November Tour Squad

[waratahjesus]

Pocock will only be selected to start if Brown and Palu fail again.

i like how pocock never fails! the guy has had one good match in a game were every australian player played well and the opposition put up no fight. the best thing about pocock is his ability to come up with an excuse about failing in every situation. "the refs ping me cos they dont understand the way i stand", "im not resting across the guy, im really strong so can squat really well" its old hat, he has failed more this winter than brown and palu combined yet he is still some sort of saviour!

if smith goes down we are a far worse team with pocock out there and his "limitless" potential will still be being talked about in ten years time.

 

[Epi]

pocock still remains the most overrated player in the wallaby set up, if he gets picked ahead of smith were in alot of trouble moving forward.

Waratah Jesus using corporate speak.

Now I have seen everything.. :lmao:

 

[mark_s]

Who said Pocock never fails? Lets get him! Of course two tests starts is more than enough to draw conclusions about Pocock.

Smith is still the no. 1 7 - but he won't be indefinitely and possibly not by 2011 - and his work load will probaably start needing to be managed to make sure we are getting his best when it counts. I think Deans will start Pocock in 1 or 2 games on tour.

 

[waratahjesus]

pocock isnt an impact player to me, he has failed to do anything off the bench on a number of occasions when you ad his play in the last 15 of a game to waughs you see how much he has to mature, waugh throws himself into games while pocock sits back and waits for his oppotunities and if they dont come then its a waste of space having him out there.

if smith is picked pocock should sit the game out altogether.

 

[Moses]

Phil was unavailable due to injury. It may not be over...........

 

[fatprop]

Interesting Cowan is the official third hooker

Cowan's happy to be a new hooker

By Jon Geddes From: The Daily Telegraph Fri Oct 16 00:00:00 EST 2009 Fri Oct 16 00:00:00 EST 2009

IMAGINE packing down at hooker in a rugby Test against the power of an All Blacks, English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh scrum never having played a proper game in the position before.

That is the tough assignment Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has handed prop Pek Cowan, who will be Australia's third hooker on the Grand Slam tour along with Stephen Moore and Tatafu Polota-Nau.

The 23-year-old Cowan revealed his previous experience wearing the No.2 jumper had been limited to the squad's internal trial last week.

But the specialist loosehead prop is excited about his new role, which combines the physical demands of packing in the middle of the frontrow with the pressures of lineout throws.

"Judging on what I have done in the short amount of time I have actually played in that position I think is very positive," Cowan said.

And the Warringah Rats forward emerged from the engine-room following his initiation in the hit out against his team-mates pumped and ready to do the job.



"That was the first time I had been in a game scenario and I was bit nervous because I had only done about 10 live scrums before that," Cowan admitted.

"Playing for a spot on the tour was pretty full on but I grew in confidence with every scrum and we were going forward and I guess that is the main thing they wanted."



Cowan has been putting a lot of work into his refining his lineout throws at training and believes his background as a golfer, with a handicap of four when he was 15, had helped.

"In golf you visualise the shot and the same with throwing the ball," he said.

"You queue it very quickly in your head on the call and then shoot and fire."

He said the same mental strength needed to succeed in golf was required to cut out the distraction of the massive crowds he will face in Europe.



"With any position you play repetition is the key. The next level I need to get to is consistency in my throw," he said.

The idea for the switch to hooker came after assistant coach Jim Williams was impressed when he saw Cowan throwing some balls with Polota-Nau during the Wallabies first training camp in May.

"He asked me to broaden my horizons I guess and to look at other positions," Cowan said.

He said European rugby prides itself on frontrow and scrummaging abilities and that playing both prop and hooker on this trip was a great opportunity to establish himself at the international level.

"It's still a daunting task but I am quite exited about the prospect of scrummaging at hooker against such great opposition," Cowan said.

"So if I can go over there and give it a really good crack and stand up to these guys who are renowned for it, I think I can definitely hold my head up high and say I have achieved what I wanted to."

So Nau or Moore get a knock 1 day before a test and Cowan ends up on the bench. Picture 10 minutes to go against Ireland, Cowan comes on to throw a lineout on our 5m line and as our geniuses often do they call a deep throw.

