Wallabies 2019 Thread

[Up the Guts]

Well.yeah, you can, for exactly those reasons.

Kid's a freak, but you don't play injured/unfit players. Unless he's fit and firing, he unfortunately stays behind and stews about missing the WC, then turns up to pre-season breathing fire and determined not to miss out on the next WC.

I’m not suggesting we take someone unfit. I’m saying I think he’s good enough to warrant selection (if available) despite missing Super through injury.

 

[Slim 293]

I think we have enough capable lineout callers in the 23 if we have Rodda, Jones, and even Arnold has called the lineout at the Brumbies............

 

[formerflanker]

Some great analysis here and it all stands or falls on the age old question - does selection follow the game plan, or do we create a game plan around the selected players?
For example, if the game plan revolves around kicking for the line and getting field position, our 6 will have to be a noted jumper. Jones and Simmons would be considered top choices.
At 5/8, if second man plays form the bulk of the rugby, Foley is your man. If we want bodies in motion and multiple options hitting gaps, Cooper has to be selected.

I wonder how much of the RWC game plan will be revealed in the RC/Samoa tests?

 

[Slim 293]

I would actually pick Simmons ahead of Coleman, but neither of them really deserve to be there on form............. and Simmons is not even the best performing lineout lock this year.

I don't believe he's required for his "lineout skills," and his inclusion/exclusion would have minimal effect on the dysfunctional Wallaby lineout.

 

[Brumbieman]

I’m not suggesting we take someone unfit. I’m saying I think he’s good enough to warrant selection (if available) despite missing Super through injury.

Oh 100%.

Lisfranc injury's are a real bitch though, and unless TK goes down I don't think we have a need to rush back a bloke who i'm hoping will anchor our backline down for the next 10 years.

Let it heal, make sure he's 100%, let him recover through the NRC, and let him unleash next year. He's still 19....

 

[Show-n-go]

For people picking Hooper starting and Pocock of the bench.......why???

What happens in the pretty likely event that Pocock subs on and proceeds to get injured?

Have Pocock start so if he gets injured we have Hooper to replace him. Surely Hoopers abrasive athleticism is better suited to later in the match anyway whereas Pococks skill set is better used at the start of a match when the tight stuff is at its peak

 

[Dctarget]

Decent team Brumbieman. I have two issues a) Uelese? i don't think he's shown enough to justify inclusion.

You sure you're not just nervous about losing a certain avatar wager? tick tock

 

[RugbyReg]

well for starters....Hooper is captain.

He's also the better player this season. Pocock is looking less and less a likely candidate. Samu firming.

 

[Show-n-go]

well for starters..Hooper is captain.

He's also the better player this season. Pocock is looking less and less a likely candidate. Samu firming.

So if Pocock goes on and gets injured, what do you do?

Just seems like a pretty big risk for something that has a super easy solution

 

[Brumbieman]

For people picking Hooper starting and Pocock of the bench...why???

What happens in the pretty likely event that Pocock subs on and proceeds to get injured?

Have Pocock start so if he gets injured we have Hooper to replace him. Surely Hoopers abrasive athleticism is better suited to later in the match anyway whereas Pococks skill set is better used at the start of a match when the tight stuff is at its peak

Precisely because it isn't.

Everyone has lots of energy early on = they arrive nice and early and full of ferocious energy at each ruck + they're faster so if you want your 7 to be a link player and run the ball a bit, he's gotta be fast and agile.

That's Hooper.


20/15/10/5 mins to go, when most players have tackled their heart out (Beale aside), run around a lot and are knackered - you're slower to the breakdown and have less strength and energy when you get there. The last thing you want to encounter in those moments is He-Man latched onto the ball like a limpet crab.

That's Pocock.

Imagine 15mins to go, game in the balance, you've ground you way up field for 15 phases and make it to 30m out from the Wallabies tryline, only to have Pocock (freshly off the bench) latch onto the ball and steal it and potentially concede a counterattack try, or concede a penalty that is then NOT GIVEN TO FOLEY TO KICK, but given to literally anyone else, and send you 40m back towards your own tryline.


"Ugh....start again!"

Those kind of events are genuinely sooo depressing, and they break the spirit of a team far more than conceding one 10 minutes into the game.

 

[Show-n-go]

Precisely because it isn't.

Everyone has lots of energy early on, they run out of energy late in games = they arrive nice and early and full of ferocious energy at each ruck + they're faster so if you want your 7 to be a link player and run the ball a bit, he's gotta be fast and agile.

That's Hooper.


20/15/10/5 mins to go, when most players have tackled their heart out (Beale aside), run around a lot and are knackered - you're slower to the breakdown and have less strength and energy when you get there. The last thing you want to encounter in those moments is He-Man latched onto the ball like a limpet crab.

That's Pocock.

Imagine 15mins to go, game in the balance, you've ground you way up field for 15 phases and make it to 30m out from the Wallabies tryline, only to have Pocock (freshly off the bench) latch onto the ball and either turn it over and potentially concede a counterattack try, or concede a penalty that is then NOT GIVEN TO FOLEY TO KICK, but given to literally anyone else, and send you 40m back towards your own tryline.


"Ugh..start again!"

Those kind of events or genuinely sooo depressing, and they break the spirit of a team far more than conceding one 10 minutes into the game.

I guess we just want different things from our backrowers

 

[Brumbieman]

So if Pocock goes on and gets injured, what do you do?

Just seems like a pretty big risk for something that has a super easy solution

So if Pocock starts and Hooper runs head first into Itoje in the first ruck and knocks himself out with 30 mins to go, what's the difference?

