Dave Warner could have brought a level of chippiness and aout of place aggression to the halfback position that would be unrivalled in the modern game if he'd chosen rugby.
Springboks v Wallabies - Sunday 2 October 1am AEST - Loftus Versfeld
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Dave Warner could have brought a level of chippiness and aout of place aggression to the halfback position that would be unrivalled in the modern game if he'd chosen rugby.
Scrubber2050
Mark Ella (57)
Maybe but it's a lot different being aggressive in cricket and in rugby where the other bloke might actually flog you.
And it would have been my absolute pleasure to get him at the bottom of a ruck and slipper some humility into the prick
Twoilms
Trevor Allan (34)
This is flawed logic. McMahon carries the ball just about better than any forward in Australia, makes meters and pumps his legs like a fucking maniac for good ground against larger opposition. Timani has been pretty average at most levels, has no history of big carries and is not a specialist 8. Holloway might fit the bill but he isnt fit and had about 3/4 of a season of good form. McMalman had his chance and got stopped in his tracks nearly every carry he attempted. McMahon, despite being small, is the man for 8, end of.
Scrubber2050
Mark Ella (57)
Froggy
Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Unfortunately, we seem to have an obsession with big, as a result of which we have for years had a succession of big, lumbering forwards whose contribution is limited. If you've got a big bloke with all the qualities you need, a la John Eales or Steve Williams, that's fine, but let's stop selecting them just because they big. If Brad Thorn had been Australian, all the posters on here would have been demanding he switch to the back row because he's not big enough.
Joe Blow
John Hipwell (52)
TBF McMahon has struggled to have an impact at test level against top level sides until recently. His sort of straight on ball carrying is not always effective against big well organized packs. He was very impressive on the weekend and had his moments at the RWC. The jury is still out on him being a long term fixture at 8. I hope he kicks on.
Twoilms
Trevor Allan (34)
as was discussed elsewhere it seems to stem from a desire to conform to traditional numbers and roles, even if it's not that clear cut/necessary anymore.
Viking
Mark Ella (57)
My thoughts exactly, many posters keep talking up his ball-running abilities. I can say I haven't missed watching a test match in years and I've failed to see McMahon making a ball-running impact against any opposition with a decent organised defence.
His impact against Argentina was bloody great though and I hope he can replicate that against SA - but I still have doubt's he can.
I'm sure he will get there eventually as he has the right attitude. He's got decent line-out skills so I can certainly see him being a long-term option at either 6 or 8 depending on the balance of the rest of the pack.
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
dru
David Wilson (68)
Anyone who disses the cat deserves this one. My cats are rugby cats. When I'm watching on the big screen, my little girl cat particularly like thumping tackles on Pocock and Folau. She's never been sent off for biting, scratching or eye gouges. Dont know how the ref misses it. (Unfortunately rugby cat doesnt necessarily mean Wallabies rugby cat. She does not tackle All Blacks.)
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
^^^^^^^^ cats are the wisest of all four-legged mammals. And wiser than many of the two-legged variety 
.
.
bigmac
Billy Sheehan (19)
Probably committed to the jump but it looked terrible
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Micheal
Alan Cameron (40)
100-and-something kilograms moving with that much speed hitting you directly in the noggin.
I suppose thats more than enough to concuss you for quite some time.
If only Standers bum had clipped Lambies shoulder or something first. It would've taken a great deal of force out of the impact.
bigmac
Billy Sheehan (19)
I originally thought the red was harsh but given its potential impact its probably fair enough
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Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
Red every day of the week. Late and high. 4-6 weeks IMO. Home unions seem to be treated fairly leniently by judiciaries.
Micheal
Alan Cameron (40)
This buys into one of GAGR's delusional narratives. 'Sean McMahon hasn't made a ball-running impact'. Ha! 11 tests at Wallaby level shouldn't take me too long to research...
(0)
First Wallabies appearance for Sean, starting against the Barbarians at 6 in 2014 at Twickenham. Interestingly I can’t find any statistics for this game, but the Match report and highlight reel indicate that it was a fairly dominant performance in a very entertaining game; scored a try.
Result: Victory.
Man-of-the-match: Tevita Kuridrani.
Verdict: Strong performance.
(1)
He had his test debut against Wales on 2014s Spring Tour at blinside flanker (6).
