I wrote this for another thread but will transfer it here instead:
Yeah, it looks like it was the beginning of the end for Owen and Jerry at the Brumbies anyways, particularly with the likes of Murphy and Sio overtaking them in the pecking order...
Murphy seems to be doing well, though I won't sign out on that until I see him start tonight; not that Blake, his direct protagonist, is the benchmark for THPs this year.
I've said before that Scott Sio is one that I would have liked to have kept in Sydney for the Tahs. His scrummaging in the Shute Shield was coming on well in 1st Grade and, being a backrower in his even younger days, he could get around the park.
Folks might remember a run when he came on against the Sharks and Clarkie thought it was Vaea. It's odds on that the Brumbies will offer him a full contract though I have a sneaky hope that the Tahs will somehow replace Tilse with him.
It's a pity that Jono never kicked on but it looks like the ITMC, in which he played well in, was his top level. Jerry Y was injured too much to make his mark, and he never impressed me as an adequate scrummager anyway, as far as I am able to judge the matter.
There is always a certain amount of dislocation when a new coach comes on board in Super Rugby but it can serve to clear the decks, rightly or wrongly, and leave spaces for players of more potential. It appears that Jake is marginalising some players though it could be just a part of his long game, a portion of which is the completion of planning for 2013 contract renewals and acquisitions. For that he has to have a good look at his roster.
Some rotation will be evident even after 2013 is bedded down because he will be looking at 2014 planning at the same time. It could be that his player rotations, some of which will look odd, will go on another 12 months, albeit at a diminished level. Then in 2014 we will see Jake's real squad, unencumbered by the presence of players chosen by ex-coaches, and not of his brand.
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