Wallabies 2019 Thread

[Viking]

We are going to lose a crucial World Cup game scoring 3 tries to 2 but missing kicks aren't we . All our options are pretty ordinary

I said in the match thread that Foley was kicking himself out of any chance of starting at 10.

Not sure who the commentator on Ten who kept going on about Foley handing off the goal kicking to To'omua.
Thought it was a ridiculous comment given Lilos (relatively poor) kicking record this year.

If Foley kicked 6/6 there may have been some pressure to get him in at 10, to not kick at all, (or to kick like Foley did) means there is no impetus for change at all.

JOC (James O'Connor)! He was always a decent kicker and handles pressure well. He's likely first choice 13 (To'omua won;t start), I hope he's been practising.

 

[Viking]

The test to me confirmed that most of our first choice side that didn't play are still the first choice side. A number of our backups confirmed that they will do the job if required but aren't likely to push for a spot in the starting XV.

Foley didn't do anywhere near enough to put pressure on Leali'ifano. His goalkicking in particularly was poor.

Dempsey had a strong game but so to did LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) in my view. I think our backrow will remain with LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) at 6, Naisarani at 8 and Hooper at 7. Pocock will most likely be in the 20 jersey.

Our starting backline will remain as it was against the All Blacks.

Genia, To'omua and DHP will probably be our backline reserves. It's hard to see Petaia getting a crack before the Uruguay game.

Agree that LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) had a strong game and if Dempsey hadn't played I would be happy to keep him at 6. However Dempsey did play and I think played better then LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto), so he should get a start.

Agree on the backline, although I'd love to see DHP start at fullback over Beale - with DHP the safer options with better kicking games, and Beale's impact off the bench against tiring defences.

 

[formerflanker]

JOC (James O'Connor)! He was always a decent kicker and handles pressure well. He's likely first choice 13 (To'omua won;t start), I hope he's been practising.

It's too late in the cycle to announce a new kicker.
Perhaps as a stopgap/injury replacement, but not first choice. Too much of a gamble.

 

[Viking]

It's too late in the cycle to announce a new kicker.
Perhaps as a stopgap/injury replacement, but not first choice. Too much of a gamble.

When both kickers have been consistently poor over the whole season, and rarely showed consistency in the past, then it's not really much of a gamble.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

JOC (James O'Connor)! He was always a decent kicker and handles pressure well. He's likely first choice 13 (To'omua won;t start), I hope he's been practising.

He's gotten Wobs home before.......

 

[Derpus]

He's gotten Wobs home before...

The things that kid could have achieved.

 

[RugbyReg]

It's too late in the cycle to announce a new kicker.
Perhaps as a stopgap/injury replacement, but not first choice. Too much of a gamble.

what? why? Surely you just pick the best kicker in the team. What impact does it have on the game plan, structure etc? He's just kicking goals.

 

[fatprop]

Not sure if goal kicking will be the definitive reason why Aus fails to get past the 1/4s over the next few weeks

 

[Derpus]

We really need to beat Wales because I can't see us beating England in the quarters.

 

[formerflanker]

what? why? Surely you just pick the best kicker in the team. What impact does it have on the game plan, structure etc? He's just kicking goals.

Assuming O'Connor hasn't been kicking whilst overseas, I'd hesitate to thrust goal kicking responsibilities on him irrespective of his training paddock form.
The "best kicker" theory needs match pressure success to properly compare abilities.

 

[TSR]

Not sure if goal kicking will be the definitive reason why Aus fails to get past the 1/4s over the next few weeks

If/when we crash out I doubt there will be a single definitive reason.

But the standard of our goal kicking across the board is below where it should be IMO and I would feel more confident if we were better equipped to punish other teams Ill discipline and to maximise the points available from conversions.

It appears just one of those issues where we have failed to properly develop over the last 10 yrs (since Mortlock??). That’s not aimed at a single player as I don’t think any of our front line kickers could be considered sharp shooters.

There seems to be some excellent kickers coming through, but they won’t help us now.

 

[Derpus]

Foley has had his strong periods with the boot and kicked key goals. I think he went nearly 20 in a row at one point.

Seems to have gone back off the boil though.

 

[cyclopath]

It is a concern that none of the current squad members considered "front-line" goal-kickers have been great this year. In Super Rugby, Foley was 79% and Leali'ifano 75% (which are OK, and comparable to other Super Rugby notables except Parker on 88%); I don't have To'omua's numbers from up north handy. Hodge is a bit of an unknown as he seems to get handed the long-range ones more often than "easier" ones, so getting his actual numbers is a guess. JOC (James O'Connor) is all very well, but it is unclear whether he will be a starter or benchie at the moment. In the Tests thus far, none have been great.
While I doubt our goal-kicking will make or break our campaign (I think out in quarters is likely), it won't help!
Leali'ifano is the obvious 10, so I hope he is wearing out a kicking tee in Japan soon! Maybe get White into it too!

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

World Cups are most often won on the strength of the set piece, defence and goal kicking. I hope the players who are options for kicking for goal have been practicing.

 

[formerflanker]

Our competitors in the 13 man game seem to consistently churn out high-percentage kickers.
Just a vibe I get from watching it on TV is the high 80's from each main kicker from every club.
Just this weekend I saw an on-screen statistic of success rate from each side of the field.
Sideline kicks seem to go over with significant regularity.
I don't have that sort of faith in our Test kickers and all points are valuable in a WC.

 

[BDA]

Our competitors in the 13 man game seem to consistently churn out high-percentage kickers.

Just a vibe I get from watching it on TV is the high 80's from each main kicker from every club.

Just this weekend I saw an on-screen statistic of success rate from each side of the field.

Sideline kicks seem to go over with significant regularity.

I don't have that sort of faith in our Test kickers and all points are valuable in a WC.

I think you need to factor in the variance of the goal kicks. NRL kickers are rarely taking penalty kicks (unless they're smack bang in front). 95% of kicks are from tries. They're not having to attempt penalty kicks from 40 metres out, 10 in from the side line. I imagine that makes practicing your kicking easier as you know that there is a finite number of places you'll be kicking from, as oppose to Rugby where you could really be kicking from anywhere. Taking those factors into account and I think you'd find the kicking pretty comparable in both codes.

 

[Show-n-go]

League balls are also easier to kick too, don’t go as far though

 

[Strewthcobber]

For what it's worth, NRL goal kickers average around 78% in 2018.

Super rugby kick % was 77%.

Conversion % was 74%, with Aussie teams at 73%. Penalty kicks were both up at 82%

 

[Bobby Sands]

Our competitors in the 13 man game seem to consistently churn out high-percentage kickers.
Just a vibe I get from watching it on TV is the high 80's from each main kicker from every club.
Just this weekend I saw an on-screen statistic of success rate from each side of the field.
Sideline kicks seem to go over with significant regularity.
I don't have that sort of faith in our Test kickers and all points are valuable in a WC.

It should be obvious at this point that rugby league is a truly professional code & Union is not, at least in this country.

 

[Bobby Sands]

I think you need to factor in the variance of the goal kicks. NRL kickers are rarely taking penalty kicks (unless they're smack bang in front). 95% of kicks are from tries. They're not having to attempt penalty kicks from 40 metres out, 10 in from the side line. I imagine that makes practicing your kicking easier as you know that there is a finite number of places you'll be kicking from, as oppose to Rugby where you could really be kicking from anywhere. Taking those factors into account and I think you'd find the kicking pretty comparable in both codes.

Nope, league place kickers are better. Australian Rugby has neglected all kicking skills for decades.

Reds are trying to address it by signing a full-time kicking coach.