Australia A matches Northern Tour

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Not really sure what it achieved but keep some guys ready for the Wallaby squad in all honesty. Exhibition style games have too much of a trial feeling to them.

The pac nations or another tournament/series would be better. Pressure needs to be high for real development I think anyway.

 

[Wilson]

I don't think you can look at these tours in isolation, and RA hopefully isn't. Whether or not one 2 game tour is providing much value on its own is sort of beside the point - ideally we're stringing a few of these together each year and the vast majority of Wallabies debutants going forward have been able to get 5-10 games at this level first.

There's probably more that needs to be done to standardise the systems and tactics between the two teams to really get the benefit, but that can't really happen until the wallabies system is bedded down. The exposure for players (and coaches) is still valuable as it stands, and you can't conjure these programs out of thin air, they have to be built over multiple seasons.

 

[Strewthcobber]

We need a few more NH nations willing to stand up to the clubs and enforce a release period for the A teams to actually get some games to make the tour worthwhile.

But with NH club games continuing to play through November I wouldn't be holding my breath

 

[Rhino_rugby]

We need a few more NH nations willing to stand up to the clubs and enforce a release period for the A teams to actually get some games to make the tour worthwhile.

But with NH club games continuing to play through November I wouldn't be holding my breath

It’s frustrating that the A teams rarely get enough playtime for tours to be valuable. Club commitments are a big issue, and change seems unlikely without pressure from NH nations to enforce release periods. This will remain a challenge until clubs and national teams work better together.

 

[Mr Pilfer]

I think it would have been better to just have one squad of say 45-50 and play midweek games. That way more of the “B team” like Edmed, Potter, Tizzano etc could have got game time.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

I think it would have been better to just have one squad of say 45-50 and play midweek games. That way more of the “B team” like Edmed, Potter, Tizzano etc could have got game time.

Yeah I like that.

Wallabies took a guy like Edmed off form but he’s since played nothing but we got minutes into the 4th, 5th option for the other games.