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8 until Samu is back from injury, but I suspect Hoiles will start in the lower grades if the rumour is true, given that he hasn't played for 2+ years.

There is a perception that Uni sign players so other clubs can't have them to maintain their position of dominance. It's probably not true but I assure you a lot of people believe it. Randwick was accused of the same thing years ago and nobody believed them when they said that players migrated...

What have you heard? News to me.

Why do you believe that the young guys coming out of Aussie schoolboys etc wouldn't get Super contracts if they went to another club? Most of these kids have been on the radar since they were at school and their colts and club careers are watched with great interest. Whilst there are 30+ guys...

Angus attracts 6 points due to being an Aussie schoolboy. Uni colts 1s and 2s have run close or equal to the points ceiling in several games this year. But by the time some of these guys reach 1st grade and pick up Super contracts they've also picked up years of service discounts. I've said on...

I have two concerns. As I said above, some of these guys probably won't play any more rugby this year (or very little) as Uni won't be able to fit all 30 of them in. Maybe there's a case for loaning players to other clubs as is common in England in both league and soccer. Secondly, why did...

The answer is "get em young and keep em"! I've entered the points above for those who have played this year and you can see that most of the players have 0 or 2 points by virtue of their years of service at the same club (I assume). The key to Uni's management of the points system is they...

Not sure about an injury but it's great to see a front rower coming off the field exhausted not just from his effort in the scrums but from his work at the breakdown, in defence and ball carries.

Interesting message from Wade Kelly on the Wicks website (so much for the 3 year plan!!!): Three year plan.......What a load of crap. Every time any sporting club signs a new coach you hear the best excuse for failure from Day 1 " I've got a three year plan" Ha! What are we doing between now...

Anyone know why Beale isn't playing for the Wicks at the moment?

A decision re replacements for Tamani and TPN will be made after this weekend's Shute Shield matches.

Useful players at 12 and 15 also!!! It's going to be very interesting from here on in. After the jaunt to Argentina we're going to see much stronger teams for Uni, Manly and Souths in particular for the final round and then the playoffs.

How good is Zeb Holmes-Baer going in the front row in seconds !!! Another very promising talent up from colts this year. Very potent pairing in the centres in 2nds also -- Paea and Waqa. They'll run riot at Nepean on Saturday.

Couple of good changes this week with Matehaere (a goal kicker at last!) back at 10, Horwitz moves to 12 and Hepetema back at 13. Nugget's fan club will be disappointed again and Samu (who limped off with what looked like a knee injury last week) is not listed. I think this is the best backline...

I agree George. The number of penalties conceded towards the end of Saturday's game WHILST IN POSSESSION was so frustrating. Someone needed to get the players together and tell them to close the game down ie don't get isolated. Nio had taken over the captaincy by that stage when La La hobbled...

Pete, I agree with you about the captaincy. La La is a great "follow me over the top of the trenches" type of leader but I don't see him talking to the players enough during a game and his knee injury often sees him out of the game for periods of time. Interestingly, I happened to be standing...

I made the mistake of dismissing Barry when he was at Gordon as "not looking like a rugby player" ie fat and slow. However, every time I see him play since he moved to Eastwood he puts the lie to that perception. He continues to surprise me with his mobility, strength and work rate. And he's so...

Unfortunately they'll be away for 2 games: round 16 v Norths (home) and 17 v Souths (away).

I might add that Horwitz seems to cope regardless of how good the pass from the half back is. Reminds me of the story Nick F-J tells of when he first came into the Wallabies and asked Mark Ella how he wanted him to pass the ball eg low and flat, high and floating, etc. Ella's answer was "you...

Sorry, can't help on that question. As I've suggested in earlier posts, I believe (no inside knowledge, just my opinion) Kelly is looking longer term than this year and sees the club's future in giving the young guys a go. Having said that, Nugget is hardly in the veteran stage, but he was...