Well, I hate to say I told you so, but if that wasn’t the poorest home performance since the construction of Forsyth Barr Stadium, then somewhere in the past I missed a genuine horror show.
For those who haven’t got the message yet, this is a very poorly constructed Highlander register that is going to struggle.
Last Friday night fell short on the park, but the attendance and lack of home-town interest reflected not only the much-expected plunge in Highlander performance but also the embedded issues with the structure of the competition.
A couple of observations on the game itself before presenting the case for the increasing lack of interest in Super Rugby.
At the post-match press conference head coach Aaron Mauger noted that his side did not handle the expected aerial game that the Sharks brought to Dunedin.
There raises a couple of obvious questions which did not appear to be asked by the journalists:
- If you ‘expected’ an aerial game from the visitors, why did you select a backline which included Mitch Hunt, Josh Ioane, Jona Nareki and Josh MacKay at fullback? There’s not a six-footer among them.
- And knowing that we had a hobbit selection on the park, why did the Highlanders keep going to the air for little reward themselves?
Sadly this Highlander side lacks pace to go with its diminutive stature and it is very difficult to see where enough points are going to come from to win matches. Tony Brown is an excellent attack coach but he is neither an alchemist nor magician. Let’s give him the senior reins right now and hope against hope there is something to build towards in 2021.
For the positives, a dominant scrum appeared from somewhere and wasn’t rewarded as it should have been, and new No. 8 Marino Mikaele Tu’u looks a player who will fit nicely next to a starting Shannon Frizzel in the future.
Looking for rays of sunlight after this performance wasn’t an easy task.
Now to the evidence that interest in the competition keeps sliding south.
Moving the competition forward means that Otago University orientation week misses the start of the season by a full three weeks. The influx of new and returning students has become a key part of the Highlanders Super Rugby season over recent years; on Saturday you could literally count the inhabitants of the Zoo. This is not the way it is meant to be.
I have been to multiple sporting events around the world but never have I had the men’s urinal entirely to myself ten minutes before kick-off. The entire stadium was eerily quiet.
Highlander supporters need to stick with the side through what is going to be a difficult season, but for those at the wheel, let’s at least be honest about the shortcomings.
ClarkeG
Roar Guru
There was a queue at Hamilton...just saying.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
The pool can grow though. What we have is finite resources ($$$$) to keep them here. I could rattle off over 2 squads worth of Aus developed players who are OS. I understand where you are coming from about “forcing guys” but that’s not so much the case. Guys like Korczyk and Schatz from the Reds are excellent examples. In the old days Schatz when he fell out of the XV would have hung around as a bench or squad member. But now he has an offer to go play for London Irish then the Sunwolves. Likewise Korczyk is probably as best a fringe player. But there’s no money in that, so he’s signed to play Championship. So now the Reds fringe option when injuries come up is somebody inferior. The good players plugging away in grade just aren’t there like they once were. Which means grade isn’t as good, so the players coming out aren’t quite as good as they could be We aren’t forcing them. We are forcing them onto ourselves, because they won’t stay around and play grade. They’ll go play a 2nd div in Europe and get paid to do it.
Paul
Roar Guru
I very much appreciate your excellent explanation Train but my point was and still is, we have a finite pool of talent that is good enough to play Super Rugby, etc and increasing the number of teams in Australia hasn't done us any favours. Throw in the points you made about player drain to Japan, the NH, etc and I wonder if a) the quality of our SR squads hasn't been diminished and b) as a result of a), we're almost forcing guys to take on roles ( with the attendant big bucks), when they could do with more time in grade footy to season them before they hit the big time.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Not really. Like SA & NZ we have just as many players playing in Pro14, Premiership, Championship, Top 14, Pro D2 and Top League (& Div 2) as we do in Australia. Possibly more now. The problem was that as we were expanding, NH wages started to rise. At first we lost players at the end of their careers as they'd fall from regular stars and starters. Not ideal as depth is hurt, but not critical losses. Then we started to lose those players a little earlier, when they'd slip from Wallabies but still be starting Super Rugby. Not a killer blow, but we've lost a bit more depth here. The player pool is still just as good, it's just others have outbid us for it. Then we've started to lose players in their prime that aren't in Wallaby calculations. Now it's started to hurt because these players make up our Super Rugby franchises. And then we've started to lose the fringe Wallabies, because only the regular 23 we can afford to pay competitively to stay in Australia. Now it's really started to hurt, because these are the stars the Super Rugby teams get the most value out of, with the first choice Wallabies sometimes struggling through SR due to playing 30 high level games a year. The player pool is probably better than it's ever been. It's just other nations can see that, and they've outbid us for a lot of it. But the problem is with only 3 teams we stay a tiny minor sport, and eventually they start outbidding us for the first choice Wallabies too.
Paul
Roar Guru
"I have been to multiple sporting events around the world but never have I had the men’s urinal entirely to myself ten minutes before kick-off." Great way to suss out fan involvement, Highlander. More to the point it's pretty accurate too.
Paul
Roar Guru
and from an Aussie point of view, we diluted the player pool to ridiculous levels.
JamesDuncan
Roar Guru
A lot of fans are wondering the same thing about their team, Highlander! It's time of transition for many sides, but the 'landers have been particularly hard-hit with personnel moving on.
Highlander
Guest
Certainly too early for him to be the sides main strike weapon Good footballer though but isn’t good to carry a weak attack
Armchair Halfback
Roar Rookie
Sorry to hear that Highlander, FB stadium is a great stadium. Re Jona Nareki, he was good in the ITM cup, is he a bit raw for Super Rugby?
Highlander
Guest
It doesnt appear to have been a problem for the last 10 years - this is after all what we do as a small union, my view is this roster is simply poorly selected.
Sinclair Whitbourne
Roar Rookie
Aware of your views but my questions were not directed at that, they were about difficulties in getting quality players to Dunedin (and/or environs - perhaps Bluff, if they like oysters very, very fresh).
Faith
Roar Rookie
Once BBB comes through for the Blues they will also be quite handy. NZ teams unlike OZ teams have a lot of pride and even with ITM level players they will punch above their weight. 3 NZ rather than 4 teams also makes the playoffs exciting for other nationalities ...
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
That would’ve extended The Roar’s already ample range H’lander!
Highlander
Guest
Tima Fainganuku at least has some size to him.....the Shrkies were huge everywhere and we sent out little fellas
Highlander
Guest
My views on coach Mauger have been clear from the start, I see little positive.
Highlander
Guest
It cannot bode well for the future of Southern Hemisphere rugby Harry, that said the cheaters at Saracens may well have pushed the end game out a few years now.
Highlander
Guest
Very good chook...... I have no printable response
Highlander
Guest
I genuinely cannot see where this Highlander side is going to generate enough points to win matches James, I sincerely hope they prove me wrong
Highlander
Guest
The pic of an empty 30 metre urinal was even sadder but the editor clearly made the right decision in not reproducing it ????
Harry Jones
Expert
Yep, and you could select two full overseas Saffa 23s that would spank the current SR teams in SA.