Giteau - what the!!

[fatprop]

I think someone should take Dwyers old trick and paint up a field with lines down the field.

Quite a few don't understand what to run straight is.

Cooper has to be given time at 10 this year, his form demands it

Gits or Barnes, Gits would be first choice because he has more potential as a try scorer, but both are good test 12s

 

[PhucNgo]

I think, for at least the start of the test season, several factors have decided who will play the wallaby 10/12.

Barnes has been playing 12 all season whereas Gitts has been playing 10 (other than one game).
Gitts/Barnes both started the season very poorly but Berrick is steadily improving whereas Gitts is not.
Berrick has also played test 12 more recently than Gitts has and is a far better defender. Berrick is also a better leader.

Oh, obviously Quade will play 10 because of his good form.

This Cooper/Barnes 10/12 combo is not completely new, they have played together this way before. Yes yes, it was not particularly successful but then again neither was the Genia/Cooper combo that year.

Gitts should be given every chance to work his way back into the test team.

Goal kicking. Is the only thing that will be to Gateau's advantage. He has the highest hit rate of Oz players and probably one of the highest overall (I think). If its a 50/50 thing he'll get the nod.

 

[Geeves]

Deans has the power to surprise. There is no guarantee that he will persist with the second ball distributor at 12. If you look at both the Force and Reds the use of a hard hitting IC is well and truly on the cards. Giteau & Barnes in the squad, well yes but it may be on the bench only. The final decision on who is in and the game plan depends on a number of factors. If we accept that Deans ultimate goal is to win the 2011 RWC:

The outcome of Coopers court case has a massive implications on everything especially on who plays where and the game style they want.

If Cooper gets off then Deans is very likely to try new combinations of emerging talent, persist with it and solidify the team for 2011. As he and Giteau have not got along in the past and due to his form Giteau may be pine riding. And Barnes may be doing the same. Under this scenario I'm expecting a very different style of play from last year but as mentioned there may be some serious work put into the question of who does the goal kicking.

If Cooper has to do time then Deans will then probably stick with the existing combinations in most spots and we will have the same failings.

At this stage with all the possible combinations and speculation attempting to peer into the selectors brains & game plans is still a wait and see the outcome of the Cooper court date.

 

[wobbly]

Giteau's kicking has improved in the last 2 seasons as an inverse to his form around the paddock, but he's never been a reliable kicker under pressure in tests. We've actually got some depth in goalkicking for the first time since Burke, Eales and Mortlock played in the same XV.

JOC (James O'Connor) will be the Wallaby goalkicker for most of the next decade. His technique and demenour is at a level ahead of Gits, Cooper, and Barnes. He was hitting them from all over the park earlier in the season. His accuracy has waned in recent weeks before injury.

My ranking of our kicking options would be:
JOC (James O'Connor)
Barnes
Gits
Cooper

Of course there's speculation that JOC (James O'Connor) and Barnes won't make the run on XV which I think would be a great shame as they are also the two best kickers out of hand in Australia. Coopers short kicking game is sublime, but JOC (James O'Connor) has length and accuracy, Barnes has consistency.

 

[Newb]

@ wobbly - i agree with a lot of your assessment. gits is good but can be especially woeful from the left side of the field where his draw/swerve/shank really works against him. scotland anyone??

JOC (James O'Connor) looks the future in my mind as well. assuming he can secure a spot and not crack under the pressure (he is still relatively inexperienced). his motion is much better and looks like it should lead to consistency. cooper doesn't give me that feeling no matter how successful he is. anything where it looks like you have to try THAT hard to be sound mechanically just worries me.

barnes i don't see as much of an option because unless things change quickly, all of the blokes mentioned above will be on the pitch before him.

 

[rsea]

Giteaus kicking in general play fell apart last season and while he's generally reliable with goal kicking you can't trust him to hit the important ones

 

[JJJ]

Too early for a poll on who should be the 2010 Wallaby number 12? I'd make one myself but it seems I can't. I would include Mark Gasnier as a smoky option, because I'm sold on the idea of having a direct, tackle-busting 12. If AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) ever remembered to pass or at least offload in the tackle I would vote for him in a heartbeat, but as things stand the only way the ball would get outside him would be via a cutout pass.

I don't know where that would leave Gits and Barnes, but frankly Giteau seems to be at the heart of the problems the Wallabies have suffered, and the Brumbies are now suffering. I still remember one match between the ABs and Wallabies last season where the wobs were just behind at halftime and they showed the wob change rooms. I thought Deans would be filling our guys' ears with crafty pearls of kiwi wisdom on what was going wrong and what they could do to unlock the AB defence. Instead Giteau was sitting with his back to him, apparently forcefully telling a couple of other players what they should be doing while Deans was left standing around unheeded, nodding his head like a fool. We lost, obviously.

