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Post by commond on Oct 31, 2024 9:01:05 GMT -5
Congrats to the Dodgers.
The All Blacks side to face England this weekend:
All Blacks: 1. Tamaiti Williams (15), 2. Codie Taylor (93), 3. Tyrel Lomax (40), 4. Scott Barrett (76) (Captain), 5. Tupou Vaa’i (34), 6. Wallace Sititi (6), 7. Sam Cane (101), 8. Ardie Savea (90) (Vice-Captain), 9. Cortez Ratima (8), 10. Beauden Barrett (131), 11. Caleb Clarke (25), 12. Jordie Barrett (65) (Vice-Captain), 13. Rieko Ioane (77), 14. Mark Tele’a (16), 15. Will Jordan (37)
Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua (16), 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (64), 18. Pasilio Tosi (4), 19. Patrick Tuipulotu (47), 20. Samipeni Finau (5), 21. Cam Roigard (6), 22. Anton Lienert-Brown (80), 23. Damian McKenzie (57).
As expected, Barrett has earned the nod at 10. The only real surprise other than that is Ethan van Groot being dropped for "failing to meet internal standards." Whatever that means. Ratima appears to be the incumbent at this point but Roigard has snuck onto the bench. Tele'a has been given the nod at 14, which I believe is his preferred position. I thought Jordie would be out for longer.
Much of the build up has revolved around the haka.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 31, 2024 12:16:37 GMT -5
I was watching one of my favorite dumb horror movies (Frogs (1972)) and following the game on my phone. When the Dodgers won, the fireworks went off big time, here in San Dimas. My cat Eliza came in and jumped on the couch next to me to find out what was going on.
(She usually barely takes notice of fireworks. But we have some very close neighbors who are big baseball fans. So they were very close and persistent. She sure didn’t act scared. I think she was just investigating.)
So I told her the Dodgers just won the World Series.
She said, ha ha stupid Wankees.
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Oct 31, 2024 13:28:02 GMT -5
Former DODGER Alex Verdugo who continually talked s#!t about the Dodgers 2020 pennant win. Fitting that he was the final out. Verdugo sure seems to have a habit of leaving a bad impression behind when he leaves a team. -M |
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Post by DubipR on Oct 31, 2024 13:45:16 GMT -5
I was watching one of my favorite dumb horror movies (Frogs (1972)) and following the game on my phone. When the Dodgers won, the fireworks went off big time, here in San Dimas. My cat Eliza came in and jumped on the couch next to me to find out what was going on. (She usually barely takes notice of fireworks. But we have some very close neighbors who are big baseball fans. So they were very close and persistent. She sure didn’t act scared. I think she was just investigating.) So I told her the Dodgers just won the World Series. She said, ha ha stupid Wankees. , I didn't know you were in SoCal. You going to be doing any shows for the rest of the year or early '25? Former DODGER Alex Verdugo who continually talked s#!t about the Dodgers 2020 pennant win. Fitting that he was the final out. Verdugo sure seems to have a habit of leaving a bad impression behind when he leaves a team. -M Short tempered little man. Pissed off a lot of Dodgers fans with his antics; became even more bitter when he was part of the Betts trade. And apparently he wasn't up to snuff for Boston and traded him again. |
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Oct 31, 2024 13:51:24 GMT -5
I was watching one of my favorite dumb horror movies (Frogs (1972)) and following the game on my phone. When the Dodgers won, the fireworks went off big time, here in San Dimas. My cat Eliza came in and jumped on the couch next to me to find out what was going on. (She usually barely takes notice of fireworks. But we have some very close neighbors who are big baseball fans. So they were very close and persistent. She sure didn’t act scared. I think she was just investigating.) So I told her the Dodgers just won the World Series. She said, ha ha stupid Wankees. , I didn't know you were in SoCal. You going to be doing any shows for the rest of the year or early '25? Verdugo sure seems to have a habit of leaving a bad impression behind when he leaves a team. -M Short tempered little man. Pissed off a lot of Dodgers fans with his antics; became even more bitter when he was