I saw the replay of the BOP game it did indeed give "a sense of what might have been...dusting off the Bay of Plenty." We were full of enthusiasm & industry but this was coupled with the increasing accuracy & rugby intelligence (except for Filo Paulo's "tackle"). We had numbers on hand around the ball carrier both in the lose play and in the tight & this was key to scoring three first-half tries. Our lineout must either be the top in the country or very near. By my reckoning, we won all of our lineout's & pinched 3 of theirs. Once again, James King was unbelievable in the lineout & his general play gets better & better.

Teamed with Paulo, Anthony Boric and Tom Chamberlin were an effective forward pack. The front row have been doing well all season, sometime having to all the hard work when the rest of the forwards went MIA. Even the Mayhew haters have had to grudgingly have to give him credit (in fact someone said he was in the team of the month from one of the rugby mags). Nalu Tuigamala has looked quite nippy coming on a sub in a few games & took his chance on his debut start. His passing was crisp and in front of players and his support work was excellent and rewarded with a try. Only real downer on the result was the lack of points in the second half, and the thought that with every pass that Michael Harris did there could be an interception - very scary to watch.

2009 feedback from the masses - Subject: go f**k ur selves u fat c*nts by Dave is an awesome piece of literature (or should I say 'iliterature'). Dave has obviously never seen a fansite before and if he has, missed the point. Mac Daddy's reply was awesome. LMAO. Dave that means laughed my arss off.

Looking forward to the game against Wellington (although a shame we are not playing them the following week when the AB's are not available). Also looks like we may have playing Woody this week - 2 games in one season - won't believe it until it happens, but who'd have thought. Then a nice win against Manawatu would leave us sitting around mid table and although it's not where I wanted to be pre season, it's a million miles better than where I thought we would be after week 4.

Alistair

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: Wow
Date: Wed, September 23, 2009 4:24 pm

I had to watch the replay yesterday to comment without the bubbly enthusiastic diatribe that the press was spewing forth after the AB's win over a very mediocre Wallaby side. But to be fair I am still as happy as Larry and giving the air a double handed fist pump as I see my Auckland supporting work colleagues (which they thoroughly enjoy). I had said to my friends that I thought we might win this game, it being the dreaded enemy, and we did. You beauty.

"No urgency, no accuracy. We were very poor. This exposed us for what we are in a lot of areas." For once is was nice that it wasn't Craig Dowd, but Auckland coach Mark Anscombe that had to tell the papers this.

It wasn't the best spectacle of free flowing high quality rugby, but it showed the heart the was there in the first game of the season. You could see how much it meant tot he Harbour players because when they go the penalty they leaped around like kids at a lolly scramble. I guess the series of losses had been playing on their minds and maybe this could get the team out of their mental rut and it's onwards & upwards from here.

I think Richard Turner hit the nail on the head by stating the return of Tom Chamberlain has enabled Viliami Ma'afu to step up and do what he does best. Both played well, illustrated best by Tom's tackle (on Atelia Pakalani - I think) as he was breaking through on the angle, saved a certain try. Rudi Wulf was also good again, I can certainly see him in black starting on the other wing from Cory Jane. I thought that the team as a whole seemed to step up, special mention should be made for Michael Reid, Mike Mayhew - who must have been smarting after being dropped to the bench after having a good effort the previous 2 -3 weeks, Jack McPhee - also getting better game by game, James King - to early for him to be a bolter for the AB's but should be asked to train with them, Anthony Boric - who made a good improvement from the previous week, and Andrew Maile - an unsung tackling hero of midfield. Only gripes with the points allocation this week is that Mike Mayhew could well have been 3rd equal too, and the rest of the team on 1/2 a point.

Only real downsides from the game - the accuracy still isn't quite there, Harris's kicking (penalties & from hand) was wayward at times, and JP's arm again.

I guess the only way we can tell if a change has occurred with the team is how they played in Friday. One would say a win (with or without a bonus point) will put Harbour into mid table and another win from the following 3 games (possibly Manawatu) could see us in a much better position than before the last round of games. Maybe Mairangi Murray could look into that crystal ball of his & tell me the lotto numbers....

Al

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: We say - right on the button in my opinion
Date: Wed, September 16, 2009 8:40 am

I agree with the opinion of the Harbour website, thank goodness they . I emailed the provincial HQ a few years ago, mostly about the lack of supporters kit, but was passed off with the party line about Canterbury as the only provider (they didn't mind sticking it to us though) blah blah blah, next year blah blah blah.

