2012 Australia vs New Zealand - 20 Oct
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AngrySeahorse
Peter Sullivan (51)
On the announcement that Ben Alexander is injured my Ma says "Are we made of Jello?". I'd like to know. I suspect we are.
On the idea that the AB's are perhaps vulnerable - that is just rubbish IMHO. They are going for that record. I hate losing & the heart always says Wallabies but the ABs are fav's for good reason & I believe they will win by quite some margin. Prove me wrong Wallabies, prove me wrong.
On the idea that the AB's are perhaps vulnerable - that is just rubbish IMHO. They are going for that record. I hate losing & the heart always says Wallabies but the ABs are fav's for good reason & I believe they will win by quite some margin. Prove me wrong Wallabies, prove me wrong.
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
I think there is one vulnerability we haven't explored - one deployed by the Saffers in 1995: where are they having dinner tomorrow night?
scaraby
Ron Walden (29)
15. Mike Harris-Fit
14. Nick Cummins-Not enough match time
13. Ben Tapuai-not enough match time
12. Pat McCabe-ok
11. Adam Ashley-Cooper-fit
10. Kurtley Beale-ok
9. Nick Phipps.-fit
8. Wycliff Palu-no match time
7. Michael Hooper-freak
6. Scott Higginbotham-looks wrong..is he injured?
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)-phar lap
4. Sitaleki Timani-just ok
3. Kepu-no match time
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau-won't make 80 on his feet
1. Benn Robinson-just ok
Reserves:
16. James Hanson-no match time
17. James Slipper-not enough
18. Kane Douglas-not enough
19. Dave Dennis-fit
20. Liam Gill-freak in waiting
21. Brett Sheehan-dont start me
22. Drew Mitchell-anyones guess
These guys will show plenty of ticker. The team attitude is spot on its just that this is the ABs who will come like a freight train with 10 to go. Will we have 15 players left ?and if so can they still run at 80 mins on heart alone. I hope so, and I'll be yelling for them. Rather than give it up already lets make sure the 15 points that Suncorp is worth is a full 15 points...Loud and Parochial please....
14. Nick Cummins-Not enough match time
13. Ben Tapuai-not enough match time
12. Pat McCabe-ok
11. Adam Ashley-Cooper-fit
10. Kurtley Beale-ok
9. Nick Phipps.-fit
8. Wycliff Palu-no match time
7. Michael Hooper-freak
6. Scott Higginbotham-looks wrong..is he injured?
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)-phar lap
4. Sitaleki Timani-just ok
3. Kepu-no match time
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau-won't make 80 on his feet
1. Benn Robinson-just ok
Reserves:
16. James Hanson-no match time
17. James Slipper-not enough
18. Kane Douglas-not enough
19. Dave Dennis-fit
20. Liam Gill-freak in waiting
21. Brett Sheehan-dont start me
22. Drew Mitchell-anyones guess
These guys will show plenty of ticker. The team attitude is spot on its just that this is the ABs who will come like a freight train with 10 to go. Will we have 15 players left ?and if so can they still run at 80 mins on heart alone. I hope so, and I'll be yelling for them. Rather than give it up already lets make sure the 15 points that Suncorp is worth is a full 15 points...Loud and Parochial please....
rugbyisfun
Jimmy Flynn (14)
Suzie!!!!
scaraby
Ron Walden (29)
hey thats my mother in law.......where'd you get that?
Schadenfreude
John Solomon (38)
My Predictions:
Beale will try the running game and be smashed.
Then he will try passing, but since he crabs badly, the centres will be smashed, and we will lose ground. Tapuai will be blamed for this.
Wingers will get virtually no ball.
Then he will kick away all possession (at this point he will look so exhausted he can barely stay on his feet) to the best counter attacking team in the world.
That said he will get slow and inaccurate delivery, so he won't have much chance.
Look for the chargedown where Phipps sends the ball back with no blockers in place.
The new running Rugby style Deans will try this week will be a spectacular failure, because the players have had it coached out of them, and haven't been playing together. This will be seen as a valid excuse for giving up on running rugby previously, and used as an excuse to never try it again. Though if allowed, McCabe may start to look like a ball player.
ABs by 18 - no tries to Oz. Deans will of course be excused for getting hosed by the ABs because "they're just too good" and "we had too many injuries".
Beale will try the running game and be smashed.