He made 15 tackles; second to only Michael Hooper on 17, and 5 clear of the next best Fainga'a/McCalman/Kuridrani on 10. He ran 4m with ball in hand (=3 within the forward pack), well short of the frontrunners Hooper and McCalman with 21 and 25 respectively. He made 3 turnovers*, second to only Bernard Foley with 4. He took 2 lineouts from our throw (behind Rob Simmons with 4, and infront of McCalman with 1).
Result: Victory.
Man-of-the-match: Bernard Foley.
Verdict: Strong performance.
(2)
He played at blindside again for the following game against France. He made 7 tackles; ranking him four out of eight in terms of tackles made. He carried the ball for 3m, ranking him fifth from eight in the forward pack in that metric, but he also ranked fifth from eight in terms of the number of carries. He took the most amount of lineouts from our throws (4), with Rob Simmons next up with 3 takes. However, Rob stole one of the oppositions throws, giving him the same amount of lineout wins overall.
Result: Loss.
Man-of-the-match: ? (certainly not Sean).
Verdict: Pass (he sat mid-pack for most metrics in a poor, losing side).
(3)
Sean missed the third game of the tour against Ireland, but was selected again for Australia's final game against England. He was once again =4 in terms of tackles made (with 5 - the frontrunner, Hooper, made 8). Once again 4th in the forward pack with 5 metres ran (the frontrunner, Hooper, made 22). He was fifth in the pack in terms of number of carries. There were 7 lineouts with our throw in the game, Simmons took 3, McMahon 2, Hooper and McCalman with 1 each.
Result: Loss.
Man-of-the-match: Ben Morgan.
Verdict: Pass.
(4)
We now move onto our RWC warm-up game in 2015 against the USA Eagles in Chicago. The only starting forward to score a try, McMahon was also credited with a try assist. He ran the ball for 29m, 1st in the forwards across the starting team and the bench. The next best were McCalman and Palu with 19m each. McMahon also made 2 clean linebreaks and 1 offload (both metrics second only to Foley) and had a team high 5 defenders beaten.
He made a team high 15 tackles, the next best McCalman and Simmons with 10 each. He took no lineouts. However it is interesting to note that Douglas took 6, McCalman 3 and Simmons 1.
Result: Victory.
Man-of-the-match: Sean McMahon
Verdict: Very strong performance.
(5)
Moving now to the 2015 RWC, McMahon missed selection for the opening game against Fiji, Cheika preferring the Pooper/Fardy to start and Mumm to come off the bench.
He first featured in Australia’s second game, the demolishing of Uruguay. He started at openside flanker, scoring a team high 2 tries with another 67 running metres (the best of the pack). He had two clean breaks, 5 defenders beaten and one offload.
This was topped off with a fantastic defensive effort, making a team high 13 tackles. He also took 1 lineout (Mumm taking 4, McCalman with 2, Simmons off the bench with 4).
Result: Victory.
Man-of-the-match: Sean McMahon
Verdict: Very strong performance.
(6)
He next featured against in our quarter-final against Wales, replacing Michael Hooper who was suspended for something I can’t remember.
He made a forward pack topping 19 running metres (the next highest, McCalman, had 10 off the bench). He had one clean break (only one from the pack), 1 defender beaten and 7 tackles with no misses (this places him =7/23). He took one linout.
Result: Victory.
Man-of-the-match: Gareth Davies (lol?)
Verdict: A weak, strong performance.
(7)
Having not featured in the rest of the RWC, Sean McMahon came off the bench for Game 1 of our 3 test series against England this year on home turf. He was substituted onto the field at the 68 minute mark, replacing Scott Fardy.
He ran four times for 3m (interestingly it only ranks him 7 out of the 13 forwards listed), beating one defender (equal highest of any forward).
He supposedly made no tackles and took no lineouts.
Result: Loss.
Man-of-the-match: James Haskell.
Verdict: Poor performance.
(8)
In Game 2, McMahon started at Number Eight; filling the big shoes of David Pocock.
He ran 13m (5 from the 13 forwards listed), beating 3 defenders (highest of any forward). He made 5 tackles, equal highest of any forward alongside Hooper, Fardy and Moore.
He was substituted at the 51 minute mark for Ben McCalman.
Result: Loss.
