The defence of Matt Giteau

[Lee Grant]

I don't trust the media reports from the Super teams either. They're all as glib as each other.

Part of this thread morphed into a discussion of the Oz team for the RWC at one point. We only have to look at the best 1st XV or matchday 22 for a Wallabies team in the most important game on their EOYT and compare it to the one 12 months before to see how some of our earlier predictions were bunk. Some of the changes were because of injuries but there are always changes because of players dropping form or regaining it - or rising stars.

The point is that there is so much professional rugby to be played between now and the RWC that we cannot be dogmatic about 1st XV team selections for it.

Alexander could learn to scrummage with his arse lower and play THP against French shortarse LHP Domingo and have the Frog walk off with a yellow card instead of him. Giteau could end his relentless quest to find the outside break and run straight, Cooper could put his shoulder into rampaging big forwards near his goal line, lift one of their legs behind one knee and drive them back. Baxter could be last man standing in every collapsed scrum - and yarda, yarda about other players and their faults.

The other side of that is that some form 2010 Wallabies could fall in a heap.

We can't be too sure now how players performances will affect selection policies; so we shouldn't to get polarised in our opinions of them.

 

[vidiot]

FFS NO! Are you Eddie Jones in disguise.

LOL @ Eddie Jones....

Now you bring it up, he does look like Eddie Jones.

 

[chriss555]

Best be off to bed now, Chrissssssssss, you probably have Milo cricket early tomorrow.
Make sure you clean your teeth.

Its the old classic merry had a little lamb quote by the never been help group captain ...

 

[Henry]

"I would like to play fly half, I did enjoy it out there, I enjoy that sense of control," said Giteau, who also captained the side.
Groan... Of course you do.

The forward pack of...

Alexander/Slipper
TPN
Robinson
Sharpe
Horwill
Rocky
Pocock
Palu...

Actually inspires a bit of fear or mongrel that has been discussed before. If all these players can find some good form this super season our pack could become a dominant force again.

 

[Cutter]

didn't think he was overly wonderful. not when compared to the pervious year.

only players that had good years where rocky, beale, pocock and JOC (James O'Connor).

Rocky?

After being dropped, Drew Mitchell also had a good year in gold. I'd also say that Sharpe, Moore, Slipper and McCalman (don't forget his age and experience) can be happy with their contributions.

 

[Cutter]

He was defintely better than earlier in the year but IMO still wasn't at pre-Ireland form.

I constantly hear about Rocky's pre-Ireland form, but its not something I can recall. As far as I'm concerned, we've got back the same player that left. What we haven't got is the player Leinster had. Whether that is to do with the quality of the opposition, the style of play or otherwise, I don't know. However, I do know that Rocky has always been someone I would begrudgingly pick in a team for lack of better options. In my opinion, if we had Juan Smith, Joe van Neukirk or Jerome Kaino, Rocky wouldn't make the bench.

 

[Cutter]

I think using Alexander at THP for the Wallabies again is a terrible idea. The Brumbies Mafia, correctly, have stated that he won't be playing at THP, and why would he with Palmer and Ma'afu in the squad?

Some tall THPs like Carl Hayman are able to scrummage on the right hand side of the scrum but Alexander is not able to do so in a low scrum. He goes down too much. We all talk about the need to get the hit with shoulders above hips but the point with Benny is that his arse is too high, too often. It's all very well to say bend the knees more but some props can't do that and prosper.

Maybe it has something to do with the length of the femur in relation to the length of the tibia or some other area in his morphology or musculature that is skew, or maybe his feet are too far back - I don't know.

Agree with the rest of the post.

Just quietly I don't think he was great at LHP in the scrums either last year and nothing I have seen in viewing some of my 2010 Brumbies archived games recently contradict that.

I think more to do with core strength and flexibility. He scrummaged well in 2009. He may also get time at THP for the Brumbies this year. Let us hope so because, at his best, I think he is a better option than Slipper (at the moment). We're getting a bit excited to be discussing this now as there is a lot of game time before the first test team is picked. What is good though, is that a thread on a back has turned into a discussion about THP.

 

[Cutter]

Do you wear a bib to catch the dribble, or does it just pool in your lap?

Cyclo is it the excitement of the start of the season that is making you particularly acerbic?

