Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

donfers

sorry if it's been asked but on cj stander - what is regarded as his best position, 6,7 or 8?

And where is Munster's need greatest for him to fit in?

I think Coughlan deserves another season at 8, so i would have POM and Stander as first choices for the 6 and 7 spots, the question is who goes where?

Fishooks12

POM at 6 and Santandar at 7

Beery Eyed

Fishooks12 wrote: »

I really think Hanrahan could push past Keatley is he plays ten next year

I hope they mix it up this season now that they seem to have a few options through 10/12/13.

For instance if Hanrahan was selected at 10 with Downey & Lualala outside him I'm sure their experience will be a big help & it'll allow him to play his own game. Likewise if he was put in at 12 with ROG at 10 & Laulala outside it'll help make his transition a lot easier.

Keatley will start the season ahead of him in the order, but I'm sure he'll be keeping an eye on the progress of Hanarahan if he gets a game or two. Anyway, it's no bad thing to have a few options and hopefully a couple of viable alternatives to ROG.

Amazotheamazing

donfers wrote: »

sorry if it's been asked but on cj stander - what is regarded as his best position, 6,7 or 8?

And where is Munster's need greatest for him to fit in?

I think Coughlan deserves another season at 8, so i would have POM and Stander as first choices for the 6 and 7 spots, the question is who goes where?

I don't like the idea of anyone "deserving" his place from this far out. Ronan no doubt did enough to be out starting 7 but if he loses his place because Butler or Dougall or whoever plays like McCaw then hard lines. It's all up for grabs, imo.

unplayable

Beery Eyed wrote: »

I hope they mix it up this season now that they seem to have a few options through 10/12/13.

For instance if Hanrahan was selected at 10 with Downey & Lualala outside him I'm sure their experience will be a big help & it'll allow him to play his own game. Likewise if he was put in at 12 with ROG at 10 & Laulala outside it'll help make his transition a lot easier.

Keatley will start the season ahead of him in the order, but I'm sure he'll be keeping an eye on the progress of Hanarahan if he gets a game or two. Anyway, it's no bad thing to have a few options and hopefully a couple of viable alternatives to ROG.

keatley isnt a bad player. rog is good for 2 more years prob. jj should be given a few chances.deasy is who i really struggle to see much action for. plenty of options at center now too

Beery Eyed

unplayable wrote: »

keatley isnt a bad player. rog is good for 2 more years prob. jj should be given a few chances.deasy is who i really struggle to see much action for. plenty of options at center now too

I actually think Keatley is a very good player, but as I say it's nice to have another option and one who could genuinely be top class on the potential he's shown so far.

I'd agree about Deasy. Could be a good squad player since ROG will probably be away in Autumn, & you never know how injuries will play out, but I'd prefer to see Hanrahan being tried out if there's a suitable opportunity.

unplayable

Beery Eyed wrote: »

I actually think Keatley is a very good player, but as I say it's nice to have another option and one who could genuinely be top class on the potential he's shown so far.

I'd agree about Deasy. Could be a good squad player since ROG will probably be away in Autumn, & you never know how injuries will play out, but I'd prefer to see Hanrahan being tried out if there's a suitable opportunity.

i think first choice is

murray,rog,zebo,downey,laulau,earls,jones

then

stringer,keatley,howlett,dineen,barnes,murphy,hurley

with deasy, williams, scanlon o dea aswell.

like the 2nd string is a very decent magniers backline. with only really earls,murray,zebo and rog possibly jones being involved with ireland still gives a lot of options.

Fireball07

unplayable wrote: »

i think first choice is

murray,rog,zebo,downey,laulau,earls,jones

then

stringer,keatley,howlett,dineen,barnes,murphy,hurley

with deasy, williams, scanlon o dea aswell.

like the 2nd string is a very decent magniers backline. with only really earls,murray,zebo and rog possibly jones being involved with ireland still gives a lot of options.

No chance that Howlett is 2nd choice.....unless his injury has really hurt him.

I'd also have O'Dea in the 2nd team. Not that it works like that but O'Dea would be the one I'd like to develop most out of those.

unplayable

Fireball07 wrote: »

No chance that Howlett is 2nd choice.....unless his injury has really hurt him.

