Blues 2018

[morepork]

Totally fucked 'em.

[Lizard]

TAB is offering $3.60 on the Jags ($10 for 13+). Could be worth a look.

[zer0]

Definitely worth it. The Blues only have five 1st XV players available, and two of them will be out of position to cover more injuries as the toll is now just short of 20. The 1st XV vs the named team:

1. Pauliasi Manu
2. James Parsons
3. Ofa Tu'ungafasi Sione Mafileo
4. Scott Scrafton Gerard Cowley-Tuioti
5. Patrick Tuipulotu Josh Goodhue
6. Jerome Kaino Jimmy Tupou
7. Blake Gibson Kara Pryor
8. Akira Ioane
9. Augustine Pulu Jonathan Ruru
10. Otere Black Stephen Perofeta
11. George Moala or Melani Nanai Tumua Manu
12. Sonny Bill Williams Rieko Ioane
13. Rieko Ioane Orbyn Leger
14. Matt Duffie Jordan Hyland
15. Michael Collins Matt Duffie

The Argentine test team is in real trouble if they can't beat this lot.

[Lizard]

Jeebus. I have literally never heard of half of that lot.

[cashead]

Gerard Cowley-Tuioti is a North Harbour lock who did quite well last year in the Mitre 10 Cup. Josh Goodhue is Jack's twin brother. Decent lock, but still very young.

Meanwhile, Matt Vaega still hasn't been called in as midfield cover. Orbyn Leger? Who?

[Spy]

I've had a Blues season pass for the past 5 years or so, and attended usually a couple of home games a season prior to that. Seriously, I think tonight was the smallest crowd I've ever seen at a Blues game. Some mitigating factors in the bad weather today and this evening, and minimal Auckland-residing ex pats compared to most games, but nonetheless.

[scuzzaman]

A Blues season pass?

Is that better than a striped hand-knitted cardie?

[Spy]

A Blues season pass?

Is that better than a striped hand-knitted cardie?

There's a good group of guys I go with. Drink some beer, smoke some weed if you feel like it, talk some bollocks, watch your team get spanked at home. It's actually a pretty good time, most of the time. That's despite ongoing poor performances leading to poor results, and a pretty poor attitude from Auckland Rugby toward the poor saps like us who actually stump up hard-earned to watch this shite.

It does include 2 All Blacks test match tickets, so that's something.

[zer0]

And the free bag of potatoes like they dished out at one match last season?

[Spy]

And the free bag of potatoes like they dished out at one match last season?

Pretty much the season highlight.

[morepork]

A cultural oasis.

Why don't they just give you some chips man?

[zer0]

Blues are now 2/2 against the top ranked Australian (Waratahs) and South African (Lions) sides. Yeah bitches.

[Spy]

Good defensive effort to hold the Waratahs out late in the game. That was a good win.

[Lizard]

It felt weird actively wanting the Blues to win, but it was worth it to see the look on the face of the Waratahs fan down the hall. I hadn’t got to within 3m of his desk when he said, “Don’t even talk about the fuckin’ rugby, alright?”

[cashead]

Glen Jackson should be made to front up about two decisions - the clumsy mid-air challenge on Duffie early in the game, where an identical challenge earlier in the season by Duffie earned him a yellow, and the obvious Owen Franks one, where he went ahead and made up some bullshit rule because apparently he couldn't dare send off a Crusader for foul play - one yellow was apparently pushing it.

It's this fucking bullshit week after week, and I'm glad Umaga brought it up after the game. The players should keep bringing it up, and writers should keep questioning it, because there is a clear imbalance in how the Blues are being officiated - it's like they go in with the mentality that they will lose anyway, and they do everything they can to ensure it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Scrumhead]

Gerard Cowley-Tuioti is a North Harbour lock who did quite well last year in the Mitre 10 Cup. Josh Goodhue is Jack's twin brother. Decent lock, but still very young.

Meanwhile, Matt Vaega still hasn't been called in as midfield cover. Orbyn Leger? Who?

Leger was on of the stand out players in the U20 World Cup last season. He’s a tall rangy centre.

[Spy]

Poor effort against the Rebels, and the Blues remain winless at home this year. The bag of spuds at my feet is small consolation.

[rowan]

Now I understand why the Blues fans all seem so keen to have the Sunpoodles around. Without them, the Aucks would be the undisputed laughing stock of the competition.

