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He needs to find a white and green striped hat or shirt pronto.

I think it's been even longer than that for Itoje. After his breakout years I don't think he's lived up to the hype. Probably doesn't help that the English pack has a few players like him and Lawes where it's not quite clear whether they'd be better loose lock or blindside.

I'm not sure that's reflective of where their eyeballs are at though. I played some Aussie rules as a kid because my friends did but I only ever occasionally watched the Lions whilst I could have told you basically exactly what was going on across both Super Rugby and NRL.

Do we think JOC (James O'Connor) is shirking the tougher stuff because he has to or because he thinks if he stays fit he's a chance of a world cup berth? It's not exactly honourable but I think he realistically is one injury away from being called in.

Subs

I think McReight being subbed off in games rather than Hooper has created the bigger imbalance to be frank. It was at that point against the ABs that we couldn't hang with the pace. Hooper is playing well but we still need someone fitter with quicker lateral speed to make first contact. If we...

Cooper may regret not picking up the phone to Eddie a few weeks ago. I'm sure he was extremely upset, as anyone would be in his position, but he may have closed the door on his chances prematurely. If we rely on Foley as a replacement 10 we are really fucked. He is so far away from his best...

I imagine just copying the nrl would be incredibly hard from our current position but yes we obviously need to transform the model.

The Reds statement was very circumspect. I don't imagine many of the changes will be reversible, especially the contracting, so it is understandable to have reservations. I do think this brings the professional game here closer to current best practices though and at the very least it allows...

The RM Williams was a commercial boon though so perhaps not the best example. The Wallabies are a premium product and so is that ball. They can demand what they want but Tate also gets to choose.

? What is relevant about this?

Jones mentioned JOC (James O'Connor) and I think one or two others were training with the squad, anyone catch the name/s.

Hope to God that's just for the domestic leg

Man that seems so unethical to me - even the offer to pay itself contingent on later services, let alone the enforcement which I doubt would hold up once the athlete has their own agency. The athletes should not feel bad at all if they choose to pursue something else in life, even if that's...

How is this done prior to the players turning 18? Handshake agreements?

It's quite difficult to get a sense of how many backs will be selected because so many of them are versatile. Kellaway, Petaia both cover 11, 13, 14, 15 hypothetically. Wright would cover wings and fullback also. 10 is the biggest issue in only having Gordon and Cooper seemingly anywhere near...

Like the Shute Shield, success shouldn't have been defined by the NRC's own bottom line. Rather, the long term benefit to rugby in Australia. An investment.

Perth - the Paris of the desert

So I guess the best players from under performing clubs can just go fuck themselves or otherwise defect to the always successful clubs like Brothers and Uni?

I agree Cheika might be the best coach in the world at turning around teams quickly but Jones doesn't have the genuine world class players such as Genia, Giteau, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Drew Mitchell, Moore, Kepu, Pocock, prime Hooper, Fardy, Folau, TPN, Kuridrani. As other posters have noted, our squad depth is...