The "Finds" of Wallaby EOYT

[TheTruth]

Obviously existing players such as
Kurtly at 15 was a revelation
JOC (James O'Connor)
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
Pocock
Moore
Mitchell
Sharpe

BUT THE NEW PLAYERS UNEARTHED HAVE TO BE
1. Slipper at 1 or 3
2. Simmons at lock

 

[S120]

The "Finds" would have to be James Slipper and Rob Simmons. 2 young forwards of great substance for the future.

But the biggest find was of Robbie Deans' sense when he dropped Giteau for Barnes.

 

[MrMouse]

As the only true rookies who got starts, Slipper and Simmons were definitely it. Slipper was an absolute "find" - he has more test caps than super caps now. Simmons was useful without imposing himself, but showed he deserved to be ahead of others in the pecking order such as Mumm and Chisholm.

Those who glowed, I'd add Kurtley as a new addition. To see Kurtley circa Feb 2010 vs Kurtley Nov 2010 is insane.

I'd agree that AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Pocock, Moore, Mitchell, Sharpe all played some great footy, as did Rocky and at various stages a few others. Cooper grew into his role despite - or because of - a hiccup. Barnes was a very strong addition at IC. But none of them qualify for this thread.

 

[Jnor]

Agree completely S120, and I think that Simmons probably deserved a little more recognition for his efforts and I wouldn't be surprised to see him and Douglas as the lock pairing into 2015.

Over the EOYT, the other thing I think we saw was Rocky finding his feet more and more as captain as well as a return to his some his world best form of yore. More of it I say!

 

[Ruggo]

Rocky hitting maturity as a captain.

 

[Lindommer]

After the pizzling we got in the scrum in all tour matches the highlight for me was the 7 man scrum just before half-time against the French, we bloody near pinched a tighthead! And, what's more, the Frogs tried a shunt and we didn't move. Lessons learnt: Slipper can handle the 3 jumper and Robinson found his mojo after a stint on the bench. Which goes to show there's light at the end of this very dark scrummaging tunnel.

Now for the back 5 at scrum time.

 

[fatprop]

After the pizzling we got in the scrum in all tour matches the highlight for me was the 7 man scrum just before half-time against the French, we bloody near pinched a tighthead! And, what's more, the Frogs tried a shunt and we didn't move. Lessons learnt: Slipper can handle the 3 jumper and Robinson found his mojo after a stint on the bench. Which goes to show there's light at the end of this very dark scrummaging tunnel.

Now for the back 5 at scrum time.

You may have noticed the straight backs of the seven forwards

 

[rugbysmartarse]

Find of EOYT is that we need to keep looking for an 8

 

[Scotty]

You may have noticed the straight backs of the seven forwards

I do notice that everytime Alexander packs he is almost ready bent into two. He really needs to get some core strength going, and keep a straight back.

 

[Viking]

Positive side: Beale, JOC (James O'Connor), Rocky finding form, Robinson finding form in the last game, Slipper. Pocock/AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) consistent as usual. Simmons potential.

Negative: No number 8, Quade's defence a very well-known weakness, Still unclear who our number 12 is, Simmons & Slipper showed great potential but its still only potential they aren't world class yet and need plenty more time (world class meaning they would not look out of place or weak link in a world team) and I'm not sure if they will have enough time before RWC.

 

[Groucho]

Positive side: Beale, JOC (James O'Connor), Rocky finding form, Robinson finding form in the last game, Slipper. Pocock/AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) consistent as usual. Simmons potential.

Negative: No number 8, Quade's defence a very well-known weakness, Still unclear who our number 12 is, Simmons & Slipper showed great potential but its still only potential they aren't world class yet and need plenty more time (world class meaning they would not look out of place or weak link in a world team) and I'm not sure if they will have enough time before RWC.

Good summation, except that I think Slipper is far enough along the path to make it.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Slipper is definitely the find of the tour. His work in the Italy and France tests proved that he has the potential to be a very good player.

Other positives:
- Simmons was very serviceable at lock and proved that there are options outside of Chizz et al
- KB (Kurtley Beale) was electric
- Barnes proved to me that he is our option at 12. His calm option taking, defence and boot really helped when things got tight in the last two games
- Rocky played his best footy of the year on the EOYT. He is starting to get back to his form before he left for Ireland.
- AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) has stepped up to command the 13 jersey. It's his to lose now.

