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WCR, what are your predictions for the MLR season? From that Guardian article it seems that the New York team is a bit of an unknown and has quite the road trip to kick off the season - do you know much about how they are tracking and their community support?

Good article on the US MLR season 2 and the new team in New York: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jan/25/major-league-rugby-new-york-toronto-seattle-glendale-season-two

Reg, didn't the Smith twins have a bit of bar trouble (brawl) when they were in Canberra?

Agree that marquee players have not been good for the Reds - I would say that Daniel Braid has really been the only really good one. However he hasn't been the only one sucking up resources and not delivering on the field - CFS is another with acknowledged ability but not often demonstrated...

Some interesting comments there - not surprised about Speight and Godwin but Tomane seems to have gone off the cliff - he was in great form when he left here. I thought Frisby would go well but seems not. Morahan seems a lost talent. Who is 'Smith' in the backs? Has George shifted to the centres?

Hewatt was getting a visa for the UK last I heard, seemed to have some club lined up there.

Cheika has had everything he wanted, more so than any other coach. He has his preferences in players, as any coach will, and he has made a point of attracting some of them back to Australia (Beale, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), To'omua) and selecting them. He has also discarded players and had plenty of time to check on...

Explains those 1 year contracts.

2 years according to one of the (translated) reports - replacing Malikai Fekitoa https://www.rugbyrama.fr/rugby/transferts/2018-2019/transferts-duncan-paiaaua-reds-dans-les-valises-detzebeth_sto7055977/story.shtml Interestingly, the reports talk about some date of January 15th that...

I'm interested to see that many people are putting McDermott as the 1st choice 9. Good player, but what about Sorovi? I'm not saying that he is better, but he looked pretty useful to me. Is there something that people see particularly in McDermott over Sorovi?

Got to be more to it than that - sounds like a contractual arrangement to get out of his Reds contract. Interesting that neither Redcliffe or Broncos are mentioning anything. Reds squad still shows Perese on there, but as Penguin mentioned, Teti Tela has disappeared but signings like Matt...

Reg, do you know what the background to the Perese departure was? I know it has been talked about for a while but was it that he just preferred to go back to league or had some falling out in rugby? I liked him as a player and apart from his injuries he seemed to be getting the opportunities...

Not weird really, gives them some different ideas. Griffin seems to be a no-nonsense coach and would be keen for a gig so could give them a point of difference as long as the Tahs don't start wrestling everyone.

I see on their social media that the Reds are having an open training session and junior clinic/fan meet and greet up the Sunshine Coast next Thursday, 13th December. Someone needs to point out to Brad that state schools are still at school until the 14th.

The problem with the RA implementation (if it has actually been implemented - not seen or heard of it actually happening) is that it is quite a range of weights that are allowed - for Under 11's the range is from 29kg (134cm) to 65kg (164cm), so a 10 year old weighing 65kg can be playing...

Isn't your selection of TK a bit based on old history of his playing? He was pretty awful for most of Super Rugby this year, came good I think near the end. I agree the cupboard is a bit bare at 13 but is he still the answer?

Why think about firing Larkham? Surely he's had a lot longer to make an impact than Simon Raiwalui yet hasn't delivered. I agree that it would be expensive for RA to get rid of everyone, especially Cheika so they probably won't do it. I expect them to just carry onto the RWC and hope...

Agreed, must have good PR because hasn't actually achieved much so far, but that doesn't seem to matter in Australia - look at Larkham and Grey and Thorn - ability as players yes, lots of hype as coaches and either end up in the national setup or get talked about needing to be in there...

What's the SA backing of the Malaysian team? I hadn't heard about that. Is there some sort of long term connection between Malaysian rugby and SA?

Why have those players (second-rower Josh Furno, centre George Pisi, former Future Force academy and Super Rugby hooker Harry Scoble and ex-Melbourne Rebels scrum-half Elliot Turner) not been re-signed?