Brumbies 2012

[mudskipper]

He sounds like another lad who went to the force and was never given an opportunity to run... jeez they did that to a lot of guys... lets hope he brings something to the Brumbies... he's behind the eight ball already as they're well into their preseason fitness and skills development...

 

[Slim 293]

If this is anything to go by, it appears that McCabe will hopefully play at outside centre this year:

New coach could mean new spot for McCabe
Josh Rakic
December 15, 2011.

HE MAY have finished the World Cup as Robbie Deans's first-choice No. 12, but Pat McCabe may be overlooked by Brumbies coach Jake White in favour of Christian Lealiifano for the inside-centre position and wear the No. 13 jumper.

McCabe, in Sydney for the Rugby Union Players' Association awards lunch, said he was on track for an early recovery from the shoulder reconstruction he underwent six weeks ago and could return in round one for the ACT franchise.

But the 23-year-old said it's all but confirmed he'll start the season outside of Matt To'omua and Lealiifano, adding further intrigue to the Wallabies' playmaking combination next year. James O'Connor starred at No. 10 on the spring tour of Britain in place of the injured Quade Cooper, while Reds livewire Ben Tapuai has entered the equation with Berrick Barnes at inside-centre.

Advertisement: Story continues below ''Position-wise, I don't know to be honest,'' McCabe said. ''From speaking with Jake, I'm not sure that I'll be playing 12 at the Brumbies.

''I asked Bernie [backs coach Stephen Larkham] the other day and he just said to make sure I know how to play 12, 13, 11, 14 and 15.

''So I have no idea yet, but I'm not too worried.

''Jake has spoken about a few things he'd like to see me improve on and what he wants me to do for the place and position-wise, I think he's settled on Matt To'omua and Christian for the main playmaking roles.

Meanwhile, Wallabies and Western Force second-rower Nathan Sharpe was awarded the players' association medal for excellence by his peers, beating David Pocock 96 votes to 90.

It's the third time he has taken the award, also winning in 2002 and 2006.

Tapuai won the newcomer of the year award, while Pocock was recognised for his work in the wider community, which includes his charity named eightytwentyvision.org



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...-for-mccabe-20111214-1ouyo.html#ixzz1gXi3V4fE

 

[fatprop]

OK, so

9 Nic White
10 Matt To'omua
11
12 Christian Lealiifano
13 Pat McCabe
14
15

I wonder about the back 3

Joseph Tomane
Andrew Smith
Kimami Sitauti
Tevita Kuridrani
Henry Speight
Tom Cox
Cam Crawford
Zack Holmes

Who gets 15?
Who gets the 2nd 15/14 role?
Who gets the 11 explosive role?

To me,

15 Zac Holmes / Cam Crawford
14 Cam Crawford / Tom Cox / Andrew Smith
11 Henry Speight/ Joseph Tomane / Kimami Sitauti / Tevita Kuridrani

 

[Brumby Jack]

I reckon 15 will be Cam Crawford.
1) He's very tall and 2) he's been in the Brumbies system longer than some of those new guys.

Andrew Smith might get a start for the fact he's been around longer. I think White might use the established players initially and then ease those other guys in. It will help them settle in and settle their nerves. He says his preferred spot is 13 but will most likely be on the wing.

In other news, I think the new sponsor is close to being revealed. I could speculate who it is but that's not very fun.

 

[Slim 293]

With McCabe to miss the start of the season it would probably make sense to go with Andrew Smith in the early rounds.

I would have reservations about rushing Tomane into outside centre when he's spent most of his recent time playing wing in the NRL...

Zac Holmes could certainly be something at fullback.

Fast. Breaks tackles easily. Good ball playing skills. Good boot. Kicks goals.

But I think Crawford is the frontrunner for now.

 

[Lee Grant]

For all Oz rugby fans I think the evolvement, almost the mutation, of the Brumbies back line to it's best formation, is going to be intriguing. Injuries will make a nonsense of some of the ideas we have now but one hopes that everybody can stay healthy and that the best backline can be reckoned ASAP.

There are so many good players there that haven't played Super Rugby before that it could be that none of them are up to much but I doubt that. What I am sure of is that nobody knows which of the new players will jump out at us and demand a place.

That's the intriguing part.

 

[qwerty51]

Crawford and Holmes should be on the field at the same time. The number of times those two combined for a try at Norths this year was amazing. They have some sort of pathological connection between each other I'm pretty sure.

 

[TOCC]

The one player i have questions marks over is Tomane, i think he is going to take a while to bring through, he was somewhat a defensive liability for the titans.. It wasn't just his ability to read the play correctly, he actually had quite a poor tackling technique as well with a rather low completion rate comparatively.

A player of similar qualities Will Chambers was considered a strong defender for the storm, but pretty average when he came to the Reds.

Tomane was reported as been over 110kg when he was at the titans, but the brumbies website has him at 102kg now.. which i think will work out much better for him in the transition process.

 

[Hawko]

No more room at the Tahs Hawko.... you've got to include SMH chief rugby correspondent Greg Growden....

In that case lets get rid of Growden and there'll be room for two more!!

 

[Slim 293]

Hoiles back in Sydney

15 Dec, 2011 04:00 AM

Departed Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles has returned to his Sydney home and resumed a light solo training schedule in an effort to win an international rugby contract in either Japan or France by August.

The former Wallabies forward and the Brumbies parted ways on amicable terms last month, Hoiles agreeing to leave the ACT franchise a season early as he fights to overcome a troublesome achilles heal injury.

