April Wallaby 30 Man Squad

[Ignoto]

If I was a betting man, and I am, I'd be backing Beale to feature in the squad.

I think he'll be brought back into the Rebels a few weeks before the squad is picked and he'll get selected in the Wallabies squad.

While I agree with you, it ain't going to help him in the long run. Then he'll be so starved of game time it'll be like playing with the same overweight Beale we did last year.

 

[Ignoto]

So, Harris speculates that the following 27 players will be in this camp:

Pat McCabe
Israel Folau
Rob Horne
Sekope Kepu
Tatafu Polata-Nau
Stialeki Timani

How any of these players are being picked is just mind blowing. Sure for an EOYT, but seriously? You could probably count on your toes and fingers the combined amount of games they've all played this season.

 

[biggsy]

Personally I'm 100% against izzy being named in the squad. It's fucked

 

[Bullrush]

Palu is recognised as being a player who does far more than his share of the "invisible" work; that is why he has won so many players' awards for best performance. He is not just a big ball runner, there is a lot more to his game than that.

This is what I tell my boss when I have spent a lot of the day on G&GR. I've done a lot of 'invisible' work.

The stats were posted up on here and were used to support why Palu should be picked. When those stats have been closely examined, it's now his 'invisible' work that makes him valuable.

I think Brumbieman has been pretty spot on with his analysis and looking past the BIL tour, I think Aeleau will (or should) feature more prominently in the Wallabies - especially given Palu's inability to really feature against SA and particularly the ABs.

 

[USARugger]

Can we kidnap Kefu and start a breeding program for the sake of Australian rugby?

 

[Lance Free]

Pat McCabe
Israel Folau
Rob Horne
Sekope Kepu
Tatafu Polata-Nau
Stialeki Timani

If this is true? Well, fuck me!!!!


And where's Tapuai? Fainga'a S? Shatz? McMenamin?


We're doomed Captain Mainwaring...

 

[Lance Free]

Qantas Wallabies Media Briefing this afternoon​

​

Qantas Wallabies coach Robbie Deans will be holding a media opportunity with a selected player this afternoon at 4pm at the ARU Headquarters at St Leonards.

This is being conducted ahead of this weekend’s two-day logistical gathering that will be held in Sydney.

There will be two further media opportunities during the gathering, at 12pm on Sunday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Coogee, and again at 8am on Monday.

What: Qantas Wallabies media opportunity
Who: Qantas Wallabies coach Robbie Deans & a selected player
When: 4pm this afternoon
Where: ARU Headquarters, Ground Floor, Christie St, St Leonards, Sydney

 

[Slim 293]

At least no one has gone full Greg Martin yet.........

Deans 'wants to sabotage' Aussie rugby

Robbie Deans wants to sabotage Australian rugby and could be a trojan horse put in to ruin the game there, says former Wallabies fullback Greg Martin..

The coach's decision to ignore the claims of controversial first-five Quade Cooper by leaving him out of the 30-man preliminary squad to prepare for the coming series with the British & Irish Lions has Martin seething.

Cooper is clearly offside with Deans after last year labelling the Wallabies environment "toxic", but Martin believes Cooper is the only No 10 capable of troubling the Lions and can't believe New Zealander Deans has left him out.

"He is kidding if he's not picking Quade Cooper," Martin told Australian radio station Triple M.

"In other words, Robbie Deans wants to sabotage Australian rugby.

"This has been a conspiracy on the internet since the (2011) World Cup that he was put in as a Trojan horse to ruin Australian rugby. It's almost getting to the point I say that's true.

"He's made it about who he personally likes, not winning games.

"(Cooper's) not the one sabotaging Australian rugby, it's Robbie Deans."

Deans' rollercoaster ride in charge of the Wallabies since his controversial appointment in 2008 has seen him struggle to be accepted in some circles.

Former Wallabies great David Campese has been outspoken with his constant criticism of Deans and now Martin, a usually a reserved television commentator but proud Queenslander, has come out firing.

Martin argues that Cooper is starting to rediscover his magic and his combination with Wallabies halfback Will Genia for the Reds should be transferred into the Wallabies.

"This year Quade started slowly but now he's back with Will Genia they're exceptional," Martin said.

"In 2011 that's how the Reds won their (Super Rugby) championship. They're back together and starting to slay defences.

"(Cooper) is the only way we can beat the British and Irish Lions - everyone else (vying for No.10) is pretty pedestrian or isn't used to Will Genia.

"There are a lot of five-eighths around who can do things to keep you in the game but he does stuff that wins you the game."

 

[barbarian]

He's started almost every single game this year mate, and why not start him?

The point being, that for all of Palu's supposed benefits, we have another player who plays almost exactly the same role. Here is the difference: Auelua actually breaks tackles. I know this is a hard point for Palu fans to accept, but he just doesn't break them. He runs into contact like a big teddy bear and looks for an offload before he's even been wrapped up. The one or two times a game he actually remembers he's a very big man, he makes some metres. For the most part, he plays far below his size and with very little aggression.

Auelua is playing the games that Palu is apparently known for, and he's playing them now. He's not broken. He doesn't do the whole " play 2-3 games of Super rugby and a couple of tests each year because of injury".

Palu is the great white (black?) hope that never materialised for us because of injury. Its sad, but that is life. What we do need to do is stop dicking around hoping he'll be fit, and actually just assume he'll be broken and then look at what else there is.

If we want a big wrecking ball to make metres, break tackles, draw 3-4 men every time he gets the ball, and actually smash people in the tackle, then we need to select Auelua, its as simple as that.