But I guess the official website matches the team. I remember when I was at high school and another sports team turned up to a Basketball game with matching kit, looking like an American high school team. We only just beat this team, because for the first half of the game we thought they were good because they looked like they were. I believe if you if you want to be professional you need to appear professional, everywhere in the organisation, not just on the pitch. If you look at the most underperforming teams in professional football in England (currently) - Darlington FC & Hereford United, their online set up is much better than what we have. So in effect we are more rubbish than they are (apologies to Darlington & Hereford fans) on & off the field.

Also with supporters kit - we can just wait for Canterbury to sort their crap out. Look at what happened with the Warriors & their new kit. it was announced in November 2008, with an awesome opportunity to release product before Christmas, but nothing until January. In fact the players had little to no kit for quite a while. And who can afford a new rugby jersey every year? What if we had $30-$40 supporters shirts - they would fly out (especially as father's day is in the middle of a season). But I can see the clash with Canterbury here, but what about stuff like - baby grows, Bib's, kids shorts with the Harbour Master in caricature on it, Towels, license plate frames, maroon/whit/black wigs, ties, lanyards, and this list continues (this was a snippet from a US high school website).

Oh well there's always next year, or the year after.
Alistair

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: North Harbour 17 - Hawke's Bay 34
Date: Mon, September 14, 2009 2:34 pm

Really that's all I wanted to write, but decided to say the things me & my mates have been talking about all weekend. But before I do can I just begin by apologising to the people sitting around me (except Dowd & Wilson who are also in ear shot) on Saturday, I promise to reduce the amount of expletives on the next home game. I was quite surprised I wasn't asked to leave, but as I was saying what everyone else was thinking I might have got away with it.

OMG we were terrible. According to the Herald Dowd said "We lost that one badly, and we lost it through our own inaccuracies and falling off tackles." No sh1t Sherlock. Has he not watched every other game this season. Once again Harbour failed to capitalise on our opportunities, the advantage of the stiff wind, quite a few errors from the Bay, and some kind decisions from the ref in the first half. The team (coaches included) can't watch their game on replay as they continue with the same errors (low punting, no depth in attacking backline, missed tackles, poor handling) and obviously don't watch any other rugby as it's been said many times that the teams that have the most kicking metres are at the top of the table. With King winning opposition lineout's this is a viable option for us.

Also can someone answer me this - Has the Harbour manager John McKittrick ever been involved with 15 a-side rugby before? I wonder, as he is possibly the only person in the ground that thought it was a good idea to substitute the hooker on an attacking lineout, 5 metres from the opposition try line.

Good news - Anthony Boric returned from injury, we still have lost 4 of 6 games by less than 7- which means we're not far off, we actually scored some tries this week, the only way is up, we are finally winning a bit of turnover ball - well done Chamberlain.

Bad news - AB was a mile too slow around the pitch & is probably 2 weeks off being a force. James King was injured, we let in/caused 2 soft tries. Where is the defence we saw in week one, it's a long way off the bottom of the table and we have a shot realistically winning 1-2 games, the kicking coach needs to be sacked as the low trajectory kicking for position isn't working (is it 2 or 3 tries we have had scored against us from low kicks), Botica has finally been found out - not his fault as he is out of his depth, I can't see anymore good news.

We seem to lack the passion, skill, intensity and direction to make any impact on this year's competition. In a bit of good gossip, totally hearsay & maybe incorrect, but someone mentioned to me that in a quiet drink after the game against the Naki, the boys in the team weren't too stressed about the loss. I don't know if it was a case of towing the party line, they truly believe they're not far off, or if they don't actually care. It's hard to work out which when the performance on the field is so poor. I must agree with the Eyewitness report (and the national press) "Putting Senior players with those younger ones is a proven recipe for success," but in my opinion Dowd & Wilson seem to have lost the cookbook. Especially, when the man of the match was not Chamberlain, Ma'afu, King, or York, but Ken Pisi. They must have asked a member of the supporters club what their favourite number between 1 & 25 was. Player of the game points were 100% on the money this week due to good displays by all. A special shout out must be made to York, who I have mentioned before (you didn't let me down), & Tuigamala who came on at 9 & played with heart & energy. Also the Bay turnovers/unforced errors were like a 16th player for us (along with the dodgy disallowed try) keeping us in the game, kind of like extras in cricket. And the bucket brigade did well too, keeping their noise & energy high for most of the 80.