 

[naza]

So Nau or Moore get a knock 1 day before a test and Cowan ends up on the bench. Picture 10 minutes to go against Ireland, Cowan comes on to throw a lineout on our 5m line and as our geniuses often do they call a deep throw.

The Wallabies are rugby's great entertainers !

 

[Spook]

So Nau or Moore get a knock 1 day before a test and Cowan ends up on the bench. Picture 10 minutes to go against Ireland, Cowan comes on to throw a lineout on our 5m line and as our geniuses often do they call a deep throw.

Unfortunately the probability of this happening is very high

 

[Spook]

Listening to ruggamatrix. Lads saying that Mortlock is looking in superb condition as is....Dunning. Some speculation over Dunning to replace Alexander at tight head. Dunning is 30 so should be at the height of his powers. In any event, it'll be good having him or Alexander on the bench instead of Cowan.

 

[fatprop]

Listening to ruggamatrix. Lads saying that Mortlock is looking in superb condition as is....Dunning. Some speculation over Dunning to replace Alexander at tight head. Dunning is 30 so should be at the height of his powers. In any event, it'll be good having him or Alexander on the bench instead of Cowan.

I think both will be there abouts, both are roughly the same standard scrummagers, with Dunning having the experience (which may be rather important) and Alexander having the best workrate.

 

[Spook]

Just want to add that Les Kiss is a huge loss to Aussie Rugby.

 

[fatprop]

Wallabies' Wycliff Palu admits he wasn't ready to play All Blacks
By Bret Harris
October 16, 2009
Wallabies number eight Wycliff Palu has admitted he wasn't ready to play New Zealand at the start of the Wallabies' ill-fated Tri Nations campaign.

Palu missed the Wallabies' inbound series against the Barbarians, Italy and France after breaking his hand in the New South Wales Waratahs' penultimate game of the Super 14 season against the Sharks in Durban.

Recalled to the Wallabies' Tri-Nations squad, Palu was selected to start against the All Blacks in Auckland. His lack of match fitness was compounded by the fact he had to play the full 80 minutes after blindside flanker Richard Brown was injured.

"That was my first game back in a while," Palu said of the Wallabies' 22-16 defeat.

"To be honest, I probably wasn't expecting a call up for the first Test of the Tri Nations.

"One thing I learned from the Tri Nations this year was 'be ready'. You never know when you are going to get the call. No matter if you are out of the 22 or out of the squad, always expect a call."

After the Wallabies lost their next Test to South Africa in Cape Town, Palu was dropped from the squad all together and was not involved in the losses to the All Blacks in Sydney and to the Springboks in Perth.

He then gained a reprieve of sorts when he came off the bench in the win against the Springboks in Brisbane and the loss to the All Blacks in Wellington.

"I didn't have the best game against South Africa," Palu said.

"I didn't get selected for a couple of weeks. I wasn't surprised. Obviously, my form wasn't up to scratch. It wasn't good enough.

"It has been good to work my way back and get that fitness and strength back. I'm feeling pretty good now."

A fully fit Palu has the potential to make a big difference on Australia's tour of Japan and Europe. He can give the Wallabies the go-forward they have been lacking.

In addition he is a mobile ball-runner, lineout option and big hitter in defence.

But number eight has been the most hotly contested position in the team this year with three players - Palu, Brown and George Smith - packing down at the back of the scrum.

If Palu was to regain the number eight jersey, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans would have to make the tough choice between Smith and David Pocock as the starting openside flanker.

Palu showed he was intent on starting at number eight against the All Blacks in Tokyo in three weeks with a blockbusting, two-try performance in the Probables' win against the Possibles in the Wallabies' internal trial in Sydney last Thursday.

"It was good to get a hit-out," Palu said. "I'm feeling a lot better now. I'm feeling as good as I ever have. I just have to keep trying to improve my game. There is a lot of competition for that spot. No one has really pinned it down. It's still up in the air. If I get the call up, I'll make the most of it. I'm feeling pretty confident at the moment."

