T
Train Without a Station
Guest
Not really. What proven test lock are we missing?
I never cease to be amazed at the manichean attitude to any constructive criticism of certain players.
Of course Skelton has some huge strengths, I have never suggested otherwise. He also has some very clear weaknesses.
Perhaps my posts need to have illustrations, or be couched in simpler terms. Perhaps I should adhere to the apparently fairly wide view that one is either totally in favour of a particular player, else one is totally against them. No nuanced opinions will be countenanced by a number of posters. Weird, in what is actually a sport with a lot of nuances and subtleties.
International second rowers need a well recognised set of skills. Skelton has some of them, in abundance. He is lacking in some of them.
Is that okay? Can we agree that he has some good points, and some not-so-good points?
I have said several times in various threads that his not so good points need to be worked on, and corrected. His strong points are not so outstanding that his weaknesses can be glossed over, particularly when they are so obvious to anybody who has ever played in the second row, and will be exploited to the full by our strongest opponents.
I never cease to be amazed at the manichean attitude to any constructive criticism of certain players.
Jeez I 'd hate to pack behind Slipper, if he's got the shits. Locks will be fighting each other to get behind Kepu
I kind of think maybe Canboring deserves this one actually.
Extremely rude to our guests from Argentina but at least they could drop by their embassy
The problem as Barbarian has posted above is one of balance.
Skelton doesn't fit because lets face it neither Simmons nor Carter have been fulfilling their primary role at the lineout as it is. To compound that failure they are also failing around the field, and barely holding the scrum.
Since that is the case try something different, because the issue with Simmons in particular has rarely been different with regards to the lack of general play impact and the stupid penalties and how many tests has he played to learn the craft at test level.
In all honesty I would be prepared to concede the lineout as it stands (which we virtually have, it offers no competition to the opposition as its stands anyway) and select Skelton in any event and use him properly standing at 2 offering that short ball option that would have to be guarded. The select Horwill/Carter as the other lock and Higgers & McCalman in the backrow to balance. Replace McCalman with Fardy and move Higgers to 8 and the balance is pretty much maintained.
I could also opine about the lack of foresight in Australian Rugby with regard to player retention and selection of the medium term has directly led to this issue.
I've got a solution to the lack of Skeltons "standard lock skill set".
Play him at 8.
Too soon?
I never cease to be amazed at the manichean attitude to any constructive criticism of certain players.
Of course Skelton has some huge strengths, I have never suggested otherwise. He also has some very clear weaknesses.
Perhaps my posts need to have illustrations, or be couched in simpler terms. Perhaps I should adhere to the apparently fairly wide view that one is either totally in favour of a particular player, else one is totally against them. No nuanced opinions will be countenanced by a number of posters. Weird, in what is actually a sport with a lot of nuances and subtleties.
International second rowers need a well recognised set of skills. Skelton has some of them, in abundance. He is lacking in some of them.
Is that okay? Can we agree that he has some good points, and some not-so-good points?
I have said several times in various threads that his not so good points need to be worked on, and corrected. His strong points are not so outstanding that his weaknesses can be glossed over, particularly when they are so obvious to anybody who has ever played in the second row, and will be exploited to the full by our strongest opponents.
Dan Palmer is the man we need.I've got an even better idea -- play Luke Jones at 8.
Dan Palmer is the man we need.
I've got an even better idea -- play Luke Jones at 8.
8. McCalman
I don't doubt the work rate of these guys but there isn't a ball carrier *snip* among them
And with Higgers not starting, we still need a lineout caller, so Simmons is retained. My guess is both Carter and Simmons are on their final strike and will need a top quality game to remain in contention.