part of the Betts trade. And apparently he wasn't up to snuff for Boston and traded him again. His time in Boston was characterized by inconsistent effort and a lot of pouting when things didn't go his way. There were some highlight moments in between to be sure, but those were clouded by the general malaise that hung around him. Didn't seem to be a good clubhouse guy or good teammate either. I rooted for him to mature and succeed at Fenway. He didn't. I don't imagine he's going to be one of those guys who gets scoreboard tributes and standing ovations when he returns to play at the parks of former teams either. -M |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 31, 2024 15:40:54 GMT -5
I was watching one of my favorite dumb horror movies (Frogs (1972)) and following the game on my phone. When the Dodgers won, the fireworks went off big time, here in San Dimas. My cat Eliza came in and jumped on the couch next to me to find out what was going on. (She usually barely takes notice of fireworks. But we have some very close neighbors who are big baseball fans. So they were very close and persistent. She sure didn’t act scared. I think she was just investigating.) So I told her the Dodgers just won the World Series. She said, ha ha stupid Wankees. , I didn't know you were in SoCal. You going to be doing any shows for the rest of the year or early '25? I haven’t been to a show for quite a while. Two or three times a year, when I get the urge to thumb through some old comics before I buy them, I go to the Comic Hide-Out in Fullerton or Four-Color Fantasies in Cucamonga. Fun fact. Four Color Fantasies is just a few blocks away from the studio where Frank Zappa worked when he was learning the ropes about studio work and producing records, and where he made his first singles. |
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Post by berkley on Oct 31, 2024 23:34:29 GMT -5
Congrats to the Dodgers. The All Blacks side to face England this weekend: All Blacks: 1. Tamaiti Williams (15), 2. Codie Taylor (93), 3. Tyrel Lomax (40), 4. Scott Barrett (76) (Captain), 5. Tupou Vaa’i (34), 6. Wallace Sititi (6), 7. Sam Cane (101), 8. Ardie Savea (90) (Vice-Captain), 9. Cortez Ratima (8), 10. Beauden Barrett (131), 11. Caleb Clarke (25), 12. Jordie Barrett (65) (Vice-Captain), 13. Rieko Ioane (77), 14. Mark Tele’a (16), 15. Will Jordan (37) Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua (16), 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (64), 18. Pasilio Tosi (4), 19. Patrick Tuipulotu (47), 20. Samipeni Finau (5), 21. Cam Roigard (6), 22. Anton Lienert-Brown (80), 23. Damian McKenzie (57). As expected, Barrett has earned the nod at 10. The only real surprise other than that is Ethan van Groot being dropped for "failing to meet internal standards." Whatever that means. Ratima appears to be the incumbent at this point but Roigard has snuck onto the bench. Tele'a has been given the nod at 14, which I believe is his preferred position. I thought Jordie would be out for longer. Much of the build up has revolved around the haka.
I love the haka but I admit that sometimes I'd like to see them go back to one that's a little shorter and less elaborate - at least, I seem to remember them being that way when I first started seeing it in the early 90s compared to the last several years. Regardless, Marler's comments were stupid and disrespectful and if the ABs, against expectations, end up giving England a hiding I can only imagine the stick Marler will get from his teammates for gifting NZ this extra motivation.
The starters:
I can't disagree too strongly with any of them: even with Ioane, it's more that Leinert-Brown has been so especially good than that I think Ioane has been bad. Like you, I'm a bit surprised Jordie Barrett is back so soon and I hope his return wasn't rushed. I think Ratima has earned his spot and because of Roigard's long injury lay-off is deservedly ahead of him in the internal rankings at 9 - I'm even a bit surprised Roigard is there at all, at this early stage in his comeback. I think the forwards' selection may become more interesting next year after Sam Cane retires from international play. Will they then feel free to shift Ardie Savea to 7 and move Sititi to 8, for example? And who else will they bring in as a loose forward besides the obvious (e.g. Papali'i) - will someone like Lakai get a look-in?