Mairangi Murray hit the nail on the head about the last try, "If a club side had allowed a try like that you would have been mad as hell with the players." The Laurel & Hardy remark was priceless. However my rant about club rivalry at the ANC level wasn't anti-Taka, it was about bashing our team because of where they play - all the people that sit around me do it rather than how they play. I am not anti-Taka at all and in fact I went on to say (and have repeated several times) was there wasn't enough Taka players in the side (11ish of 23, incl the last 4 championships). Even the NZ Herald agrees - AD, Ulrich & Hammer could all have made a difference, even if coming off the bench or in a mentoring role.

Oh well, I think we might have the passion this Saturday against Dorkland, just hope the skill level goes up as well, then we might have a game on our hands. As an aside, is there any truth to the rumour that NHRFU are going to pay season ticket holders to turn up to each home game next year? Or did I just dream that?

Cheers
Al

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: Taranaki
Date: Tue, September 8, 2009 9:44 am

I guess that yet again pointing out that we were robbed & bitching about the referee is something that only losing sides do. However it is hard not to feel a bit sorry for the team when they continue to work themselves into a reasonable position only to have it undone by poor quality touchies and ref's that are having to cover the whole game.

I reckon that we're not far from being a contender. We have lost 4 games by less than 7 pts and as pointed out in the weekend we have lead at half time 4 times and then gone on to lose the game. Is it because we're not fit enough? Or not subbing the fight people? Or the subs are ineffectual (e.g. Ravulo comes on & his first major action was to give away a very stupid penalty)? Or the fact that the backline seems to change every week and people are being played out of position. Don't forget we have a team who's average age is 22 and compared to many of our opposition inexperienced at the ANC level. I still come back to the fact that there is a lack of experienced guys and if there had been a few more Taka guys in the mix we might have had the nouse to close a couple of the games out - can't argue with the last 11 from 23 Harbour titles including the last 4.

The team I would play (assuming no woodcock, parsons or borich, and the tactics don't change) Reid, M Mayhew, Afoa, King, Smith, R Mayhew, Chamberlain, Ma'afu, Smiley, Harris, G Pisi, A Tuitavake, Wulf, N Tuitavake & McPhee with Hanson, Afeaki, Paulo, Colhoun, France, Botica, Mailei (or K Pisi) as reserves. This way we would have people in the areas they can have the most effect. .

If I gave away the points - Rudi - 3, BB - 2, Tom Chamberlain - 1. For the 2nd week in a row, Botica was amongst the best players for both teams and has shown he's not just a flash in the pan. Other standouts for me were Rudi Wulf, who looked as though he was playing himself in the the AB side (hopefully to replace Rokocoko). With a little more running off his shoulder we could have done some real damage. Chamberlain continues to show how we have missed a reasonable 7 and had as awesome tussle with man of the match Scott Waldrom (who's form must surely put him in mind for a replacement role for El Capitano McCaw). McPhee continues to improve with some regular game time, but still has the ugliest kick in either rugby (union & league) and a beard/hair combo that would see him fit in well in Southland. Nice to see Woody play for Harbour (they probably had to frantically run around looking for playing & travel kit for him as his last lot are 3 years old). He was solid, but took some time to exert himself in the scrum and a little longer to get up to speed around the pitch. Didn't give him any points as this is probably his only game and as such it takes away from the rest of the guys.

If I could take away points they would be for Afeaki - Don't be so soft, you are a man mountain & people should be scared to play against you. Smith - only thing he really did right on the night was not to slag the opposition off in the post match interview, but continued on his flopping, ineffectual manner that made me hate his play last year. Paulo - Awesome against the dirty Cantabs, but has become less effective each game since. He must be training with Smith as they appear to be as bad as each other. We can only have one on the field at a time. finally - Ravulo - first action was to give away a penalty, not the sort of instant impact on the game we expected.

If the coaches can find a settled line-up, put the right people on the field and sort out the losing mentality, we'll win 4 - 5 of the next 7 games and finish outside the bottom four and any possible relegation issues.

