There is an important balance here, but giving the test players extra time off seems to have worked extremely well for the NZ sides both in terms of developing depth and getting the best players peaking at the right time. Not much margin for error in an 8 game season though.
I did hear an interesting rumour over the holidays that neither Petaia nor Paisami wants to play 13 and, as such, Flook was in prime spot to benefit. It was a random discussion with a guy I’d met 30 minutes earlier. Absolutely no idea how much substance there is to it, how strongly Petaia & Paisami’s apparent aversion is and nor do I know have any clue how much Thorn would care on Paisami & Petaia’s feelings. In other words take it completely with a grain of salt. But I still found it interesting.
