The Wallabies Thread

[The torpedo]

Someone get Macron on the line and give them the contract.

I'd prefer puma myself

 

[TOCC]

I was one TOCC, but that was before Mayhew was signed and has since shown his wares as a LHP. Still not sure if other teams' fans should be quite so vocal in wanting to change another team's makeup, but I'll now have a go. Reds really need to relieve Kerevi of the captaincy. It has a bad look to see him laying down the law to the likes of Higgers, George Smith and Squeaky Moore.

There, I've done it.

I don't see any issue with suggesting Kerevi shouldn't be captain, I somewhat agree..

For the record I will remain vocal in saying what I think about other teams selection policy when it impacts on the Wallabies.. as I have done with Folau at 13 all year.

 

[Braveheart81]

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere, but our 2017 EOYT schedule is as follows:

November 4 - Japan @ Yokohama
November 11 - Wales @ Cardiff
November 18 - England @ London
November 25 - Scotland @ Edinburgh

There is strong talk that Australia will play France on December 2 in Singapore.

The extra test tacked on at the end as a cash cow (outside the international window) against France is interesting.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Tocc ^^^^^

About yoir comment about Kerevi being captain, surely that's a joke, even from you.

Personally I don't think Moore should be in the team and have not been a fan of Hooper's captaincy skills.

If kerevi makes the team (and I think RK is ahead of him), there are several more suitable candidates for captaincy including Moore (if in team), Michael Hooper, Fardy and about half a dozen others,

 

[RugbyReg]

he's talking about the Reds.

 

[TOCC]

Tocc ^^^^^

About yoir comment about Kerevi being captain, surely that's a joke, even from you.

keep up or move along

 

[Scrubber2050]

TOCC
with the utmost respect, reread the THREAD TITLE

Easy to be mislead

 

[TOCC]

Sorry, what i wrote was unnecessarily rude, i thought you were making a patronising comment, if you had of read my whole comment and the person i was replying to you would have seen i wasn't talking about Kerevi for captain of the Wallabies, in fact i was agreeing that he shouldn't even be captain of the Reds.

 

[Scrubber2050]

My apologies TOCC
I don't give them out too often

 

[chibimatty]

There is strong talk that Australia will play France on December 2 in Singapore.

The extra test tacked on at the end as a cash cow (outside the international window) against France is interesting.

What an interesting idea, especially considering they'll be in Edinburgh only a week before, both teams having to fly out to Singapore seems a bit daft. I wonder if this is one of those "profit-sharing" matches where Australia is the host nation? I could think of a few neutral grounds in Europe which could be a better proposition, unless France are heading somewhere else after Singapore?

 

[BaysideBird]

So I just got an email about going to a test match in Brisbane, asking me to buy tickets.

Firstly who would buy tickets to a game against Italy (You might have to pay people to come and put up with that). Secondly it's in Brisbane, promote it with Queenslanders not these two muppets...

 

[wamberal]

What an interesting idea, especially considering they'll be in Edinburgh only a week before, both teams having to fly out to Singapore seems a bit daft. I wonder if this is one of those "profit-sharing" matches where Australia is the host nation? I could think of a few neutral grounds in Europe which could be a better proposition, unless France are heading somewhere else after Singapore?

Presumably it is a relatively easy stop-over for the Wobbs on the way home, and perhaps it is financially attractive for both teams, and the French might enjoy a week whooping it up in Asia during the northern winter. I know I would.


None of us knows anything about the commercial aspects of this possible venture, what is the point of speculating about alternatives? Maybe there are no alternatives? Maybe this possible venture is being bankrolled in a big way?


Who knows?

