Brumbies 2012

[Slim 293]

With the reduced squads of 30, and the last couple of positions obviously needed for a hooker and lock/backrower, I wonder who out of Jake White and Laurie Fisher gets to tell Alexander he's going to continue playing loosehead next year?

 

[Hawko]

With the reduced squads of 30, and the last couple of positions obviously needed for a hooker and lock/backrower, I wonder who out of Jake White and Laurie Fisher gets to tell Alexander he's going to continue playing loosehead next year?

If we select the right props for the WC, the writing will be on the wall anyway. Robinson, Kepu, Slipper are certainties and I would take Palmer as the fourth to back up against teams with good scrums like England and France. So Alexander will be trading on his reputation even to make the final 30.

This will be a huge issue for the Brumbies. If I have it right, for next year they have only Jerry Y at LHP and Alexander, Palmer and Maafu at THP. Additionally they have Jono Owen as their up-and coming THP, who was in front of Maafu at one stage when Jerry, and Palmer were injured. They've promised Alexander first shot at THP (stupidly in my view) and Palmer came to the Brumbies to get more time in Super rugby. When he hasn't been injured he has been the best scrummaging THP in Australia, slightly better than Kepu and clearly better than Slipper, as the Blues game showed. Arguably only Own Franks is a better scrummaging THP in the Super comp. I would be surprised if they kept Maafu on, but even so Alexander, Palmer and Owen at THP and Jerry at LHP is seriously unbalanced. If Pamer doesn't get significant time at THP next year then when his contract is up he'll probably go to the Force who are short good props now Fairbrother's going or back to the Tahs to replace the Fuse when he retires. They need two new LHP's (one in the juniors I guess) and will have two starting THP's, one of whom is going to be seriously unhappy.

Add recruiting to the list of Fagan shortcomings (I assume he was deeply involved in that this year, both before and after Friend left).

 

[TheTruth]

This will be a huge issue for the Brumbies. If I have it right for next year they have only Jerry Y at LHP and Alexander, Palmer and Maafu at THP. Additionally they have Jono Owen as their up-and coming THP, who was in front of Maafu at one stage when Jerry, and Palmer were injured. They've promised Alexander first shot at THP (stupidly in my view) and Palmer came to the Brumbies to get more time in Super rugby. When he hasn't been injured he has been the best scrummaging THP in Australia, better than Kepu and clearly better than Slipper, as the Blues game showed. I would be surprised if they kept Maafu on, but even so Alexander, Palmer and Owen at THP and Jerry at LHP is seriously unbalanced. If Pamer doesn't get significant time at THP next year then when his contract is up he'll probably go to the Force who are short good props now Fairbrother's going or back to the Tahs to replace the Fuse when he retires. They need two new LHP's (one in the juniors I guess) and will have two starting THP's, one of whom is going to be seriously unhappy.

Add recruiting to the list of Fagan shortcomings (I assume he was deeply involved in that this year, both before and after Friend left).

Feel for Ben A - seems to be caught in a vortex between THP and LHP but wonderful around paddock (sometimes way too loose) - Maafu is just unfit and Palmer only a potplant Agree Hawko about Fagan

 

[Brumby Jack]

Richard Graham has just tweeted that the Western Force have signed Salesi Ma'afu

 

[louie]

didn't he just sign a new contract with brums?

 

[Slim 293]

Nah, but he was signed on until next year... Probably given a release...

 

[louie]

interesting. happy for the force.

 

[Gnostic]

I find it interesting that a player who played for the Wallabies last year was let go and the "potplant" retained in his place. Sort of vindicates what has been said previously about the merits of that selection.

When Guy Shepherdson left last year and I saw him at a Shute game he was woefully out of condition even though the S14 had only finished a couple of weeks previously. Ma'afu looks in the same condition now and I have to ask WTF are the strength and conditioning people doing in Mule town? Jono Owen also looks rather bloated compared to the way he looked in the Shute last year. It appears to me the malaise that has erupted at the Brumbies this year was present last year in this area.

So has there been any word on who JW will be putting in that position? IMO it is of critical importance to the turn around of their fortunes.

 

[Brumby Jack]

If you mean S&C then it will be Dean Benton

 

[Ash]

The Reds signing of the Brumbies S&C coach with Link was a huge boon forthe Reds and a big loss for the Brumbies.

 

[I like to watch]

/
I don't see anything in the article that would suggest Jake leans either way as far as Elsom is concerned.

"We're going ahead with our recruiting on the basis that he'll head overseas or he'll take time to make a decision that won't work for us,"
That's the quote attributed to Fagan about Rocky's future.....Boned
But with a lot more consideration than he gave to Friend,which is curious as Rocky has contributed nothing since Friend's demise.