Like Rocky Elsom's ongoing hamstring issues last season, Hoiles's injury is such that he could play at a pinch. But should he do further damage while the foot is trying to recover, it could see him sidelined for more than a year and possibly force him into an early retirement.

As part of his Brumbies negotiations, Hoiles isn't allowed to play for any other Super Rugby franchise in 2012 and instead will take his time getting his foot right and eventually try to win an oversees contract.

He does, however, hope to return to Australia to finish his career after a stint in either France or Japan.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/sport/rugby-union/hoiles-back-in-sydney/2394075.aspx

 

[yourmatesam]

The former Wallabies forward and the Brumbies parted ways on amicable terms last month, Hoiles agreeing to leave the ACT franchise a season early as he fights to overcome a troublesome achilles heal injury

Spell check not working at the Canberra Times?

Good on him, I hope he signs for some big money. He did the right thing by moving on and I wish him all the best, as for that Elsom character, don't get me started.

 

[Empire]

Has anyone heard anything further from the hearings regarding Griffith development?

The local community organization are certainly taking the opportunity to look like muppets - interesting reading in Canberra times etc.

 

[Ruggo]

He will go well in France given the chance. They seem to appreciate smaller skillful players over big bulky battering ram types.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Ruggo,

I predict Stade Francais will 'miraculously' find money to sign him up. You just need to look at the coaching staff, some of the players and who they used to play for to work out the connection.

 

[Hawko]

Ruggo,

I predict Stade Francais will 'miraculously' find money to sign him up. You just need to look at the coaching staff, some of the players and who they used to play for to work out the connection.

Unless my memory has gone to dreamtime, I think it was Randwick's Shute final win with Michael Cheika as coach that first alerted me to how good Hoiles was going to be. Hoiles was absolutely sensational that day.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Empire,

This whole situation really pisses me off. You look at the Brumbies facilities and it really is the worst in terms of a professional team. You look at the other SupeRugby teams and have to be envious of their setups. Waratahs use Moore Park, Reds at Ballymore, Rebels at Visy Park (in the process of changing I believe) and the Force have just moved into a multi million dollar facility.

A professional team needs facilities that are first class. A team that has to train where a bloke can hit golf balls, dogs leave Richard III's and pot holes etc leaves the team in danger of a serious injury. Rolling an ankle days before a big game would really impress the coaching staff.

Those whingers over in Griffith need to realise what this team is about. There are many ovals in the vicinity (Kingston Oval, ovals up near Grammar, Narrabundah oval) that they can use.

There have been rumblings of creating a training centre over at University of Canberra to be used by other teams in Canberra and I reckon that would be good. They could use students involved in some of the courses (media, physio etc) and it's proximity to the AIS would be helpful too.

There are people suggesting in the paper that they should start winning games before branching out. As far as I'm concerned, winning begins off the field and having good facilities will go a long way to achieving that goal.

 

[Brumby Jack]

10 points for Hawko.

 

[Slim 293]

He was sensational in his first season with the Brumbies in 2007 as well...

Thought he was the best Australian player that year, but Smith won the award... again...

It's a shame that injuries crippled his consistency...

 

[Empire]

100% agree - the Brumbies would be the only professional club I can think of with such poor facilities. The fact that the Tuggeranong Vikings have better is telling.

As the club that traditionally 'owns' the oval – it’s scary having to refer guys to hospital because they have contracted local and blood infections from minor grass burn/cuts. Dogs on ovals used for contact/collision sports need to be BANNED!

I have made the point to others that the heritage listing was strongly influenced by the fact that our club has been there for over 50+ years; not Mr. X walking the dog. They should develop the place to continue its rugby heritage (in a sustainable manner, which maintains the beautiful ambience that it has).

The current building and pavilion are both eyesores, and both need attention. Shipping containers on the field, in one of the most expensive parts of Canberra doesn’t do a lot for me either. How the 'community' can be against cleaning this up is perplexing.

I understand the Brumbies own the old bowls club - they are well within their rights to investigate re-zoning opportunities. As the bowls club, Royals and Easts found, the locals did not support the clubs! This further bolsters the Brumbies argument.

Regarding a move to Bruce, from clublands understanding, this is the long term goal, as the Griffith oval has been categorically blocked. Agreed on all points regarding students and interaction with community – this would do no harm to the Brumbies.

On another note, I would love to see the Vikings take a stronger role in running the Brumbies and ACT rugby (a la private ownership as Harold Mitchell has suggested). They have shown over the past 20+ years that they are able to effectively run a Rugby club and create business opportunities which in turn have made them the local powerhouse. Rather than abandoning Canberra and looking to join the Sydney comp, they should look at their own backyard.

In any case, something needs to be sorted that sees the Brumbies with a stable financial platform that supports their own team, but Rugby in Canberra and the region as well. The amount of financial support from the Brumbies has fallen to almost nothing, and smaller clubs like my own are under acute financial pressure.

 

[yourmatesam]

When I was living in Canberra, the talk was that the Brumbies were moving into the ovals at Woden (Phillip Oval I think). There are gyms close by, a pool, enclosed ground etc. I think at the time, the AFL club that was playing out of there was in trouble and looking to get themselves out of debt. Mind you this was in 2002, so I'm sure things have changed by now!

I agree 100% How the Brumbies continue to let players run around on the park there at Griffith is unbelievable. Surely part of their strategic planning is to get themselves some decent facilities.