Rebels 2016

[Tex]

By the November internationals 2016 we should have at least Jones, Stirzaker, Hanson, McMahon, Sefa, Smith and Weeksy on the tour. Optimistic, but it's a future thread, if there's a place for unfounded optimism it's here.

I reckon that's not an unfair assumption. I guess a lot will ride on who else comes off contract or retires post-RWC. I'd assume it will be something of a clean slate for Cheika and staff to work with.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Rebels have signed Irish tight head prop Jamie Hagan

 

[Scooter]

Have you heard the story about two Kiwis and an Irishman?

... The Rebels have signed Irish prop Jamie Hagan. Hagan has played 1 test for Ireland but has over 100 professional matches.

 

[swingpass]

So I reckon we need to sign:

29. Loosehead prop
30. Tighthead Prop
31. Lock/Blindside/Number 8
32. Scrum Half
33. Fly half
34. Center/Wing
35. Back

next

 

[Highlander35]

Good depth signing. Always going to be difficult to find a quality tighthead in Australia given that a few are heading off, and others are locked into contracts elsewhere.

He'll be competing with Metcher for the bench spot.

 

[swingpass]

i like the signing of a few old heads especially in the pack. Ellison's wisdom and game sense have been very evident, hopefully some game smarts can be imparted to Jones, Timani, McMahon, Reid, et al from Thomson, Retallick and Hagan. Perhaps the Rebels should chase Freddie Michalek

 

[Highlander35]

Taking a different tack this time. Based on a 35 man squad, we've got 7 potential new signings. 1 Japanese, 1 full time, and 5 EPS.

Pencilling in Gaki for the Japanese spot, this would be my break down.

30. Fly Half

EPS
31. Loosehead Prop
32. Lock/Blindside/Number 8
33. Scrum Half
34. Center/Wing
35. Back

Japanese
36. Kieta Inagaki

Or based on a 32 man squad:

30. Scrum Half
31. Flyhalf
32. Back

Japanese
33. Kieta Inagaki

And obviously the ARU has loosened the rules along international recruits, at least for us. That's 3 fully capped internationals.

 

[daz]

Good depth signing. Always going to be difficult to find a quality tighthead in Australia given that a few are heading off, and others are locked into contracts elsewhere.

He'll be competing with Metcher for the bench spot.

Taking the longer view, hopefully Hagan is there to not only provide immediate game experience, but to allow time to develop Metcher along the way.

A few people on Twitter are rueing the Rebels signing so many international players, but my view is we want/need to be competitive right now, as well as develop what is a very young group of players.

Having a bunch of young inexperienced Oz players is great, but that would get lost in the noise of finishing last year on year.

And I think we have proven our commitment to signing young Oz players, even with a few imports. Tony seems to be walking that tightrope of balance very nicely right now.

Pretty pumped for 2016.

 

[daz]

By the November internationals 2016 we should have at least Jones, Stirzaker, Hanson, McMahon, Sefa, Smith and Weeksy on the tour. Optimistic, but it's a future thread, if there's a place for unfounded optimism it's here.

Shame on you. A name missing from that list, and you all know who I refer to.

I shall keeping fighting the good fight until I get this bloke over the line, one way or another!

 

[elementfreak]

A few people on Twitter are rueing the Rebels signing so many international players, but my view is we want/need to be competitive right now, as well as develop what is a very young group of players.

Show us a good standard, young, Australian tighthead prop and I'm sure the Rebels would have a sniff around at them. From the top of my head I can't think of too many.

 

[thierry dusautoir]

Rebels could do worse than to bring in someone like Alfie Mafi as wing depth.

As for lock bring back someone like Jack Payne who is currently in the Scarlets Academy I think?

 

[Tex]

Yeah too right, the lock and tighthead stocks are pretty bare in Australia at the moment. I'm all for producing more super level local players, but not necessarily at the expense of potential success of the team.

