They're professional players and i expect any team NZ puts out to perform.
Relying on two players so much is not healthy, we need to know we have adaquate replacements if ever needed. We will have greater depth because they are not playing. (thus Vicelich's continued run in the team concerns me)
Playing 5 - 6 games a year spread out wont do jack for getting the team working together, the gaps are too big, plus we play a system hardly used anywhere else. Its far more important in leading up to big games the players have time to train and work together.
I'd expect better results from a 2 week training camp for NZ before 2 internationals as opposed to 6 sporadic games played over a year.
Seriously? You think that a training camp is adequate preparation for important games? Guess that's why no team in the weeks building-up to the World Cup never play any friendly games during that time. Oh, wait, they do. Quite a few in fact, 4-5 friendlies in the 2-3 week period before the World Cup is quite common. They must not have the requisite expertise to realise that all this game time is useless, and that all you need is to spend a couple of weeks training together, and then you're world beaters.
Do you mean England, or Spain, or Aussie or any other international team which in a year were playing more internationals than what we were over 4 years until very recently, because if your refering to them you point loses alot of value. We need to what is best for us, not compare ourselves to teams and say it work for them, lets look at what works for us.
I also guess there is no reason for teams to go on pre season tours either... might as well just fly back and forth to every game, Got to get that match practice in, screw learning who your team mates are and how they play inbetween or before games...
How good a performance can we expect from a player whose just spent 32 hours traveling, had one training session whilst being jet lagged to shit, only then to play the very next day??
And EL G, when they do their 4 - 5 friendlies before the World Cup are they constantly assembled... yes. Kind of what i'm saying we need to do?? I just used 2 as a number, but if we could get more brilliant. My point being, and i'll be very specific here, one off games like this China one, where players play a club game, jump on a plane, arrive, train once and then play offer us very little as a team.
Whats the definition of an idiot, doing the same thing again and again but expecting different results.
Good to see Ricki trying something new.