 

[Brumbieman]

Come on Chris Giteau has been dire for the last 3 years at least at Test level and was just as bad for the ponies last year. I said a few times that Giteau was a very good 12, probably the best Oz has had since Horan, rating him above Psycho Grey. BUT in saying that Giteau has never played a good game at 10 against good opposition. IMO he has even struggled at 10 against better S14 sides. If he plays 10 for the ponies this year I fervently hope he is left out of the RWC squad. He needs to play the whole season at 12 and get his mojo back in that position IMO to even be considered in the squad as his attack has been terrible and his defensive leadership of the backline poor. If you want to blow the Giteau trumpet better start posting some RECENT video evidence proving your points. Even the Tom Carter brigade have been able to produce some of the Cart Horse.

Utter slanderous bullshit. He's had one 'poor' year in nearly a decade of playing for the Wallabies, and that was last year.

Your horseshit claim of being dire for the last 3 years is just crap, you should be able to get a job for the Daily Telegraph at this rate. 3 years ago, was the 2008 season, when most Aussies were claiming him to be as good, if not better, than Dan Carter. He was playing at 10 then.
2009 he was our best inside back. People were starting to think he should switch back to 12 by the end of that season, but only because a viable replacement had emerged: Barnes.

Now shut up.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Slanderous?

 

[cyclopath]

Cyclo is it the excitement of the start of the season that is making you particularly acerbic?

Something like that.
Must have had a bad day the other day!:lmao:

 

[cyclopath]

Utter slanderous bullshit. He's had one 'poor' year in nearly a decade of playing for the Wallabies, and that was last year.

Your horseshit claim of being dire for the last 3 years is just crap, you should be able to get a job for the Daily Telegraph at this rate. 3 years ago, was the 2008 season, when most Aussies were claiming him to be as good, if not better, than Dan Carter. He was playing at 10 then.
2009 he was our best inside back. People were starting to think he should switch back to 12 by the end of that season, but only because a viable replacement had emerged: Barnes.

Now shut up.

By all means argue the point, but the last line is probably not necessary.
Were that many claiming him to be as good, if not better than Dan Carter? I must have slept through 2008.
In Gnostic's defence, a lot of posters hereabouts feel he is a better 12 than 10, and the constant chopping and changing isn't beneficial to his game. He has been OK at 10 at Super level. Like Steven Donald, he has not quite put that form on the park internationally. If he plays at his best, I am happy to see him play 12 for the Wallabies, but he is not the 10 we need.
Now the Brumbies can do what they want, but I think his better interests are served playing 12 for them.

 

[Brumbieman]

Oh i'm firmly in the Giteau being better at 12 than 10 camp. 100%, i've been saying that since 2008.

I'm just fed up with claims like "he's been dire for 3 years", or "he's been over-rated for years and was never actually that good" etc etc.

 

[Lee Grant]

By all means argue the point, but the last line is probably not necessary.

Absolutely right. We all make a goose of ourselves now and then in the minds of others, as I well know, but those others should not take it personally, as seems to be the case here.

Being fed up does not entitle one to breach forum protocols.

 

[Lee Grant]

1. I think more to do with [Alexander's] core strength and flexibility.

2. What is good though, is that a thread on a back has turned into a discussion about THP.

1. I think he has trouble with shorter LHPs, and Domingo (v. France) was a good example. What some taller THPs do in such cases is to try to get their feet further back so they can get lower. This is fraught with the danger of hinging down as they are literally at the tipping point. No, I don't know how tall THPs like Hayman don't have to do that either.

2. It's a nice change isn't it?

 

[Hawko]

By the time they get to round 5 and figure out that Giteau will be better at 12 with To'omua at 10, they will only have one win on the board. They've got a slew of tough matches to start and Johnathan Kaplan twice. That's effectively them out of the running unless they can learn to put on bonus points against everybody.

 

[louie]

By the time they get to round 5 and figure out that Giteau will be better at 12 with To'omua at 10, they will only have one win on the board. They've got a slew of tough matches to start and Johnathan Kaplan twice. That's effectively them out of the running unless they can learn to put on bonus points against everybody.

it amazes me how negative everyone is about the brumbies before they've played a game.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Might have something to do with how much they promised and failed to deliver last year with the group they had.

 

[Empire]

I'd say the media did more of the promising...

 

[TOCC]

please, the Brumbies had Elsom, Giteau, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), G.Smith, Moore and Alexander who were all frontline Wallabies at the start of last season, very few other Super14 sides can come close to that core group of players...