Nonu valuable to any team, says Joseph

Nonu valuable to any team, says Joseph

Head coach Jamie Joseph has indicated he would welcome All Black midfielder Ma'a Nonu back to the Highlanders next year.

Nonu has had a controversial and mediocre season with the Highlanders which ended prematurely last weekend when he was banned for three weeks for a tip tackle on Crusaders wing Tom Marshall.

There has been intense speculation since about which franchise Nonu will play for next year but Joseph has no intention of turning his back on him.

"Ma's got a lot of thinking to do," he said. "He had a very good All Black campaign in June but now that he has to take time out I'm sure that he will be thinking about his future.

"Ma'a is a quality player, isn't he? Any team which has the opportunity to take him on board would."

Faced with the loss of outside backs Hosea Gear, Tamati Ellison and Kade Poki, Joseph would welcome the retention of Nonu to provide continuity to a team which will have a lot of new faces next season despite his less than distinguished campaign this year.

Joseph said he was disappointed stalwart prop Jamie Mackintosh was moving to the Chiefs.

"There was an opportunity for him to stay here. He had a contract in front of him. Whoppa [Mackintosh] wants more game time and, if he thinks he can get that the Chiefs, good on him."

Joseph's immediate focus is for the Highlanders to salvage some pride against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday night after their 12-40 loss to the Crusaders in Dunedin last week.

"Quite a few of our guys are from Wellington and they'll relish the chance to play on what was their home ground in front of their families.

"The conditions don't look good so we'll have to see how that pans out and adjust our tactics accordingly."

TJ Ioane, Joe Wheeler and Jake Paringatai are the options to replace the suspended Jarrad Hoeata at blindside flanker.

Elliot Dixon seems certain to retain the No 7 jersey with John Hardie still recovering from a knee injury.

The other specialist opensider Tim Boys returned to action in a club game last weekend but pulled a hamstring and is not available.

The Highlanders have won eight of their previous 20 matches against the Hurricanes and lost 19-23 when they met in Dunedin in round five this season.

an article posted last week, but one that makes me very happy and jospeh is spot on, though if i wa about to lose slade, tamti ellison, kade poki and hosea gear next season, i would be wanting as many players as possible to stay too, LMAO, :oD
but none the less, im still a believer in nonu, though i think that puts me in the minority of 4 which includes jospeh, nonu and nonus mum, o_O

i found this poll on nonu on a NZ rugby site,,,

Where will Ma’a Nonu ply his Super Rugby trade next season?

its a pretty good indication that nearly everyone,e xcept the 4 of which im a part of (lolz), are fed up with nonu. but im of the storng opinon that nonu can and more importantly will turn around his superXv misfortunes, no problems with him in the All blacks, best 12 IMO and i wouldnt swap him for anybody except SBW, but all in due time, cough 2015 cough.

one thing that i do think was supid was jospeh thinking that he could keep a player like whoppa around, when he has clearly made woody the incumbent loose head prop.
i dont think whoppa is the best loosehead prop, but he can get the job done at spXv level, and hes right up there for getting around the field.
chiefs have got a good bye, cos whoppa been better then woody at spXV for the last few seasons IMO.

Lets be honest. With all the law tweaks the IRB have made the game one dimensional and a exact fit for players build like the Pacific Islanders.

We all know nutrition plus genes = Height

That is where the Afrikaner gets it genes as the dutch are the tallest people in the world.

But look at the best bulk guys in every position in Rugby.

Yes you guessed it its pacific Islanders.

There is no more different styles anymore. Everyone is forced to adpat and play like NZ do

Which is wrong 

I work with earth moving equipment, concrete and dust mixed with diesel so I am no good at stats and research.

Clever people, hallo, yes, you..... come listen here.

What would be the ratio if one could get the information.

Soccer / Football --------- Years in existance ------------ how many rule changes -------------- % changes over years

Tennis --------- Years in existance ------------ how many rule changes -------------- % changes over years

Baseball --------- Years in existance ------------ how many rule changes -------------- % changes over years

Cricketl --------- Years in existance ------------ how many rule changes ----------------- % changes over years

RUGBY --------- Years in existance ----------- how many rule changes -------------- % changes over years

Then work out average per year to get an even base.  Too many changes has made rugby a different sport than what it was 60 years ago.

Mike, your 12 is supposed to get the ball over the gainline not dance around like a chicken! Nonu is the best in the business at getting the backline momentum. you dont understand this at all. Fras does this pretty well too but hes not in the class of nonu and big bady jamie roberts. i thoink the sharks lost a lot by ditching frans. in the loss to the brumbies he made the most ground or the second most. he did a lot considering how totally outclassed the sharks loosies and the rest of the team were on the ground. but yeah back to nonu he'll be back im certain of that. maybe in a similar situation like habana was in you need a fire under your ass sometimes to keep your standards up.