 

[Godfrey]

I think Giteau's last game for the Wobs is ample proof of his necessary selection when he is firing. If the Wallaby training environment can get him to fire then he is a must for the team. It'd be like not giving an out of form Dan Carter a chance to regain it in the right environment. As long as the responsibility and attitude of the team is balanced I think he will do really well at 12 feeding off to AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and a roving Ioane. It's easy to blame him for everything but I think their a more problems at the Bumbies than can be attributed solely to him.

 

[Blue]

Too early for a poll on who should be the 2010 Wallaby number 12? I'd make one myself but it seems I can't. I would include Mark Gasnier as a smoky option, because I'm sold on the idea of having a direct, tackle-busting 12. If AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) ever remembered to pass or at least offload in the tackle I would vote for him in a heartbeat, but as things stand the only way the ball would get outside him would be via a cutout pass.

In my opinion, that is not Gasnier. He is more of a distributor and doesn't look to me like the guy who likes to run through walls.

 

[HG]

Too early for a poll on who should be the 2010 Wallaby number 12? I'd make one myself but it seems I can't. I would include Mark Gasnier as a smoky option, because I'm sold on the idea of having a direct, tackle-busting 12. If AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) ever remembered to pass or at least offload in the tackle I would vote for him in a heartbeat, but as things stand the only way the ball would get outside him would be via a cutout pass.

I don't know where that would leave Gits and Barnes, but frankly Giteau seems to be at the heart of the problems the Wallabies have suffered, and the Brumbies are now suffering. I still remember one match between the ABs and Wallabies last season where the wobs were just behind at halftime and they showed the wob change rooms. I thought Deans would be filling our guys' ears with crafty pearls of kiwi wisdom on what was going wrong and what they could do to unlock the AB defence. Instead Giteau was sitting with his back to him, apparently forcefully telling a couple of other players what they should be doing while Deans was left standing around unheeded, nodding his head like a fool. We lost, obviously.

Don't see Gasiner in that roll.
If you want someone like that then go the Finger!!!!

 

[Biffo]

Gasnier's forte seems to be using the ball with a bit of space to position another runner or take the tackle and offload well. That's an apt role for an outside centre, but not well suited to inside centre.

The Finger might be the man for creating the space in which the Gasnier, Chambers and Horne types can thrive.

 

[cyclopath]

Gasnier's forte seems to be using the ball with a bit of space to position another runner or take the tackle and offload well. That's an apt role for an outside centre, but not well suited to inside centre.

The A Finger might be the man for creating the space in which the Gasnier, Chambers and Horne types can thrive.

Sorry to out-pedant you Biffo, but he is one of 3. He needs the unique identifier.

 

[Biffo]

Gasnier's forte seems to be using the ball with a bit of space to position another runner or take the tackle and offload well. That's an apt role for an outside centre, but not well suited to inside centre.

The A Finger might be the man for creating the space in which the Gasnier, Chambers and Horne types can thrive.

Sorry to out-pedant you Biffo, but he is one of 3. He needs the unique identifier.

I am not a pedant :angryfire:

I deliberately chose "The" over "A". The other two brothers are, in my book, still fingers; they have yet to qualify as Fingers. :lmao: Now, THAT's what you might call pedantic. I prefer to call it specification

 

[Lindommer]

I am not a pedant :angryfire:

Coulda fooled me! : :fishing

 

[Jethro Tah]

So when did the rot in attitude and skill level start for Gits? and how should it be fixed? I rate him highly as a player and he should be in the first 15 but he has problems that need fixing as his big game experience is important for the coming internationals.

I think his attitude problems started whilst at the Force (so maybe coach Mitchell is partly to blame or maybe Gits was the reason for Mitchell's coaching problems). I recall his decision last year in the dying stages of a loosing game to kick for touch after the siren rather than kick a gettable penalty for a bonus point, and he just seemed pissed off with his team mates.

Some may say he peaked when playing outside Larkham and that he was a stop gap measure till we found a replacement. I for one think we will never find another Larkham but Gits was a worthy replacement and Cooper is due to take the reins (for mind JOC (James O'Connor) will be next but that's a digression). He certainly had a good Super 14 season last year and was touted as the best fly half in world rugby when Dan Carter was struggling in France yet his form didn't carry over to Wallaby duties. As JJJ pointed out above, he just doesn't seem to gel with Deans and suffers from being told what to do.

My solution - fix his attitude so he will accept the 12 jersey and play as part of a team. Then he will relax and his individual game will improve. I reckon a series of team bonding sessions such as paintball (with the rest of the team lined up having a shot at him) and a few quiet chats over an ale with Deans and Genia or Elsom (whoever is captain) would help for starters. Then put him at 12 for a mid week game v England and pull him at half time to really test his high and mighty attitude. He would then either step up for the team or sulk off to France.