Rugby 7s general chat

[I like to watch]

No doubt, our 7's guys are not the pick of the crop.
But that's the case for every other 7's nation as well.

It's a talent identification issue because our coach is hopeless.
He seriously doesn't know who to pick.
He says he wants to go into breakdowns less, but recruits breakdown specialists.
He doesn't understand that a team of good footballers will flog a team of good athletes.

Seems to me that he is overwhelmed.
Pretty much all the fringe players seem to have player managers that push them into the training group,as opposed to the coach identifying and inviting promising players into the training group.
But I no longer blame him,it's Pulvers fault for extending a contract of what was an already failing coach.

 

[Beer Baron]

what was Friends 7s CV before this gig??

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[Highlander35]

Assistant coach in 2005.

That's about it. Premiership Sevens didn't start till 2010ish. And he left the Quins in 2007 or 2008.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Do we really think it's just a talent identification issue though?

7's is the poor cousin of Super Rugby, the contracts on offer are better in XV's and if you cast the net wider, the contracts on offer in the AFL and NRL are both superior as well.

I see the Aussies schoolboys just won the schoolboys 7's comp, but realistically none of those players will ever filter through to the Aussie 7's, some will get plucked off by NRL, and others will persue the XV's because the pathway is clearer.

Fair points tocc _ I suspect pay rates for sevens improving but yes poor cousin territory indeed.

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[Learned One]

The long term injury to Lewis Holland has really hurt us. It appears HH was the stop gap solution. surely this wasn't a last minute decision, so HH must have been showing decent form at first receiver in training otherwise why would Friend take the risk. Will Friend persevere with him in Wellington?

I agree with those above, HH looks more dangerous out wide, and our team looks slow.
These blokes do yo-yos and 40 m time trials regularly. I'd like to see these results posted here.

From the recent National Sevens, there were a number of very fast players. HH's Randwick teammate, Pennington was a real handful out wide. Worth a go amongst others.

 

[Mustafa]

The long term injury to Lewis Holland has really hurt us. It appears HH was the stop gap solution. surely this wasn't a last minute decision, so HH must have been showing decent form at first receiver in training otherwise why would Friend take the risk. Will Friend persevere with him in Wellington?

I agree with those above, HH looks more dangerous out wide, and our team looks slow.
These blokes do yo-yos and 40 m time trials regularly. I'd like to see these results posted here.

From the recent National Sevens, there were a number of very fast players. HH's Randwick teammate, Pennington was a real handful out wide. Worth a go amongst others.

Hutchinson and Taylor should be kept outwide. We need a playmaker and some more quick guys but they also need to be good footy players plus who can tackle, with the stamina for 7s rugby

 

[I like to watch]

The long term injury to Lewis Holland has really hurt us. It appears HH was the stop gap solution. surely this wasn't a last minute decision, so HH must have been showing decent form at first receiver in training otherwise why would Friend take the risk. Will Friend persevere with him in Wellington?

I agree with those above, HH looks more dangerous out wide, and our team looks slow.
These blokes do yo-yos and 40 m time trials regularly. I'd like to see these results posted here.

From the recent National Sevens, there were a number of very fast players. HH's Randwick teammate, Pennington was a real handful out wide. Worth a go amongst others.

because Friend has assembled an unbalanced squad?
The squad is not lightening quick,but it's not slow either.We are not regularly burnt on the outside,or run down easily.
We are losing games due to poor skill/decision making,not to conditioning.

Pennington is exactly the type of player we are already top heavy with.what we are missing is brains,not athleticism.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Ticket sales for Wellington sluggish again, only ~1300 as of mid-December. Things will pick up now that Christmas & New Years are over with but the number isn't much different to the same time last year so we're probably looking at ~15K per day attendance again which is pretty shit for a 35K stadium.

Also it lost $300K last year, underwritten at least partly by Wellington City Council: I can't see the Residents & Ratepayers Association(s) putting up with those kind of losses for too much longer. Relocation probably isn't an option, no one other than Wellington bid for the current three-year deal so I'm not sure what happens when that expires after (I think) the 2019 tournament. Depressing all round, really.

 

[Highlander35]

Dunedin Sevens! Party party party!

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Wrong time of year, all the students are back where they come from; the local population is pretty tiny; there's pissall accomodation; & the City Council is tighter than a really tight thing (settled by Scots, y'naw) so ain't gunna happen IMO.