 

[Brumbieman]

I guess we just want different things from our backrowers

I want that Chinese geneticist who vanished recently to make a Toutai Read and a Quade To'omua too, but we have to work with what we have and plan accordingly.

Hooper's talents are faaar better suited to the first 50 mins, Pocock's to the final 30.

Neither are great Captains though, and that is one of the biggest issues we face right now, IMO.

 

[Show-n-go]

So if Pocock starts and Hooper runs head first into Itoje in the first ruck and knocks himself out with 30 mins to go, what's the difference?

Shit argument, pococks chances of getting injured are very high, hoopers are fairly low in the context of a contact sport/his injury history, it’s about risk management while still getting your ideal 23 on the park

And I just don’t agree that their skill sets are suited to the time periods you suggest

 

[KOB1987]

Shit argument, pococks chances of getting injured are very high, hoopers are fairly low in the context of a contact sport/his injury history, it’s about risk management while still getting your ideal 23 on the park

And I just don’t agree that their skill sets are suited to the time periods you suggest

I'm with the consensus on this one. Statistically the chances of Hooper getting injured are low, but the chances are high of Pocock getting injured especially if we try to get 80 minutes out of him. They are low if we are only trying to get 30 minutes out of him. If we want them both on the field at the end of the game, which I suspect is the way the Pooper will be played this year, then starting Hooper is 100% the correct thing to do. But I also concur that the likelihood of Poey making the RWC is diminishing daily.

 

[Braveheart81]

BH,I don't think I've ever see that suggested as a basis for selecting players. In some nightmare where it was to be used, do you just pick the best number of players from each team and put them together regardless of whether there are better in other teams in certain positions? Do you just ignore combinations?

Quotas won't weork in test selections. The Brumbies have been the best performed team in Super Rugby Aussie style this year and have earned a larger number of selections than other teams. If that number happens to be 23 (of course not) then so be it. Or if it is more like 8 or 9 then that is how it is. Right now, I would be hard pressed to name more than one or two Rebels and two or three Tahs who would warrant a spot come TRC. Reds will have a few more.

No, I'm not suggesting that. I'm responding to the suggestion that because the Brumbies are the best Australian side they should make up the majority of the Wallabies side. My point is that it is ridiculous to consider that an all or nothing proposition. There's no logic to suggest that a team winning 10 games vs 8 vs 6 vs 6 is overwhelmingly better across the park than the teams that won less games.

I don't know how you are getting down to only selecting one or two Rebels. I'd have thought just about every squad you have named would include Philip, Jones, Naisarani, Genia and DHP at a minimum. It is pretty clear that the Rebels have the best squad on paper and have underperformed this season. I think it is guaranteed that they will be over-represented in a Wallaby squad this year because I think they will have more players in it than any other team.

I'm unsure how you'd come up with more Reds than Waratahs or Rebels. Rodda and Kerevi would seem to be the only players likely to be in the starting XV. Tupou will be either in the best 23 or in the squad depending on whether he is picked above Kepu and LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) will probably make the squad (although unsure at this stage if he makes the 23). Naivalu would be the only other Red likely to make it in an initial squad but I think he will be hard pressed making the RWC because I think he is behind Koroibete and they are too like for like for both to make it.

 

[RugbyReg]

So if Pocock goes on and gets injured, what do you do?

Just seems like a pretty big risk for something that has a super easy solution

Ok, so let's say the team is:

8 Isi
7 Hooper
6 Jones

That's the team I'd pick.

Then have:

19 LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto)
20 Pocock

Pocock is not going to replace Hooper unless Hooper get's injured. Otherwise he replaces Isi or Jones. If he replaces Isi and get's injured then Jones goes to 8 and LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) comes on.

But if there is legitimate concern that Pocock is not fit and a high chance of injury (either starting or as a replacement) then he shouldn't be in the squad.

 

[Braveheart81]

So if Pocock goes on and gets injured, what do you do?

Just seems like a pretty big risk for something that has a super easy solution

If Hooper and Pocock are in the same 23 (which is likely if Pocock is healthy), Pocock won't be coming on to replace Hooper. He'll be replacing the 6 or 8. If you reversed that situation (Hooper on the bench) then it wouldn't change.

I can't see any situation where we pick a 7 on the bench and the planned backrow substitute is to replace the starting 7.

 

[Mudslider]

Can this really happen ! Unbelievable this is laughable .. do results not matter, is anyone holding Cheika to account ? Can he just sign his mate onto a yes man gig in Tokyo RWC...

Cheika has told the players that they don’t need to be concerned who will come in for Larkham, only that he has someone in mind.

Ahead of the Super Rugby season Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle indicated that their preference would not be to disrupt the four franchises.

But all the indications are that the attack coach, at this late stage, will come from Super Rugby.


His former assistant, Daryl Gibson, shapes as a likely fit given that he was the man that had the Waratahs’ attack humming in 2014 when Cheika was at the helm in 2014.

 

[Mudslider]

If Hooper and Pocock are in the same 23 (which is likely if Pocock is healthy), Pocock won't be coming on to replace Hooper. He'll be replacing the 6 or 8. If you reversed that situation (Hooper on the bench) then it wouldn't change.

I can't see any situation where we pick a 7 on the bench and the planned backrow substitute is to replace the starting 7.

Must say Pocock isn’t playing any rugby for 5 months... and is a huge risk... he has played more games for his Japan team than the Brumbies or Wallabies over the past two years, we just pay the medical bills here... I say sign on a proven in form player from this super rugby season...