I'd also have O'Dea in the 2nd team. Not that it works like that but O'Dea would be the one I'd like to develop most out of those.

would u have howlett instead of zebo so. will be interesting to see if earls plays on the wing or center for munster. cause remember seeing an interview where he basically said i wanna play 13. and he is prob bods long term replacement but then we sign laulau who is a very good 13 so im confused as to where he will play.

i actually think full back may be his best position but thats just me

Podge_irl

unplayable wrote: »

would u have howlett instead of zebo so.

Unless his injury has resulted in him having his leg amputated then by quite a massive margin yes.

Zebo will get plenty of game time throughout the season though.

Fireball07

unplayable wrote: »

would u have howlett instead of zebo so. will be interesting to see if earls plays on the wing or center for munster. cause remember seeing an interview where he basically said i wanna play 13. and he is prob bods long term replacement but then we sign laulau who is a very good 13 so im confused as to where he will play.

i actually think full back may be his best position but thats just me

Howlett is definitely ahead of Zebo, no doubt about it. But Zebo will still get played with injuries and rotation and stuff.

Laulala could end up moving to 12 if Earls is good enough at 13. I don't know. I think the best thing for Munster would be to see him on the wing.

jm08

Fireball07 wrote: »

Howlett is definitely ahead of Zebo, no doubt about it. But Zebo will still get played with injuries and rotation and stuff.

Laulala could end up moving to 12 if Earls is good enough at 13. I don't know. I think the best thing for Munster would be to see him on the wing.

Earls will only be moved to the wing if Penney is short-termist as Laulala will be gone in 2 years and according to the new IRFU regs., he will have to be replaced by an Irish qualified player.

I think Zebo mainly plays at 11, don't ever recall Howlett playing anything other than 14 or fullback (about twice) for Munster.

totallegend

On the basis of this season, the best back three could well be Zebo, Howlett and Earls at FB. Unless Jones improves, he'd be a weak link.

Cpt_Blackbeard

totallegend wrote: »

On the basis of this season, the best back three could well be Zebo, Howlett and Earls at FB. Unless Jones improves, he'd be a weak link.

Hurley shouldn't be ruled our as an option at 15. He was unfairly dropped for the returning Jones and the whole team suffered because of it.

I'm near positive that we'll see Earls at 13 next season. It might prove that the signing of two centres was a poor decision, as Earls continuing at 13 benefits both Munster and Ireland going forward.

sportfanatic

Doesnt look great for Rua Tipoki.

[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10814965"]http://http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10814965[/URL]

CatFromHue

sportfanatic wrote: »

Doesnt look great for Rua Tipoki.

[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10814965"]http://http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10814965[/URL]

Bit early yet to know exactly what happened. His account seems ok to me but I'd feel a lot better of some one else ran on with him to stop the fight.

---

But father-of-four Tipoki, 36, said last night that he ran onto the field at Whakarua Memorial Park from the halfway mark after a brawl broke out at the try line.

"There were three players on one boy at one stage," he said.

"I've tried to come in and grab one of the boys and he's stepped out of my reach and I've clipped him on the chest and he fell straight on his bum."

Amazotheamazing

Still a hero!

Milkinit_large

Can some1 explain what a project player is?

Tomtom364

Milkinit_large wrote: »

Can some1 explain what a project player is?

Someone (with no senior international caps) signed with the intention of developing their ability and gaining 3 years residency within Ireland in order to be able to represent Ireland at senior international level

CatFromHue

Milkinit_large wrote: »

Can some1 explain what a project player is?

He's a foreign player who can qualify for Ireland through residency. To qualify you have to be in a country for three years. Strauss for Leinster is one as in Visser for Scotland. Neither are natives of Ireland or Scotland but will have been in those country's for three years.

Monty Burnz

I thought Tipoki retired due to injury when he left Munster?

lynchy101

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Still a hero!

He has a reputation for being a very dirty player.

chooochooo

lynchy101 wrote: »

He has a reputation for being a very dirty player.

It's easy to ignore his personal hygiene habits when you can play like him.

thomond2006

lynchy101 wrote: »

He has a reputation for being a very dirty player.

