Search results

I mean, it worked for at least two Tahs seasons, and then for one Wallabies season. And by 'worked' I mean it won a Super Title, backed that up with a top two finish and then made a RWC final. I'm not pro Cheika returning to the Wallabies, but it's still a resume unlike any other local candidate.

Yeah it sounds less than promising. Schmidt to move to an 'oversight' role... ringing some alarm bells here. I understand the need to keep him around in some capacity but I don't want a Link/Richard Graham sort of thing happening. It never works.

And the core $$$ figure is a bit misleading too. These things can/should include in-kind promotion, marketing etc etc that fall outside the number that's on the cheque. At very least it's nice to have a negotiation period free of Jamie Pandaram doing Rupert's bidding and talking down the code...

Don't forget over a decade of dismal on-field results!

That's true. Not claiming it's a massive vote shifter. But if I were in Vic Government I'd be mindful of the narrative that Victoria is becoming less hospitable to major events. Comm Games, Women's World Cup, now this.

And at a certain point they are a Government, not a jilted ex-partner. They are tasked to bring economic benefit to Victoria, so to pass on the RWC because of what happened with the Rebels seems to me to be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I don't think that's it. In the case of Barr and Canberra, they are flat stick funding their necessary infrastructure upgrades. Shelling out Government money to get Fiji vs Georgia is politically more risky than, say, a road upgrade. Not to mention every Canberra rugby fan would forego RWC...

That's beyond doubt Raelene. Rugby travellers are high net worth from some of our most valuable inbound markets - UK/Europe, Japan, NZ. It's one of the reasons rugby still has the ear of Governments at a State level. They can provide a visitation and spend that our competitors (League, AFL...

I think Schmidt and RA might have earned a bit of trust on this one Phil. I see what you're saying and of course we don't want a part time coach. But the benefits of stability and Joe's coaching IQ outweighs some of the risks, I think.

Squidge breaks down the game. Just amazing, he sees so much that I never see. His analysis of our defensive strategies in the first 10 minutes is really worth your time.

He had top 5 games but couldn't sustain it. Perth 2019 Bledisloe springs to mind. It shows the importance of that position - when they are red hot we can do great things, but without consistency we tend to struggle.

It can be hard to assess JAS. As others have pointed out there's a lot of noise and hype, which is great, but makes it hard to see the real picture. It's very difficult to stand out when you're playing 13. I remember having to do player ratings back in the day, and seemingly always giving AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) a...

I think this is our missing piece. When was the last time we had a halfback who was considered top 3-5 in the world? Maybe Genia 2015? Long time ago now. We get glimpses from all three of our 9s but never really a commanding performance. If we had a halfback with a good pass, decent box kick...

Yeah rugby is still culturally relevant here. It's still just a curiosity over there. And I suggest it will remain that way. One of the lessons of the last 20 or so years, for me, is that it takes a very long time for sporting norms to shift. We've been talking about the death of rugby since...

I'll give you the answer - a sizeable paycheck to play in a league nobody cares about in one of the most liveable cities in the world.

And that's the LIV Golf parallel. It has some curiosity factor but has ultimately struggled to hold any sort of broad spectator interest.

I've been thinking more about Hamish. He's such an interesting study in a certain type of corporate Australian. He's so desperate to be loved and appreciated. It reminds me a lot of what Joe Aston used to write about in the Fin Review every day, a certain class of CEO that over time becomes...

Fixed that. Come on mate, Joe is just a puppet. We all know that.

For all the rational analysis, let's step back and look at one fact. We just put FIFTY on one of the home nations at home. Scored eight tries. How bloody good!?!? And I for one want to tip my hat to the bloke that set this all up, the man who has this team HUMMING - Hamish McLennan. He's too...

Not sure about that. At very least he'd be able to get us a good rate on a two bedder in the inner west.