Wallabies 2020

[Cancelled Account]

HaHAHA!!!

Love your work RR (nil sarcasm). Hooper god help us. DHP really? So it comes to two.

Hooper seems to slide right in there every time. Wright and To'omua would work well together.

 

[Cancelled Account]

It’d be foolish to send Wright out against the ABs as captain with one bench cap. He might well be test captain in the future but the pragmatic thing to do is let him establish himself in the side first. It’s still up for debate whether or not he will be starting.

Wright is a born leader but does need player cred. I’d like to at least see him as vice or leading when (if) captain is off field.

 

[rugboy]

I'd say if Campbell can get into the squad he'd be good enough at training and we'd have enough games against weaker opposition to see him at least get a red hot go plus Rennie seams the type of coach to give a player an opportunity when it's viable (he doesn't shy away from selection dilemmas). Keep in mind we are apparently expecting a handful of Australia-A games, plus the Argies are kinda screwed, and South Africa might be sending a weaker squad than they normally would (if they come at all) and both have had very little game time. Also Campbell has been at least arguably the form fullback in the comp (sure when you only consider his time at 15).

It would take a big turn around for Rennie to go from telling Campbell he still has aspects of his game he needs to work on before making the wallabies squad to then end up selecting him as part of any 23 ahead of the few options already has.

 

[Purce]

[MOD] Play the ball, not the man!

Yes from my viewing of him, he makes mistakes and isn’t good enough to warrant making that number of mistakes and still be selected - Seems like the Wallaby coaches agree in some part otherwise he’d be in the Wallabies squad..but he isn’t

I don’t need to have an in-depth analysis of a player to have an opinion

It is interesting because he actually stands out to me as the 15 who makes the least mistakes. That is included in the fact that he does the little things well, has great hands and vision. At 15 he has certainly made less mistakes than Maddocks and Banks this Super AU season. I'd guess DHP too as I saw him make a few Barries in the games he had.

I think maybe that Tahs game Campbell made a few mistakes (like the whole team) but apart from that no other games stand out to me where he made errors at 15.

He did not play well on the wing as he is not a winger so I do not bring that into the conversation for if he should feel a little hard done by not being included as a 15. Pretty much everyone here has conceded that he is the form 15 in Oz rugby.

Again I do not think he has the size for test rugby at the moment, needs to add another 5kgs and keep his speed/explosiveness. Maybe that is what Rennie has told him? Maybe they think we will be better served by having 4 months in the gym building bulk and explosiveness rather than running around in the squad? I've got NFI. It would probably be the best thing for his INTL chances though.

DHP first for me then Banks/Maddocks then a distant 4the spot to Hodge. I wouldn't have Hodge near my starting 15 and doubt I'd have him in my 23 pending injuries.

 

[Purce]

If
If he can’t play fullback he’s got no chance of being a good flyhalf. He doesn’t have the game smarts IMO.

He can play fullback though, in fact he is a hell of a fullback.

I am particular about what skills a quality flyhalf and fullback should portray. NZ selectors have nailed it, with a fullback playing as the second playmaker and kicker. I don’t see anything in Campbell’s game inspiring to this level of rugby IQ. Just my opinion and possibly Rennie’s looking at his squad which I wouldn’t change one player he has selected.

I'll also add here that this boggles my mind. He is by far the closest thing we have to a B Barrett or D Mac at 15. Easily the best ball playing 15 with the greatest vision. There are limits to his game however these certainly aren't them.

I actually agree with you on the type of 15 we should have. Hence my confusion at what you are not seeing in Campbell. Also one of the reasons I always thought "He who shall not be named" should have been on the wing not at 15.

P.S. also agree with you on Grealy. He will likely be @ 15 or wing in a couple years. Very talented kid.

 

[Purce]

ZC I reckon, tongue half in cheek, that JOC (James O'Connor) is the best No 15 for the Reds this year. It really seems to me that JOC (James O'Connor) is positioned in the fullback spot whenever the Reds are not in possession. He seems to take the large bulk of opposition kicks in general play and does most of the return kicking or running it back to set up the next plays. Jock has been almost invisible in those aspects of the Reds' play during SRAu.

The Reds play a 2 fullback defensive pattern with the 10 as the 2nd fullback, not because they are trying to hide a 15. Much like many NZ super teams as well as the AB's. Also why their scramble defense is soo good because they have 2 fullbacks already back then the 9 coming across and the blind winger working hard as the ball moves across the backline.

Campbell usually takes the ball back to the line and does the kick chase if wingers are up in the line. JOC (James O'Connor) usually hangs back after he returns a kick.

 

[upthereds#!]

Uelese seems the most likely to miss out due to injury - for me that means Latu is a foreign call up.

What do we need most? I think it's Lock/Hooker/Centre in that order

If you must secure Latu then it's between lock and centre.

If the preference is for a centre (Kerevi), then we can always internally promote a lock in Blyth, or bring Naisarani back in.
If the preference is for a lock (Arnold/Skelton), we can always internally promote a centre in Kuridrani.

