Wallabies 2012 Championship Squad

[Sully]

I'd like to see CFS play centre/inside centre.

Howe about we just see if he can play first.

 

[Athilnaur]

Sully, surely there is zero doubt he can play, he proved that in the limited time he has had to date, the questions are what position and will he make the transition through super rugby to test level. I expect many aren't wondering if he will get to test level but when.

But yes, if your point is lets not rush him into the Wallabies squad I agree 100%.

 

[vidiot]

Many are wondering if he can stay fit for a few games in a row. Until then CFS is off-topic in any wallaby thread.

 

[TOCC]

According to the press release...

We will just have to wait and see... contractual obligations will be the deciding factor.. he is techincally contracted to Panasonic as of next week, so its up to them as to whether he plays or not.

 

[Scoey]

Deadset you lot are a negative bunch at times. Yes Finger at 12 wouldn't be my first choice but it's not a bad one. In every game that Ant lined up against SBW that I can remember, SBW went missing. Horne may have bombed a try against Wales but if he's on his game he should give Nonu something to think about as well.

Some common options thrown up here have been Cooper/Barnes or Barnes/Tapaui. Do you really want a potentially underdone Cooper to line up against the AB's for his first test back from the RWC? Do you really think it would be a good idea to have Taps come back from a broken collar bone with extremely limited S15 game time under his belt and to mark up against SBW in a black jersey?

This obsession we seem to have, to look for 'x-factor' (whatever the fuck that is) in every position in the backline has not bagged us a lot of trophies of late. The AB's aren't some enigma -what they do is very simple. And I certainly don't think that they will be thinking that all they have to do is turn up to win.

 

[Dave Beat]

Stability and Game plan will build success over time.
If I remember correctly McQueen's first tour was to Argentina and we left with our tail between our legs.
There was stability within the core player group, and well thought out game plans that were STUCK to.
He didnt walk into a team of stars, he built a solid team - Rod Kafer is a perfect example - a Keg on legs - who could read a game (5/8 or centre).
If we look at some of the players available today - they are very gifted - O'Connor, Beale, Cooper, Digby, Pocock, even Moore and TPN.
I suggest Cooper back at 5 / 8 now and build stability and continuity then;
How does Kafer / Herbert compare to;
Barnes / Horne.
Barnes / AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).
Finger / Horne
Finger / AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).
Taps / Horne.
Taps / AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)

Cheers,

 

[Jiggles]

Cooper isn't underdone, he had it on a string for Souths on Saturday.

 

[Braveheart81]

Horne should not be a Wallaby. He butchered a certain try and almost butchered a try because he has white line fever and seems to play for his own interests not the team's. His defense has slipped compared to previous seasons. There are better players in the squad that can fill that position. He'd be my third choice at best.

Ahh... I wonder how many years if ever, it will take for Horne to be forgiven for butchering a try.

If only we held our other Wallabies as accountable.

There seems to be a persistent expectation that the players in our most troublesome positions have to be close to the best on the field to be considered decent.

The reality is that the selections that people consider most dubious are only there because we are struggling to find an obvious choice in that position.

 

[No4918]

Deadset you lot are a negative bunch at times. Yes Finger at 12 wouldn't be my first choice but it's not a bad one. In every game that Ant lined up against SBW that I can remember, SBW went missing. Horne may have bombed a try against Wales but if he's on his game he should give Nonu something to think about as well.

Some common options thrown up here have been Cooper/Barnes or Barnes/Tapaui. Do you really want a potentially underdone Cooper to line up against the AB's for his first test back from the RWC? Do you really think it would be a good idea to have Taps come back from a broken collar bone with extremely limited S15 game time under his belt and to mark up against SBW in a black jersey?

This obsession we seem to have, to look for 'x-factor' (whatever the fuck that is) in every position in the backline has not bagged us a lot of trophies of late. The AB's aren't some enigma -what they do is very simple. And I certainly don't think that they will be thinking that all they have to do is turn up to win.

Finger has done a great job of shutting down SBW. From 13 though, not to say he can't from 12 but his best work is arguably at 13. Unlike Horne who is more likely to be found out defending against Nonu. Fruean easily got the better of him and i think the ABs centres will also, Wales never really tested him. Finger may be limited but his defence is always solid. The issue is we will need to score tries to win the TRC. We don't have the pack to defend and keep sides out for the 80 and these centres seem to be selected for defence.

Cooper at 10? Yes, everyday of the week.

Taps isn't seriously being discussed. A lot of the discussion seems to be as a long term 12 option and most would favour Barnes for this series.

People aren't being negative for the sake of it. There are positives - Genia, Pocock, Moore, Ioane and Beale. Too bad the last 2 won't see any ball out wide in space due to the centre selections.

 

[Scoey]

Cooper isn't underdone, he had it on a string for Souths on Saturday.

Yeah, I have heard he played well on the weekend but surely you aren't serious about..... Oh I get it. You're joking! LOL!

