Australian Rugby / RA
- Thread starter Dave Beat
- Start date
Strewthcobber
Andrew Slack (58)
Rodda leaving highlights one of the big issues currently in player retention. Experienced players on the cusp of Wallaby selection and potentially a Wallaby top-up, if they perform well, need to make a decision around contracts before the Wallaby season actually commences.
Guys like Rodda, and maybe someone like Liam Wright.
No idea how to resolve that one with French contracts starting so much earlier than our normal end of season
Guys like Rodda, and maybe someone like Liam Wright.
No idea how to resolve that one with French contracts starting so much earlier than our normal end of season
Jamie
Billy Sheehan (19)
I thought Aus teams did well this season, Tahs aside.
In addition:
- If the Reds and Brumbies didn't drop a couple of winnable games (Moana for the Reds) they might have been looking at a home semi
- The Reds could have quite easily been a 5 - 0 against the Kiwi sides but lost two at the death. And they had that Blues game in the bag ... until they didn't
- And If the Ehmed nails that kick against the Landers...
The season could have been much better
AND
The Reds and Brumbies fell asleep 1st Half of quarters and semis
I will add though that this Blues team is GOOD, well-coached and probably would beat most teams around the world
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
Correct - to protect an already failed competition. It's quite silly.
Tomthumb
John Solomon (38)
Woulda, shoulda, coulda
Australian rugby in a nutshell. Our ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against NZ teams is the stuff of legend
And I’d argue we didn’t really do better this season. Force won less games, Rebels snuck into the playoffs with a 5-9 record and a whopping -147 point differential, Brumbies season ended the same way, Reds had a better regular season but got belted in the QF, and the Tahs were diabolical
adding on top was the fact that there were 2 bad kiwi teams and we still couldn’t take advantage
Tomthumb
John Solomon (38)
True, but who would you pick? Richie Arnold was supposed to be top class
Strewthcobber
Andrew Slack (58)
I wonder if you asked Schmidt if he had open slather, how many players he would select from OS, with the international window limitation placed on them. So for the tests against Wales, the first time he sees the player is a couple of days before the first test.
Integrating even the best players would be pretty tough with that restriction
Integrating even the best players would be pretty tough with that restriction
Jamie
Billy Sheehan (19)
"Woulda, shoulda, coulda"
Yes, you are right
"2 bad kiwi teams and we still couldn’t take advantage"
We DID take advantage.
In any case, The rebels are gone, so there is no need to worry about them, and I rather be optimistic.
There was some superb rugby played during the season by Aus teams, and we hope for the same next year, with hopefully more wins.
Dctarget
Tim Horan (67)
Richie Arnold was never supposed to be top class. His brother's always been better, at Toulouse he's useful but not a game changer.
The Ghost of Raelene
Steve Williams (59)
Aus sides performed exactly like they always do. Seemed like some green shoots early in the season but it ended up with 1 side in what you can call the elites and two others in the making up the numbers finals sides that get rolled first week without a whimper. Then we always have 2 in the S bend part of the comp.
Dctarget
Tim Horan (67)
There's a 20% discount code too going around so I may have got myself the blue one for $130... Need some actual games to go to now.New RMWilliam collab. $169 jerseys.
Where are the historians, what's the significance of the chevron in the jersey design, obviously NRL have adopted it as key aspect of their logo so i'm just wondering whether it's a shared history from the time the codes split?
The guy who wrote the history of the Wallaby jersey doesn't like it either.
Probably worth pointing out that the last lot of RM Williams Wallaby stuff sold out very fast from what I understand so maybe the designs being very different to the Wallaby jersey is actually a good thing?
Probably worth pointing out that the last lot of RM Williams Wallaby stuff sold out very fast from what I understand so maybe the designs being very different to the Wallaby jersey is actually a good thing?
Jamie
Billy Sheehan (19)
My wife just bought me the blue one, or so she says - They look great
Strewthcobber
Andrew Slack (58)
The kangaroos only started wearing the chevron on the 1929 tour so it's not that.
Both codes were plain or hoops until then as far as I know
snoopycatchicken
Stan Wickham (3)
I'm pretty sure Richie Arnold was only picked because Eddie hated Rory Arnold for not sacrificing a milliion dollars to return to Australia
Jamie
Billy Sheehan (19)
True, next year it will be a different format, so let's see how that plays out.
What is evident is that you need a home semi,
The making up the numbers, well, I would say most competitions around the world have sides making up the numbers.
The Drua were never going to win it, but geez, they are fun to watch. Again, there was some super rugby played by Aussie teams this year, AND much better than last year, in fact.