Negatives:
- We are still looking for a powerful eight. Ben M is wholehearted, but still lacks the power and go-forward at present to be a top line eight
- Ben A is seriously out of sorts and was a liability in the scrum. Some work required over the summer I think.
- We are still not powerful enough in the second row. Sharpie needs some help there. Simmons did well, but he's not got the commanding presence yet. Hopefully it will get better over time.
- QC (Quade Cooper) has much work to do on his defence.

 

[Reddy!]

Slipper is the way to go imo. Keep in mind that Slipper will probably be TH for the Reds and Alexander will probably be stuffing around at LH for the Brumbies.

 

[Scotty]

I wonder if Palu goes down again next year that we might see Horwill at 8 for a few games? Not saying it would work, but at least he is big and runs hard.

 

[Lee Grant]

Slipper is the way to go imo. Keep in mind that Slipper will probably be TH for the Reds and Alexander will probably be stuffing around at LH for the Brumbies.

Alexander should be at LHP. I don't think he's a THP but would go what Caputo said: that he is a LHP being used as a THP by the Wallabies. Hopefully Slipper and Weeks will emerge after the 2011 S15 as the premier THPs in the country with Ma'afu taking a step up also - and, just as hopefully, Baxter won't be pinged a lot and be another candidate. Wrong thread? OOoops.

Slipper looks like he was one of the pluses of the tour and we will all be watching him in the S15, as though with one of those jewellers' loupes looking for flaws, and hoping not to find any.

At the beginning of the S14 this year I said it was the make or break year for young Rob Simmons. He had shown decent skill for his age ever since he was at school, but we wanted to see a bit of mongrel and hardness in his play. To be honest my jury was still out at the end of the S14, but he showed us all starting against Italy and France that he is made of the right stuff.

We all agree that these are the two who who have stepped up and we will be looking for the performance curve to keep rising. Incidentally, I hope that Link plays Simmons on the right hand side of the scrums sometimes as part of his development.

 

[Viking]

I guess the only problem i have is that Slipper started verse Italy and France. Would he have made the same impact against the Boks or ABs, i doubt it. Its not too hard to look good against an opposition like Italy, or when France played so poorly. Not knocking the guy as i think he's got huge potential but I don't want to jump to conclusions without watching him against some more intense opposition. France I guess were 6 nation champions but they hardly played like it against us. Cant wait too see how he handles some big angry Bok forwards or some fired up ABs.

 

[vidiot]

Cant wait too see how he handles some big angry Bok forwards or some fired up ABs.

He managed to get enough time against both through the trinations to show what we saw against France/Italy. Promising at the set-piece, good defender. Occasional glimpses in support play and carrying. Budding halfback. :

 

[Groucho]

I guess the only problem i have is that Slipper started verse Italy and France. Would he have made the same impact against the Boks or ABs, i doubt it. Its not too hard to look good against an opposition like Italy, or when France played so poorly. Not knocking the guy as i think he's got huge potential but I don't want to jump to conclusions without watching him against some more intense opposition. France I guess were 6 nation champions but they hardly played like it against us. Cant wait too see how he handles some big angry Bok forwards or some fired up ABs.

I would say that in the scrum the 6N teams are significantly more intense than the T-N teams. We got by fairly okay with Ma'food-plus-one in the T-N games, then got splintered the minute we landed in Yurp.

France probably have the strongest scrum in the world, followed by England, Italy and Wales.

 

[naza]

- We are still looking for a powerful eight. Ben M is wholehearted, but still lacks the power and go-forward at present to be a top line eight
- Ben A is seriously out of sorts and was a liability in the scrum. Some work required over the summer I think.

Gee I think that's harsh on McCalman. The guy is a significant upgrade on Fava, Hoiles, Richie Brown and John 'Tits for hands' Roe. He hasn't made rookie boo boos, which usually come with the territory. He has the workrate and the attitude. He needs to wrap up better in defence. He needs to ensure he's not so upright at times when running the ball, and he could do with some more pounds - I like my no8 to be a 112+ kg ball carrying WMD. But the raw ingredients are promising and he's just 22.

Ben Alexander looks like he lost a lot of weight and strength with his injuries. He should come good with some offseason training.

 

[barbarian]

Agree with naza to some extent. The guy is young and you couldn't fault his effort. Another year and a few more kgs and he will be a different player. I don't know how much better than Brown he is at the moment, but he has time on his side. Interesting to see where he plays with the Force next year.