The Wallabies Thread

[Hugh Jarse]

Looking forward to seeing what TGC can do with the Men In Gold (and Australian Rugby in general) when he is doing the gig full time, and able to concentrate on the task at hand with no Super Rugby distractions.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Along with a fuck-ton of other things. @RugbyReg 's article weaved a merry tale of where we all thought shit was about to explode on the way to Twickers. We were all chewing glass there for a while, but it worked out.

Normal service will be resumed by about week 4 of Super Rugby 2016.

 

[Pfitzy]

Moving into 2016 I would really like to see dedicated coaching for kicking from hand and tee,

Malone is there right now. The improvement in Foley was noticeable.

 

[KOB1987]

Re kuridrani, there is a bit of an expectation that izzy will be tried at 13 at the tahs. 12. To'omua or kerevi, 13. Folau and 15. Beale has a fair bit of appeal going forward


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[Slim 293]

I doubt Kuridrani will be shifted from 13...........

Wasn't as dynamic as last year but he's still been pretty damn good..........

Making metres with the ball, scoring important tries, makes his tackles and does a lot of work off the ball.

 

[cyclopath]

I doubt Kuridrani will be shifted from 13.....

Wasn't as dynamic as last year but he's still been pretty damn good....

Making metres with the ball, scoring important tries, makes his tackles and does a lot of work off the ball.

He needs his confidence back. He is dithering (propping and checking) into contact with the ball a bit, where he used to just smash through. His defence has been pretty good, but a tad passive at times. It all looks like confidence, so a minor tweak is all, not a big deal. Good pre-season and hopefully bigger and better again next year. I wouldn't move him, but I do think he could have the makings of a Nonu-style 12 down the track. That's all rumination for a later time.

 

[KOB1987]

I like him generally but he has definitely lost some effectiveness, especially in attack. Hopefully he will regain some form, I actually think he is a bit slow for a 13 though. Bob might be right but I don't see him as a test 12, he'd handle soup there no probs though.


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[p.Tah]

Any idea when the Wallabies arrive back in Australia. I haven't done this before but I'm keen to go out and welcome them home if they come via Sydney.

 

[Slim 293]

He needs his confidence back. He is dithering (propping and checking) into contact with the ball a bit, where he used to just smash through. His defence has been pretty good, but a tad passive at times. It all looks like confidence, so a minor tweak is all, not a big deal. Good pre-season and hopefully bigger and better again next year. I wouldn't move him, but I do think he could have the makings of a Nonu-style 12 down the track. That's all rumination for a later time.

He was definitely rushed back from the injury this year and looked very poor in Super Rugby afterwards..........

Hopefully an off season will do him some good.

 

[Viking]

Question: have you ever played second row?

No. But Fardy has.

 

[Gnostic]

Malone is there right now. The improvement in Foley was noticeable.

I agree and hopefully it is a permanent gig. Moving forward attention has to be given to other players and upskill them as well. For instance Genia's box kicking, the age that Folau takes to get the ball to boot, Now that AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is gone and Mitchell likely to be as well some wingers that can kick. This shouldn't be a responsibility of just the Wallaby set up though and it should be plain to players like Tomane and Speight that they really have to work hard on this aspect.

 

[Viking]

Absolutely agree with every point made here @Pfitzy.

Moore's throwing has been too low and has allowed opposition jumpers to get up in front of ours. I was most disappointed in his lineout work.

Will Genia is playing a lot better than he has for quite a few years, but his box kicking usually turns out bad for us. Why doesn't he get the protection from the forwards that the ABs' forwards give Smith?

TK has looked out of sorts for most of this year. Early on, definitely due to injury, but like you I think he has just not had a role to play in the game plan. And despite the accolades Matt Giteau gets here, he didn't once that I recall put a player through a gap by dent of his own creative play. He mostly just trucked the ball up into the defense, and if that was the game plan then Matt To'omua would have been a far better option.

Rob Simmons was especially disappointing. He does not play with the aggression that we'd like to see in our locks and he didn't efficiently carry out the role for which he was most noted, ie lineout general. We really need to find and develop some hard men as locks. Maybe by 2019, Tom Staniforth will be in the picture. Meanwhile, I am hopeful Coleman will step up.

Cheika's/Larkham's use of To'omua has left me dumbfounded. Finished at least two, maybe more, games sitting on the bench. Just no sense to thast at all, especially given the dominant defense he brings to the game.

Yep - game plan needs to be a whole lot more adventurous. Forwards need to learn to attack in waves with short passing to supports. Backs need to be able to play with some creativeness to undo the defensive lines. My worst fear is that the way they play is largely due to Steve Larkham's influence, and if so it doesn't bode well for the Brumbies.

As you say, a lot to work on.

We left out cleaning out attacking rucks. I thought we were poor at this last night and generally every time we play the All Blacks. Defensive rucks we are right up there with the best with Pocock, Hooper and Fardy slowing down opposition ball.

But how many bloody times did one of our players get over the gain-line only to find himself isolated with support too far away, Richie and co had a ball at slowing the ball down.

I don't think technique is an issue either, as when our players are there they are very effective, but sometimes they just aren't there fast enough and most of the time that is when we make breaks.

Our support play needs works.

That and our line-out is probably our biggest issue in my opinion. Individual players efforts like Kuridrani, Genia, Moore, Simmons who have been mentioned I believe have little effect in the overall result, our biggest issues are collective ones as I believe we have the cattle to get the job done.

