Scott Allen
Trevor Allan (34)
A lot of us have focussed on the original selections - both who was in the 22 and their positions. That topic has been well covered elsewhere so no need for me to go on with that any further, but I think they got it wrong, both before Barnes got injured and after.
Once they'd selected 22 and provided their game plan to the players, there was little the coaches could do prior to their half time comments and re-direction. At half-time and beyond, it was time to look at what they could do using the bench. The further the game went, the more the Wallabies needed to do something positive to change their position.
50th minute - TPN and Mumm come on to replace Moore and Chisolm. TPN had little impact around the field but 3/5 poor throws - I thought Mumm had more impact than Chisolm. Overall, there was no positive game change from these replacements.
55th minute - Smith on for Palu. Again, little game changing impact but at least we're only 4 points down with 25 mins to go - 2 penalties will get us there.
61st minute - score goes to 23-16. Now we definitely need at least one try to win the game. Still 19 minutes to go but time to try something else, surely ....
69th minute - score goes to 26-16. Time's running out. If anyone's got any ideas, now must be the time ....
72nd minute - score back to 26-19. But we still need a try to win. Is it worth looking at the bench? Please, try something ...
74th minute - score out to 29-19. Is there anyone there? Any ideas - or do we only have plan A?
79th minute - score out to 32-19. Oh, you're right, it's probably a bit late now to try something.
I am not a big Quade Cooper fan, nor do I think Mitchell could have done better than Hynes, Ioane or AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper). He probably would have done better than JOC (James O'Connor) - but surely someone thought about sending Cooper on to see if we could mix things up a bit?????
Or maybe, the bench players weren't in front of the coaches in the latter part of the second half and the coaches were too busy looking at what was in front of them?
What benefit was there in trying nothing?
Once they'd selected 22 and provided their game plan to the players, there was little the coaches could do prior to their half time comments and re-direction. At half-time and beyond, it was time to look at what they could do using the bench. The further the game went, the more the Wallabies needed to do something positive to change their position.
50th minute - TPN and Mumm come on to replace Moore and Chisolm. TPN had little impact around the field but 3/5 poor throws - I thought Mumm had more impact than Chisolm. Overall, there was no positive game change from these replacements.
55th minute - Smith on for Palu. Again, little game changing impact but at least we're only 4 points down with 25 mins to go - 2 penalties will get us there.
61st minute - score goes to 23-16. Now we definitely need at least one try to win the game. Still 19 minutes to go but time to try something else, surely ....
69th minute - score goes to 26-16. Time's running out. If anyone's got any ideas, now must be the time ....
72nd minute - score back to 26-19. But we still need a try to win. Is it worth looking at the bench? Please, try something ...
74th minute - score out to 29-19. Is there anyone there? Any ideas - or do we only have plan A?
79th minute - score out to 32-19. Oh, you're right, it's probably a bit late now to try something.
I am not a big Quade Cooper fan, nor do I think Mitchell could have done better than Hynes, Ioane or AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper). He probably would have done better than JOC (James O'Connor) - but surely someone thought about sending Cooper on to see if we could mix things up a bit?????
Or maybe, the bench players weren't in front of the coaches in the latter part of the second half and the coaches were too busy looking at what was in front of them?
What benefit was there in trying nothing?