Man-of-the-match: Chris Robshaw.
Verdict: Strong performance for 51 minutes.
(9)
In Game 3, McMahon returned to Number Eight, and eased into the role well.
He had 12 carries for 39m, the most of any forward. He also made 14 tackles and missed none, a team high. From what the stats show and if my memory serves me, he was the pick of the forwards.
Result: Loss.
Man-of-the-match: Owen Farrell.
Verdict: Strong performance.
(10)
Having not played either of the Bledisloes, Sean McMahon returned to the fold in 2016 against South Africa, being subbed on for David Pocock in the 74th minute.
Playing only six minutes, Sean carried the ball twice for 6m in total. This ranked him 4th of the listed 13 forwards.
Result: Victory.
Man-of-the-match: Michael Hooper
Verdict: Pass (not enough minutes played).
(11)
Finally, in our last game against Argentina in Perth, McMahon came off the bench in the 45th minute to adopt the role of Number Eight.
He ran the ball twice for 20m, second behind only Michael Hooper in that metric on 31m. He made one clean break, and was credited with 3 defenders beaten (most of any forward).
He was credited with only three tackles.
Result: Victory.
Man-of-the-match: Will Genia.
Verdict: Strong performance.
//////
So there you have it. I credited him, from stats alone (as relative to the rest of the forwards), with 8 “strong performances” or better from 11 appearances. The 2 “passes” were from his 2nd and 3rd caps, with one “poor” performance after only 12 minutes of gametime (I’m not sure if that assessment was too harsh). A lot of these were off the back of dominant running performances and strong workrate in the tackle.
These strong performances are quite remarkable considering he’s played 6, 7 and 8. I hope he can lock down a position and cement a spot in the team soon. As most posters have suggested, it does seem as if he's taken time to develop his running game, but theres absolutely no questioning that he's proved doubters wrong in performances against the Barbarians, USA, Uruguay, Wales, England and Argentina.
All stats were taken from ESPN, and for some reason, around about halfway, the format they presented them in changed and they stopped showing lineout wins in a consistent manner (they accredited a huge amount to Hookers, presumably for the throw) and stopped including turnovers.
I also think it should be noted: the Argentina No. 8, Facundo Isa, has had a fantastic series. Wikipedia states that he is 1.88m tall and 106kg. Wikipedia also states that Sean is 1.85m tall and 110kg. Going through other prominent 8s, there doesn’t seem to be a huge difference (height is the biggest differentiator, but it seems to be marginal).
Faletau, Heaslip and Whiteley aren’t too much bigger. The early stats, prior to the switch-up, also indicate that McMahon is a solid lineout option.
When you combine all of the above with his pedigree (shown below), I see absolutely no reason to not continue to throw chances at him. He certainly plays big enough for me, and the best thing? He's only getter better.
2014 – Super Rugby debut, Test match debut, Rebels Rookie of the Year, Super Rugby Rookie of the Year, Buildcorp NRC Player of the Year, Australian u20s Captain & Player of the year, Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist (7s).
2015 – Rebel’s Player’s Player, Wallabies Rookie of the Year
dru
David Wilson (68)
Michael, let them keep their "delusions". Your response is the G&GR narrative for me. Sort of post that keeps me in love with the place.
Was wondering whether to bother digging through the stats myself - you've done much better that I would have. Obsession with size suggests a focus on the so-called science and not on actual observation and result. That last game saw McMahon swatting players out of his road in tight.
That'll do me. Time for him to start on the high veldt and repeat that sort of performance at height against forwards that havent tired. Timani from the bench.
Was wondering whether to bother digging through the stats myself - you've done much better that I would have. Obsession with size suggests a focus on the so-called science and not on actual observation and result. That last game saw McMahon swatting players out of his road in tight.
That'll do me. Time for him to start on the high veldt and repeat that sort of performance at height against forwards that havent tired. Timani from the bench.
Scrubber2050
Mark Ella (57)
Michael
I knew McMahon was good.
I didn't realise he was that good.
Fuck me, why isn't he starting over Hooper and Pocock each week. Chek obviously cannot see the benefits...
I knew McMahon was good.
I didn't realise he was that good.
Fuck me, why isn't he starting over Hooper and Pocock each week. Chek obviously cannot see the benefits...
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