Pick your Wallaby team for EOYT

[Gagger]

Having someone to get over the gain line would be so boring

 

[louie]

i'm not a fan of the two play makers. doesn't work.
Barnes is a defensive minded player. why is he at 12?

Also i not a fan of this obsession of having a ball crasher. Why have a ball crasher when all for forwards are just going to stand around looking at him when he goes to ground?
I'm of the opinion that we should looking at playing with more width, Much like in the Randwick tradition. We just need to attack. doesn't matter if it's from 70 out or 5 out.

 

[louie]

also when is the team cut down?

 

[waratahjesus]

if we want to make a list of who is going to score points and who isnt its pretty simple

who is
burgess
carter
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)

who isnt
everybody!

 

[louie]

Carter has scored 2 tries in 28 Caps at Super 14 level.
That's an av of 0.3571 points per game.

Chis is 1.10294 per game
Burg is 0.52571 per game
Robo is 0.38461 per game
Kim is 0.62500 per game
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is 0.80000 per game
Horne is 1 per game
TPN is 0.4716 per game

 

[Cutter]

how has our record been with two playmakers? my guess would be not very good, but i will let a statman prove me right.
if cater is at 12, then he can come into first reciever and crash ball from there, he has great ability in recycling possession so quick ball and we have gits moving forward when he gets the ball.

its not rocket science, were trying to create a team that the all blacks were winning with befor they lost at the same stage as us at the last world cup, lets try something new already!

This has to be a wind up. Carter is a below average S14 player. I would play AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 12 if we want a crash baller and bring Tyrone Smith into the squad as his back up.

 

[RugbyReg]

I have nothing against crash ball. But if we were to go that way I think I'd go:

Tyrone Smith
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
Mortlock
Cross
Turinui
Fairbanks

before I went Carter..

 

[Biffo]

I have nothing against crash ball. But if we were to go that way I think I'd go:

Tyrone Smith
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
Mortlock
Cross
Turinui
Fairbanks

before I went Carter..

With you. Only 3 of those are genuine 12s.

 

[Sully]

Injury report: From Foxsports

Prop Benn Robinson strained his groin on Monday while bending down to put on his shoes, which forced him out of the training session at the Victoria Barracks in Sydney.

Nathan Sharpe (shoulder), flanker Phil Waugh (quadriceps), prop Sekope Kepu (ankle), winger Digby Ioane (shoulder), flanker Mitch Chapman (shoulder) and second-rower James Horwill (foot). Mortlock Knee

 

[fatprop]

i'm not a fan of the two play makers. doesn't work.
Barnes is a defensive minded player. why is he at 12?

Also i not a fan of this obsession of having a ball crasher. Why have a ball crasher when all for forwards are just going to stand around looking at him when he goes to ground?
I'm of the opinion that we should looking at playing with more width, Much like in the Randwick tradition. We just need to attack. doesn't matter if it's from 70 out or 5 out.

Two play makers does work. The ABs were very successful with Carter & Mauger and now with Carter and Smith. England were better when they had Wilko and Catt. SA has FDP and the 10 doing the same.

I tend to think that Gits & Barnes will work better if we actually ever get the balance around them right. We need punch/options from the 13, blindside winger and 15 to make the it really work. (Mortlock, Digby & AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper))

 

[Moses]

how has our record been with two playmakers? my guess would be not very good, but i will let a statman prove me right.

This should be good. Nice to have someone else cart it up and make the hard yards for me for a change.

and true to form Naza dives straight into the breakdown to avoid WJ being isolated and secure the ruck

 

[Newb]

This should be good. Nice to have someone else cart it up and make the hard yards for me for a change.

and true to form Naza dives straight into the breakdown to avoid WJ being isolated and secure the ruck

bakkies-like shoulder charge or mccaw-like flop onto the pile?

 

[waratahjesus]

has two playmakers ever worked for australia though?
and in trying to get it right with two playmakers, are we actually creating a winning side or are we following what the rest of the world was doing 4 years ago?

lets just play to our srengths, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to 12, gits to 9, barnes to 10 and mortlock at 13, if we have digby on the wing as well and the aru grow a set and beg lote to come back, we can just bargeass our way downfield, the forwards just have to learn how to ruck and we can pick and drive and play boring point scoring rugby all day long!