Cheers
Al

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: Southland
Date: Thu, September 3, 2009 8:56 am

I was so depressed after the game on Thursday that i have only just been able to bring myself to talk about it. Actually I was sick on the day, so had to watch at home. Had I been at the game, I may well have been removed from the stands because of the amount of swearing I did during the game (as it was my wife left the living room). Thank goodness the Southland kickers missed all their goal kicks or else the score could have been as embarrassing as the play on the pitch. As well as our inability to score tries & win games, we seem to be getting a poor run with ref/touchy decisions - Otago was a complete travesty, but in this game Michael Mayhew was clearly pulled back when going to make a tackle for their first try, and there was a knock on in the final try.

I am convinced the tactic is to drive the ball over the line, by hitting it up in 2's & 3's. This seems to work until we get to the 5 metre line. In fact I can't remember a time when a team has finished with the ball on the ground 1 metre from the try line as many time in a season as Harbour this year. So we do all the hard work then decide to go in ones, rather than 2's & 3's. Twice on the night after recycling the ball Matt France went to pass the ball out, but there was no back line.

Ben Botica - My apologies mate. I had serious concerns over your inclusion in the playing squad, but I am more than willing to eat my words - what a great display for your first start. Great goal kicking, nice intercept try, and if you hadn't slipped as you ran around the reserve 1st five then you'd have had another try. Probably could have done with being pulled at 60-70 minutes, but stuck it out well.

The much maligned Michael Mayhew. Getting better & better. Really does seem to becoming a genuine prospect at 2. Mobile strong, tackles well, cleans out rucks well. Only blemishes were a couple of odd throws in the lineout (1 long and 2 mistimed) and losing control. James King & Vili Ma'afu good as well. Also shame Tom Chamberlain missed out on the points. What a difference a proper # 7 made. We actually got turn over ball, or at least penalties from it. Well done Tom. To be fair Jack McPhee has also stepped up a bit, but between him & Nafi still contrived to give Southland a try.

After having had a good game last week, Chris Smith went back to his normal effort around the park. Not enough tackles, not enough ball carries, not enough rucks cleared out (but he flopped a couple of times). Filo Paulo fits into the same mould. We can only afford one lineout/kick off specialist that does little around the track. I would think, if Dowd/Wilson want Smith on the field, he should be moved into lock and put Richard Mayhew on the side of the scrum as this would provide some beef, especially if the tactics continue this week as every other. Also get someone else to do the post match interviews, someone a little less controversial (Paul Holmes is probably available). Smith is probably lucky none of the Southland boys didn't punch him into next month, and to use a much used saying (mostly by halfbacks) - "look at the scoreboard."

There was an inevitability about the result. I said to the telly that when we went ahead by 5 -"ok boys let the hooker score a try in the corner to draw the game." How close I was, wasn't as close for the Lotto numbers. The current losing streak, which looks set to continue for the rest of the season (except for maybe the Auckland game), is largely mental and must be the fault of players - e.g. doing dumb things, or following the game plan. As the old saying goes it is the top 2 -3 inches. Maybe if we had picked a few of the multiple club championship winning Taka team we may have had the steel/experience to pull through these tight games.

Oh well it'll be nice to see Tony Woodcock ("Who?" I hear you ask) will be playing his first game since we won the Shield (seems like years ago). Anthony Boric is apparently getting close to playing, and with Rudi having game time & finding a bit of form we may possibly lose him to the AB's soon (hopefully to replace Rokocoko).

Al

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: Harbour Northland
Date: Mon, August 24, 2009 9:30 am

Morning

Firstly let me say I enjoyed the secondary schools final, far more than the main game. It was played with passion, power, pace and was in many respects more intense than the ANC game. Well done to both teams & both sets of supporters (apart from a few of the extremely drunk Rosmini supporters who were trying to provoke a reaction from the Massey fans). Massey - loved the haka at the end.

What was more interesting than the game was hearing a few after match quotes from Dowd about the performance on Friday night. In trying to duck the blame he indicated that the problem the team has with winning games is either an inherited one or that the team is too young. While both points maybe true, Robbie Deans never seemed to have a problem getting the best out of the young guys coming through the Canterbury system - it seems like Dan Carter must have been about 12 when he got his first start. Mind you even the Bucket Brigade were a little flat on the night.

Why did we let Luke Hamilton go north. he may have had an average club season, but who wouldn't coming back from a season of 7's with Titch? Look at Nafi. He still looks jaded. Luke was sharp, full of energy, he controlled the forwards well, kicked only when needed, passed & ran loads and was possibly the player of the game. Add J El to this and it makes you wonder who else the coaching team have left out of the team that could be doing well. Are we doing anything about recruiting the northern Hemisphere guys who are looking to return to NZ to make the AB's for the next world cup?