 

[Wilson]

Kite is the only guy I can think of that's shown much below super level without getting a contract, but with the smith's going he'll probably get one at the brumbies if he has another good NRC.

Sent from my SGP611 using Tapatalk

 

[Dumbledore]

He's 18 years old for christ's sake. He's not going anywhere. We'll probably sign at least 1 Victorian based player from the NRC, because we've got 8 spots to fill, but it's worth waiting because the liklihood of someone being signed is minimal.

JOC (James O'Connor) had just turned 18 when he debuted for the Wallabies. If you're good enough you're old enough etc. etc. Let's see what if he can do in the NRC, if he shows up then get him signed.

 

[Dumbledore]

My main concern for next year is points scored. We ended up with 319 - the fourth lowest in the competition - ahead of only the Reds, Blues, and Force. 319 is about 20 points a game, two converted tries and two penalties which rings roughly true.

Debreczeni is too limited as a playmaker at this stage to get away with the Inman-Ellison pairing and Harris at fullback. Would love, at some stage, to see Placid at fullback with an Ellison-Naivalu in the centres.

 

[TOCC]

Placid is a long term investment, don't expect too much too soon..
He is a bit of an enigma in that he needs to find a consistent level to perform at, he needs to learn when to play his hand and when to take the percentage play. Extremely talented no doubt, but a couple of flaws need to be ironed out.

 

[Lee Grant]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Placid showed encouraging signs for the Aus Under 20s in Italy because he actually passed the ball when he had to; this was an attribute not noticed much from him before.

Hopefully this is part of his rugby maturity and we can look forward to seeing other aspects of his play improve, such as making better decisions under pressure, and learning how to be a reliable custodian.

I usually like young fullbacks to serve an apprenticeship playing on the wing where they can become the stand-in fullback when the 15 has to proceed upfield. However the rise of Sefanaia Naivalu at the Rebels may block opportunities to play there.

There is no doubting his attacking prowess and his speed. We have few super-quick guys in Aus (or should I say Super Rugby quick); so he should be developed patiently.

By the way: who, in Aussie Super Rugby squads, do folks think are faster than Naivalu and Placid??
.

 

[Jagman]

The Brumbies winger who came from the sevens but dropped out because he doesn't have an Aus passport, he's meant to be pretty quick isn't he? Never seen him play, but might feature heavily in NRC. Can't think of any other Super Rugby players.

 

[Tex]

Placid is a long term investment, don't expect too much too soon..
He is a bit of an enigma in that he needs to find a consistent level to perform at, he needs to learn when to play his hand and when to take the percentage play. Extremely talented no doubt, but a couple of flaws need to be ironed out.

Hopefully that includes some work on his diet and training. Not that I have any inside knowledge, but the guy looks like a fridge with legs.

 

[Dumbledore]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Placid showed encouraging signs for the Aus Under 20s in Italy because he actually passed the ball when he had to; this was an attribute not noticed much from him before.

Hopefully this is part of his rugby maturity and we can look forward to seeing other aspects of his play improve, such as making better decisions under pressure, and learning how to be a reliable custodian.

I usually like young fullbacks to serve an apprenticeship playing on the wing where they can become the stand-in fullback when the 15 has to proceed upfield. However the rise of Sefanaia Naivalu at the Rebels may block opportunities to play there.

There is no doubting his attacking prowess and his speed. We have few super-quick guys in Aus (or should I say Super Rugby quick); so he should be developed patiently.

By the way: who, in Aussie Super Rugby squads, do folks think are faster than Naivalu and Placid??
.

I haven't noticed Placid as being super super quick? He's fast, but nothing too special. Naivalu would be pretty comfortably the fastest in the country I'd think.

And that's exciting that he's learned how to pass. I spent quite a bit of the last NRC criticising him for that - especially in the semi against Perth.

For his flaws I think he needs to be brought into the fold more this coming season. We had enough pill, and enough of it on the front foot, last season to do a lot more damage than we did. I'm not saying he's the solution, but he's part of it.