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This pathway is nothing new- it's exactly how players like Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley and Sean MacMahon started in professional systems.

If you could clone the two of them you'd actually end up with a first class centre- Simone for his skillset game and Stewart for his defence and general toughness.

Hodge should be 23 and nothing more.

TK hasn't cut loose since 2011.

I answered so I could get in before all the revisionist responses like DRUs above came in (plus poor humour) I feel like we're being quite generous with the word 'great' here; Queensland rugby invested heavily with Hamish Stewart and he was given ample opportunity to show his wares as a...

Not great- they weren't good and actively recruited a replacement flyhalf.

Hamish Stewart was given the opportunity to play 10 though - how did that work out?

You know that saying about perception....

You also conveniently ignored the rest of my post that alludes to that. He absolutely does kick and pass- however, especially with his passing, he's not that good at it!

Caird is okay and do a job. Whetton is one of those special cases with elite physical attributes yet is completely ineffective.

Is he really natural 12 though? He still plays like a converted backrower- fantastic at all the physical elements (tackling, breakdown presence and aggression) but his passing and kicking seems always premeditated and structured. I'm yet to see any of the opportunistic 'eyes up' rugby that you...

His limbs are growing and potentially affecting his coordination? This is your best yet.

I don't think Hodge is ever going to cement himself in that position either unless he shows real improvement in his place-kicking and we're content with a Leigh Halfpenny-type custodian.

The problem with this kind of narrative is that we generously overlook all the times where Hodge hasn't performed strongly for the Wallabies. For every game where he plays well (rarely very well), there's another three where he misses the kicks he's expected to nail, generally plods around the...

Definitely has enthusiasm and physicality but as BH mentioned he doesn't have the rounded skillset of Hooper or McReight.

At least try to be partly accurate; he wasn't able to the recruitment that he would have liked at all - and he has said this publicly. The organisation put severe financial restrictions on player wage spending, so not only could he not recruit quality players, he also wasn't able to offer...

I don't think there's that much substance behind their vision (read marketing) or anything that's actually different to what other franchises say and do (to varying levels of effectiveness).

Surely the answer is somewhere in the middle. Harrison hasn't been getting much front-foot ball but I don't think he's shown a whole lot in terms of play-making, choosing the right passing options and setting up his outside men. Sure he's not a bad ball-runner, can kick and actually bends his...

Ha I'm not so sure about that. Mark N (Nawaqanitawase) at least appears slightly dangerous with the ball- Maddocks hasn't looked like breaking a tackle this year.

Terrible is actually a fair assessment of his 2021 performances; he has realistically been outperformed by every outside back in Super Rugby AU. If he wasn't considered to have such a 'high ceiling' - I think a lot more people would seriously question his place in the team.