The bench:
I think Aumua and Tosi have been amazing at the Super Rugby level but have not yet shown the same kind of impact as internationals. I hope that will come with more experience but to get that experience they need more minutes playing, not sitting. Tuipulotu I think is further along and should be receiving consideration as a starter, if not right now then in the very near future. I'm a big booster of Roigard's talent and potential but from the two games I've seen him in recently, the one against Japan and an NPC game against Wellington, I don't think he's all the way back to where he was before the injury; so I actually wouldn't have minded him being with the XV side if that meant he would start and get more playing time, which I think is the biggest thing he needs right now. Finau looked very good against Japan but can he be just as impressive against the big teams? I think so but will he be given the opportunity to show it? Leinert-Brown to me should be starting in place of Ioane. Surely he's earned that spot after his consistently first-rate performances the past few months compared to Ioane who for me has been more up and down. I still have belief in McKenzie's future as a 10 but he's not quite there yet. Maybe acting as Beauden Barrett's understudy for a while will help him get there.
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Post by DubipR on Nov 1, 2024 7:58:40 GMT -5
Hoosier X , I didn't know you were in SoCal. You going to be doing any shows for the rest of the year or early '25? I haven’t been to a show for quite a while. Two or three times a year, when I get the urge to thumb through some old comics before I buy them, I go to the Comic Hide-Out in Fullerton or Four-Color Fantasies in Cucamonga. Fun fact. Four Color Fantasies is just a few blocks away from the studio where Frank Zappa worked when he was learning the ropes about studio work and producing records, and where he made his first singles. First good show in Southern California in 2025, Cal ComicCon. Terry Comics puts together an super old school COMICS ONLY show. It's really good. He usually brings in about 2 to 5 good guests too. www.calcomiccon.com/ |
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Post by commond on Nov 3, 2024 7:58:31 GMT -5
All Blacks vs. England spoilers: {Spoiler: Click to show}
Well, I'd say the decision to bring Mark Tele'a back into the squad, and play him on the right, paid off. Hell of a kick from McKenzie too. Exciting win and nice to see us win under pressure in the final quarter. My favorite game of the year for sure. |
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Post by berkley on Nov 3, 2024 21:15:56 GMT -5
All Blacks vs. England spoilers: {Spoiler: Click to show}
Well, I'd say the decision to bring Mark Tele'a back into the squad, and play him on the right, paid off. Hell of a kick from McKenzie too. Exciting win and nice to see us win under pressure in the final quarter. My favorite game of the year for sure.
Great game, it was so tight that no matter who ended up winning I'd have said they were lucky. One has to wonder how it might have played out if this hadn't bee England's first game in several months.
Yes, Tele'a had a fantastic game even for him, which is saying something. But this was certainly the best I've seen him play for a while. Sititi was amazing yet again. Beauden Barrett had another convincing start at 10. I was happy to see players like Aumua and Tosi finally begin to show the same kind of form they've shown in super rugby. And I would imagine that Tuipulotu should start next game over Vaa'i. As I'd feared, Roigard didn't look quite himself in the 20 minutes he was on, delaying his first pass more than once and giving the English defence time to close the gap and shut down the NZ attack before it started (most noticeably on that tap and go).
I think Tuipulotu's performance plus the scrum dominance after the front row change should encourage the coaching staff to feel that they could develop their own bomb-squad-type approach to substitutions. If they had two complete front rows plus a second-row and a loose (I think this would be the minimum) in whom they had pretty much the same level of confidence that they do in their starters, that would give them a lot of felxibility. For example, it doesn't have to be the same guys starting and the same guys subbing every game, they can switch around those rôles. The forwards have to expend so much energy, I think it's a tremendous advantage to be able to bring in a wave of 5 or 6 replacements at the 45-50 minute mark, as the Springboks often do.
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Post by commond on Nov 8, 2024 9:20:01 GMT -5
The All Blacks are running it back this week against Ireland:
All Blacks: Will Jordan, Mark Tele’a, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Damian McKenzie, Cortez Ratima, Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa’i, Scott Barrett (capt), Tyrel Lomax, Asafo Aumua, Tamaiti Williams. Reserves: George Bell, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Pasilio Tosi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samipeni Finau, Cam Roigard, Anton Lienert-Brown, Stephen Perofeta.
The only changes from the England test are injury-related with both Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett suffering concussions. A lot of the focus has been on Ireland given the fact that they're the world's number one side and it's a revenge match from the World Cup quarterfinal. It's kind of amusing how we're regarded right now given we're ranked third.
