Wallabies 2023

[KevinO]

I hear Scott Robinson is looking for an international gig

I'd love to snag him just to annoy the 75% of ABs fans that want fozzie gone, plus they would be stuck with him for longer. Double win.

Considering his said he wants to win the world cup with 2 different nations, sign him up on a 5 year deal and go you have 2 attempts before you get to move onto your second nation.

 

[KevinO]

And the teams lurking above us on the list don't have the NRL and AFL competing with them to secure talent

Ireland have it worse, GAA control the parish. Some clubs still don't allow kids to play both football and rugby, and a lot more kids play football then Rugby. It's the same as here where it's a private schools thing.

 

[dru]

We are where we are and changing the coach is not going to help. We have a lot of young talent coming through, particularly at 10, and the future looks pretty good.
At times when you are short in a position for any given generation you either hold on to an older player who can still perform(like Sexton) or you throw a young up and comer into the roll too early. Rennie has done both. It was the previous two coaches who failed to bring a couple of decent 10s through and keep them around.
DR has tried both approaches with limited success. It has to be said that the best rugby of DRs tenure has been played with Quade Cooper at 10 and Kerevi at 12. Both unavailable right now.
So we feel some pain in the short term but hopefully come out the other side of that better equipped.
Rugby Australia has a role to play as well. Walking away from Super Rugby and the NZ provincial sides will not help.

You had me all the way up to the last sentence.

 

[Joe Blow]

You had me all the way up to the last sentence.

You think it will help?

 

[Froggy]

Some people here have an illusion of Australian rugby based purely on the period 1998 to 2001. That is the outlier, not the current time. For most of my life (67 years) we have probably been between about 4 and 8 in the world. I, like everyone else here, would love to see us climb back to the top of the game, but expecting us somehow being there as a right really flies in the face of reality.
I played the game, loved it, and will support the Wallabies, thrilling at the highs and battling through the lows. It's not because the coaches are rubbish, or RA gets it wrong all the time, or the players aren't trying, it's just that often we simply aren't good enough. If you can't deal with that, go follow cricket or hockey where we win most of the time.

 

[qwerty51]

Some people here have an illusion of Australian rugby based purely on the period 1998 to 2001. That is the outlier, not the current time. For most of my life (67 years) we have probably been between about 4 and 8 in the world. I, like everyone else here, would love to see us climb back to the top of the game, but expecting us somehow being there as a right really flies in the face of reality.
I played the game, loved it, and will support the Wallabies, thrilling at the highs and battling through the lows. It's not because the coaches are rubbish, or Rugby Australia gets it wrong all the time, or the players aren't trying, it's just that often we simply aren't good enough. If you can't deal with that, go follow cricket or hockey where we win most of the time.

There's also a good reason Aus was so successful just after 1995. The NRL and AFL aided us there, their professionalism helped us transition to a professional program quicker than everyone else. As time went on, everyone caught up.

It does us no good to say it's possible to return to the glory days just because we did it before.

 

[Tomthumb]

Some people here have an illusion of Australian rugby based purely on the period 1998 to 2001. That is the outlier, not the current time. For most of my life (67 years) we have probably been between about 4 and 8 in the world. I, like everyone else here, would love to see us climb back to the top of the game, but expecting us somehow being there as a right really flies in the face of reality.
I played the game, loved it, and will support the Wallabies, thrilling at the highs and battling through the lows. It's not because the coaches are rubbish, or Rugby Australia gets it wrong all the time, or the players aren't trying, it's just that often we simply aren't good enough. If you can't deal with that, go follow cricket or hockey where we win most of the time.

We won the 1991 World Cup…

 

[dru]

You think it will help?

The disjunction is that an NZR with power will not do anything that isn't actively to their own benefit. Which is fine. We should also only be interested in what is to the benefit of rugby in Australia. If you can do that we should absolutely stick with NZ.

It isn't working out that way.

 

[Joe Blow]

We have some good talent coming through. We may not be a dominant side in the next RWC but hopefully go deep into the playoffs.
The key will be having most of our first choice players available.

 

[eastman]

Well putting all their egg's in the 34 year old injury prone players basket didn't really work out did it?

We were never winning a world cup with Quade, so I don't see the down side of building with the young guys from 2020 onwards. We are already at an all time low, how much worse could the young guys be?

I don’t understand the criticism of bringing in Quade Cooper- he’s demonstrated on the field that he is by far our best flyhalf and the results have shown this- shouldn’t it actually be considered a success?

Why should Rennie have selected a younger fly-half, who ultimately would likely be an inferior player to Quade?

 

[Tomthumb]

I don’t understand the criticism of bringing in Quade Cooper- he’s demonstrated on the field that he is by far our best flyhalf and the results have shown this- shouldn’t it actually be considered a success?

Why should Rennie have selected a younger fly-half, who ultimately would likely be an inferior player to Quade?