 

[tigerland12]

If Quade is not picked at 10 Deans should be sacked immediatly and banned from entering this country again.

 

[Scoey]

People aren't being negative for the sake of it. There are positives - Genia, Pocock, Moore, Ioane and Beale. Too bad the last 2 won't see any ball out wide in space due to the centre selections.

In the last 2 pages - this alone. I must've mistaken all these posts but I thought they sounded negative for the sake of it!

Too many blokes in that pack who don't do the hard yards. Back-line wont be scoring any tries either. At least this will be the last year of the Deans experiment.

Those centers won't cut it in the least against sbw and nonu IMO. Neither will they against JP and jdv
Backline will be let down there. All the rest are to a great standard. Horne will be brutally exposed. I would rather see taps at 12

Well, there goes the Bledisloe for another year... snip...This is looking uglier by the day.

With that back-line one thing is for certain. we wont be scoring many tries

It's an underwhelming squad, and we've lost Bledisloes with much better...

The Aus side posted in the article is designed not to lose badly against the ABs, not to have a go and win

I'm not saying we're going to win, and I'm not saying that the AB's won't put a cricket score on us either. But it just astounded me on the speculation from Bret Harris that Ant would step into 12, just how many people on here admitted defeat in TRC.

 

[Richo]

I'm not saying we're going to win, and I'm not saying that the AB's won't put a cricket score on us either. But it just astounded me on the speculation from Bret Harris that Ant would step into 12, just how many people on here admitted defeat in TRC.

Combined with the response to Horne being anywhere near the back line and you'd think the entire team had Ebola!

 

[Hawko]

In the last 2 pages - this alone. I must've mistaken all these posts but I thought they sounded negative for the sake of it!
I'm not saying we're going to win, and I'm not saying that the AB's won't put a cricket score on us either. But it just astounded me on the speculation from Bret Harris that Ant would step into 12, just how many people on here admitted defeat in TRC.

My post, at least, was not negative for the sake of it. It was negative because to win against NZ you have to have a gameplan that says more than "defend really well and play what's in front of you". The news that Ant Fainga'a was being considered for 12 clearly indicated that "don't let them score a try" was being considered as the totality of the gameplan.

I don't mean to suggest by saying this that Ant Fainga'a is a bad selection in isolation. Ant is roughly on par with other 12/13 contenders with acknowledged strengths and weaknesses. What is clearly in the front of Dean's mind is replacing like with like; ie a good defender with a good defender, and leaving the rest of the backline as it was against the Welsh. We all saw how totally devoid of attacking skills that backline was against a second tier team. To imagine that somehow this will all change when we front up against the number one team in the world is pure fantasy.

Not negative for the sake of it. Just realistic, having given some hard logical thought to what we need to do to beat NZ and comparing that with what Deans was actually planning to do.

 

[Dave Beat]

If Quade is not picked at 10 Deans should be sacked immediatly and banned from entering this country again.

AGREED, and I'd like to see Taps, and Andrew Smith in the Centre's

 

[Braveheart81]

If Deans picks a centre pairing of Ben Tapuai who has one test cap and has played about a half of a Super Rugby game since a long injury layoff and the uncapped Andrew Smith he should be sacked immediately.

 

[Richo]

Indeed, BH.

Just because Horne and Fainga'a aren't exactly wonderful doesn't mean the silver bullet is just sitting there ready to be loaded. I'd like to see Taps come off the bench for a few games and prove his worth first.

9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. Digby
12. Barnes
13. Horne (or Finger)
14. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
15. Beale

21. White
22. Tapaui

 

[Dave Beat]

If Deans picks a centre pairing of Ben Tapuai who has one test cap and has played about a half of a Super Rugby game since a long injury layoff and the uncapped Andrew Smith he should be sacked immediately.

I Cooper / Barnes /
Inside / Outside are 2 different positions running different angles with different distribution skills.
I was purely throwing another combo out there based on;
NSW - Horne people have accurately accounted on his 2012 form / AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) a could be # 13.
REBS - Inman he went okay / not a chance
FORCE - ??
REDS - Finger a could be but possible a better 12.
Brumbies - Smith and a very consistant season playing the whole year at 13.

Not saying Smith, just throwing it out there.
Horan / SBW are 12's - I dont see Barnes as a 12.

 

[TOCC]

Lets go a little bit crazy in the backline..

1. Robinson
2. Moore
3. Kepu
4. Sharpe
5. Douglas
6. Dennis
7. Pocock
8. Higginbotham
9. Genia
10. Beale
11. Ioane
12. Fainga'a
13. Horne
14. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
15. Cooper

16. Slipper
17. TPN
18. Simmons
19. Hooper
20. White
21. Barnes
22. Tapuai

 

[Jiggles]

Why take our best 10 and swap him with our best 15? Finger is better on defense than Horne and has a better distribution game, so you'd move him to 13. Barnes at 12 for the first test with Taps playing out the last 25 to see how he goes. Taps is a far better footballer than Barnes, but I'd like to see him eased into his test match career.