He, and Mowen, should form the 6/8 combination for us in June. and if Dingo actually wants to win, he should do everything possible to get Smith out there too. 110 caps of international experience, a Lions series, Bledisloe cup, Tri-nations and two Super rugby titles is something no one else provides, and I want his cool head a game changing ability out there for us at crucial moments in this series.

To your first point- no he hasn't. He has started three games, and including this weekend he has been on the bench five times.

I like Auleau a lot. I am very happy he is in the 30 man squad. But I still think you would be mad to start him in the first test against the Lions. Palu has an outstanding record in the last few years, he does a TONNE of work that nobody sees. He is not a wrecking ball, but he is hardly a teddy bear either.

As I have pointed out before, there is a reason he is always right up there in 'player's player' votes. He just works and works and works.

Start Palu, and bring of Fotu at the 50-60 minute mark and let him unleash against tired defences.
.

 

[barbarian]

And where's Tapuai? Fainga'a S? Shatz? McMenamin?

I'd assume MMM is out due to injury. He was invited to the earlier camp IIRC.
.

 

[tigerland12]

Pat McCabe
Israel Folau
Rob Horne
Sekope Kepu
Tatafu Polata-Nau
Stialeki Timani

If this is true? Well, fuck me!!!!


And where's Tapuai? Fainga'a S? Shatz? McMenamin?


We're doomed Captain Mainwaring.

Could not agree more, and it isn't the biased QLDer coming out in me.

None of those players deserve to be named in the squad. If Tapuai gets ommitted that is a crime.

At least it appears Deans has finally realised that the Brumbies do have some pretty good players running around.

 

[BPC]

Off to create a separate thread around the consistent failure of the Comms/PR team at the ARU.

Just search for almost any post by Cat_A. The ARU Media Releases thread is a treat.

 

[fatprop]

This is what I tell my boss when I have spent a lot of the day on G&GR. I've done a lot of 'invisible' work.

The stats were posted up on here and were used to support why Palu should be picked. When those stats have been closely examined, it's now his 'invisible' work that makes him valuable.

I think Brumbieman has been pretty spot on with his analysis and looking past the BIL tour, I think Aeleau will (or should) feature more prominently in the Wallabies - especially given Palu's inability to really feature against SA and particularly the ABs.

If we are budgeting for sharing the "explosive" role @ 8 Palu & Aeleau would be our best option. Now who gets 50 minutes and who gets 30? don't know - yet

But having both in the squad makes sense, Palu was one of our best in the November tests and Aeleau appears the most obvious heir apparent.

 

[RedsHappy]

The remarkable thing re Cooper and this 'logistics camp' is that even if Deans was highly unlikely to pick QC (Quade Cooper) for the BIL, why not be smart in a media sense and 'keep the peace' with QC (Quade Cooper) and invite him along, what on earth was to be lost by doing that, and by inviting him the impression of magnanimity and good grace would have been preserved and no media storms would have started to distract from a positive ramp up to the BIL program.

If you invite Folau FFS - whose loyalty to rugby is measured in months - and not QC (Quade Cooper) who's mostly successfully played the game for years, you're just inviting negative speculation and the theory that Deans wishes to undermine QC (Quade Cooper), and all related theories, most of which definitely don't help the code in public, especially here in QLD.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Marto impressed me as being a half wit when I first met him in Uni days back in the '80's.

In the 30 odd years since he still hasn't found the missing half.

You get more sense having a conversation with the family dog than you do with him.

Trojan Horse FFS. Time to change the batteries on his tin foil hat.

 

[Braveheart81]

Greg Martin is the most one-eyed Cooper fan and Reds fan in general in the country. He absolutely refuses to see anything wrong.

I remember a few games ago when Jono Lance did a tip tackle on Deon Stegmann and play was stopped, the replay gets shown and Greg Martin instantly says "nothing wrong with that tackle".

His comments that Genia and Cooper are now "exceptional" and "starting to slay defences" is absolute hyperbole.

 

[BPC]

And where's Tapuai? Fainga'a S? Shatz? McMenamin?

MMM is injured but I will agree on Tapuai and Shatz if they were overlooked but S Fainga'a? Not unless you want to hand the opposition several soft penalties for ruck infringements every match. I'd take Hanson over Fainga'a any day.

 

[BPC]

Marto impressed me as being a half wit when I first met him in Uni days back in the '80's. .

You think he has as much as a half?

His comments that Genia and Cooper are now is "exceptional" and is "starting to slay defences" is absolute hyperbole truth.

He isn't entirely wrong. Just mostly.

 

[Braveheart81]

Maybe the ARU has just decided that there isn't a whole lot going on in this logistics camp this weekend and it is really just an opportunity for a few photos, autograph sessions and media appearances.

To save money, the vast majority of the players they're sending are from Sydney and Canberra.

People are reading way too much into this. If this was really an important thing they'd be bringing along currently injured players that they would still be highly likely to select for the Lions tour.

 

[Athilnaur]

Greg Martin is the most one-eyed Cooper fan and Reds fan in general in the country. He absolutely refuses to see anything wrong.

I remember a few games ago when Jono Lance did a tip tackle on Deon Stegmann and play was stopped, the replay gets shown and Greg Martin instantly says "nothing wrong with that tackle".

His comments that Genia and Cooper are now "exceptional" and "starting to slay defences" is absolute hyperbole.

You mean he is serious when he says these thing? I thought he just said them to keep his media profile up. Well there goes half the credit I gave him for a sense of humour.