Because history would have suggested that Quade would get injured, which unfortunately he did. Leaving us with our pants down a year out from the world cup

it’s short term thinking. There needed to be a more long term view to the world cup. Just like playing Paenga-Amosa when he was leaving and picking Simone when he was leaving. Rennie doesn’t think more than one game ahead, which is problematic when you are supposed to peak every 4 years

 

[wamberal]

it’s short term thinking. There needed to be a more long term view to the world cup. Just like playing Paenga-Amosa when he was leaving and picking Simone when he was leaving. Rennie doesn’t think more than one game ahead, which is problematic when you are supposed to peak every 4 years

The coach is caught between a rock and a hard place. He has to win every game that he can NOW as well as develop the playing resources for the RWC.

He knows he will be criticised whatever he does. The only facet of his tenure that I could possibly criticise would be the injury toll, and even that is speculation, not based on any special knowledge.

 

[Tomthumb]

The coach is caught between a rock and a hard place. He has to win every game that he can NOW as well as develop the playing resources for the RWC.

He knows he will be criticised whatever he does. The only facet of his tenure that I could possibly criticise would be the injury toll, and even that is speculation, not based on any special knowledge.

He doesn't have to win every game. The guy has a 39% win rate and has zero pressure, they are even talking about an extension

Rennie has been giving more rope than any tier 1 coach in history. The welsh want Pivac sacked, the Scots want Townsend sacked, ditto the Kiwi's and even the english to a certain extent. Rennie is teflon

 

[Joe Blow]

Because history would have suggested that Quade would get injured, which unfortunately he did. Leaving us with our pants down a year out from the world cup

it’s short term thinking. There needed to be a more long term view to the world cup. Just like playing Paenga-Amosa when he was leaving and picking Simone when he was leaving. Rennie doesn’t think more than one game ahead, which is problematic when you are supposed to peak every 4 years

Thats rubbish. Lolesio, Hodge and now JOC (James O'Connor) have had opportunity to play as well. Lolesio has played a lot over the past two years and not shown enough. The other younger 10s are much less ready than him. Pulling Quade back in was a shrewd move and if he gets fit quickly no doubt DR will look at him again before the RWC. He will now look at Foley to see if he is an option. Both Lolesio and JOC (James O'Connor) currently look underwhelming.
The coach and selectors can only choose from those available. DR widened the net. Full credit to him

The World Cup is next year. It is not a long term prospect.

 

[Derpus]

He doesn't have to win every game. The guy has a 39% win rate and has zero pressure, they are even talking about an extension

Rennie has been giving more rope than any tier 1 coach in history. The welsh want Pivac sacked, the Scots want Townsend sacked, ditto the Kiwi's and even the english to a certain extent. Rennie is teflon

So what do you want? sack him and get Jake White in as a place holder until the RWC?

I dont think Rennie has done anything wrong - we just kinda suck a bit right now. Particularly with a full 23 of injuries. We've always been a few key injuries away from being uncompetitive and we've got a whole team out.

 

[Tomthumb]

This idea that Lolesio hasn't been good is way overplayed. He was at 10 when they beat France in a test series. They looked a lot more organized with him at 10 vs England than the dross we saw vs Argentina. Half the guys tests starts are against the All Blacks with poor forward play in front of him and a coach that clearly doesn't trust him

 

[Tomthumb]

So what do you want? sack him and get Jake White in as a place holder until the RWC?

I dont think Rennie has done anything wrong - we just kinda suck a bit right now. Particularly with a full 23 of injuries. We've always been a few key injuries away from being uncompetitive and we've got a whole team out.

So if the results and performances are not anything to do with Rennie, then how exactly can we know whether he is a good coach or not?

If we suck regardless, lets just get a cheap coach in and save some money

 

[Derpus]

So if the results and performances are not anything to do with Rennie, then how exactly can we know whether he is a good coach or not?

If we suck regardless, lets just get a cheap coach in and save some money

Sacking people is very expensive. Particularly if they earn a lot and you don't have any reason to sack them.

So, yeah. Next idea?

 

[Viking]

I agree that Rugby works on world cup cycles, which is why it infuriates me that almost 3 years after he got the job we still haven't developed a 10 or a 15 and are recalling 33 year old Kurtley Beale and 32 year old Bernard Foley to save the day

He's throwing mud up against a wall and hoping it sticks

Maybe he is doing exactly what is right for Lolesio's development. Chucking an under developed 10 into the wolves could be the worst thing to do which could hinder his confidence and development. Serving an apprenticeship under the like of Cooper or more experienced players may be exactly what will accelerate his development.

And there wasn't exactly any other options to develop. Last year it was Lolo or Harrison. Edmed, Donaldson weren't realistic options (and probably still aren't),

JOC (James O'Connor) had a good super season, so I'm not sure why he wouldn't be considered over a player with no or little super rugby caps.

 

[Tomthumb]

I'm not saying we should sack him, I'm asking why did we bother signing him in the first place?

This loser mentality is what's crippling Rugby in this country. How can we expect players to put expectations on themselves if fans don't even care