[zer0]

The Blues biggest problem is that they're, quite clearly, a big game team. Best South African side in Johannesburg? Bring on your biggest homer of a home town ref. Best Australian side in Sydney? Will do it with a collective hand tied behind their collective back, and one collective eye closed. Such a big game temperament results in the Blues winning 73% of their postseason matches. For comparisons sake, the Chiefs have an unmanly postseason record of 54%. The Hurricanes a contemptible 43%. The Crusaders a respectable 70%. The Highlanders an appalling 42%. Such a dominant -- intimidating, even -- postseason record has returned three titles, bettered only by one side in the entire southern half of the planet.

Of course, this big game temperament does have a downside, and there has been many a slight hiccup in matches of lesser importance. Such as the Rebels, for instance.

[rowan]

The Blues biggest problem is that they're, quite clearly, a big game team. Best South African side in Johannesburg? Bring on your biggest homer of a home town ref. Best Australian side in Sydney? Will do it with a collective hand tied behind their collective back, and one collective eye closed. Such a big game temperament results in the Blues winning 73% of their postseason matches . For comparisons sake, the Chiefs have an unmanly postseason record of 54%. The Hurricanes a contemptible 43% . The Crusaders a respectable 70% . The Highlanders an appalling 42%. Such a dominant -- intimidating, even -- postseason record has returned three titles, bettered only by one side in the entire southern half of the planet.

Interesting stats, but you must have been up half the night with your calculator figuring that out. I mean, wouldn't the Blues's playoffs fixtures mostly date back to a bygone century?

[morepork]

Zero is just being a dryballs.

Is Tana brown bread after this season?

[cashead]

Probably not because

1. External factors A - injuries: the Blues aren't the only team to be suffering from horror injury runs, but you can not argue the Blues have been hit hard, especially when some of their regular starters haven't even had a game this season due to injury.

2. External factors B - refereeing: it's only recent, but there is an increasing attention paid to the unequal refereeing the Blues have suffered, which peaked last week with Glen Jackson making shit up to justify his refusal to penalise Owen Franks. Surely, it's time where the Blues consider doing something radical here, like the 99 call until someone fronts up about what is an increasingly untenable situation.

3. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result - Peter Sloane, Nucifora, Lam, JK. All had, or went on to have success elsewhere, although with Lam, there were extenuating factors to his poor performance (far too much focus on his Auckland BOYZZZZZZZZZ at the expense of the team).

[morepork]

No.2 is a stretch man. And not a solid viable business plan kind of speculator. I'll give you injuries, but with player resources from the Cape to wherever the fuck just short of the Waikato, why haven't the traditional victorious domestic campaigns of yesteryear transformed into a sustained professional powerhouse? There is something fucked up at the top that is insulated from the trenches.

[cashead]

No.2 is a stretch man. And not a solid viable business plan kind of speculator. I'll give you injuries, but with player resources from the Cape to wherever the fuck just short of the Waikato, why haven't the traditional victorious domestic campaigns of yesteryear transformed into a sustained professional powerhouse? There is something fucked up at the top that is insulated from the trenches.

It has been a constant, almost weekly thing for years now. The game against the Rebels was a pretty low point, but Jackson's performance in the Crusaders game was particularly bad considering his experience and skill.

You won't find a single long-suffering Blues supporter that would say "oh we'd be perennial champions if we got proper refereeing," because no one is saying that. What is being pointed out is that the refereeing simply has been another factor working against the Blues, like the guy with the whistle comes in with a mentality of "Blues will lose anyway," and end up reffing accordingly. When it gets to the point where the referee is making shit up to justify his inaction over blatant foul play, then there clearly needs to be some accountability.

[Lizard]

The Blues biggest problem is that they're, quite clearly, a big game team. Best South African side in Johannesburg? Bring on your biggest homer of a home town ref. Best Australian side in Sydney? Will do it with a collective hand tied behind their collective back, and one collective eye closed. Such a big game temperament results in the Blues winning 73% of their postseason matches. For comparisons sake, the Chiefs have an unmanly postseason record of 54%. The Hurricanes a contemptible 43%. The Crusaders a respectable 70%. The Highlanders an appalling 42%. Such a dominant -- intimidating, even -- postseason record has returned three titles, bettered only by one side in the entire southern half of the planet.

Of course, this big game temperament does have a downside, and there has been many a slight hiccup in matches of lesser importance. Such as the Rebels, for instance.

Yes, the Blues post-season record against the likes of Natal and Northern Transvaal is very impressive!