 

[tranquility]

The Reds signing of the Brumbies S&C coach with Link was a huge boon forthe Reds and a big loss for the Brumbies.

I tend to agree. However Dean Benton is a gun and will have them in fantastic shape. I would encourage Bruce to give us his opinion of Dean as a performance coach.

 

[Bruce Ross]

I must confess I don’t know a great deal about Dean. I note he is listed as Consultant Speed and Performance Coach at the Reds where Damian Marsh is the Head Performance Coach.

Between 2005 and 2007 he was Performance Director for the Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Club. During that time Dan Baker was their Strength & Conditioning and Wrestling Coach. After a stint with Leicester Tigers as Head Strength & Conditioning Coach he returned to the Broncos in late 2008.

From 2003 to 2005 Dean worked as an S & C coach for the ARU at a time when Jason Weber was the head strength coach.

Further biographical detail:

“Dean Benton currently works as an elite performance consultant with Canon Rugby (Japan) and recently as an Athlete Performance Coach for current Olympic champion swimmer, Stephanie Rice as part of Stephanie’s 2010 Australian titles preparation. Prior to this Dean was the Physical Performance Director for the Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Club where he designed and delivered athletic performance, medical, sports science, recovery, rehabilitation, reconditioning programs to the National Rugby League Squad. Dean has also worked as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Leicester Tigers and has worked with Australian Rugby, Queensland Academy of Sport, Australian Institute of Sport and many other elite sport programs.

“Most recently, Dean has been working with leading international speed coach Frans Bosch to develop an unequaled speed development model for the football codes.”

“His research and conference presentations typically deal with improvement in running performance through comprehensive analysis of the individual’s needs (as also related to the sport requirements) and then prescribing the appropriate technical and strength & conditioning training to achieve this goal.”

It would appear that he is a highly regarded coach with a primary focus on speed training. My own frequently stated view is that what Australian rugby needs is a much greater focus on heavy strength training. It will be interesting to see to what extent Dean addresses this at Acapulco-by-the-Lake.

 

[Ruggo]

The Reds signing of the Brumbies S&C coach with Link was a huge boon forthe Reds and a big loss for the Brumbies.

\

Correct me if I'm wromg but I think Sideshow Bob was recruited in the Mooney era. Great buy none the less.

 

[RugbyReg]

Correct me if I'm wromg but I think Sideshow Bob was recruited in the Mooney era. Great buy none the less.

you're wrong.

You also need a bit of luck in business and to give my team the best physical preparation, my luck came in the form of Damian Marsh, former Brumbies and now Reds performance head coach. Feeling unwanted after nine years in Canberra, he rang me and from that moment has done an outstanding job developing a high standard in our physical preparation. This feeds directly into team culture.

 

[Slim 293]

I must say it's pretty interesting how many former Canberran and Brumbies' personnel have been a part of the Reds' resurgence the past couple of years...

It's great in that it helps show how Canberra, despite its small size, has been an important part of the professional era of Australian rugby, and bad in that they're not at the Brumbies...

But I guess we can't complain after the southern exodus that occurred during the last 5 years...

 

[RedsHappy]

I must say it's pretty interesting how many former Canberran and Brumbies' personnel have been a part of the Reds' resurgence the past couple of years...It's great in that it helps show how Canberra, despite its small size, has been an important part of the professional era of Australian rugby, and bad in that they're not at the Brumbies...But I guess we can't complain after the southern exodus that occurred during the last 5 years...

Slim, to this overall point, I'll bet money that Link's support coaches get very attractive offers to move elsewhere after (or during) this S15 season. And that's just the way it should be: the best aim to attract (and hold) the best, and the best get offered by the rest.

 

[Jets]

I think that JW will have the smarts to be his own man. It is always good, when you are entering a new environment, to have some people around you with links to the organisation as it gives you instant credibility and opens people up to your ideas. Most of the players in the squad for next year will look up to Gregan, Larkham and Jones and with the exception of Larkham none of the players would have had much to do with them. I would hope that in their time away the others may have reflected on their time at the Brumbies and will come back with a positive attitude and a desire to turn the on field performance back to where it once was.

I also think that they underestimated the value of Damien Marsh. He seems very switched on and has the Reds in great shape. This has directly resulted in the Reds having a low percentage of injured players this year. He also seems to have a great relationship with the players.

 

[Slim 293]

According to White this morning, the Brumbies are 'hoping' to secure the services of Matt Dunning for next year...

I guess that solves the loosehead problem, but also causes a loosehead problem... *sigh*

 

[fatprop]

Jake White on the Rugby Club talked about too many players being the "same"

So what will that mean to the squad ....................................