Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Right over my head until coffee...
Aussie Player Exodus
- Thread starter swingpass
- Start date
Right over my head until coffee...
Smoked too many doobies or maybe not enough.
KOB1987
John Eales (66)
I was taking the piss a bit but wouldn't it actually be that he can play for Ireland A and still be eligible for both nations? Or is Ireland A their 2nd 'invokes ineligibility for other nations' team?
Members Section
John Thornett (49)
I'm today years old when I learnt the Newsome is at Clermont
qwerty51
Stirling Mortlock (74)
I watch a lot of these games, the standard isn’t poor (if it was, Ireland, France and England) wouldn’t be better than us right now.
FLW (Fergus Lee-Warner) wasn’t playing long enough to benefit from a “change of scenery”. Has to be more to it why these guys who are frankly average here perform so well over there.
FLW (Fergus Lee-Warner) wasn’t playing long enough to benefit from a “change of scenery”. Has to be more to it why these guys who are frankly average here perform so well over there.
Dctarget
Tim Horan (67)
Surely it’s just dilution of talent no? With 12 teams the average quality is probably lower and it’s easier to stand out.
Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
As Dct says, dilution of quality over a larger number of teams probably is a factor. But FLW (Fergus Lee-Warner) was always more than just average. He was consistently one of the best Force players and would not have been out of place at higher levels if selected.
Interesting though if it is true that the team quality is diluted with more sides in a competition, but nonetheless England, Ireland and France remain stronger overall then that seems to shoot down any argument against an Aus-only Super or NRC type of competition with upwards of 10 - 12 local teams. The cream will still rise to the top but there would be many more opportunities for players to show their worth.
The issue there though is that they've got much larger player bases with more overseas players (England and France) in the competitions or a competition involving multiple countries (Wales/Ireland/Scotland).
If we went it alone we'd be back filling all those spots with players from below Super Rugby level.
Clubhouse coach
Sydney Middleton (9)
FLW (Fergus Lee-Warner) as injury cover for Rob Leota?
Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Because they're better coached teams?
Rugby Head
Ted Thorn (20)
Nope.
But he would have played 6 if he was in the country this year, I think he could get a look in for the EOYT.
The Ghost of Raelene
Simon Poidevin (60)
Might change the thinking of some with their post RWC deals also.
Dctarget
Tim Horan (67)
Expect Meafou to play for France at next year's world cup. Shame we can't afford to develop talent like him at home. Apparently he's lost a bit of weight and managed to get down to... 150kg. Aha.
On his eligibility for France, "I'm not yet, all that remains is the passport, I submitted my application about a month ago. As soon as I have it, I can play for France".
On his eligibility for France, "I'm not yet, all that remains is the passport, I submitted my application about a month ago. As soon as I have it, I can play for France".
stillmissit
Peter Johnson (47)
I'd never heard of him and was amazed that nobody offered a 6' 8" 120+ kg lock an opportunity at the tahs in 2019 when they struggled for locks. Still, that's ozzie rugby at it's best.
wiki entry: Meafou stated: “Rugby was still a passion and dream of mine. The only reason I went down the NFL road was because I had no offers. For me rugby was over.”[5] Between 2018–19 Meafou switched sports again, citing no offers to play rugby in Australia. After his agent allegedly sent footage of Meafou to French rugby clubs, he received a number of offers before accepting to play with the Toulouse academy.[5][6]
He played NRC and club rugby and couldn't play more than a half and wasn't particularly good. He needed a lot of work.
This is definitely where Australian rugby struggles. We just don't have the capacity for more than a handful of project players around the country.
Adam84
Rod McCall (65)
In the case of Meafou id argue the issue is squad size, teams don't have the depth in fulltime contracts to be able to offer contracts to players who are purely developmental.
There isn't enough money to cover extra positions, in fact I think the number of fulltime positions in squads were reduced during a recent EBA
Extra teams is certainly an issue to be addressed, but we also need to increase the number of positions in current squads
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