What is it that two Wallabies coaches don’t like about ‘Dirty‘ Harry Wilson?
First it was former coach & Kiwi resident, Dwight Renby, who continually snubbed Big H & now our very own Eddie ‘Brian’ (‘I’m not the messiah) Jones has also cast him aside to ‘training squad status’
Apart from the fact Dirty Harry is a NSW born & bred player who chooses to play for the Queensland Peoples Republic of Queensland or QPRQ, something I will never understand, he’s surely big enough, skilled enough, fit enough, aggressive enough, willing enough and by my reckoning if that aint enough already, surely he is just plain good enough? And just for laughs he was also a back to back winner of The Communists ‘players player’ award again, the revered Stan Pilecki Medal. So the kids got game, right?
According to both all.rugby & superrugby.co.nz Wilson’s stats for 2023 were as follows:
- Started 13 of 15 matches
- Averaged 73 minutes / game (1090 minutes for the season)
- Scored 6 tries
- Ranked #1 for carries @ 210 (second was 183 carries)
- Ranked #8th for metres carried. No mean feat when you consider he’s hitting it up in the tough stuff. And for the record, the seven players ahead of him on the lists were all Fairies, so he was leading forward for metres carried in the whole comp!
- And all this is wrapped in a 195cm (6’5) frame coming in at 110 kg’s. So he aint exactly ‘tiny’ either.
I understand there are lies, damn lies & statistics, but what more can this guy do? If you look at the initial Wallabies Rugby Championship squad, Coach Brian has gone for beefcake in the forwards and I get that. But I would argue a returning and lacking in fitness Rob Leota, is not yet a better selection than Dirty Harry? I get you will need to match ‘fire with fire’, but you aren’t going to ‘out-bash’ the Dutch Dirt Farmers, the Frogs or even the Nealries of the world are you? You have to match them, but you have to out think and out-guile them and bloody well outscore them!
For mine, even as a slightly biased Tahs fan, the selection of Dirty Harry is a ‘no brainer’. He is more than handy in tight and ranges out wide with a skilful passing game and runs some terrific angles giving the side a point of difference. So what am I missing here?
When you look at the overall Wallaby squad (here courtesy wallabies.rugby) and there’s room in it for the likes of Vunivalu & Hodge, who were poor all through SRP, yet someone of Big H’s proven quality misses out, it really leaves me scratching my head and a tad nervous about the tactics and style of play we might see unfold before us.
Only time will tell I guess.
Hoss – out.