Then he will try passing, but since he crabs badly, the centres will be smashed, and we will lose ground. Tapuai will be blamed for this.
Wingers will get virtually no ball.
Then he will kick away all possession (at this point he will look so exhausted he can barely stay on his feet) to the best counter attacking team in the world.
That said he will get slow and inaccurate delivery, so he won't have much chance.
Look for the chargedown where Phipps sends the ball back with no blockers in place.
The new running Rugby style Deans will try this week will be a spectacular failure, because the players have had it coached out of them, and haven't been playing together. This will be seen as a valid excuse for giving up on running rugby previously, and used as an excuse to never try it again. Though if allowed, McCabe may start to look like a ball player.
ABs by 18 - no tries to Oz. Deans will of course be excused for getting hosed by the ABs because "they're just too good" and "we had too many injuries".
I like to watch
David Codey (61)
It's RD's fault that you don't rate the 9 & 10 (as the incumbent's are injured)
Then it's ridiculous to use injuries as an excuse?
And it's the coach's fault there are no blockers for the kicker?
At test level, that is something where the players need specialist coaching?
Why is it that the people that dismiss the injury toll as an excuse, make the most noise that the Tri Nations was cheap win,as the opposition did not play their best 15 in every game?
Then it's ridiculous to use injuries as an excuse?
And it's the coach's fault there are no blockers for the kicker?
At test level, that is something where the players need specialist coaching?
Why is it that the people that dismiss the injury toll as an excuse, make the most noise that the Tri Nations was cheap win,as the opposition did not play their best 15 in every game?
ChargerWA
Mark Loane (55)
The way the AB's blood players is excellent. They usually are debuted as part of a very stable team (quite often the only change). They come in to a system where everyone knows their job and they are only responsible to make sure they do their part which helps alleviate the pressure and gives them a chance to gain confidence at that level. Look at Savea. If he was a Wallaby, he would have been thrown in the deep end and expected to be the salvation of the team. Currently he has come in to the team and not put a foot wrong with quality but at times almost understated displays of his skills.
This isn't a criticism of Deans or the Wallabies method of blooding young players. Because the majority of changes have been forced on them due to injury. But it does bring into stark relief the value of the AB's player management systems. Their best practice system allows them to keep more fit senior players on the pitch for longer. To ensure long term success at the Wallabies we need to desparately emulate their player management and welfare systems.
Case in point is their hooker's, Mealamu and Hore are still evergreen. Tough bastards, never seem to be injured and Hore in particular seems to be getting better with age. If they were crook, the Wallabies would be looking better against them on paper. Hooker is one position where after their two main players are injured the quality drops off considerably. Same with their Locks, but they are currently shielded by the quality of the players that surround them.
Until we get this aspect of our program right, the discussion around the positions of individual players (while fun and still worthwhile), is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle, but it's missing pieces.
This isn't a criticism of Deans or the Wallabies method of blooding young players. Because the majority of changes have been forced on them due to injury. But it does bring into stark relief the value of the AB's player management systems. Their best practice system allows them to keep more fit senior players on the pitch for longer. To ensure long term success at the Wallabies we need to desparately emulate their player management and welfare systems.
Case in point is their hooker's, Mealamu and Hore are still evergreen. Tough bastards, never seem to be injured and Hore in particular seems to be getting better with age. If they were crook, the Wallabies would be looking better against them on paper. Hooker is one position where after their two main players are injured the quality drops off considerably. Same with their Locks, but they are currently shielded by the quality of the players that surround them.
Until we get this aspect of our program right, the discussion around the positions of individual players (while fun and still worthwhile), is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle, but it's missing pieces.
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
I like to watch : which part of Schadenfreude's depressing but, I fear, accurate horoscope did you dispute?
Roundawhile
Billy Sheehan (19)
At least JOC (James O'Connor) is using GAGR terminology :- Teamrehab!
Somebody is following us
Somebody is following us
matty_k
Peter Johnson (47)
James Horwill started Team Rehab. I wish we could claim it.At least JOC (James O'Connor) is using GAGR terminology :- Teamrehab!
Somebody is following us
FrankLind
Colin Windon (37)
From www.stuff.co.nz
Coach Steve Hansen will travel to Brisbane with his team today and says missing the All Blacks match with the Wallabies on Saturday night ''was never, ever'' an option.
Hansen's father Des died this week leaving it up in the air what part, if any, Hansen would play in the game.