For this game I agree with the match report about this game for the first part. If I was the coach (and who in their right mind would give me the job) I would have a bash at altering the line up as follows:

• Chris Smith, who I feel is one of the bigger wastes of space in the team, actually played well. Dowd & Wilson seem to love him. If you're going to play him, bite the bullet & put him in the lock position in place of an inconsistent Filo Paulo. Then move Richard Mayhew to the side of the scrum (see below for reasons).
• Move George Pisi to full back, he is better at running the ball than McPhee and his kicking has really improved. This would then move Anthony Tuitavake to the centre position. The AB's picked him to play on the wing based on his form at centre. He is to far away from the ball to have any effect on the game. Then put Josh York on the wing - he's quick & has reasonable D.
• 7. 7. 7 - we need a 7. Even wheeling out Matua Parkinson, Josh Kronfeld, or even Jock Hobbs might be a step up from where we are now.
• Defensively when we get the ball (from kick or turnover) do the following: In the 22 - kick the ball deep and out (unless no chasers). Outside the 22 run it. We got good back, but they haven't been able to do to much with the rubbish ball.
• Matt France - you have been given the starting role by default. Make it your own, control those forwards, get them going forward.
• The tight 5 + whoever plays 6 needs to get TIGHT and get stuck in more as a unit. Let the 7 & 8 worry about the airy fairy stuff. You'd have thought the team (players & coaches) would have learnt this lesson from both the Tasman & Otago games.
• Look after Harris. he is a champ, and is kicking like a dream. Other teams will now be talking about not infringing in their half. Same with James King - our most consistent & best performer so far this season. Hopefully doesn't get a call from the high ups to soon, as we need our best players.
• Finally, and this could be aimed at every ANC team + the All Blacks, stop the mucking around in the lineout. It's hard enough for hookers without the tooing & froing. The lineout's we did basic stuff, we won, the ones with all the movement we only won halt to 3/4s.

My only gripe with the report is that the Takapuna supporter who wrote it needs to let club rivalry go. Yes you should be bitter that more Taka guys didn't make the original squad, as they are the champ, but get over it. Maybe this is the reason why Harbour doesn't succeed, while other so called lesser unions beat up on us is that we are so divided internally. I'd just like to point out to the cyclops that wrote the report that Viliame Ma'afu has started most of the games at number 8 and not the player with the "well-known rugby surname," Richard Mayhew. Interestingly other than the half against Otago he has hardly played for Harbour in 1.5 seasons & I don't think he would have made the field on Friday had Paulo not been injured. As the person sitting next to me put it - Richard has spent "more time warming up over the past 2 years than on the pitch." I have watched the Otago game several times now and the effect when he went off was immediate. If you have a 5, 6 & 7 not doing the hard yards in an around the breakdown someone has to take up the slack and this is what Richard did in the first half. When he came off they started running through us right up the middle. Same for this game.

It may well be that the team, which is very young & relatively inexperienced, are still down after the way they played following a momentous win against Canterbury, but they need to realise that they are professional sportsmen, playing a game loved by many, and that they should play accordingly. All we the fans want to see is that they have played the best they possibly could and that nothing is left on the field. Come on boys - give it heaps.

Cheers
Alistair

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: The season so far.
Date: Mon, August 17, 2009 11:03 am

What a turn around from week one.

Canterbury we played like a team. Everyone working for each other. The forward pack played controlled rugby, outshining many of the super 14 opposition & Michael Harris had the backline ticking well. And then a goal kicking display of the highest order. Very exciting. Although I think the Bucket Brigade should have grabbed the 3rd placed points for player of the year. Huge defensive effort.

Tasman. Lets move on from this quickly. The second half display was like watching the All Blacks from the previous weekend. And I left the ground wondering whether supporting the AB's, Warriors and Harbour is actually good for my mental health. I know Dowd & Wilson want to keep our players from inside the union, but we need an openside flanker. And I have to agree with the match report - James Afoa should start every game, and the introduction of the AB's actually made us a weaker side. Maybe that Jamie Joseph has something. Bucket Brigade - 3 pts and I'd have given James King the top points for a player. 3 games in a row I have watched him run his guts out, pull in lineout throws like a champ and get stuck in like a a rep lock should. I think the D in the second half was amongst the worst I had seen in a long time.