 

[TSR]

Some very interesting comments on here about Campbell - especially given he isn’t actually in the squad and, by and large, most of his supporters seem fine with that (me included). I do wonder though how all of us can watch the same guy and see something completely different. They beauty of passionate fans.

Regardless of Campbell’s credentials, I do thing the fullback spot will be one of the more interesting. For various reasons, there are questions marks for me over each of the contenders in the medium term -
- DHP is stand out first choice for me, but his question mark is his fitness. Hopefully just a couple of niggles which he can shake off. He is a player that has been given permission to enjoy a sabbatical. In the medium term will this open the door for Hodge? Also, is he a viable option for the next WC?
- Maddocks - the rocks and diamonds option. Arguably the highest ceiling but seems to have real problems with dropping his head when things aren’t working. Hopefully he finds consistency with a bit of maturity - if he does he’ll be a star. If not - I’d rather pass.
- Banks - I dunno, for all the comparisons to Latham, Banks has fallen a long way short of the hype. Current form maybe injury related, possibly harshly treated by Cheika, but he’s never grabbed the opportunity. Problem for him is he is 26 now and whilst that means he still has years as a pro, Maddocks is the younger option. I feel it’s pretty much now or never I think for Banks. (Incidentally Campbell may face a similar issue given he is already 25).
- Hodge - something of the ugly duckling of the contenders, but does have some really good qualities for the role. He’s my back up for DHP right now because I just think he’s a more solid option at the moment than the other two. But I can’t see him being more than an solid fill-in to be honest

Whilst I’ve nominated Hodge as first back up, if DHP is out, I won’t be surprised to see Maddocks get the gig because, if they can fix his head space, he’s well and truly worth the investment.

In any case I think the fullback spot will continue to attract plenty of discussion - particularly if the Wallabies struggle and we need someone to hold to account.

 

[Joe Blow]

Uelese seems the most likely to miss out due to injury - for me that means Latu is a foreign call up.

What do we need most? I think it's Lock/Hooker/Centre in that order

If you must secure Latu then it's between lock and centre.

If the preference is for a centre (Kerevi), then we can always internally promote a lock in Blyth, or bring Naisarani back in.
If the preference is for a lock (Arnold/Skelton), we can always internally promote a centre in Kuridrani.

What is the latest news on the injuries from the weekend? They have some time to recover, particularly the Rebels players.

 

[upthereds#!]

What is the latest news on the injuries from the weekend? They have some time to recover, particularly the Rebels players.

I haven't seen any media release regarding the scan results of Uelese (shoulder) and To'omua & DHP (groin)

 

[Number 7]

The Reds play a 2 fullback defensive pattern with the 10 as the 2nd fullback, not because they are trying to hide a 15. Much like many NZ super teams as well as the AB's. Also why their scramble defense is soo good because they have 2 fullbacks already back then the 9 coming across and the blind winger working hard as the ball moves across the backline.

Campbell usually takes the ball back to the line and does the kick chase if wingers are up in the line. JOC (James O'Connor) usually hangs back after he returns a kick.

Good point. In some respects having JOC (James O'Connor) at 10 but playing him as the second fullback as the Reds do solves another selection problem on the wings. It allows you to play two non-kicking wingers in Koroibete and Daugunu with more confidence which I think would give us some more attacking grunt.

 

[RugbyReg]

Wayne Smith suggest McReight over Hooper in two separate articles this morning (1 suggesting he could even be captain). Is it just a 'push a Reds strategy' or do we reckon he knows something and is being used to soften the shock once it happens?

 

[Up the Guts]

I can see Hooper being dropped after the Naisarani stuff around. McReight as captain seems ridiculous.

 

[fatprop]

Wayne Smith suggest McReight over Hooper in two separate articles this morning (1 suggesting he could even be captain). Is it just a 'push a Reds strategy' or do we reckon he knows something and is being used to soften the shock once it happens?

clearly he will be the first player picked to play in the first bled

 

[Derpus]

McReight as captain would be a bit random.

 

[TSR]

I can’t really see either, TBH. And certainly not the captaincy scenario. That seems fun foil hat stuff.

 

[KOB1987]

The article wasn’t suggesting Hooper would be dumped as captain. It was suggesting Wright or McReight might be made co-captain for the games Hooper isn’t playing in. Bit it was all pretty speculative as to who it would be.

 

[Dctarget]

Bloody exciting though isn't it. We're not going to elevate from 7th by doing the same old. Sounds like Rennie has got his vision and is gunning for it.

 

[wamberal]

If the captain is not Hooper, it will be challenging to choose a replacement who is likely to hold his place in the XV for the foreseeable future.

 

[Up the Guts]

If the captain is not Hooper, it will be challenging to choose a replacement who is likely to hold his place in the XV for the foreseeable future.

Has to be To'omua doesn’t it?

But then Rennie says he sees him as a 10 not a 12. I’m hoping we don’t stuff around with the selections too much a la Foley at 12, there’s enough talent there we don’t need to try for left field unicorn picks.