Bledisloe 2 - Wallabies vs All Blacks, Wellington, 27 August 2016

[Viking]

The only Timani I would pick is Sitaleki.

I wonder how he is going in Europe.

General consensus on these forums seem to be Lopeti is the good one and Sitaleki is bit soft and lazy most of the time.

 

[emuarse]

Probably slow us down more and judging by the canes performance in the wet a few weeks ago they wont even notice it.
And for Michael's benefit i am very positive about all things NZ and All Blacks - I just don't have the jingoism necessary to tell myself everything will be fine if we just have another bottle of red.

Everything's fine mate

 

[fatprop]

I wonder how he is going in Europe.

General consensus on these forums seem to be Lopeti is the good one and Sitaleki is bit soft and lazy most of the time.

Lopeti has looked very solid playing lock with a limited, simple (but effective) role

He isn't a back rower, his work there is too error prone

 

[Joe Blow]

You could probably successfully argue that he would have been retained on the bench ahead of Skelton though. With McMahon out too it means the last bench spot came down to Skelton or Timani.

I see McMahon training with them over there. Is his nose still the problem?

 

[dru]

5th choice. Lilo would have been in there too.

I'll go with that, though personally I would rate Lea as second choice 10 with QC (Quade Cooper) (for now) number three.

 

[Viking]

Lopeti has looked very solid playing lock with a limited, simple (but effective) role

He isn't a back rower, his work there is too error prone

Maybe Bryne can work his magic on him in the next 12 months. Certainly the "style" of 8 we are looking for.

 

[KOB1987]

I see McMahon training with them over there. Is his nose still the problem?

allegedly, yes

 

[Braveheart81]

It is quite realistic "we've got to play at our best and hope they have an off night if we're going to steal a win. " is our only hope.

Sure it's realistic but is it a good idea?

If you publicly state that as your thoughts on the game and then get absolutely flogged you get all manner of criticism about not being mentally prepared for the match etc.

I think the sports psychology side of things would say that confidence is crucially important in this sort of thing otherwise you're even more likely to get smashed or injured etc.

Surely it's important for our players to believe they can compete with the opposition.

I find it kind of baffling how upset fans get about our players making confident statements to the media. Our players have to believe that their preparation and ability allows them to compete. The delusional bit to me is the fans taking it completely at face value and thinking our players are being arrogant and overconfident.

 

[Sully]

Preview is up

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/trc-2016-new-zealand-v-australia/

Give it a click.

 

[emuarse]

Question: RE: Adam Coleman, wallaby lock.

According to Wiki
Coleman is the son of former Tongan rugby captain Pau'u Afeaki .
So why is his surname Coleman?

 

[Viking]

Sure it's realistic but is it a good idea?

If you publicly state that as your thoughts on the game and then get absolutely flogged you get all manner of criticism about not being mentally prepared for the match etc.

I think the sports psychology side of things would say that confidence is crucially important in this sort of thing otherwise you're even more likely to get smashed or injured etc.

Surely it's important for our players to believe they can compete with the opposition.

I find it kind of baffling how upset fans get about our players making confident statements to the media. Our players have to believe that their preparation and ability allows them to compete. The delusional bit to me is the fans taking it completely at face value and thinking our players are being arrogant and overconfident.

Absolutely, I think Rathbone's statement was a step too far. You should never hear an international player say "we have almost no chance of winning".

They should say things like:
"The opposition are playing well above our current level so we have a lot of work to do".
"We are under no allusions how big of a challenge it is going to be"
etc.

Never admit your going to lose, just acknowledge it is going to be a huge challenge.

 

[KOB1987]

From what I can tell, the most objection to the team selected isn't the players that were picked, but rather the positions they were selected in, primarily in the backs. Bearing in mind that Mitchell looks like he's eaten a whole steer, we don't really have a specialist winger to call on (hopefully Naivalu and/or Speight will rectify that shortly).

It seems to me the following starting backline if selected would have silenced most of these critics:

9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. Hodge/Foley/Kuridrani
12. Kerevi
13. Folau
14. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
15. DHP

I'm only using players from within the 23, obviously the query in that formation is who to put at 11. Excluding Mitchell, from the available players it therefore made sense to play DHP there as he now has 4 tests experience there and work on his defence.

I think we will see the above 12/13/15 combination in action at some point on Saturday.

 

[Pedrolicus]

If Rathbone was part of the squad/support team or even playing still I might think he should've been more guarded. As a private citizen it's probably in his interest to just be honest.

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

 

[Braveheart81]

Question: RE: Adam Coleman, wallaby lock.

According to Wiki
Coleman is the son of former Tongan rugby captain Pau'u Afeaki .
So why is his surname Coleman?

Presumably he grew up with his mother and the father wasn't on the scene.

 

[emuarse]

Presumably he grew up with his mother and the father wasn't on the scene.

BH81, can only give you 5/10 for that answer, even though it might be right. But he also might have changed it by deed pole, like the celebrities do.
Surely a Force fan would have the answer.

 

[Pedrolicus]

BH81, can only give you 5/10 for that answer, even though it might be right. But he also might have changed it by deed pole, like the celebrities do.
Surely a Force fan would have the answer.

Watch where you're swinging that deed pole!

 

[Braveheart81]

BH81, can only give you 5/10 for that answer, even though it might be right. But he also might have changed it by deed pole, like the celebrities do.
Surely a Force fan would have the answer.

Lots of kids who grow up in a single parent family with their mother as that parent share their mother's name rather than their father's.

 

[No4918]

From being fashion critics to commentary on social issues.

Wonders never cease. Starting to think maybe the Wallabies can even get a win this weekend.

 

[Pfitzy]

Don't care - as long as Coleman is smashing people I don't give a shit if his dad was the King of Tonga.

 

[Hands Off Seven!]

From being fashion critics to commentary on social issues.

Wonders never cease. Starting to think maybe the Wallabies can even get a win this weekend.

Well apart from the last 15 years, our record in Windy W is first class!