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I’m not sure if we’re disagreeing or not. I agree with all of the above about them being different positions. I agree you don’t move Ala'alatoa. I don’t agree that the reserve THP is a priority selection over the starting LHP.

Is that really true though? No offence, but that’s something Connolly (?) said in the 80s or 90s which people love to trot out. I’m not really sure it holds true today. To be honest, I’m not sure it was ever really true except to the disciples of 10 man rugby - although I fear I’ll be thrown out...

Just one of his many alter egos

Thanks DC. Your last point is exactly right. There is always a left field selection or two. I am trying to give some thought to who it might be. ‘Unconventional’ is an interesting word. I’ve actually considered the 6 position for some time. Swinton wasn’t my first choice. I love both Wright &...

Samu is reasonable in the lineout. Great is stretching it IMO. If Samu & Hooper fill two spots, the 3 rd guy needs to play in the middle - which i think all the options can. The other option is Hanigan who I think is greatly improved this year, but I’d still have the others in front...

I think Swinton’s best is absolutely good enough. His consistency is the issue. I get the question marks on his discipline. I guess I am taking a leap of faith there. The big thing there is what premium you place on the lineout. Having Swinton or Wright on the field makes Samu our 4th jumper...

Me too. I have no doubt he is up to it. I’m just not sure if it’s the better play to hold him until the RC. But I don’t think we can just do that across the board if we genuinely want to try and beat NZ - and Rennie will absolutely want to. There has to be some balanced risk somewhere (which is...

Haha - well, I did expect that sort of response. I’ve tried to justify it. I expect plenty will disagree. The other thing I should have added is that he needs to be consistent - something I think both Wilson & Wright have over him. But, yeah - Swinton. I’ve actually given it a lot of...

There will always be 4 legitimate targets on the field. The question is whether Salakai-Loto or Swinton can step up to run the lineout. I’ll concede there is some doubt about that - but I don’t think anyone can say conclusively they can’t do it at this stage. But I get your general point and...

I’d be happy to see Daugunu switch to the right.

Okay - I’m willing to give this a crack - 1. Slipper 2. Uelese 3. Tupou 4. Salakaia-Loto 5. Phillip 6. Swinton 7. Hooper 8. Samu 9. McDermott 10. O’Connor 11. Koroibete 12. To'omua 13. Petaia 14. Daugunu 15. DHP 16. Fainga'a 17. Sio 18. Ala'alatoa 19. Hosea 20. Wright 21. Gordon 22. Simone...

I get why two brothers would want to end up at the same place, but how is that going to work if they both play 10? Can one of them play 12 or 15?

One of her offloads led directly to a try

I don’t think anything is certain - but as far as I have read they all intend to come back. They need to pay the bills on the meantime though.

Green in particular did well & Pelite did some good things. On the flip side I hope the Aussie Womens 7s are giving Tamika Upton a call. She is a Aussie Touch Rep as well so her ball skills would be fine. She doesn’t have much 7s experience though so whether she could get up to speed at the...

Maybe not - and I’m not an apologist for Foley - but it makes it hard when the defence knows you have a ‘don’t kick’ strategy and where there clearly wasn’t a value placed on him developing his kicking game. In any case, the point is that it is an incorrect assertion that deploying the...

Disagree - Cooper was called our for it (despite the fact he was brilliant from the back) and Daugunu is being called out because JOC (James O'Connor) does it. I agree though that Foley was often unfairly criticised for it. Pretty sure I made the same comment at least once in his defence.

Exactly - and yet it still seems to get called out by many as some sort of cop out.

And it’s a fair question. No doubt if he is picked they’ll try and target him. But my observation was that it was an aberration and I don’t recall it as an issue over the season. But I’m not 100% on that so I was wondering what others noticed. One thing with him - 2 seasons ago he was a...

It’s not about moving players unnecessarily though, nor about hiding deficiencies, nor plugging holes. Plenty of modern teams play their 10 at the back. The 10 & 15 play at the back in defence and the wingers play up on the edge. It puts your best kickers in the back field. Lolesio played there...