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Post by berkley on Nov 8, 2024 13:20:47 GMT -5
The All Blacks are running it back this week against Ireland: All Blacks: Will Jordan, Mark Tele’a, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Damian McKenzie, Cortez Ratima, Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa’i, Scott Barrett (capt), Tyrel Lomax, Asafo Aumua, Tamaiti Williams. Reserves: George Bell, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Pasilio Tosi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samipeni Finau, Cam Roigard, Anton Lienert-Brown, Stephen Perofeta. The only changes from the England test are injury-related with both Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett suffering concussions. A lot of the focus has been on Ireland given the fact that they're the world's number one side and it's a revenge match from the World Cup quarterfinal. It's kind of amusing how we're regarded right now given we're ranked third. I'm surprised Tuipulotu hasn't taken over Vaa'i's spot after their respective performances against England. I wonder if Perofeta will come in at 15 or at 10? It'll be interesting to see if McKenzie has changed at all in his first time starting in a few matches. He had a great performance off the bench last weekend. |
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Post by commond on Nov 9, 2024 7:25:05 GMT -5
All Blacks vs. Ireland spoilers {Spoiler: Click to show}
We were lucky to catch Ireland when they were rusty, but we'll take it. Morale boosting win for the All Blacks. Nice to see players like McKenzie and Aumua step up when thrown in the deep end. |
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Post by berkley on Nov 9, 2024 22:56:08 GMT -5
All Blacks vs. Ireland spoilers {Spoiler: Click to show}
We were lucky to catch Ireland when they were rusty, but we'll take it. Morale boosting win for the All Blacks. Nice to see players like McKenzie and Aumua step up when thrown in the deep end. Not nearly as entertaining as the game against England but a good win against the world #1. I though Ireland's rustiness showed mainly on attack, where they had difficulty getting anything going. But their defence was able to shut down the ABs for much of the game, which I imagine will be of concern to the coaching staff, in spite of the win. I suppose the conditions played a part as well.
Yes, I was happy to see Aumua have his second impressive game in a row. Roigard didn't make any highlight-reel plays but I thought he looked sharper with his passes and decision-making than in his previous game so that was encouraging. McKenzie had a very good game, though there were one or two moments when I thought he made the wrong decision, kicking possession away, but overall one of his best performances so far at 10 for the ABs. BTW, I hope the next time they play Ireland they remember not to kick the ball to James Lowe, ever.
It'll be interesting to see Jordie Barrett playing for Leinster, I'll have to try and catch a few of their games once he joins them.
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Post by commond on Nov 14, 2024 7:03:42 GMT -5
All Blacks side to face France:
All Blacks: 1. Tamaiti Williams (17 caps); 2. Codie Taylor (93); 3. Tyrel Lomax (42); 4. Scott Barrett (78) (captain); 5. Tupou Vaa’i (36); 6. Samipeni Finau (7); 7. Ardie Savea (92) (vice-captain); 8. Wallace Sititi (8); 9. Cam Roigard (8); 10. Beauden Barrett (132); 11. Caleb Clarke (27); 12. Jordie Barrett (67) (vice-captain); 13. Rieko Ioane (79); 14. Sevu Reece (31); 15. Will Jordan (39)
Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua (18); 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (66); 18. Pasilio Tosi (6); 19. Patrick Tuipulotu (49); 20. Peter Lakai (1); 21. Cortez Ratima (10); 22. Anton Lienert-Brown (82); 23. Damian McKenzie (60)
Barrett and Taylor return from injury and take back their starting spots. It will be interesting to see whether Aumua has more spring in his step when he subs on. McKenzie played fairly well against Ireland, but Barret would have started if not for his concussion. Ratima hasn't done enough to hold onto his starting spot with Roigard being rewarded for his form. Sam Cane and Mark Tele'a have been ruled out with injury. In fact, Cane may have played his final test for the All Blacks. Not a bad way to go out. Beats being sent off in a World Cup final. Savea shifts to openside, which people have been calling for. I don't know what Ethan de Groot did to get in Scott Robertson's doghouse. It will be interesting to see whether he plays against Italy.
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