He today confirmed he would travel.
''You'd be lying if you didn't say it's been a really tough week,'' said Hansen from the All Blacks' Christchurch hotel.
''But we're a tight family and the rugby family have been great. The distraction of going to training... has been awesome.''
The players and team management have rallied around their coach since news of Hansen Senior's ill-health was made public while Hansen himself wanted to continue preparation in a business-as-usual manner.
In his usual no-nonsence style, Hansen said doing the best by the All Blacks is what his late father would have wanted.
''Dad would kick my ass if I didn't do the job right,'' he said.
''I was always going to Brisbane, it was never, ever in doubt. He'd roll over and shoot me if I didn't.''
Coach Steve Hansen will travel to Brisbane with his team today and says missing the All Blacks match with the Wallabies on Saturday night ''was never, ever'' an option.
Hansen's father Des died this week leaving it up in the air what part, if any, Hansen would play in the game.
He today confirmed he would travel.
''You'd be lying if you didn't say it's been a really tough week,'' said Hansen from the All Blacks' Christchurch hotel.
''But we're a tight family and the rugby family have been great. The distraction of going to training... has been awesome.''
The players and team management have rallied around their coach since news of Hansen Senior's ill-health was made public while Hansen himself wanted to continue preparation in a business-as-usual manner.
In his usual no-nonsence style, Hansen said doing the best by the All Blacks is what his late father would have wanted.
''Dad would kick my ass if I didn't do the job right,'' he said.
''I was always going to Brisbane, it was never, ever in doubt. He'd roll over and shoot me if I didn't.''
I'm sure Des Hansen would miss his own funeral to attend the rugby if he had the choice.
Roundawhile
Billy Sheehan (19)
DOH! (the generational equivelant of "my bad")
Schadenfreude
John Solomon (38)
In the style of the the 2nd USA Presidential debate:
1) I didn't say that
2) I never said that
3) Didn't say that
4) The subject of this sentence is unclear, but I didn't say that.
5) Didn't say that.
That's a record worthy of Fox News! Congrats!
Hawko
Tony Shaw (54)
NZ do it differently to us. They plan to have depth at international level. If they can this weekend Vito will get 20-30 minutes of game time. Vito is behind Thompson but he is being given time on the park to develop depth. Cheapening the All Black jersey? Our NZ brothers don't think so. They plan to bring people through so when injury strikes they have match-hardened, experienced back-ups.
Look at what we did in the first two tests this year. Against Scotland we picked players who played Super rugby the Saturday before. Then some players even played the Wales test - a Super game and two tests in seven days. Before the Scotland game I posted that we should prepare two different teams for those matches so that there was a minimum of seven days between games for each 15 (benches could have been different). I was roundly criticised for cheapening the jersey. We continued on through the Wales campaign and then the Rugby Championship picking what Deans thought was the best available team every week and more and more of our best players were crocked. Effectively we cheapened the jersey anyway because a whole lot of guys that the selectors didn't rate in June now have Wallaby caps. Some of them have even played quite well.
Had we planned from the start to rotate the squad through the Wales/Scotland games, perhaps picked our top squad for the Bledisloe's and then rotated through the rest of the RC we might well have had less injuries because of better rest but we certainly would have had more of our best players available for this weekend. We might have had the 20+ injuries but they would not have occurred to so many of our first choice players. Would we have lost more games? We'll never know.
That is not the whole story - you have to ask why we have so many injuries on the practise paddock for example - but its a significant part of our injury story. Lack of planning and failure to develop depth until we are forced to by injury is just not the way to manage the Wallabies in this era where you play 15 tests in about 25 weeks.
One thing I confidently predict: NZ will give McCaw and Carter sabbatticals next year and will cope just fine. Because they are planning and adding to depth already and will have things nicely covered. They'll be missed, but it won't turn into a disaster because they've planned for it. We, on the other hand......
Hawko
Tony Shaw (54)
One thing I am looking forward to is the scrummaging this week. Robinson vs Faumuina with Fatcat coming back into scrummaging form and Charlie being a pretty large specimen and therefore vulnerable to a nuggety LHP has the potential to be very good for us. Woodcock vs Slipper on the other side could get pretty ugly. It'll be worth watching how it turns out. I guess they've got Franks on the bench, and we've got Kepu so both teams have got alernatives, but watch this space.
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