Otago. Points first - King was a colossus again. Adrian Smith would not have featured at all. He got in the way of one possible try, did a forward pass on another opportunity and was out scrummaged. However considering he wasn't even in the frame until the day before I'll cut him some slack. Afeaki is injured, again. I thought the much maligned Mike Mayhew played well for his first start. Only 2 lineout's stuffed, one from too much tooing & froing (just jump & catch) and the other a mistiming between the jump & throw (we won it anyway). It was a step up from last week, but how can a team spend so long 5 metres from the try line & almost 1/4 of the game in the opposition's 22 and not score a try is beyond me. In fact it would have possibly been harder to not score on purpose. The match report was right, after we sorted out the backline (Michael Harris to 10) we had a bucket load of penalties which had we have kicked a few would have won us the game. If Murray Mexted was commentating he would have been advocating taking the points, and for possibly the first time ever I would have agreed with him. As I said it was a step up from last week, but that was so low this effort was still well below par. At least Mr Dowd will be forced to play Michael Harris at 10.

Alistair

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: 2009 Squad
Date: Wed, July 29, 2009 11:27 am

I was interested to read the the Review by the Hamster & the selection headache by Mairangi Murray.

Both guys have highlighted the weakest point in Harbour rugby - 10. We are woeful in this position. None of the candidates (John Elrick, Jack McPhee, Michael Harris, Ben Botica) set the imagination alight, and certainly don't measure up to the likes of the other unions (especially Canterbury who may have either Dan Carter or Brett Steven). Come back Jimmy all is forgiven.

As far as team selection is concerned, I do agree with MM because I can't understand how J El wasn't picked and Botica was. Surely you pick a team on results & form. So the top points scorer and 1st five for the club champs should be one of the first names on your list. Yes, Botica has potential, but not experience, and throwing him in against the big boys of the ANC is a huge step up from playing club rugby. Also why does Takapuna, the top club in the union have only 3 players in the team (and Chris Smith has a RFU contract because of super 14)? <Editor: Let's hope Craig Dowd answers this question for us all one day soon>

Also you'd have thought that instead of instead of talking about players with a totally one-eyed slant the Hamster would have fronted up to the pre-season games to accurately make an informed comment about the 2009 squad. I would like to make comment about a few of the players he mentioned:

Michael Mayhew (Northcote)
Interesting the Hamster didn't mention that in his first full season at hooker Michael helped Poverty Bay win the Lochore Cup. Michael is young, mobile, strong and with good coaching has the potential to be outstanding. Very close competition with James Parsons will be good for both players.

Michael Reid & Ben Afeaki (Marist)
Michael and Chris Eaves were on the back foot against the Auckland pack. For both injury seems to be an issue. Will we see the potential they showed acted upon?

William Whetton (Northcote)
William unlike Ben Botica was in the frame for this years NZ U20s. Good at club level, but inexperience shows regularly in club games and should play regularly for reserves, and make the odd appearance for the main team.

Chris Smith (Takapuna)
Disagree entirely. Although not clapping as much as last year, it still continues. He needs to live up to his NZRFU contract & be more involved in the game. I watched him 3 time in club games this year, and although he was good at lineout time, he went missing at the breakdown and around the field. Need much more from a blindside flanker.

Robbie Colhoun (Silverdale)
Surely we must have a better back up 7 in our union - Anyone?

Richard Mayhew (Northcote)
Obviously confused with Michael who probably does 3 gym sessions an day & has a massive chest. Gotta disagree with the review. With limited time in last years ANC he made an impact every time he came on. Was ok in the pre-season matches without being outstanding. But let me say this, which ANC team has an outstanding number 8. In fact outside Rodney So'ialo no team seems to.

Matt France (Takapuna)
My pick at half back. Lost his cool a little against Northcote in the 2nd pool match, but that probably shows the niggly temperament that all good halfbacks seem to have (Gregan, Kelleher, Marshall, Van der Westhasen).

Ben Botica (North Shore)
Too young. Got in on his dad's coat tails. Should be John Elrick here. BB was average against Auckland, this showed more when Harris came on in 2nd half the back line started to fire. A year to early.

Hayden Abercrombie (North Shore)
Possible fullback as neither Pisi played that well against Auckland. Nice kicker of the ball.

Nafi Tuitavake (Massey)
He looks ok, but seems to have lost his top speed. Was easily run down against Auckland, which allowed them to turn the ball over & score.Potential is huge, but needs speed endurance to go with his lightening acceleration.

