April Wallaby 30 Man Squad

[Torn Hammy]

Deans and Cooper are not suited to each other, if ever they were. It will be better for both if the intrinsic strains and mutual lack of trust in their relationship was not re-tested in the pressured BIL environment. But I do think Cooper was and still will be a much better Test player out of NZ than inside it.

QC (Quade Cooper)'s game and confidence was destroyed by the hostile crowd at the RWC. The point must be made that Deans saw this happening but kept backing QC (Quade Cooper) until he was (un)fortunately injured. It must rankle that this loyalty has not been reciprocated.

It also irks me that QC (Quade Cooper)'s value is measured by many because of these bad performances. How would we cope in our work if every time we sat down with a client we had 50,000 moronic kiwis booing, hissing and jeering us. Not well no doubt. When the collective schadenfreude of the NZ team, management and supporters eventually dies, hopefully people of note will come forward, express regret and discourage any such acts of mass bad sportsmanship.

In the meantime I hope QC (Quade Cooper) keeps growing as a player and reaches his full potential.

 

[Braveheart81]

Horne was actually dropped last year and then suffered an injury afterwards.

I doubt he will be in any of the squads.

He would currently be about 5th or 6th in line for the 12 jersey in my opinion behind Tapuai, Lealiifano, McCabe, Barnes and maybe Fainga'a.

 

[fatprop]

I know you were joking, but another query, this time over 20 years, winning % vs NZ, 5 or more matches played, the Top 30 players:
Player Span Mat %
NP Grey 1999-2003 5 80
MJ Cockbain 1997-2003 11 72.72
AT Blades 1997-1999 6 66.66
BJ Darwin 2001-2003 6 66.66
JBG Harrison 2001-2004 6 66.66
V Ofahengaue 1994-1998 6 66.66
DJ Herbert 1997-2002 11 63.63
PN Kearns 1993-1999 8 62.5
RST Kefu 1998-2003 13 61.53
ODA Finegan 1996-2003 11 54.54
DJ Crowley 1995-1999 6 50
JA Eales 1994-2001 14 50
EJ (Eddie Jones) Flatley 2001-2005 8 50
DT Giffin 1999-2003 8 50
DJ Lyons 2002-2005 6 50


13 of the top 30 with a second name beginning with J, maybe you are onto something!

How many players have at least a 50% win rate against the ABs - fark

 

[Richo]

Looking at the way the Wobs played in the last series, I wouldn't be surprised to see McCabe or Horne considered as the "Nathan Grey" option.

We are going to play conservative, a unit to truck it up at 12 is a very likely option

If it's the conservative plan, then yes, McCabe's the most likely. I just hope it's not the bloody conservative plan.

 

[Blue]

Anyone who thinks Australia will beat the Wildlings with Quade at ten needs to get off the whacky tabacky.

 

[Scotty]

Anyone who thinks Australia will beat the Wildlings with Quade at ten needs to get off the whacky tabacky.

Who do they need at 10 to beat them?

Who was at 10 when they won the 3N?

 

[qwerty51]

Who do they need at 10 to beat them?

Who was at 10 when they won the 3N?

Who was the 10 who beat England and Wales recently, who was the 10 that lost to Ireland in the WC?

QC (Quade Cooper)'s game and confidence was destroyed by the hostile crowd at the RWC. The point must be made that Deans saw this happening but kept backing QC (Quade Cooper) until he was (un)fortunately injured. It must rankle that this loyalty has not been reciprocated.

How many Kiwis were there on the Gold Coast vs Argentina when he delivered the most horrendous display of Test match rugby ever?

 

[BDA]

I think JOC (James O'Connor) is a decent option at no.10 . i have a lot of faith in him (whereever he plays). However I would like to see him get some more time at 10 for the Rebels before the Lions tour.

Cooper is also a good option but I think he'll be targeted pretty heavily if he plays. I think it's probably harder to target a guy like O'Connor as a) he's a stronger defender and b) he probably enjoys the contact stuff a bit more. A

I'd also be happy with Lilo at 10. Actually Beale's a fine 10 also.

to be honest I'm not too fussed. They are all very talented playmakers and as long as they are playing outside Genia and a pack that isn't getting owned they'll do fine.

 

[BDA]

Who was the 10 who beat England and Wales recently, who was the 10 that lost to Ireland in the WC?




