Stocktake time

[morepork]

Any news on Izzy Dagg's future plans?

[Spy]

Any news on Izzy Dagg's future plans?

Beyond his recent signing through to 2019 that you just commented on? Not that I'm aware of.

Re Luatua, up to him I guess, but I wonder if he's sold himself short. He had such a great debut season a couple of years ago, then struggled in his sophomore year, but looked to be getting some mojo back last year. He's got the physical attributes, and it's worth recalling that Kaino took a while to mature into the effective beast that he is. At age 25 I think Luatua could have given himself a couple more years in NZ to really try and crack the All Blacks, but there we are. Hope it works out for him.

[morepork]

Any news on Izzy Dagg's future plans?

Beyond his recent signing through to 2019 that you just commented on? Not that I'm aware of.

Re Luatua, up to him I guess, but I wonder if he's sold himself short. He had such a great debut season a couple of years ago, then struggled in his sophomore year, but looked to be getting some mojo back last year. He's got the physical attributes, and it's worth recalling that Kaino took a while to mature into the effective beast that he is. At age 25 I think Luatua could have given himself a couple more years in NZ to really try and crack the All Blacks, but there we are. Hope it works out for him.

Jesus I'm a spaz. Sorry about that.

[zer0]

Re Luatua, up to him I guess, but I wonder if he's sold himself short. He had such a great debut season a couple of years ago, then struggled in his sophomore year, but looked to be getting some mojo back last year. He's got the physical attributes, and it's worth recalling that Kaino took a while to mature into the effective beast that he is. At age 25 I think Luatua could have given himself a couple more years in NZ to really try and crack the All Blacks, but there we are. Hope it works out for him.

I think Luatua also suffered from being Victor Vito'd, in that someone to turn him into something he's not; a ball running #8 in Luatua's case. He played his best rugby when he was playing as a hybrid lock-blindside by making tackles and shifting bodies, with the occasional eye-catching run thrown in, as opposed to seagulling out on the wing as he did/was told to do for a while.

[Spy]

Lick my balls, spaz.

[morepork]

Touche spectacle man, touche.

[cashead]

Kerr-Barlow is joining up with high-flying La Rochelle at the end of the 2017 season.

That means the current stock available at halfback is

Aaron Smith
TJ Perenara
Gus Pulu
Brad Weber

with further prospects being
Bryn Hall, Mitch Drummond, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Sam Nock, Billy Guyton, Leon Fukofuka

[Spy]

That's another guy I would have thought would have been targeting 2019, especially with Smith's form wobbles.

[cashead]

Out of the players heading off, he's the one that I think actually genuinely hurts the available stocks. The numbers are healthy, but he was a different style of halfback from Smith or Perenara, in that he seemed far more suited to heavier conditions than those two.

In terms of halfbacks of a different stipe, I'd be keeping an eye on Leon Fukofuka at the Crusaders. He's of a similar build to Kerr-Barlow, and he could prove to be an asset in the future when considering horses-for-courses selections.

[Lizard]

Apart from the yellow card, I think that Perenara > Smith in the Canes v Landers match. Mind you, standing between A. Savea and B. Barrett was probably a slightly easier task than linking L. Whitelock and F. Smith (who I've never heard of but performed with credit).

[zer0]

Todd has resigned for a year. Personally I think he should've been McCaw's successor ahead of Cane who is more of a 6.5, to borrow the English parlance.

[cashead]

All 3 opensides have different strengths. Cane is in a similar mould to latter year McCaw, where he hits more rucks and plays like a 7.5, while Savea makes more tackles, while Todd is pretty much how we now view the classic jackal openside. What's great is that all three have made compelling cases for starting for the ABs.

[Len]

All 3 opensides have different strengths. Cane is in a similar mould to latter year McCaw, where he hits more rucks and plays like a 7.5, while Savea makes more tackles, while Todd is pretty much how we now view the classic jackal openside. What's great is that all three have made compelling cases for starting for the ABs.

This. Todd is a fantastic openside. He'd start for any other nation with the exception of Australia potentially. Savea is an athletic freak. Cane is good as a support player but he gives away many silly penalties. He makes a fair few tackles though.