The Wallabies Thread

[MarkJ]

This calculator has us being overtaken by Argentina if they win by more than 15 (we'd still be ahead of France, but Argentina jump past us and France)

https://rawling.github.io/WR (World...,38,20,15;40,37,15,20;39,37,15,20;40,38,30,10

I think we go back to 5th if we can beat South Africa & Argentina

 

[dru]

So one way or another the ranking descent slows at this point. Let’s hope it’s a climb from here.

Our current ranking is very much a product of how we’ve been travelling. Our rankings above 5 were no less false than this one. And 5 should not be where we expect to be.

It’s well time to reconsider the Bledislow. Until we are again consistently top 3 it does no good for NZ or Aus to play a 3 game series. Cut it back to only 2 games within the championship.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Typically good analysis from Nick Bishop on the attack against the Argies
https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/09/26/how-the-wallabies-can-rebuild-their-attack/

Short answer - Tui in particular but all back rowers aren't quick or skillful enough to play the role they are asked to do under Cheika's 1-3-3-1 system

 

[Jimmyjam]

Typically good analysis from Nick Bishop on the attack against the Argies
https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/09/26/how-the-wallabies-can-rebuild-their-attack/

Short answer - Tui in particular but all back rowers aren't quick or skillful enough to play the role they are asked to do under Cheika's 1-3-3-1 system

Another spot on analysis from NB as always, he's really the only bloke worth reading on that site.

I think however that Dempsey and Hooper absolutely fill that role with ease. Also after watching both the Sydney rays matches and keeping a close eye on JD, he will be back in gold sooner rather than later, he had a lot of quality involvements and really looked the goods. Footwork, speed etc all there.

I think should we have a full compliment of back-rowers available, the RWC 19 best matchday squad backrow cohort will be a combination of Pocock, Hooper, Dempsey and Naisarani who all easily solve the problem identified.

Tui and Coleman back to starting locks leaving Arnold and Rodda to fight over the bench spot.

Now that Kepu is back in consideration as a LH or TH, the Wallabies are looking at quality going very deep with all the tight forward positions.

LH Sio/Kepu/Robertson/Slipper
TH Tupou/AAA/Kepu/Ainsley
Hooker BPN/Latu/Fainga'a/TPN/Ulease
Lock Coleman/Tui/Arnold/Rodda/Philip/Simmons

My Starting pack and Subs would look like this

Sio
Latu (but really want any one of them to own it sooner rather than late)
Tupou
Tui
Coleman
BR any combination of Dempsey/Hooper/Pocock/Naiserani

Bench

Kepu
Ulease
AAA
Rodda
Whoever didn't make the run on team from this lot - Pocock, Hooper, Dempsey and Naisarani

 

[Slim 293]

Latu has dropped down in the pecking order and I would think unlikely to make the RWC (injuries permitting)...........

I'd say that TPN, Folau and Uelese would be the favourites right now to go on the plane, followed by BPA and Latu.

 

[Lorenzo]

Jake White can only adjust his tactics so much to suit the players. His gameplan is built around not being in your half, having at least three men behind the defensive line at all times, and stealing the ball from the opposition set piece. If the team can pull this off, then you can do whatever you want with the ball in the opposition half.

His tactics work because they're timeless. There's no substitute for making your tackles, winning your set peice, and playing in the right part of the field. As a rather passionate Jake White fan, I'll still say that you don't need him to coach those things.

You would think so, yet the current mob doesn't seem to have a predilection for playing anywhere near the opposition half.

 

[Derpus]

Latu has dropped down in the pecking order and I would think unlikely to make the RWC (injuries permitting).....

I'd say that TPN, Folau and Uelese would be the favourites right now to go on the plane, followed by BPA and Latu.

TPN has been a tad dissapointing. His fitness really seems to have fallen off and he's not where he was at last year. He might not make the WC.

 

[Slim 293]

TPN has been a tad dissapointing. His fitness really seems to have fallen off and he's not where he was at last year. He might not make the WC.

That is also true.............

Last year was possibly his best test season in a while, but he's certainly nowhere near that level right now.

The problem is all of our other hookers are very much lacking in experience.

 

[Brumbieman]

Do you really think he would be able to turn the team around that much? I doubt he'd chance the NZ results at least.

It's strange, given the for and against above, that we arent lower than 7th.

Certainly. Cheika has clearly lost the dressing room - no one is responding to the rev up's anymore and he's tactically useless. Our defence is eye wateringly shit, our attack is about as up to date and progressive as Hillary Clinton's election campaign, and our forwards coach has the glorious record of....8 lineouts lost in his first test in charge?

Jake White took the Brumbies team of 2012 to within a whisker of making the finals, after finishing second last the year before. The team was a bunch of absolute nobodies with only 2-3 Wallabies in the team, a few journeymen and a whole bunch of kids.

The next year we made the final, beat the Bulls AWAY in the semi final and beat the Lions without the few Wallabies we had at that point.

White is a Macqueen style 'managerial coach', who assembles a crack team of assistants while he observes and focuses on team morale/plans etc etc while his assistants teach the actual skills. What he did to turn the Brumbies around was incredible.