We just needed more time with Cheika to in-still the finer details.

On a positive note, how bloody good are the teams efforts, passion and culture. Real positive signs coming out of the wallaby camp.

 

[Pfitzy]

No. But -

Stopped you there. Buts have no place where we're going.

Unless you've packed a few hundred scrums at second row, you can't really appreciate what an energy-sapping, sweaty, c***stack of a gig it is. For the next couple of phases you're just trying to move as fast as possible to get the lactic acid out of your legs, and hoping the blood pounding in your ears will subside soon and not start leaking out your eyeballs. And that's just park footy from someone who played second row when we had too many props!

I found prop a shitload easier, and most front rowers do. When you understand that the power of the second row is what gives your scrum momentum, you get a picture of what pushing a truck up a slope feels like.

This is not a scenario into which you want your niggliest, best blindside thrown for any reason.

Firstly, he's not big enough.

Secondly, he's not powerful enough.

Guys like Simmons meet these criteria, even if his impact around the park is limited. Simmons is the kind of slow-burn athlete who has endurance style power delivery, but not impact or explosiveness. That's why he's rubbish at carrying the ball into contact, but can hold up a scrum.

Third, Fards is so fucking good at what he does now, why would you fuck with it? Why shorten his career by trying to make him something he's not?

No, we shall not put Fardy in the second row. Not unless the entirety of second row players in Australia are attacked by rabid lemurs and forced to escape into a pit of quicksand made from acid.

Pfitzy has spoken.

 

[Slim 293]

Fardy has regained his 2013 form.......... Arguably the Wobs best player after Pocock the past few weeks...........

Let's not ruin that by shoving him into the second row.

 

[cyclopath]

Stopped you there. Buts have no place where we're going.

Unless you've packed a few hundred scrums at second row, you can't really appreciate what an energy-sapping, sweaty, c***stack of a gig it is. For the next couple of phases you're just trying to move as fast as possible to get the lactic acid out of your legs, and hoping the blood pounding in your ears will subside soon and not start leaking out your eyeballs. And that's just park footy from someone who played second row when we had too many props!

I found prop a shitload easier, and most front rowers do. When you understand that the power of the second row is what gives your scrum momentum, you get a picture of what pushing a truck up a slope feels like.

This is not a scenario into which you want your niggliest, best blindside thrown for any reason.

Firstly, he's not big enough.

Secondly, he's not powerful enough.

Guys like Simmons meet these criteria, even if his impact around the park is limited. Simmons is the kind of slow-burn athlete who has endurance style power delivery, but not impact or explosiveness. That's why he's rubbish at carrying the ball into contact, but can hold up a scrum.

Third, Fards is so fucking good at what he does now, why would you fuck with it? Why shorten his career by trying to make him something he's not?

No, we shall not put Fardy in the second row. Not unless the entirety of second row players in Australia are attacked by rabid lemurs and forced to escape into a pit of quicksand made from acid.

Pfitzy has spoken.

Holy fuckballs, Pfitzy agrees with me a bit.
Bookmarked.

 

[Highlander35]

For at least the next 12 months, the World Cup Wallabies still based in Australia should basically make up the squad. Depending on Douglas's injury, the starting 15 looks like

1. Sio
2. Moore
3. Holmes
4. Douglas
5. Simmons
6. Fardy
7. Hooper
8. Pocock
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. Horne
12. To'omua
13. Kuridrani
14. Tomane/Speight
15. Folau

As flr the bench, it'll depend. Hanson or TPN and Slipper or Smith are easy, tighthead a bit harder. One of Skelton or Vaea alongside Mumm, or Carter or McCalman. Stirzaker backup scrummie. Beale gets one bench spot, the other could easily be a playmaker, whether it's Lilo or a youngster like Debreczeni, or it could be the other one of Tomane/Speight, it could be Kerevi or CFS, could be a bolter like Dargaville, or come October, Sefa.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I've played lock and each position in the back row and flanker vs lock is chalk and cheese. I'd much rather see Fardy on the side of the scrum than in the middle. He'd lose all his dynamism around the park and at the breakdown if he had his head in scrums all the time. Better to develop depth in the lock position than reduce a strength in my view.

 

[drewprint]

I'll put my hand up and say I was one of many who laughed at Bob Dwyer's suggestion of playing Beale on the wing. But now, after the world cup he's just had, I'm not so sure it's such a bad idea.

(This is of course assuming the Folau-to-13-Beale-to-15 thing doesn't happen).

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I'll put my hand up and say I was one of many who laughed at Bob Dwyer's suggestion of playing Beale on the wing. But now, after the world cup he's just had, I'm not so sure it's such a bad idea.

(This is of course assuming the Folau-to-13-Beale-to-15 thing doesn't happen).

I was the same but have to concede the same. I can at least see where it might work with KB (Kurtley Beale) playing a roving commission rather than as a traditional winger.

 

[hammertimethere]

Current Super Rugby talent that may possibly earn squad representation and/or a debut (if the haven't already) in 2016

Reds
Frisby
Kerevi
Hunt

Tahs
Holloway
Kellaway

Force
Cottrell
Coleman
Godwin

Rebels
Timani
Reid?
Stirzacker
Debreczeni
Inman?

Brumbies
Arnold
Vaea
Butler


Anyone else?