From: <withheld>@yahoo.co.nz
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: 2008 review.. so far.. already
Date: Tue, September 23, 2008 2:06 pm

As a another born and bred harbour fan i must say that this year will have to be close to the worse in harbour history since making the first division, after being ranked 4th in NZRU rankings the other day there should be no way we should be down at 12 out of 14 and now contesting for the wooden spoon.

For me it all starts with the coach and his strategies.. what are they? they are disgusting by the looks of the on-field play. Wayne Pivac to me seems to pick on reputation and the squad is picked before the club season is played by the looks of it, he picks every former and present NZ rep we have from under 18 up. just because they made a rep team does not mean they are ready for air new zealand cup, if you look back at all the players from nz secondary schools, u19/20/21s from over the years a lot of them you never heard of and don't make it at all. i think he needs to stop picking on reputation and pick on form, a problem a lot of coaches have. keep them in the academy and let them prove themselves in club rugby where they are playing constant football. there are a lot of premier players that play week to week that stand out and get over looked by these young 'stars'. This year especially and also to a degree the last couple of years even with pollock i dont think we have the best players in our province playing for our 'top side'.. PICK ON FORM

So for me here's my 2008 squad review, who we miss from recent years and some club players that could do a better job in my opinion

Props:
John Afoa - not as good as last season but is our best fit prop that has featured this year
Michael Reid - clearly not up to it, ineffective around the field and smashed in the scrum all year
Sam Biddles - poor buy from waikato, send him back there, useless

We miss Ben afeaki this year with injury, he played well last year but with a year behind him he would have been a better player this year of course we also miss woodcock! enough said

Hookers:
James Hinchco - the worst player to ever wear a harbour jersey, putting it short, he sucks!
James Parsons - not a bad nuggety player, deserves to start infront of hinchco easily

We miss roger dustow he may be a lot small for the front row height wise but he never let anyone down

we are obviously short of front row stocks in the harbour region, its always been a hinderance in the region we lost joe savage to Bop this year and hes playing well, miss coughlans steadyness and give marists lance vale a go. he can cover both sides of the scrum and hooker too, strong runner with the ball and a big hitter.. again watch the form players of the club rugby.

Locks:
Martin Purdy - been solid, doesnt look the part but better player than he looks
Chris Smith - a joke, what does he do on the field apart from clap at every breakdown
Bernie Upton - good player been out of most of season with injury
Anthony Boric - played like an All black the games hes featured
Ryan Wilson - tall, tall... TALL man, is quite lively around the field when he wants to be and not given any opportunities this year

we miss greg rawlinson big time!! his hard work around the field is what harbour needs in the forwards this year

shane neville is a hard grafting lock for takapuna that deserves a shot

Loosies:
Robbie Colhoun - competes hard at the breakdown but out of his depth, good club player
Villame Maafu - been harbours best forward this year, has been in squad for a few years and has appreciated game time with good performances
Malaki Ravulo - has been a good find, is a big defender and works hard at the breakdown, good combo with maafu
Tom Chambilin - big tackler but out of his depth
Richard Mayhew - has been harbours super sub and performed each cameo with distinction, deserves to start at 6

we havent had a decent openside for a while, tom hardings one year cameo a few years back was the best we have had for awhile and we miss him, swap him from waikato and give them back biddles, if only Darren Tahu from glenfield was ten years younger, his mongrelness wouldnt let down harbour

Halfbacks:
Chris Smylie - is getting back to his best football that earnt him div 1 player of year a few years back for otago
Matt France - is a solid nuggety buy, bit of a super sub

i think im happy here with the halfbacks, luke hamilton was unlucky through injury last year and looked good but definatly a third rate behind these two, aiden macdonald of marist is an explosive player and scores plenty of tries but has some good players in front of him

Five-eighths:
Jimmy Gopperth - has been a good steady loan player, boots let him down against northland, has shown his class behind a crap forward pack
Jon Elrick - why did pivac bring him back, we dont need him, too small for 2nd five eight
Michael Harris - not a bad player, is growing with each game, not a centre, keep him at 2nd five, needs to pick up his defence a lot to be a good 2nd five

Give Jack McPhee a go at first five, a great player with real promise, we highly miss nick evans and luke mcalistar, no one up to their standards here

Midfield:
Nafi Tuitavake - been probably the best back of the year, been shifted between centre, wing and bench, has played admirably when given the ball and on defence
Anthony Tuitavake - showed his class when played, needed him more

Our backline has been probably the most mediocre for years, missing the fulltime services of tuitavake senior and rua tipoki giving us some spark out wide, selection was right against northland in my opinion.. didnt fire tho? george pisi is out injured but im pretty sure he is a centre, would like to see him there, james otutaha (marist) and tanimo samoa (glenfield) are smaller midfielderss but you wouldnt know it, big runners and huge defenders, sam tuitupou like

Back Three:
Josh York - been solid nippy player when given his chance, got some wheels and a good work rate for a winger, got promise
Villame Waqasaduadua - has finally got some confidence back which he has lacked since his ranfurly heroics only for injury to strike him, hopefully he back to cover rudis knee injury for auckland
Rudi Wulf, played like a senior pro when played during all black duty, has grown and grown, get that knee fixed quick!
Hayden Abercrombie - solid player, has done nothing wrong but not an overly exciting player
Jack McPhee - injured first half of season, back at wing for one and his favoured fullback against northland, showed his real promise in those 2 performances, can play 1st five just as good, has huge boot and good passing game, player of the future

We are pretty covered in the back three with george pisi too, just keep them out of the injury box

Well there you go, there is an assessment of a harbour born and bred fan, i hope these players can prove me wrong against the scum and auckland B (counties-manukau) but i dont think so.. sack wayne pivac and give walter little or blair larsen the coaching job.. someone with mana and respect for the harbour jersey and get us back to being a feared opponent. PLEASE

Harbour fan
Marc