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David Codey (61)
Have they improved the squad with the same resources/budget as their predecessor?
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Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
My crystal ball is shining as clearly as ever.
RedsHappy
Tony Shaw (54)
Well, if 'getting to fourth in the World Series' is deemed satisfactory to you in a year when real Olympics success in 7s could give our fragile code here in Australia a massive, and badly needed, media boost, it's not to me.
The ARU has known about the criticality of this 7s year since when, 2009?
Is that not time enough to start planning and building a strategy to attain top flight coaching excellence in men's 7s? To the ARUs' credit, their uncharacteristically radical and innovative approach to women's 7s selection and coaching appointments has been a resounding success at exactly the right time, but they have not replicated that perspicacity for the other gender.
OK, women's 7s is at a generally different stage of competitive evolution to men's, but that we have overtaken NZ in women's 7s is a major achievement, arguably the best relative achievement of any in Australian rugby as a whole. Anyone close to the women's team knows that Walsh's coaching and player management quality has been a huge part of that process and the success now arriving. (Again, proof aplenty that coaching excellence is everything in elite rugby. It's ironic that still so much Australian rugby commentary is singularly obsessed with individual players rather than the assessment and observation of the coaches that are always the invisible thread underpinning team destiny in our code.)
And it's certainly not a matter of necessarily building our own 7s coaches. As Ryan has shown for Fiji, the right external recruitment calls can be very high yielding. The ARU seems to have bungled a similar process for our men's 7s team development.
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Hayne gets a late call up (so late he wasn't on the official team sheets when first released):
http://pulse-static-files.s3.amazon...-954f-601d47273e21/WR7M-17-ENG-SquadLists.pdf
I'm thinking there were some eligibility issues e.g. travels on an Australian passport so needed to produce a Fijian one to satisfy Olympic qualification requirements.
Ratings will no doubt go thru the roof here & elsewhere.
http://pulse-static-files.s3.amazon...-954f-601d47273e21/WR7M-17-ENG-SquadLists.pdf
I'm thinking there were some eligibility issues e.g. travels on an Australian passport so needed to produce a Fijian one to satisfy Olympic qualification requirements.
Ratings will no doubt go thru the roof here & elsewhere.
Highlander35
Steve Williams (59)
You guys must be so bloody happy that Parahi is back. Doesn't look like he's been gone at all.
Highlander35
Steve Williams (59)
England just deprived them of possession. 30, 40 seconds was all they needed to hit back.
Hayne does the best part of sweet fanny adams in a 31-10 thumping loss to England.
Hayne does the best part of sweet fanny adams in a 31-10 thumping loss to England.
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David Codey (61)
It must burn you, that you can't point to any errors from him.
ChargerWA
Mark Loane (55)
He looks out of place in the Fiji team. The more you see how unwieldy he is in their setup the more you realise how much of a pie in the sky idea it was to try and shoe horn him into it.
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David Codey (61)
You see what you want to see.
I see a guy who has never played 7's or 15's with zero cardio behind him and a couple of days learning the rules & their structures, performing adequately.
FYI, the Olympics are not next week.
I'm betting Friend will be more likely to look the April fool,than Hayne.
Highlander35
Steve Williams (59)
Hayne's involvements have all been reasonably good (he had a pass and a 2 or 3 metre run in game 1, then 5 or 6 in the 2nd game), but he's quite clearly never played 7s before, and hasn't currently got the body shape/fitness type necessary for the Rugby. I think Ryans decision has been made for him unless his improvement is rapid.
Far more importantly, England are playing well, Scotland are playing well, and a handful of individual Welshmen are playing well, which is good for the Great Britain squad.
Exciting 3rd round of matches upcoming, If SA sweep the pool, then everybody else is probably on 3 wins, while we'll hopefully beat Portugal, setting up a Winner take all clash between France and Kenya, as will you guys and Fiji should England beat Wales.
Far more importantly, England are playing well, Scotland are playing well, and a handful of individual Welshmen are playing well, which is good for the Great Britain squad.
Exciting 3rd round of matches upcoming, If SA sweep the pool, then everybody else is probably on 3 wins, while we'll hopefully beat Portugal, setting up a Winner take all clash between France and Kenya, as will you guys and Fiji should England beat Wales.
ChargerWA
Mark Loane (55)
Which is fine for the guy playing footy down the park. But to try and blood him into the best team in the world this late is foolhardy.
I'm not saying Hayne couldn't be a great 7s player, but this situation is madness.
Highlander35
Steve Williams (59)
Why would it burn me? He was the least involved player on the pitch on either side in that game.
As for my opinion on him, I don't think he'll make it, no. I think he could, yes. But he's got a small time frame to both make massive physical and tactical changes to mind and body respectively. Plus, he's trying to break into the best team in the world, where there are a dozen full timers, and another half dozen current 15s but former 7s boys sticking their hands up to play.
I think he's simply left it too late. A month earlier (and consequently 4 tournaments rather than 1) I'd have backed him to be on the plane to Rio. Not now. Ryan's a smart man, the x factors, for lack of a better description, are already there. Much like QC (Quade Cooper), Hayne could be the difference between a Gold and a Silver, but he could also cause the team to go home without medals.
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David Codey (61)
Right or wrong,I don't think merit is a factor in his selection.
But I look how much the honey badger improved in a month with his performance once his conditioning improved.
Hayne would be coming off a lower base than the Honey Badger.
I'd prefer Hayne on the wing with 10 weeks intensive training than anyone in the Oz squad.
T
TOCC
Guest
Merit is certainly not a factor in his selection, he has been selected on potential.
As for the rest, Fiji aren't Australia, they are Gold Medalist favourites and reigning world champions. Early every one of the Fijian team would waltz into the Australian side.
I agree. And I think that's one of the disappointing aspects of this whole saga. He might just have made the Aussie team, but I reckon he won't make the Fiji team.
That said, I don't think Friend would have picked him. He seems much more satisfied with picking Sydney grade players for some reason.
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David Codey (61)
Nail on head!
If you look at some of the players he has recruited to play for Tribe,it's difficult to believe that he is competent.
So having now watched our games, it has only reinforced my initial doubts about our selection policies.
What have we gained here? Well we know Pama Fou and Jesse Parahi are still good players, and so is Allan F.
Other than that we've learned that none of these other guys are much chop. And I could have told you that weeks ago. We are playing John Porch at playmaker, and he was killing us out there.
It's not your fault, John. You were thrust into a role you were clearly not good enough for, for reasons that are still unclear.
So now, predictably, we've missed the Cup QFs for the first time this year. In the last tournament before Rio. To be that is a BIG step back, regardless of how many blokes we rested.
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What have we gained here? Well we know Pama Fou and Jesse Parahi are still good players, and so is Allan F.
Other than that we've learned that none of these other guys are much chop. And I could have told you that weeks ago. We are playing John Porch at playmaker, and he was killing us out there.
It's not your fault, John. You were thrust into a role you were clearly not good enough for, for reasons that are still unclear.
So now, predictably, we've missed the Cup QFs for the first time this year. In the last tournament before Rio. To be that is a BIG step back, regardless of how many blokes we rested.
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