 

[RugbyReg]

1978 Corney's test. 10 Melrose 12 Wright.

1982 Ella and Hawker

1984 Ella and Lynagh

1986 Lynagh and Papworth

Do you consider Horan a playmaker or crashballer?

2003 Larkham and Flatley.

 

[fatprop]

Larkham and Gits

 

[waratahjesus]

anything with larkham doesnt count cos larkham actually caught the ball whilst moving forward, something that gits cant handle yet.

horan bat most men around the outside, i wouldnt call him a playmaker, others may argue i was still a young chap when he was around but i was never amazed by his ball playing skills, i guess teams back then just knew the basics better across the board.

did we actually win with larkham and flatly?

i say we throw tom carter out there, if he fails you can all tell me you told me so, but if he doesnt everyone gives me a twenty.

 

[Epi]

i say we throw tom carter out there, if he fails you can all tell me you told me so, but if he doesnt everyone gives me a twenty.

That's not going to happen because, despite the fact that Deans is clearly not the messiah, he's not clinically insane either.

 

[Cutter]

i say we throw tom carter out there, if he fails you can all tell me you told me so, but if he doesnt everyone gives me a twenty.

Why don't we just wait until the next S14 and tell you "I told you so" then without having to risk a couple of test losses in the meantime?

 

[waratahjesus]

haha, risk test losses, like there is an alternative at the moment!

 

[Gagger]

From Grumbles.

The tide a turning?

Wallabies mull taking No.10 off unhappy Giteau

MATT GITEAU might be moved from the Wallabies five-eighth spot and Lachie Turner could play at fullback as part of a radical back-line revamp for the coming northern hemisphere grand slam tour.

The Herald has been told that the Wallabies selectors are contemplating swapping Berrick Barnes and Giteau around in midfield, but this development could easily destabilise the team as it is known Giteau wants to remain the Test five-eighth. Turner, whom Wallabies coach Robbie Deans appears to be a fan of, will be switched from the wing to the last line of defence.

If Giteau is moved to inside-centre, it could see him reconsider his future as an Australian player. It is known that Giteau, who is contracted to the Australian Rugby Union until the next World Cup, has been disenchanted for some time and that at least two French clubs are desperate to get his services - sooner rather than later. One of the clubs is believed to be Toulon.

It is understood that Giteau has even confided to some of his closest colleagues he is getting more and more interested in playing overseas. It has also been clear that in recent months Giteau has been well off his game, with a major reason being that he was struggling to develop a working relationship with the Test halfback Luke Burgess.

Burgess's service to Giteau in the early Tests this season was at times erratic, with the Test No 10 often put under immense pressure. As a result Giteau's game has suffered.

However, Giteau felt more at ease when Queensland's Will Genia was chosen ahead of Burgess for the final few Tests of the Tri Nations and now wants the time to improve their combination, believing over a month-long tour that it could revitalise the haphazard Australian back-line play. Giteau enjoys playing with Genia.

However, a move to inside-centre would end that opportunity.

As Giteau is Australia's highest paid player, the Wallabies and ARU understand the importance of keeping him settled and happy and this midfield reshuffle could easily lead to a firestorm.

Although Giteau and Barnes have regularly swapped around at five-eighth and inside-centre during Tests, Giteau has remained the No 1 pivot. But the pressure has recently been amplified by a push for Barnes to become the next Test skipper, following serious doubts over whether Stirling Mortlock will last until the next World Cup, and whether George Smith has what it takes to be a long-term leader.

The fact that Giteau has been overlooked as a captaincy candidate may also be a contributing factor to him questioning his importance to the organisation.

As expected from a team which suffered numerous embarrassing losses during the Tri Nations, their morale has taken a serious hit in recent times, especially after Wellington where they were belted by the All Blacks.

This prompted Deans to tell them in the dressing rooms straight after the match that they did not show enough pride in the green and gold, and he repeated these comments to the international media that night. Significantly, it was the first time since Deans has taken over in 2008 that he has openly criticised his team.

I didn't see Giteau dramatically improve with Genia.

Something's going on there though