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I'm not anti-Samu or anything (I think he's an improvement on Isi Naisarani, there, I said it, sue me), but he's been really over-hyped compared to our other players. McCaffrey, Cusack, Valetini, and Brown are all absolute guns and I can totally see a world where Samu doesn't even make the bench...

I just want there to be a selection to be honest. I know we didn't hear about Mowen until ten days before the season, but we've usually been much better about this. We knew about Moore taking over for 2015 in August 2014, we knew about the Lealiifano-Moore and the Carter-Lealiifano...

I know that forwards in particular tend to develop later in their career, but I always wonder with Abel. Never great at the lineout, always struggled to hook the ball, misses tackles like no other front rower. His strenghts were his agility and speed, with lots of attacking runs and support play...

I think our backrow options go like this: Blindside: Valetini > McCaffrey = Samu > Cusack > Brown = Miller > Douglas > Enever Openside: Brown > Cusack > Miller > Samu N8: McCaffrey > Valetini = Samu > Brown > Douglas Obviously a lot of players can cover different places in a pinch. My...

Brumbies and Rebels are apparently unlikely to play their warm-up games if the smoke continues. Rebels aren't at home until 14 Feb, so (hopefully) they aren't going to have to cancel any home games. The round 2 game against the Brumbies is still being considered for cancellation. It could...

I suspect that the loss of Arnold and Carter will be more problematic for our maul defence than our maul offence. Our props set up mauls better than any other, and our backrowers are fantastic at pushing in the same direction and changing angle collectively. We usually only saw our locks...

Source: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/rugby-union/homecoming-trio-give-a-timely-boost-to-brumbies-trial-squad/news-story/2716d36a00e823da52aed4f4cff8b42e

Fans are more receptive of the "at least we're winning" approach when they've been losing for a few years.

If he was cutting ties and running without the consent of the Rebels, you could call it disloyalty. If the Rebels said "No, stay, we're going to play you all season, you're key to our game plan, and we can see ourselves making the playoffs with you in the starting team", and he responded with...

The last few years have reinforced that, in Australian provincial rugby, contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on. Especially if the team is feeling financial pressure and doesn't feel like they need the player, and the player feels like they have an opportunity to build something...

We've seen success with the South African style backrow before (e.g. 2014, 2017), and I can see us succeeding with a backrow of McCaffrey, Samu, Valetini. I'd honestly prefer McCaffrey on the field as well, we really benefit from having that Fardy-esque no-nonsense workhorse.

That's fair, we all remember the problems of the Moore era (though that was arguably worse when he was on the field). If it's Cusack or McCaffrey, we'll just find a way to make them fit with Samu and Valetini.

I'd love for it to be McCaffrey, but I agree with Slim that the starters should be Valetini and Samu. I'd also really like to see more of Brown at 7, he feels like a Beau Robinson style flanker and I feel we could really use someone like him. I also think the captain should be the first name...

Further to this, the Crimes reported on Dec 21st: Source: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6554463/no-one-dragged-the-chain-brumbies-to-unleash-firepower-straight-away/

If SA is going, what's the main barrier to a Fijian, Tongan, and/or Samoan team in a new comp? Theoretically sound but I'd imagine the finances aren't great.

Beale's kicking is akin to Quade, he's a confidence guy and giving him an easy one at the start helps him get into the rhythm. I reckon Pass it to Dunning is right. You see it with Nic White as well: 90% goal kicking when the other kickers were out of the Brumbies side, then relegated to long...

For every player who leaves and stays away (e.g. Colby Fainga'a going to Melbourne), there's a player who leaves only to come back so much the better (e.g. Hooper going to Canberra before returning to Sydney).

McKellar named a leadership squad of: Tom Cusack; Andy Muirhead; Tom Banks; Irae Simone; Joe Powell; and, Pete Samu. I expect Cusack will be named the captain. He's also replaced Lealiifano on the UC advertising board, if that means anything.

Foketi really upped his game for the Tahs last year when he was shifted to 12. Do Tahs fans think this is because he's better suited there, or that it only worked because of other factors (e.g. Foley at 10, Gibson as coach, etc.)?

The whole thing is nonsense anyway. Most Australian players have benefited from exposure to rugby in different cities, states, and territories. Our players benefit from a wide range of experiences, not from being stuck in one system because "they developed their game more".