Jack McPhee (Glenfield)
Just cut his toe off (and the beard at the same time) and get on with it. Still a little unsure of him at ANC level.

James Afoa (Northcote)
The Business. The scrum was not only solid after he came on against Auckland, but was better.

James Parsons (Takapuna)
Line outs ok, scrumaging good. Will be an awesome battle with Michael Mayhew for the starting spot.

James King (North Shore) & Filo Paulo (Mahurangi)
Both young and played well against Auckland.

Vili Ma'afu (Massey)
G good season last year. One of the more consistent performers. Seems to about the same as last year. Could do better with more space coming off the back of the scrum.

Tom Chamberlain (Marist)
He may be the luckiest person ever to play for the Blues, but he is certainly best 7 we have in the province.

Chris Smylie (Massey)
Did will for the Blues behind a pack going backwards. Was very good pre-season. France will struggle to take the starting spot if the form continues.

Michael Harris (Northcote)
So far first choice first five. Major impact when he came on. Positional kicking better than BB or J El, but goal kicking is worse than both. He doesn't have electric speed, but neither did Foxy, Merts.....

George Pisi (Massey)
Must(!) follow through on potential he has shown the past couple of years. Has hap opportunities at ANC & Super 14 level, but only show glimpses.

Ken Pisi (Massey)
Terrible at full back against Auckland. Potential as per George, but maybe better on the wing.

Josh York
Played a reasonable attacking game against Auckland. With Waqaseduadua the tries he scored/set up balanced his defensive mistakes but Josh was way in the negative & was poor defensively - the 2 tries were scored on his side of the field.

Rudi Wulf
If not whipped back into the AB's he could play a big roll this year. Did well in his appearances for the Blues, playing at wing & fullback, can also play centre. Gives the girls something to look

Overall:
They have stayed loyal to the Harbour clubs but why only 3 Taka players? Very young & inexperienced compared to other ANC teams, although we may be lucky and use our AB's (except Woody) as they come back from injury (AB & Rudi). We are very week & maybe exposed at 7 & 10, and the 6/8 combination will be very important. Strengths are the front row, locks (if AB plays any significant time) an the spirit in the team. The coaches have fostered this by staying within the union for players thus far. As long as this continues they should go close to beating many of the more fancied teams.

Cheers
Alistair

From: Alistair@<withheld>.com
To: info@harbourrugby.com
Subject: Auckland 17 - North Harbour 6
Date: Fri, July 24, 2009 12:48 pm

It's interesting how this game is viewed by different people.

The Auckland Rugby Union website called the game a "convincing 17-6 victory", and that the team "defended with vigour to keep harbour scoreless." Even coach Anscombe saw the game differently to me as he was quoted as saying "I thought our defence was good and particularly strong on our goal line and we kept our discipline." Maybe form his view at the opposite end of the field he couldn't see all those penalties they gave away & the player sin-binned for killing the ball when we were hot on attack. Had this been an ANC game & not a preseason game the sin binning would have happened much earlier. Mind you this report from the ARU (with photos) is better than what the official Harbour website produced, where they give only the result & the scorers (although Ben Botica scored with 2 penalties, not 2 conversions). Flash new website, same poor reporting & still no online club shop for jersey's, t-shirts, etc. Poor.

It appears that no one else bothered to send a reporter to the ground as Stuff.co.nz was the only other report on the game & it copied almost word for word the ARU report. Amazing. Looking at the Herald you think the AB's game was on today.

I know I am biased. I love Harbour & want them to do well. But a fluky try, and a well taken Paul Williams try were really the difference. The Auckland team was pretty stacked with 6 - 8 of their 10 super 14 players & Harbour had all of the players from Takapuna & Northcote on the bench. In the second half, when they bought on these guys the game evened up. I think if Auckland score was 10 or 12 it would have been more of a fair reflection of the game.

Ben Botica was ok at first five. He didn't do too much wrong, but didn't set the world on fire. There was an instant change when Harris came on. Ken Pisi was weak at fullback. The centre/wing linking was disjointed in the first half, but looked to have more zip & purpose in the 2nd (the Botica effect?). James King & Filo Paulo played well with King doing well in the lineouts and around the field. James Afoa made a huge difference to the scrum when he came on. I think the hooker for the Canterbury game may well be decided in the club final tomorrow as both guys played well. Rest of the team did ok.

Cheers
Alistair