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Cooper is a very talented player with immense positives and some serious negatives. He is marketable because he's exciting, but also because he courts attention. Dating Steph Rice, for example, tends to give you a profile beyond the usual for the sport. Plus, his particular talents are...

I would expect that a lot of this has to do with insurance and liabilities that would be incurred in the event of a call up, as well as the monetary stuff.

Don't think this is right. My understanding is that all Australian Super Rugby contracts need to be ratified by the ARU so that the conditions under which they would be paid if they were called up to the Wallabies are already determined. This is so that someone like McKibbin, who was far enough down the...

Qwerty, you've basically made my argument for me. I agree with you that Hooper has been easily the best Wallaby, but Read has been a consistent standout in a side that also features Sir Richie, et al. That's pretty tough. I also think he's a flat-out better player, at least at the moment.

He's been Australia's best, certainly. But I don't think you could argue he's been better than Read.

Good post. If we beat Wales, do we go up to #2?

Yes, and yes. She's regarded as the best female player of all time. Growing up, she kicked his butt all over the place. A great anecdote: Reggie, in high school, had one of his best games -- scored 50+ points. On the car ride home, he was talking trash to his sister and dad about how good he...

I haven't seen as much rugby as I'd like in the last few months, but it's pretty hard to go past Kieran Read as the best player in the world right now.

I would say that it's pretty clear that the ARU contracting process is a mess, as other threads have pointed out. It's also clear that there is simply less money in the kitty now, for many reasons, and this is probably making things slower with some of the senior players who have seen their...

I'd imagine a fair few of the boys will have half their minds on lying on a beach somewhere too.

So let me get this straight. Quade signs a one year deal, has a rough RWC, gets hurt, comes back, gets hurt again. In between, he's displeased with his ARU contract offer, because a) it doesn't give him enough money, b) doesn't allow him a sabbatical, c) doesn't allow him to box. On top of...

That would be refreshing. NBA basketball is well-served by the commentary of Cheryl Miller (a better player than her more famous brother Reggie). Her lack of male genitalia, it turns out, does not stop her from providing insightful comment.

Bruce Ross would be proud. http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/frock-shock-creates-one-unhappy-campo-20121128-2ad6b.html

I'd imagine this will be a pretty ugly, sloppy game. Too much rugby for both teams this year... And especially too much against each other!

If that happens, at least Cooper will be a rugby pioneer. Can't say that for everyone.

I don't think that's entirely fair. The link above yours is from a Mark Reason piece ripping into the ABs for not owning up and apologizing. That said, I totally agree that the article you posted is bollocks. To say it was comparing apples and oranges is way too kind.

Was about to post on that, p.Tah. Fucking shit form. Even leaving aside the sexism, Robinson is just flat-out better than Grumbles was in his latter days.

I said this before the tour. Not very smart planning.

With no mid-week games, there aren't a lot of opportunities to give players a run. This Italy game is about it. Injuries that might otherwise have been played through could give sufficient reason to give a run to someone lower down the pecking order. If Cummins or Ioane is out this week, I'm...

I suppose for some the similarities to the JOC (James O'Connor) situation are relevant. Young bloke, did something stupid, me first attitude, let the team down. For me it's the differences that are compelling. He didn't bash his team in public, didn't complain about coaching decisions, didn't say he wouldn't...