I don't care if it was boring and structured - it needed to be with the available talent (even if it wasn't actually that boring under White - the rolling-maul-only gameplan was Larkham's baby, we scored more tries than any other Aussie Super side in 2012). You devise your gameplan from the talent you have, you don't create a gameplan and try and force people who aren't up to it, to play to that model.

White did that. He had a big pack, good kickers and minimal experience, so he created a gameplan that got the best out of what he had. Players like Fardy and Mowen just couldn't make that next step until White got a hold of them, suddenly they're key Wallabies. Sio, Carter, Kimlin, White, To'omua, Lealiifano, Kuridrani, Tomane, Speight, Mogg all became Wallabies under his management.

Pair him with a proper attack coach, IE Rennie or Cotter to teach our lads how to run the ball and attack again, and i'm certain we'd be back in the top 2 or 3 within a year.


The only tests we are a chance to win for the rest of this year atm are Wales (unlikely) and Italy. I'm not even confident about Italy given our ability in recent years to lose to an opposition team that shouldn't ever have even been a possibility.

 

[dru]

You devise your gameplan from the talent you have, you don't create a gameplan and try and force people who aren't up to it, to play to that model.

White did that.

Did he though? Perhaps my perception is out then. I saw Link as a coach who (with Fowler from recollection) who was able to sort a gameplan and strategy that was based on the available talent. If I'm right, it's possible that had link gone to the Brumbies things would have been quite similar.

I can't at all imagine the revers, had White gone to the Reds in 2010 the team would have been very different.

Incidentally, while I don't think that Cheika has necessarily proven the ability, I think he too is trying to build a gameplan around the talent available. It's what gives us the Pooper and Beale in a position he defend in.

 

[Derpus]

Can you build a game plan around the complete absence of talent?

 

[RoffsChoice]

The only positions where we lack talent are 6 and 8 (though we lack depth at LHP and OC). Even with that issue, we make up for a lot of what we lose with the tremendous talent of the other players: Tupou, Kepu, and Ala'alatoa have tremendous running games; Sio, TPN, and Coleman are all great at disrupting an opposition breakdown and at securing our ball; Pocock, Hooper, and Coleman are generally at most breakdowns. What we don't have are lineout options or a plan to win territory.

If you set up your team to be a threat at every lineout, and you kick the ball out whenever it enters your half, you will be under a lot less pressure as a side. With guys like Sio, Pocock, or Hooper in the side, we can win back possession, and players like Hodge, To'omua, and DHP are all good at quickly getting an accurate kick away.

We should pick a 6 and an 8 who can tackle and jump in the lineout, and then stop critcising them if they don't have a killer running game or throw offloads in the tackle. We should pick a hooker whose entire job is to throw the ball in the lineout and hook the ball in the scrum, and anything else they bring is a nice benefit. And then we pin the opposition in their own half and let Folau, Koroibete, Beale, Genia, etc. do their thing in the opposition half.

 

[ShtinaTina]

TPN has been a tad dissapointing. His fitness really seems to have fallen off and he's not where he was at last year. He might not make the WC.

I wonder if all the flying across the world has had more of an impact on him than we realise, see how he's going at the end of the Tigers season

 

[neilc]

I wonder if all the flying across the world has had more of an impact on him than we realise, see how he's going at the end of the Tigers season

I wondered that too. I think that supports the argument for not bringing guys back for short stints where they have to go back and forth. Australia just have to bear the pain of developing a few young local hookers.

 

[wamberal]

I wondered that too. I think that supports the argument for not bringing guys back for short stints where they have to go back and forth. Australia just have to bear the pain of developing a few young local hookers.

Maybe having TPN back for a while is part of the pain of developing the younger hookers. We do have several, most are in their first season at or near the top: TPN seems to be the sort of fellow who would be willing to mentor and advise the up and comers.

 

[Derpus]

Maybe having TPN back for a while is part of the pain of developing the younger hookers. We do have several, most are in their first season at or near the top: TPN seems to be the sort of fellow who would be willing to mentor and advise the up and comers.

That he does. He said once that he regretted not leaving earlier as his presence was ultimately holding youngsters back (i think he was primarily referring to Latu).

 

[RugbyReg]

Ok, so a quick stat check in. Australia have won 2 of 7 tests this year.

Our remaining tests are:

SAF (A)
ARG (A)
NZL (N)
WAL (A)
ITY (A)
ENG (A)

How do we reckon we'll go with them? Let's say we win half (hopeful). That leaves us with 5 wins from 13 games at a win %age of 38.46%

The last time we had a season that bad was Eddie's last season at the helm in 2005.

Other than that you have to go back to 1989 when we lost a Lions series 1-2 and then lost to the kiwis and split a series with France in France.

Look I know we know its bad, but I just thought it was worth reiterating.

 

[Slim 293]

I think losing to Italy would be a definite coach killer, but considering we haven't lost to Wales in a decade that would also be pretty bad............

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Brendan Venter's two cents:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion...cheika-isnt-a-panacea-for-australias-problems

As usual with BV there's some good points in there but comparing TGC to Jose Mourinho is a reach IMO.

 

[dru]

If the WBs don't show signs of being competitive this weekend, and serious drubbing across the rest of the year is very much on the cards. 3/6 for those games is on the high side I think.

NZ - unlikely
Eng - unlikely
Wales - toss a coin
RSA -?? This weekend is a big game in many ways.
Arg - should do but you just don't know
Ity - we win