Northland Review
Northland season in review
Seems to be same old same old, a season of what could have been, I guess when you look at the Southland, Manawatu, BOP & Auckland games, we were even closer than usual to a good season with 2 of them lost after 80 minutes and the other 2 with a good shot, but ultimately, we fell short all round.
We had a couple of outstanding wins over Tasman and HB, while hugely disappointing performances v Southland and Manawatu, then the mixed bag performances against NH, BOP & Auckland.
Up front we used 6 players
Jared Adams, Corey Te Whata-Colley, Remsy Lemisio, Robb Cobb, Wilton Rebolo, Chris Apoua
For me, Adams has quickly become a crucial piece of our puzzle, reminds me a young Ross Wright with his ball skills and running game, really hope we do what we can to keep him – 8/10
Remsy Lemisio got a rough introduction to NPC rugby, getting knocked about at scrumtime by Southland, but as the season wore on, the newbie grew and ended up starting several game, still struggled form time to time, but is a prospect worth persevering with – 6.5/10
Robb Cobb did the job required, got around the park, did a good job at scrum time 6.5/10
Corey Te Whata-Colley was called in as injury cover, I love the way he plays and his attitude, and maintain if he was fit and driven, he’d be starting at super rugby, but he isn’t, and even worse, blew his Achillies - 6/10
Wilton Rebolo came with wraps on his scrummaging and ball running, gotta say I was a bit disappointed – 5/10
Chris Apoua is another player who shows a lot of potential, but through injury and fitness, we simply don’t see him enough – 5/10
At hooker we used 3 players
Matt Moulds, Jared Olsen, Bruce Kaukia Peterson
Matt Moulds was solid all season, bar a couple of very average throws, his throwing was much improved, and his work around the park is usually very good with and without the ball and strong at scrum time – 7/10
Jordan Olsen was not up to his usual standards, his throwing was inconsistent, his work rate not up to his usual standard, although was back to his best in the last game v Auckland – 6/10
Bruce Kauika-Peterson likely suffered from being messed around behind the 2 veterans as he went from very good in games to poor, although he, like Olsen also didn’t play hooker all year for their club teams – 6/10
At lock we used 5 players
Liam Hallam-Eames, Sam Caird, Alan Craig, Sean Sweetman, Hayden Jurlina (debuted as a loosie, but had a start at lock)
Liam Hallam-Eames is a real worker, gets in, gets the job done, most noticeably missed v Manawatu when they rolled 3 maul tries over us, when he is there, our maul defence is pretty good – 7.5/10
Sam Caird, another worker, but is a bit looser than LHE, but equally as vital a cog as LHE – 7.5/10
Alan Craig’s season was broken up by injury, looked to be the preferred option at the start, and seems to be growing into a good NPC player, could add a bit of physicality to his game – 6/10
Hayden Jurlina got shoehorned into lock (a week after a solid debut at loosie) when he is a loose forward, unfortunately was shown up a bit – 5/10
Loose Forwards we used 8 players
Rob Rush, Matt Matich, Jonah Mau’u, Sam McNamara, Rory Woods, Saimoni Uluinakauvadra, Hayden Jurlina (see above) Matt Letoga
Rob Rush, dude has a huge motor, always gives it his all with good physicality, central to building a team around – 8.5/10
Matt Matich was probably not up to his usual standards, fell off a few more tackles than he normally would, mixed it up with starts and coming off the bench, still has a big motor and had a hand in some excellent tries this year – 7/10
Jonah Mau’u was very good this year, up there as one of our best, and by all accounts, this is while he was not very fit! Strong, physical and has a nice turn of pace – 8.5/10
Rory Woods is a talented kid, didn’t get to see a lot of him, but rate him in the category with Rush, put a few KGs on his frame and build the team around him – 6.5/10
Saimoni Uluinakauvadra is a bit of an enigma, so often injured, but when he gets out there, does good stuff, wouldn’t mind seeing more of him - 6/10
Hayden Jurlina (see locks)
Matt Letoga got a call up out of no where really, I had seen him the week before in the Dev side, and looked a real handful with ball in hand, and proved similarly in his debut v NH, but fitness seems an issue, would love to see a fit version - not rated
Halfback/1st 5 we used 5 players
Sam Nock, Lisati Milo-Harris, Trent Hape, Rivez Reihana, Dan Hawkins
Sam Nock spent large parts of the season in the injury ward, had 1 outstanding game, but was solid outside of that, unsure what his plans are going forward, but seems this guy will never fully realise his talent – 7/10
Lisati Milo-Harris got many more starts than he probably expected due to Nocks injury, and bar some poor moments v NH, was very good, has a good kicking game, passing was pretty good and is a good physical 9 – 7.5/10
Trent Hape got a number of chances off the bench, didn’t show much in these aside from a couple of very good kicks, otherwise, probably not quite upto this level – 5/10
Rivez Reihana is growing each year, his confidence and ability to control a game is light years ahead of where he was even at the start of 2022, another player crucial to building a team around – 8/10
Dan Hawkins, clutch…no secret I was not a big fan, but he has grown on me the past 2 or so seasons, his cameos off the bench and his fearless defence have been very good, unsure how much longer he will keep going – 7/10
Midfield we used 4 players
Jack Goodhue, Rene Ranger, Blake Hohaia, Tamati Tua
Jack Goodhue showed his class through the season, but was not able to be used enough, obviously lost some pace, and also had a few moments he wont want to see again, some awful kicks and grabbing at Bryn Gatlands jersey resulting in a ‘no try’ at a crucial point in the game – 6.5/10
Tamati Tua seems to have plenty of talent, has the skills, but these are rarely seen, and in my view he has regressed in the past 2 seasons – 5.5/10
Rene Ranger, the old warhorse, sadly, looks like father time has caught up, and passed this Taniwha legend. His brain still seems to see things, but his body doesn’t seem to be able to keep up, his breakdown steal, chip, regather then fumble in contact v Auckland on Friday probably summed up his career 5.5/10
Blake Hohaia was called in as injury cover, but ended up getting a lot of minutes and bringing up his 50th for the Taniwha, had a good hand in a couple of tries v Tasman, but otherwise I don’t think he is up to it – 5/10
Outside Backs we used 7 players
Josh Moorby, Heremaia Murray, Pisi Leilua, Tama Anderson, Jordan Trainor, Kobie Scutt, Brady Rush
Josh Moorby is all class at the back, showed it with incisive running and good positioning, def a player we need to hold onto – 7.5/10
Heremaia Murray is magic, this kid has all the skills and talent, reads the game well and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, thus sniffing out tries, picked up several sensational ones and ended up top try scorer in the NPC at the end of the regular season, should be playing super rugby – 8.5/10
Brady Rush looks to have bulked up and lost a bit of pace, seemed to really struggle to get into games and lacked a bit of game sense with poor decision making, showed some promise in the opening game, so the ability is there – 5/10
Jordan Trainor spent most of the season on the injury ward, but came in late where he had some nice touches and then filled in admirably for Moorby in the season finale – 6/10
Tama Anderson was messed about at the start of the season, looked like he was not going to get a shot, but kept working and started v HB and scored a double, small in stature, but seems pretty smart with good pace and awareness – 6/10
Kobie Scutt got his debut early on, did his job and wasn’t seen again - not rated
Pisi Leilua broker his arm in the opening game – not rated