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Thread: Deans offers little joy for Henry

  1. #1
    Champion tdevil's Avatar
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    Deans offers little joy for Henry

    The Super 14 does not kick off until next weekend but Crusaders and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has already revealed enough to ensure All Blacks coach Graham Henry gives his sausages a few extra sharp pokes over the barbecue.

    Deans has not been afraid to mix his selections in the pre-season matches - the prime case being with All Black Leon MacDonald tested at fullback and first and second five-eighths.

    Sitting up in Auckland, Henry's brain and sausages will be sizzling.

    With Aaron Mauger now reaping the big bucks with English club Leicester, Deans is pondering who should start at No.12 this season and where he can slip Stephen Brett into the mix.

    It is certain Dan Carter, who has been sidelined with a calf injury, will start. Just where remains uncertain.

    The new Wallabies coach may be tempted to slip him into No. 12, a position he is familiar with, and use Brett at No. 10 in an effort to shield the latter from some defensive duties.

    Or he could shuffle Brett back to fullback, a position where he could use his pace and attacking skills to launch the sort of counter-attacks that will be encouraged under the new laws.

    Playing MacDonald at second-five suggests Deans could partner him alongside Carter in the inside backs, which will also allow him to bolster his defensive line from set plays.

    This, in turn, could create problems for Henry.

    With All Blacks Mauger, Luke McAlister and Sam Tuitupou now playing in England, the All Blacks boss is searching for a No.12 to partner Carter at first-five.

    Brett, who has played at second-five at age-group level for New Zealand and spoken of his desire to play there, is a candidate.

    He may still be contracted to the New Zealand Rugby Union, but it is unlikely Deans will be prodded into listening to tips from Henry, the bloke who beat him to the All Blacks' top coaching job.

    There is also the matter of Henry being the man who will be plotting for the Wallabies to fail in their quest to win the Bledisloe Cup this season.

    Deans should be mindful of his players' welfare.

    It wouldn't make sense for him to run his players into the ground; he will want them to be fresh for the finals. Not because he is worried about Henry's plans later in the season.

    Henry will also be nervously monitoring how All Blacks skipper and openside flanker Richie McCaw copes with his workload.

    With rookie George Whitelock the only specialist picked as McCaw's back-up, Deans will likely expect the All Black to back up every week.

    One of the driving forces behind Henry's controversial conditioning programme last year was that he was worried about players being run into the dirt by their Super 14 coaches.

    The coaches maintained they knew how to manage their men and Deans, for one, rested the likes of McCaw from trainings earlier in the week in 2006.

    Unconvinced, Henry used his powers to sideline them from seven rounds of the Super 14 in World Cup year.

    That plan damaged the Crusaders' Super 14 title chances. Henry will expect to get little help from Deans this season.

    On the same issue, Henry should have no problems getting updates on players' injuries from the Crusaders' medical staff. What, though, are the chances of him forcing Deans to let them rest and recuperate? And how much of this inside knowledge will be invaluable for Deans approaching the Bledisloe Cup?

    Looks like the Crusaders' experiment of playing pre-season matches in Melbourne is a goner. Four million people live in Melbourne but only 7000 attended last Saturday night's match between the Crusaders and the Western Force.

    In contrast, 12,000 live in Motueka and its surrounding townships and 10,000 rocked up for the match against the Hurricanes in the small Tasman town.

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    "In contrast, 12,000 live in Motueka and its surrounding townships and 10,000 rocked up for the match against the Hurricanes"

    And they probably televised it as well...anyone putting money on 10,000 showing up tonight?

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    Champion Skiza's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tdevil View Post

    Looks like the Crusaders' experiment of playing pre-season matches in Melbourne is a goner. Four million people live in Melbourne but only 7000 attended last Saturday night's match between the Crusaders and the Western Force.

    In contrast, 12,000 live in Motueka and its surrounding townships and 10,000 rocked up for the match against the Hurricanes in the small Tasman town.
    Rugby is "the only sport" as far as many New Zealanders are concerned...of course they're going to get heaps to a game...unless the people of Motueka want to trek it to Wellington or Christchurch for the season proper.

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    Senior Player Contributor hopep's Avatar
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    That would be like having an Eagles V Crows AFL match played in Albany. Of course every man, his dog and ute would turn out.

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