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Still a hero!

this

Fireball07

I know we didn't have that many players on tour, and the results from an Irish POV were disastrous but I was hugely impressed with the performances of Ryan. He's getting better and better and I hope he and POC can make even more of an impression in the HC this year.

And it's good to know that ROG isn't completely gone yet. Following the Ospreys game, I really worried about that. (I do think he was carrying an injury in that game)

Cpt_Blackbeard

Ryan really stepped up massively to fill POC's boots. If he continues as he is, he will be touring with the Lions next summer. It will be interesting to see how the POC-Ryan partnership pans out, as Ryan is looking like a very similar player to Paulie. I think we'll see POC gravitate more towards the enforcing tighthead lock - He'll begin to take on the ball less and focus more on rucks and mauls. If both continue their form, we could yet have a Lions test unit playing for us week-in week-out.

Amazotheamazing

Fireball07 wrote: »

I know we didn't have that many players on tour, and the results from an Irish POV were disastrous but I was hugely impressed with the performances of Ryan. He's getting better and better and I hope he and POC can make even more of an impression in the HC this year.

And it's good to know that ROG isn't completely gone yet. Following the Ospreys game, I really worried about that. (I do think he was carrying an injury in that game)

O'Gara needs to be replaced, or at least, actively rotated for big games this coming season. Whether it's Hanrahan, Deasy or Keatley at 12 beside him for some games or whatever, we need a new outhalf by next April, imo.

Downey could give him a new lease of life but it'd be a short term gain for a medium term loss, imo.

Amazotheamazing

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Ryan really stepped up massively to fill POC's boots. If he continues as he is, he will be touring with the Lions next summer. It will be interesting to see how the POC-Ryan partnership pans out, as Ryan is looking like a very similar player to Paulie. I think we'll see POC gravitate more towards the enforcing tighthead lock - He'll begin to take on the ball less and focus more on rucks and mauls. If both continue their form, we could yet have a Lions test unit playing for us week-in week-out.

A big part of that is this is probably Ryan's longest run without a significant injury in an age. I don't think anyone really doubted his talent (though i think he'd be lucky to make a Lions tour with Grey etc about) but he was magnetic for injuries for a good while.

Podge_irl

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

I think we'll see POC gravitate more towards the enforcing tighthead lock - He'll begin to take on the ball less and focus more on rucks and mauls.

Halle-****ing-lujah

Its not his fault as its clearly a managerial tactic, but he is utterly wasted in that role. If you look at Thorn, he gets his hands on the ball exceptionally rarely and isn't a great carrier when he does. POC brings manic aggression and brilliant work in the tight, but that suffers when he is spending so much time carrying ineffectively in the 10 channel.

Unless something drastic happens, there is only one second row spot available for the Lions. Grey is as locked in as it is possible to be this far out. I think both POC and Ryan could travel though.

Fireball07

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

O'Gara needs to be replaced, or at least, actively rotated for big games this coming season. Whether it's Hanrahan, Deasy or Keatley at 12 beside him for some games or whatever, we need a new outhalf by next April, imo.

Downey could give him a new lease of life but it'd be a short term gain for a medium term loss, imo.

No doubt we need to blood someone new, should have done it last season and I'm confident Penney will. But if Keatley or someone is thrown in and they're not up to it, at least we still have ROG to fall back on.

Podge_irl wrote: »

Halle-****ing-lujah

Its not his fault as its clearly a managerial tactic, but he is utterly wasted in that role. If you look at Thorn, he gets his hands on the ball exceptionally rarely and isn't a great carrier when he does. POC brings manic aggression and brilliant work in the tight, but that suffers when he is spending so much time carrying ineffectively in the 10 channel.

Unless something drastic happens, there is only one second row spot available for the Lions. Grey is as locked in as it is possible to be this far out. I think both POC and Ryan could travel though.

I agree with you there. POC is brilliant in many parts of the game, but not carrying. Ryan is a very good carrier and has much better hands than POC. If they get a good run together, they could really be a fantastic partnership. One part of the team I'm not worried about. DOC is still a decent player too and I'm hoping to see more of Nagle/Foley.