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Wallabies 2012 Championship Squad

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Richo

John Thornett (49)
Settle down.

Pretty much all the names are Bret Harris's words, not TT's. Harris asks "Will Rob Horne take McCabe's place?" Totality says, "Someone will step up. Rob Horne is there. We've still got some other options." All the rest is Harris.
 

waratahjesus

Greg Davis (50)
So we are taking a mediocre 13, and shoving him into a position he has never played at in either Super Rugby or tests. against the All Blacks.
.

We're taking agood 13 with great upside and possibly moving him into a position he played during the word cup that one time.

Our centers are all mediocre and offer nothing other than individual talents in certain areas while average in others and very little for a team.
 

Scotty

David Codey (61)
Actually the more I think of it we should run with the following three players through the play making positions:

Cooper
Barnes
Tapaui

Taps will need to come up to fitness, so may only be a 50 minute proposition at the start, but he isn't going to get fitness any other way.

Start with either of these combinations:

Barnes & Taps
Cooper & Barnes

with either Cooper or Taps off the bench with 30 to go.
 

Reido

Sydney Middleton (9)
So we are taking a mediocre 13, and shoving him into a position he has never played at in either Super Rugby or tests. against the All Blacks.

The sad thing is that these types of decisions don't even shock me any more.

The only thing that shocks me is that Dingo didn't make the decision to move Horne to 12 before McCabe got injured. That would have been totally moronic....I mean normal...as it makes no sense.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
I remember the criticism (myself included) when McCabe was brought into the test team at 12. Now he's become one of our consistent performers.

Not everything Deans has done has been ridiculous.

Still, I'd be playing Cooper at 10 and Barnes at 12 given McCabe's injury.
 

Swat

Chilla Wilson (44)
So we are taking a mediocre 13, and shoving him into a position he has never played at in either Super Rugby or tests. against the All Blacks.

The sad thing is that these types of decisions don't even shock me any more.

Well he did start against the yanks in the RWC at 12, although that would hardly be super level anyway.
 

Scotty

David Codey (61)
I remember the criticism (myself included) when McCabe was brought into the test team at 12. Now he's become one of our consistent performers.

Not everything Deans has done has been ridiculous.

Still, I'd be playing Cooper at 10 and Barnes at 12 given McCabe's injury.

I think we are talking up McCabe's wallaby form a little bit too much. Consistent? Maybe. Consistently above average - not really.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
The reality though is that a year ago he was probably the most maligned player in the team.

Now, most people would find a spot for him.

He's by no means a world beater yet, but he's certainly come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Given our dearth of good centre options, he's proven himself to be a pretty solid choice.

So far he's certainly done more than Horne or Fainga'a with the chances he's been given. Aside from the game against France in 2010, he's probably shown more in the centres than AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) has. I still think most of AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s best games have been on the wing.
 

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
I think we are talking up McCabe's wallaby form a little bit too much. Consistent? Maybe. Consistently above average - not really.

No, he was quite good in the Tri Nations, and was a key player in our QF win against South Africa in the RWC.......

And he played quite well in the Welsh series too........
 

Reido

Sydney Middleton (9)
No, he was quite good in the Tri Nations, and was a key player in our QF win against South Africa in the RWC...

And he played quite well in the Welsh series too....
Bryce Lawerance was the key player in the QF of the world cup.

On a serious note, McCabe's effort was commendable also. He showed immense courage to play the way he did with his injury.

When fit, I'd put him at 13 and put Sookface at 12.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
A bit too much focus on the backs at the moment.

The real concern is whether the pigs can get near the AB pack for 80 minutes, I have my doubts with no Horwill & Palu

With no Palu, I'd say that Timani's chances of getting picked ahead of Simmons improve greatly.

I'd also say that Hooper is more likely to get a spot on the bench to give us the two fetcher option late in the game.
 

Scoey

Tony Shaw (54)
I doubt this forward talk will catch on, as I'm sure there's more about midfield combo's we can discuss but I agree, without Horwill & now Palu, we may struggle up front against the Darkness and the Boks.

Front 3: Kepu, Moore, Robinson
Middle 4: Pocock, Sharpe, Simmons, Higgers
Back 1: Fotu

Spares: Slipper, TPN, Timani, Mowen, Dennis

We clearly struggle without a replacement lock that is as abrasive as Big Kev, but the big problem is at 8. I like what Fotu does there. Runs fucking hard and doesn't give an inch. Whether he could do it against the AB's? We'll see but he's worth a shot.

I have also included Sharpe and I'm not certain why. He had a great season with the Force and did a heap of work v Wales but he was just so predictable. Against the AB's and Saffas I think you could do worse than someone younger like Pyle?
 

Scoey

Tony Shaw (54)
Against a likely AB's pack made up of:
Franks x 2?
Hore
Tameifuna
Thomson
Retallick
Read
Messam
Romano
McCaw
Maybe a Whitelock or two
and Vito.

Holy shit.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Fotu Auelea hasn't been in any of the squads. He'd be 1000 to 1 to play in the opening Bledisloe Cup game at this point.

In the forward pack, I think Robinson, Sharpe, Dennis, Higginbotham and Pocock are the absolute definite starters at this stage.

TPN and Moore would seemingly still be a contest. The absence of Palu probably again works in TPN's favour due to his ball running.

Timani and Simmons would seem the frontrunners for the second lock position based on the June tests, but potentially the training camps could change that.

Kepu is probably the starting THP but who knows. Slipper could come into the equation. Alexander seems likely for a bench spot because they always seem to pick him. I'd take Kepu and Slipper though.
 

Swat

Chilla Wilson (44)
For those people who would like to play berrick at 12 outside of quade, would you play JOC (James O'Connor) at 12 if fit?
To me this seems more like the logical choice, I don't think JOC (James O'Connor) offers any less in defence that berrick and offers more in attack.
 
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