Comment " They look confident.....they are oozing confidence with their play "
He's right they are on top of their games.....and as we all know this Kiwi team includes more in form club players than any in recent memory.
2. Coaching staff. Stephen
Kearney might not be the best coach in the world , but I take my hat off to him for bringing in two people that work well together in Cleary and Iro , forget the Warriors politics ,
Kearney needed to choose people who would support him and not have to make up a lot of ground getting to know the players strengths and weakness's.
Against Scotland the Kiwis are pressured in the first Quarter as the Scots put in a brave effort, there is a poignant moment when the kiwis gain a likely unassailable lead through their Secound Try ( Bromwich crashes over under the posts........Cleary is on the radio doing the talking ( remember he is the attacking coach ).
Cleary is barking instructions then pauses , he turns to head coach
Kearney and asks ( from what happens next you can only imagine he is checking whether they go with the scheduled changes with the bench players.......
Kearney stops to think over the Question and then nods and instructs Cleary.....
The interaction going on there is great for us , unlike shots of some of the other coaching teams , there is clearly great communication going on between the Kiwi coaches and a respectful partnership , our commanding officers are on the same page , unlike England and Aussie the chain of command allows for some real talk ( Looking ant Sheens and McNamara sitting over and above their management staff reflects the individualism their players have showed so far ).
Game plan :
Defence
The only recommendation I would have is the defence. Since they announced they are using the Rooster premiership winning system I would have liked them to have invited one of the Roosters coaching staff into their camp.
Given they are using a Roosters system it follows that Roosters players get the nod over their team mates ( Moa over Kasiano FPN over Glen and Eastwood )
The most interesting thing Cleary has done is to play specialist centers , even his Panthers use Lewis Brown in the center to this day.
Where it makes sense on attack is that we see in Cleary's Style, Sonny Bill Williams plays wide on the right side to create space for Whare ( Panther ) and
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. Cleary used this time and again at the Warriors with Mannering and Brown.
Now he has Williams to test his Secound row running wide pet play.....as Cleary said when he was interviewed after being announced as assistant coach " New Zealand have exciting players , It's a dream Job working with that Roster "
in the first half of games when Cleary has his top Kiwi line up and he runs that play NZ look unbeatable.
Threats to that would seem to be interchange and injury problems that have interrupted Cleary's attack plan with his best assets.
The Biggest threat to NZ is clearly Tomkins. But fortunately for us England aren't using him as frequently as they should , and unlike our best attack freak Williams they have had eighty minutes in every game they have played to get that right and have failed.
If it were me i would play Williams for eighty minutes and as with the PNG Game use him shamelessly , other people can do Williams work in the middle.....are we short on go forward ? are we short on big people ?
Tomkins will run their three quarter line at Whare and
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
This is where Cleary's attacking preference has forced him to take a gamble in defence. Both our right side outside backs are lefties playing on the right.....it hasn't harmed their attacking impact but it has given Tomkins an inexperienced NZ right edge to work over.
If we are to Win
Shaun Johnson must aim up in D and give those two young outsiders a chance to focus on the runners in front of them and not worry about a
Johnson miss / jersey grab ineffective tackle on the inside.
At 7.48 minutes of the Scotland Game Manu punches into the D as is a Clearly pet play ( CLeary has used Manu in his Cleary Mold....Aerial and Kick return battering ram ) Isaac Luke the player of the tournament then goes where any player in the NRL would dream of running......in the wake of the Manu hit up.......the support left of Locke Williams Goodwin and a sprinting Foran , in contrast to a wave on the right side support take your pick....the Entire Kiwi team are sprinting up ( move which would destroy any team on the planet ) is how we will win the world cup.
That play unleashed twice in each half would bag you four tries I guarantee it.......then add the two tries that a Williams overlap on the right creates.....over two halves that is unbeatable.
They remind me of the 2002 Warriors when they pushed up in support of the Monster Forward pack.
Frank Pritchard has been our best attacking forward in the last five years , England and Australia have the unenviable task of marking up on two Steven Menzies.
Good Luck with that
End Rant.
My next post will revert to the devils advocate stuff otherwise it's all cheer leaAll blacks Versus South Africa World cup final stuff.