 

[southsider]

So who are we gonna send out against the Fijians in Melbourne? (Think that's our first game) I'd like to see

Kepu
Latu
Sio
Coleman
Arnold
Higginbotham
Hooper
Timani
Genia
Hodge
Speight
Kerevi
Kurindrani
Folau
Hunt

Hanson
Ala'alatoa
Mayhew
Tui
McMahon
Powell
Foley
Beale

Bit controversial but think having hodge at 10 would be good for his development as a 12, gives us a big boot in the backline and he is a bigger body that doesn't mind trucking it up. Neither foley or cooper need to go out against Fiji and get belted.

Folau is in a bit of a funk, get him on the wing and get him doing what he does best, beating defenders one on one and scoring try's

Hunt at the back because of his form and also his solid defence which may be necessary if we have kerevi and TK in the centres.

Mayhew is doing the hard yards in tight, get him locked in for Aus.

Only watched Tui a few times but he seems to be something special and will support Coleman and Arnold well

More of a cooper fan but if the game doesn't go according to plan I'd prefer foley coming on to steer the ship

 

[Braveheart81]

What an interesting idea, especially considering they'll be in Edinburgh only a week before, both teams having to fly out to Singapore seems a bit daft. I wonder if this is one of those "profit-sharing" matches where Australia is the host nation? I could think of a few neutral grounds in Europe which could be a better proposition, unless France are heading somewhere else after Singapore?

France play Japan the week before. Not sure if that match is in Japan or France.



Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[chibimatty]

None of us knows anything about the commercial aspects of this possible venture, what is the point of speculating about alternatives? Maybe there are no alternatives? Maybe this possible venture is being bankrolled in a big way?
Who knows?

Now that post was very meta.

 

[No4918]

So I just got an email about going to a test match in Brisbane, asking me to buy tickets.

Firstly who would buy tickets to a game against Italy (You might have to pay people to come and put up with that). Secondly it's in Brisbane, promote it with Queenslanders not these two muppets.

Did someone mess up and send the Springboks jerseys?

 

[RoffsChoice]

So who are we gonna send out against the Fijians in Melbourne?

Biggest issues are Loosehead, Blindside, 8, Scrumhalf, and 12. Our eyes have to be on the World Cup in two years time, and we should use the weaker opposition as a chance to bring players in for the long haul.

Loosehead depth is just an injury issue: when Sio and Slipper are fit again, they'll go back to fighting over it. The contenders here are Toby Smith, Tom Robertson, Nic Mayhew, and (if they go down) moving Allan Ala'alatoa back over to LH. You'd really prefer to keep Ala'alatoa at Tighthead, so it's between the other 3.
I'm a big believer in Smith, and he's coming into the golden age for props. As his cover, I'd go for Mayhew; Robertson has been incredibly inconsistent this year, and it could be a disaster to shoot his confidence with a bad test series.

Blindside is another injury area: if McMahon was fit, you'd be giving it to him in a heartbeat. I also want to see a move away from Fardy (because he's leaving) and Mumm (because I have zero faith in him). So here, it appears to be between Scott Higgenbotham and Ned Hanigan. You could suggest Chris Alcock as the 6 in a pseudo-Pooper, and I'm inclined to trust Cheika if he picks that, but I can't imagine why he would.
If this was a Rugby Championship squad, I'd be inclined to go with Higgenbotham here. However, keeping with the talent development side of things, pick the 6 in form and see if Hanigan has a role to play in the gold jersey.

8 looked a lot more promising early in 2016, with Vaea, Holloway, Timani, and McCalman all in good form. Now, it really is between Lopeti Timani and Scott Higgentbotham. Like with 6, I'd consider Smiler, but think this should be a forward-looking Wallabies selection and that rules out most over-30s.
Timani's talent is obvious and continued Wallabies experience is the most likely means of developing it. I'd pick him here.

Scrumhalf is a position where international players would walk in. If Genia or White were available (and eligible), they would be the starter. But they aren't. In Australia, it's between Nick Phipps, Jake Gordon, Joe Powell, and James Tuttle.
Phipps is only in the conversation due to his experience, but if your coach has to justify starting you with rotation, you probably shouldn't be getting a gold jersey. Tuttle is similarly battling with Frisby, and probably the least likely to get a call. Honestly, I can't split Gordon and Powell. If you keep with the development preference, then it should be Powell. If you value the combination with Foley at 10, it should be Gordon. Since I am preferencing development, I'll say Powell.