How many Kiwis were there on the Gold Coast vs Argentina when he delivered the most horrendous display of Test match rugby ever?

ha that's a bit heavy. I recall a nice cut out pass to put Samo in for a try, as well as a few other passes that led to line breaks. It certainly wasn't his best game though.

 

[Bowside]

Deans is going to have the team playing a narrow and unstructured game. With that in mind he's better off picking JOC (James O'Connor) at 10.

I think Quade is the best 10 in Australia at delivering a wide, expansive and structured game plan. But this is not how the "Nu-Wallabies" of the deans era play.

For the record I think we will win 1/3 against the lions. Probably the second or third game. I dont think the team will play to its potential.

 

[Braveheart81]

I think Quade is the best 10 in Australia at delivering a wide, expansive and structured game plan. But this is not how the "Nu-Wallabies" of the deans era play.

Cooper is a high risk, high reward player.

When he gets it right, the team goes really well, when he gets it wrong things fall apart.

I guess part of the selection decision is trying not to live and die too much on the form of one player.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

Who do they need at 10 to beat them?

Who was at 10 when they won the 3N?

a player who no longer exists!

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

Cooper is a high risk, high reward player.

When he gets it right, the team goes really well, when he gets it wrong things fall apart.

I guess part of the selection decision is trying not to live and die too much on the form of one player.

look at us - bickering like little school girls before and agreeing post after post now. the miracles of GAGR

 

[qwerty51]

ha that's a bit heavy. I recall a nice cut out pass to put Samo in for a try, as well as a few other passes that led to line breaks. It certainly wasn't his best game though.

He did, he also threw 2 intercepts, 2 forwards passes, couple of knock ons and a charge down leading to a try. Not acceptable for a Test at home, that was his last game in gold. Why should we believe it's changed when if he went up against the Lions who will pressure him even more than Argentina.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

not to mention i would be intrigued to know if the broader wallabies group trust him etc after his outbursts. sure it looks like he's mended fences with QLD players, but some of the things he said will not have gone down well, let's not forget that.

 

[Bowside]

Cooper is a high risk, high reward player.

When he gets it right, the team goes really well, when he gets it wrong things fall apart.

I guess part of the selection decision is trying not to live and die too much on the form of one player.

He's high risk when expected to play certain gameplans because he tries too much with too little support and it rarely comes off. Links developed ways to reduce the risk involved in having Quade in the team. It might not work at test level but we can't say that because it hasn't exactly been tried.

There are certainly parts of Quades game that he needs to improve on (the accuracy of his kicking game, his tackling technique and his breakdown work); but without him in the team the wallabies never look like firing a shot. Totally toothless in attack - with little enthusiasm in all aspects of the contest as a consequence. The biggest advantage of picking Quade is he improves the performance of the players around him, not just the backs but the forwards as well.

 

[Braveheart81]

It's such a cop out to say that Quade's mistakes at test level are because the gameplan doesn't suit his style.

What exactly does throwing intercepts, throwing forward passes to the opposition and getting kicks charged down have to do with a gameplan?

The reality is that players are under more pressure at test level both because the opposition is better and the gravity of the situation is more intense. Mistakes are also more likely to be punished severely.

Each higher level of rugby is more difficult to execute the same plays successfully. There are many players that excell at club level but then struggle at Super Rugby level. The same applies to Super Rugby vs test rugby.

 

[qwerty51]

Yeah come on, how does kicking a ball out on the full before a match has started have to do with game plan? Getting charged down, throwing an intercept? IMO, he makes these mistakes due to attitude, it's a stubborn approach.

 

[Bowside]

not to mention i would be intrigued to know if the broader wallabies group trust him etc after his outbursts. sure it looks like he's mended fences with QLD players, but some of the things he said will not have gone down well, let's not forget that.

I'll play devils advocate on this one:

Gone down well with who?

Phipps, McCabe, Cummins, Barnes, Dennis, Pocock, Sharpe, Kepu, Timani could all feasibly not play against the lions due to either performance, injury or retirement. Thats a good chunk of last years wallaby camp.

It's entirely possible that this rift could be mended far more easily than most want to believe.

 

[Braveheart81]

Playing under pressure is a big thing too.

There is no doubt that the pressure in test rugby is far greater when in general you have a much bigger crowd in attendance, you're wearing your national jersey, you sing the anthems before the game etc. etc.

Quade has shown that he doesn't handle pressure well as was evidenced at the RWC where he set himself up as the bad guy and then paid for it by having large NZ crowds heckling him constantly. He then dug himself a deeper and deeper hole with his toxic comments.