Marce
John Hipwell (52)
He's 34!!!! Too old for a winger. He has played his prime years in NZ
SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) Round 1 25/02/23 Force v Rebels
- Thread starter Dctarget
- Start date
Tomikin
David Codey (61)
His 33 still illegible for Australia... And he was 28 when he joined the Brumbies still.in prime years. Just wasn't good enough, like many others..
And others can qualify to play for Australia, like Charlie Gamble will from your beloved tahs.
Marce
John Hipwell (52)
That's my point!
Marce
John Hipwell (52)
Charlie Gamble is exactly the kind of player that would be benefit for both, Force and WBs at the same time. A young bet coming from Crusaders Academy. He's like the new Henry Speight, Mack Hansen in Ireland, Duhan van der Merwe in Scotland or Emmnuel Meafou in France
Who's the next Charlie Gamble in current Force squad?
GaffaCHinO
Peter Sullivan (51)
You guys are way off. The Force need to win at this point. as evident from last night fans are waning and the only way to get them back is to be successful. There are zero equalisation mechanism uses by Rugby Australia so anyone who does come to the Force is almost always paid overs. If RA were serious they would have told Tuopo if he wants the cash go to the force or have told the Tahs to give up one of their 3 starting 10s. As this isn't practice I don't really care who the players are or where they come from. Pulu is eligible for the wallabies he was picked in a squad only last year. After losing ALL our top quality players after the axing the force are realistically in their third year and have now a top level coach who will hopefully attract players, but at this stage all I care about is performance and winning the Wallabies will sort themselves out...hey it was only a few years ago people were saying we didn't have enough players to fill 5 teams so if the force are the barbarians of super Rugby so be it.
Rebel man
John Thornett (49)
As long as they are producing their share of junior wallabies that they are at the moment where the players come from is a non issue.
It takes years to rebuild a franchise and they have done a good job to this point
Mr Pilfer
Alex Ross (28)
So are you proposing a player draft where all the wallabies players and top up payments are allocated equally across the clubs? We would be happy with that
Marce
John Hipwell (52)
Maybe or a smarter recruitment like the Irish system. They chase what their national team needs.
They needed a big centre so he went to look Bundee Aki, a Super Rugby winner without opportunities in the black jersey. They needed fast wingers so they chased James Lowe, a Super Rugby tryman without AB experience. So instead to pay Jeremy Trush look a young lock in NPC who could be elegible relatively soon. The number 6th and 7th young Kiwi lock.
You have to recruit a young guy you could be elegible in the next years, not a retired legend . Recently the Irish signed Alex Nankivell, the next Bundee Aki. A solid player with 59 Super Rugby games. Obviously they know that they aren't good at producing test centres so they chase the talent overseas. They pick few guys but reliables with proved experience at Super Rugby level and they pay good money.
RA have no money so the recruitment should be deeper but chasing the old ones is not the answer. You have picked an old winger like Toni Pulu and an ineligible winger like Manasa Mataele.
Mr Pilfer
Alex Ross (28)
Yeah fair enough I just think at this stage the force still need a bit of both.
I would be disappointed if thrush keeps playing, I think it was ok for a one off but going forward if McCaulay and Rodda are still injured they should be playing Luke Callan, Will Sankey etc
Both Fianga’a and Mataele late outs due to tight Achilles. Fisnga’a during Capt’s rum and Mataele during warmup.
whats the longer term prognosis. Expected to be back this week?
PhilClinton
Mark Loane (55)
Both them for the same thing?
Maybe franchises are being overly cautious this season considering how many players went down with achilles problems during 2022.
Equalizer
Trevor Allan (34)
Thrush is in covering Rodda and McCauley for 5 weeks.
todd4
Dave Cowper (27)
And most other years. Surprised to hear that this was only the second time in the clubs history to win the opening game.
SteveWA
Charlie Fox (21)
And where else do you get an internationally (or even super rugby) experienced lock at short notice for injury cover rates? Thrush was already in the system, being at most training sessions and also coaching both the Academy and a local club. He'd know the players and the calls. Far from being short-sighted it makes absolute sense.