Search results

Using win/loss to determine who was a better player is just silly. As is using basic volume stats. The problem for McMahon is that the Rebels only had about 40% possession and so much of his work was in a defensive capacity, and to really stand out on defence you need a pretty freaky...

Definitely not a bad option to have. Is he a better fullback than Crawford or Placid though? Or even Veainu who replaced Placid there for an NRC game and had an absolute blinder. Still, it's nice to finally have some choices to make, not just settling for the least bad one.

I agree with this. While he was pretty good in the NRC, he's now played the two best games of his career back to back. The Rebels aren't expecting him to do a whole lot, just proper hard bastard work in tight. I think he can still lift his workrate a notch in defence but his physical impact is...

Debreczeni was tried at fullback at the end of last season and he was dreadful. And while it was his first season, hadn't played in the NRC etc., he was still just really, really, bad. I don't think fullback is an option for him. I think the Rebels like the Stirzaker - Debreczeni combo that...

We just have no idea. Different players react to concussions in different ways. Not sure who would come in though. Plenty of options - Hegarty, Placid, Crawford and Veainu could all do a job. On replay English is going to have to lift or he'll get dropped. Did absolutely nothing. Shipperly...

It's not that simple. Debreczeni is an unusual Australian 10 in that he's a running/kicking flyhalf who has a decent short-passing game but not much more than that. He's every bit as much a running player as Hegarty, if not more so. McGahan also clearly wants to play territory, and Hegarty has a...

Yep, but even if cost wasn't an issue they wouldn't be testing them daily. Because a) players have a reasonable right to privacy and b) the clubs don't want to know. Just off the absolute top of the head with AFL Buddy Franklin was 'allegedly' on about his eighth strike after two years in the...

Administrators aren't interested in having star players caught. Testing is laughably lax, for both recreational and performance enhancing drugs. There are going to be a lot of boys feeling pretty nervous right now.

I know. I'm just saying it's something to keep an eye on. I'd like to see the wings start looking for a bit more work as well.

You'd think, but he isn't. At least not yet, not from fullback. I'm not saying it's a catastrophic situation, but it's something worth thinking about going forward. @Tex, how good was Timpani? He just drops people. I don't think I've ever seen TPN stopped cold like that. Last week was the...

Especially since Debreczeni is still growing into the role. Seemed when we started getting into some deep phase play he started getting a little bit lost. Maybe move Mikey to 12 and bring Crawford, Veainu or Placid in at fullback? Just need a bit more zip out there. We'll beat a lot of teams...

At the ground it looked like he'd drilled Harris' head with his shoulder. Take it back if he didn't though. I wonder if the Rebels might start thinking about an Ellison-Naivalu centre partnership at some point. Inman is good at what he does, but there's room for another ball player -...

Dennis staying on the ground was genuinely jokeshop stuff, especially with Sefa pinged later.

Legal or not, I'd argue it does far more damage to the Australian community than cocaine does. Probably an argument for another thread though.

Sure, which is why I'm saying leave it up to the legal system. You're sticking your head in the sand if you think he's the first, or last, rugby player to be involved with drugs though. Then again, I didn't want JOC (James O'Connor) and Beale lynched for eating at Hungry Jacks so I'll probably be in the...

Ah that would do it. Hopefully he gets a chance sooner rather than later, good tough player.

Soo... What? Every player who ever commits a criminal offence shouldn't be allowed to play professional rugby? Cliffy Palu's arrest for assault back in the day bothers me more than Hunt picking up some coke for him and his mates. People make mistakes.

Why? If he's just given a fine then I have no problem with him still playing.

The Rebels have always struggled against pace out wide. Carraro is a solid player but he's about as quick as Laurie Weeks. Is Tala Gray injured? I loved his NRC.