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Bledisloe #1 - AUS v NZL, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, August 8th

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jollyswagman

jollyswagman

Ron Walden (29)
Taking Baba's lead and devoting some time to reminisce about George, it occurred to me that aside from Skelton and possibly Hooper, none of our current forwards ever look like off-loading in contact these days. This is one thing that the majority of the AB forwards do very well and quite frequently. I think Moore would have to be the furthest from the ideal as he is usually heading for the turf before he even reaches the D-line. It all seems a little one dimensional and makes our forward play seem very predictable.
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Oh. I thought you were going to say

Benn

Muthafucking

Robinson

Busted loosehead, need someone who can scrum.

Bring Back Cat
 
qwerty51

qwerty51

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Sully said:
He gonna get more than one week
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If he's guilty you'd think so. I can't imagine what 1 week would be for. Either he punched him and gets a hefty ban or didn't and get nothing. Anyway the most he'll miss should be the two Bledisloes. There's potentially another Shute Shield and NRC games before the RWC.
 
Groucho

Groucho

Greg Davis (50)
BDA said:
I don't buy the comments from the Kiwis that they all "hope" Skelton gets picked against the All Blacks. Seems like a bit of reverse psychology to me.
Nearly everybody else seems to agree that he should start.

From memory he's only played a couple of games off the bench in last years Bledisloe. I remember him being pretty poor, but that's not surprising in retrospect. He was very inconsistent last year, and his workrate, cardio and set piece technique were far from the finished product. He's unquestionably improved in those areas this year.

It's also unquestionable the physical impact he makes on the field; an area where we clearly struggle. As the boys on the podcast said last night, you cant use workrate to make up for a lack of players that can get you over the advantage line. The Kiwis know that, and I suspect they would much prefer not to see Skelton on the field.
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It's not even reverse psychology BDA. Skelton's an Australian tight five forward. He's mediocre by definition.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
teach said:
Last time Skelton played the Highlanders he was miles too slow and could not keep up.

I am not the only kiwi who is hoping Skelton gets a full 80.

I think Cheika would dearly love a hard man in the forwards, like a Brad Thorn or Brodie Retallick. Skelton may get there, but he is not there yet. Though I think he may make it if he can get his fitness and his work rate up. His tendency for cheap shots may be a problem though and will need to be cleaned up, especially at the RWC.
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The Wallabies haven't had a locking pair that has bested their All Black counterparts since Horwill and Vickerman at Suncorp in 2011.

The matchup is favourable for the All Blacks regardless who plays. I definitely think that Skelton provides that point of difference that gives us a chance to assert some dominance in the area. As RugbyReg pointed out on his '5 things we learned from the Puma test' piece on the front page, Skelton is our enforcer and we dearly need it. All the best Wallaby teams have had someone providing that.
 
redstragic

redstragic

Alan Cameron (40)
Groucho said:
It's not even reverse psychology BDA. Skelton's an Australian tight five forward. He's mediocre by definition.
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Our front row is pretty tough, so is Simmons and Skelton is getting better. They are more than mediocre. I just think our tight five lacks being able to play with mongrel week in and week out. Has done since the early 2000's.

The All Blecks will bring it every week and are the benchmark.

Cheiks instills it in his teams, I am really looking forwards to seeing it develop in the Wobs.
 
FrankLind

FrankLind

Colin Windon (37)
I think Michael Hooper's loss of control adn smacking the Argentine player in the side of the head vindicates the selection of Moore as captain. (and also Pocock is better)
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
There is definitely better potential balance between Simmons and Skelton than there was between Simmons and Carter last year.

Simmons and Horwill on paper provide good balance but it never really eventuated when they played together for the Wallabies. For most of the time Horwill was in form, Simmons was still finding his feet at international level and then eventually Simmons was our best lock and Horwill strugged for form.

Without out and out superstars like Retallick and Etzebeth we need to remember that it takes time for these guys to develop into quality international players. Simmons has played 52 tests now. For around the first 30 of those pretty much no one thought he was up to it and he was constantly maligned. Now days, he still gets maligned a fair amount but it's mostly completely misplaced from those that can't move past old stereotypes regardless of the current evidence.
 
Slim 293

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Besides, if Hooper had the cloak of invisibility that a true captain possesses he would've got away with it.............
 
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