The Wallabies have lost their last six Tests against the All Blacks and desperately need a circuit-breaking win in Tokyo.

"We just have to play the whole 80," Palu said. "You have to play the whole 80 against the All Blacks and that's just it.

"In Wellington we were in the game until the last 10 minutes. That's our main focus."

Palu is hoping to return from the tour with fonder memories than his previous two trips to the northern hemisphere.

The Wallabies were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Cup in France by England and Palu came home early last year after sustaining a shoulder injury in the win against France. "It hasn't been my happiest time when I've gone on the spring tour," Palu said.

"This year you want to come back and have something to celebrate at Christmas."

 

[Scarfman]

Palu has had plenty of chances to become one of the first picked Wallabies. If he is relegated to impact sub it's only fair.

 

[waratahjesus]

i know, waratah fan standing up for palu, but honestly, smith is our best 7, palu is our best 8, if he is fit, he plays, with rocky back it means we have two ball carriers and it takes the pressure off him and allows him some more freedom, but if our scrum takes a battering at all, i want palu there to pick the ball up, not brown or smith.

and pocock can serve his apprentiship for another ten years or so or maybe at a european club were he will have the required skill level!

 

[louie]

Palu has had plenty of chances to become one of the first picked Wallabies. If he is relegated to impact sub it's only fair.

True.
I'm a big fan of palu when on form.
i think we should have waugh over Matt H.

 

[fatprop]

Beale will play anywhere for Wallabies

October 27, 2009 - 6:11AM

Like any first-time Wallabies tourist, Kurtley Beale says he'd be happy to play anywhere if it means earning his first Test cap.

One of seven uncapped players in the 35-man spring tour squad, Beale is vying for a place on the bench for Saturday's Bledisloe Cup battle with the All Blacks in Tokyo.

The 20-year-old is more likely to win a place in the 22 for next Tuesday night's clash with English club side Gloucester, but is nevertheless hoping his versatility will give him the nod over the likes of fellow backline utility Quade Cooper when Wallabies coach Robbie Deans names his squad on Tuesday for the first Test of the tour.

"It doesn't really bother me - 10, 12 and over, say, the last 12 months I've actually tried to develop into a 15," Beale said.

"And that's what Robbie said. He gave me a yell and said he prefers me at 15. He wants to have a look at me (there).

"But just to get into the side would be awesome. I've been practising at all positions so that if I do get the opportunity, I'll be ready." Beale is chuffed to be back in Japan after his Junior World Cup campaign with the Australian under-20s team earlier this year was cut short by injury.

"I'm very excited to be here. It's a great opportunity for myself. It's a huge step from what happened earlier in the year playing with the under-20s," he said.

"Obviously it will be a great honour to be selected first off. It will be a great experience. I mean, I've got to get there first. But I've just got to prepare well.

"Obviously if I do get selected, just go out there and try and play my natural game.

"I don't want to over complicate things if I do (get selected), so I'll just go out there and relax."

Most selection interest centres on the make-up of the Australian midfield for the Bledisloe Cup stoush, with Deans tipped to move Berrick Barnes to five-eighth and start Matt Giteau at inside centre.

The Wallabies have lost their past six Tests against the All Blacks, including all three Tri Nations encounters this year, and are desperate to end the sorry streak before heading to the UK and Ireland for a grand slam attempt.

Interesting

 

[Lee Grant]

There's no way that Beale deserves to be picked in a test 22, but I hope that he gets a run or even start, in the two midweek games. He looked good as a fullback in a trial game at Sydney Uni Oval before the U/20 team went to the tournament and I noticed Robbie Deans walking back to his car after the game - so he saw it.

As for Palu: he was the form Oz no. 8 in the Super14 this year and was the Tahs Player's Player for 2009. But as I said before: when he has an injury and is laid off for a while he's like a big ship that needs a long time to turn around. I don't know why Deans played him in that Bledisloe game when he wasn't fit, but if he is fit now I wouldn't hesitate to pick him to start.

Have to agree that he was dominant in that Oz trial game at Riverview; in fact I was a bit concerned that the guys he was running over were Wallabies.