And, finally, 12. Like scrumhalf, our foreign legion has players who could walk in if they were here: Beale and To'omua come to mind immediately. There is a chance that Beale will be back in time: if that's the case, he starts, but let's talk as if it won't be.
There isn't really a form 12 to consider. So consider Reece Hodge, Kyle Godwin, Bill Meakes, and Samu Kerevi. To justify Kerevi, I'll preface that IMO positional awareness and the ability to defend that gap between the 12 and the wings is key to a world-class 13, and Kuridrani has that in spades over Kerevi. If you disagree with that, that's fine, and just imagine I'm not considering Kerevi at 12.
Hodge lacks the skills to be a 12 between Foley and Kuridrani. When his skills catch up to his talent, he'll be back in this conversation. Still, he's a valuable squad player and may well make an impact off the bench. Godwin benefits from a combination with Kuridrani, but has not displayed that playmaking ability that Foley needs this year. So, between Meakes and Kerevi, my preference is for Kerevi; he may not have that playmaking ability to assist Foley (yet), but he has a directness to his game, a strong tackling game, and the ability to take work off the hands of the flyhalf.

So, I'd be picking a lineup of:
Toby Smith, Talu Latu, Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, Sam Carter, Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper (c), Lopeti Timani, Joe Powell, Bernard Foley, Sefa Naivalu, Samu Kerevi, Tevita Kuridrani, Israel Folau, Karmichael Hunt.
Tatafu Polota-Nau, Nic Mayhew, Allan Ala'alatoa, Rob Simmons, Scott Higgenbotham, Jake Gordon, Reece Hodge, Henry Speight.

 

[Twoilms]

So who are we gonna send out against the Fijians in Melbourne? (Think that's our first game) I'd like to see

Kepu
Latu
Sio
Coleman
Arnold
Higginbotham
Hooper
Timani
Genia
Hodge
Speight
Kerevi
Kurindrani
Folau
Hunt

Hanson
Ala'alatoa
Mayhew
Tui
McMahon
Powell
Foley
Beale

More likely:

Sio Moore (TPN at a stretch) Kepu
Coleman Arnold
Hooper Timani Fardy

Phipps/Powell/Gordon (take your pick) Foley

Beale Kurindrani

DHP Folau Speight

 

[Brumby Runner]

The first test in just over 4 weeks. I suspect there will be a few missing in action, likely Sio, Kepu, Smith, McMahon, DHP, Hunt (any news on how he pulled up this week?) maybe Coleman.

Assuming those are missing, I have no idea at all about the makeup of the team. I can't even name a front row.

 

[Slim 293]

Loosehead prop is a worry with Sio and Slipper out and Robertson out of form....... I don't hold much confidence in Cowan stepping up, so hopefully T Smith comes back from injury before then............

Latu is the form hooker, but Moore will be selected........

AA is the obvious choice at TH if Kepu is out........

Arnold will be one lock, and if Coleman is out Carter would have to be the other pick on form.........

Fardy and Hooper pick themselves, and 8 is a tricky one because Higgers is probably the obvious choice but he's never stood up at test level and was very quickly scrapped by Cheika in 2015 going into the RWC.......

I can't remember what Genia's availability is but would be likely to be first choice for SH, otherwise Powell........

10. Foley - lock it in.

I'm torn on whether to go with Beale or Hodge for 12 - Beale is obviously in good form up north but can provide a lot of cover off the bench....... and although Hodge really came along on he EOYT, and provides better defence/large boot he is not in great form, but how much of that is down to being part of a woeful Rebels team?

Speight, DHP and Hunt have been the form back 3, but with DHP unlikely I'd shift Folau to the wing and play Hunt at fullback.