Do wonder if some of our rugby coaches at the pro level could take a leaf out of the Noelene Taurua playbook and look to learn from her. Looking from the outside She’s hard-nosed but has the respect of all and importantly has a track record of success. Not sure all our pro rugby coaches have it (hard nosed attitude) when they need it most. Perhaps a reflection of the insular nature of pro rugby in New Zealand and what I perceive as a lack of both patience and ruthlessness - and I believe you need both - the trick is to know how to time playing them at the right time! As always just one man’s opinion Dylan!
Well done Zoe Hobbs. While not a fan of the Comm Games these days, she is one athlete who I hope succeeds given the barriers that were put in her way to compete.
Really enjoying the Bounce Dylan, a new level of insight into NZ sports that I love. Just want to quickly comment on a few aspects of the cricket:
1. Great to see Guppy back in the runs and move up the leaderboard. Would have loved to see him and Astle both at their pomp opening in ODI cricket for NZ. I think we have well and truly seen the best of Guppy by now, I can’t see him scoring runs against quicker / better attacks but boy has he been great and a great bloke to boot.
2. Not sure about Finn Allen. Looks like a slugger to me, with very hard hands.
3. Disappointed for Will Young - I wonder if he just needs to go out and express himself? Test opening may not have been a good diversion for a shot maker of his quality (I’m sure it is only a temporary diversion in his career).
Re point 2: I think Finn is a curious, ultra modern player in that he's learning to bat back-to-front. Up until a generation ago, your defensive game was your base, your starting point and everything flowed from that ie. your forward defence extended to check drives, to full-flowing drives, to hitting over the top. He's gone the other way around, trying to hit everything over the top as first option. I see enough raw talent there for him to learn to draw everything back, but I'm really not sure he'll ever learn well enough to be an effective red-ball cricketer. He'll be rich though!
Re point 3: Trying to turn Will Young into a test opener is, IMHO, is one of the dumbest, most unnecessary moves NZC's high-performance team has ever made. They haven't got a whole heap wrong in the past eight or so years, but that is a monty of a mistake.
I agree re: Young. I wouldn’t like to see Conway go in first either. I wonder that the best option is actually Henry Nicholls. Might be a bit tough on a guy who’s made a decent fist of number 5, but he’s gone in first in ODI cricket to hold up an end and with the log jam of middle order players I feel he’s the one who we should run with for a while. He’s a prodder and poker any case.
Nice spotting re: the curious case of Finn Allen, I’d never thought of it quite like that. The art of playing the ball late will be lost with that approach but hard to argue with the rest!
Do wonder if some of our rugby coaches at the pro level could take a leaf out of the Noelene Taurua playbook and look to learn from her. Looking from the outside She’s hard-nosed but has the respect of all and importantly has a track record of success. Not sure all our pro rugby coaches have it (hard nosed attitude) when they need it most. Perhaps a reflection of the insular nature of pro rugby in New Zealand and what I perceive as a lack of both patience and ruthlessness - and I believe you need both - the trick is to know how to time playing them at the right time! As always just one man’s opinion Dylan!
Well done Zoe Hobbs. While not a fan of the Comm Games these days, she is one athlete who I hope succeeds given the barriers that were put in her way to compete.
Really enjoying the Bounce Dylan, a new level of insight into NZ sports that I love. Just want to quickly comment on a few aspects of the cricket:
1. Great to see Guppy back in the runs and move up the leaderboard. Would have loved to see him and Astle both at their pomp opening in ODI cricket for NZ. I think we have well and truly seen the best of Guppy by now, I can’t see him scoring runs against quicker / better attacks but boy has he been great and a great bloke to boot.
2. Not sure about Finn Allen. Looks like a slugger to me, with very hard hands.
3. Disappointed for Will Young - I wonder if he just needs to go out and express himself? Test opening may not have been a good diversion for a shot maker of his quality (I’m sure it is only a temporary diversion in his career).
Hey Andy, glad you're enjoying The Bounce!
Re point 2: I think Finn is a curious, ultra modern player in that he's learning to bat back-to-front. Up until a generation ago, your defensive game was your base, your starting point and everything flowed from that ie. your forward defence extended to check drives, to full-flowing drives, to hitting over the top. He's gone the other way around, trying to hit everything over the top as first option. I see enough raw talent there for him to learn to draw everything back, but I'm really not sure he'll ever learn well enough to be an effective red-ball cricketer. He'll be rich though!
Re point 3: Trying to turn Will Young into a test opener is, IMHO, is one of the dumbest, most unnecessary moves NZC's high-performance team has ever made. They haven't got a whole heap wrong in the past eight or so years, but that is a monty of a mistake.
I agree re: Young. I wouldn’t like to see Conway go in first either. I wonder that the best option is actually Henry Nicholls. Might be a bit tough on a guy who’s made a decent fist of number 5, but he’s gone in first in ODI cricket to hold up an end and with the log jam of middle order players I feel he’s the one who we should run with for a while. He’s a prodder and poker any case.
Nice spotting re: the curious case of Finn Allen, I’d never thought of it quite like that. The art of playing the ball late will be lost with that approach but hard to argue with the rest!