I'd go Hamilton or Tauranga myself but neither of those Councils is likely to take the risk: Tauranga is virtually Auckland's retirement home these days so the R&RA is well-organised, well-heeled & very vocal anytime anyone wants to spend ratepayer $ on anything new or different. Hamilton's got some expensive infrastructure issues they've been putting off for years but will have to address soon (plus half the Coucil are anti-fluoridation loonies and/ or classic NIMBY's)

 

[Highlander35]

Stupid Students having a life outside Uni and Partying.

 

[Rebels3]

I think one of the big issues is the timing. The Auckland 9's is pretty close in terms of timing (from memory a week after the 7s). A couple of my cousins that live in the upper hut region are forgoing the 7s to attend the 9s as its more of a novelty.

There is also a lack of identity with the Wellington 7s. Conversation has been had about families complaining the atmosphere is not family friendly (drunk revelers) while the party crowd is complaining that they aren't getting a proper party experience because of the focus in the last few years has been to try and attract families back to the crowd. They need to go one way or the other.

On saying that having the Sydney 7s on the same weekend as the Auckland 9s isn't going to maximise viewership or new viewers to the game over here.

 

[southsider]

Can't believe Sydney 7's and Auckland 9's is on the same weekend, such shortsightedness.

Also what happened to the party zone at Sydney 7's this year? When I went to buy my ticket there was no option for it??

 

[I like to watch]

Who does the scheduling?

Brisbane 10's the following week forced their hand,if they had a say, I reckon.

 

[Highlander35]

London is always last. Dubai is always on the last weekend of November or first of December. Las Vegas is always the last weekend in February or first in March, and Hong Kong is always the last weekend in March or the first in April.

With the partnered tournaments in play, that more or less leaves two slots for the Oceania pair.

Either right now (by which I mean between roughly the 2nd weekend in January and the 2nd in February), or open the series in October and very early November

The latter option begins to impose on Olympic years, as preseason would have to begin almost immediately afterwards, not the best situation. It would also extend the tournament from about 6 months to 7, with a gap of nearly 3 months between South Africa and Las Vegas, rather than the 7ish weeks it is now.

 

[southsider]

Yea just as a general footy lover I find it pretty disappointing, it has big negatives for both competitions and I can't see any benefits at all for either code by having it on the same weekend.

Surely the NRL or World Rugby would have the foresight to at least make sure it doesn't happen again in the future

 

[barbarian]

Yea just as a general footy lover I find it pretty disappointing, it has big negatives for both competitions and I can't see any benefits at all for either code by having it on the same weekend.

Surely the NRL or World Rugby would have the foresight to at least make sure it doesn't happen again in the future

How? Not like either body is willing or able to talk to the other.

I don't really think it affects either event. I think the Auckland 9s have a far greater impact on the Wellington 7s than the Sydney 7s.

And they ended the 'party zone' as it didn't really work last year. The whole stadium was more or less a party zone, so it made sense to just let everyone sit wherever.

Also a bunch of people brought 2-day passes to the party zone and went too hard on day 1, meaning it was half empty on day 2.
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[southsider]

How? Not like either body is willing or able to talk to the other.

I don't really think it affects either event. I think the Auckland 9s have a far greater impact on the Wellington 7s than the Sydney 7s.

And they ended the 'party zone' as it didn't really work last year. The whole stadium was more or less a party zone, so it made sense to just let everyone sit wherever.

Also a bunch of people brought 2-day passes to the party zone and went too hard on day 1, meaning it was half empty on day 2.
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Only takes one body to get their shit together and schedule first then the other to go "well maybe it might work better if we don't do that weekend"

Surely you jest when you say it won't have an impact. Less Aussies would travel to NZ "let's just stay at home and we can watch both", less tv viewership for both parties, less fair weather attendance at the 7's by people who'd prefer to watch the league over Union

 

[barbarian]

I honestly don't think there is a large crossover between the two. And both are all-day events and I'd suggest most TV viewers would flick between both.

And both bodies have so much to take into account when setting a schedule. It's not as easy as you suggest. Take the NRL for example - if they go a week earlier with the 9s they hit the Wellington 7s, but if they go later they run into the All Stars and club pre-season (and now the Brisbane 10s).

And World Rugby have so much to worry about in terms of 7s scheduling, that an event in a different code in a different country just doesn't factor into disucssions.

I'm not suggesting that it's an ideal situation, and it would obviously be better if they were on separate weeks. But it's a really hard one to avoid.
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[southsider]

I honestly don't think there is a large crossover between the two. And both are all-day events and I'd suggest most TV viewers would flick between both.

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Wow really? Not a large cross-over?? I'll concede probably not a huge amount of league supporters would be keen on 7's purely because there is no big/well known names but for sure Union supporters watching the 9's.

And yes I imagine a lot would switch between the two but I'm still assuming that'll affect tv viewer numbers for both codes