Wallabies 2023

[Adam84]

Does anyone have any insights into how the Aussie Super Rugby teams fared with injuries last year (ie 2022)? How many attributable to training or S&C aspects? Can't recall if the Brumbies suffered those types of injuries and it seems to me that the Brumbies players with the Wallabies have by and large avoided those issues also. Might be worth a look?

At a glance of the key wallabies

Sio(shoulder), AAA(head), Porecki(head), Fainga’a(head), Valetini(Hamstring & ankle), White(head), Banks(arm), Lolesio(Ankle & head), Neville(knee), Probably a few more missed in there/not reported.

 

[Dctarget]

At a glance of the key wallabies

Sio(shoulder), AAA(head), Porecki(head), Fainga’a(head), Valetini(Hamstring & ankle), White(head), Banks(arm), Lolesio(Ankle & head), Neville(knee), Probably a few more missed in there/not reported.

Did Porecki move down the Hume?

 

[Slim 293]

Did Porecki move down the Hume?

Good acquisition… the Brumbies are a bit short on hookers.

 

[Adam84]

Yeah guys honest mistake… heaven forbid someone would mistake thinking a Wallabies hooker is from the Brumbies

 

[Viking]

OK, stats time again. I've gone back through the stats from every test this year looking solely at penalties and TOs conceded.

Let's look at penalties and start with our most disciplined.

10 players used this year did NOT give away a penalty. That includes the likes of Vunivalu, Donaldson, Pollard, Simone, Gleeson and Perese who played less than a half of rugby.

The best of the others are:

Samu Kerevi - 0 penalties in 240 minutes
Tom Banks - 0 in 167
Sio - 0 in 101
Hanigan - 0 in 98

That Sio stat is pretty impressive given he is in a traditionally penalty rich position.

Looking at a Minutes per Penalty perspective, the best of the rest are:

Petaia = 335 (1 penalty in 335 mins)
Hodge = 304
Ikitau = 294 (3 in 884 mins)
Frost = 216
Samu = 204

Impressive stuff by the two forwards there.

At the other end of the scale we have:

Robertson with a penalty every 8.5 minutes (only played 34 mins).
Quade and Pone at 23.50 (both only played 47 mins)

Then we get into the ones that have played real minutes. Most of these shouldn't surprise but they are still concerning.

Tupou gives a penalty away every 30.17 minutes
Slipper - every 34 minutes (has given away the most penalties overall with 21)
Skelton - every 37.33 mins
Porecki - every 37.42
Bell - 37.60

They are the ones giving away a penalty every half they play.

But now to add in turnovers and we come up with a minutes per stuff up (with a multiplier for yellow cards and red cards so not a pure per minute thing, but more an indicator of ill-discipline).

Focusing on the players with over 100 mins of test footy this year the top most disciplined are:

1 - Sio = in 101 minutes of footy, has not conceded a penalty or given away a turnover.
2 - Arnold = 160 mins per stuff up
3 - Kerevi = 120
4 - Valetini = 84.27
5 - Banks = 83.50
6 - Samu = 81.80
7 - Nawaqanitawase = 80

On the other end of the scale:

1 - O'Connor = 15.25 mins per stuff up
2 - Gordon = 19.54
3 - Tupou = 27.85
4 - Skelton = 28
5 - Foley = 29.15 (only 2 penalties but 11 turnovers!)
6 - Slipper = 29.75
7 - Swain = 29.92
8 - Porecki = 29.93

they are the ones making a mistake every half an hour of test footy.

To take it one further step, the most disciplined team we could pick based on form this year (min 80 mins of game play) would be:

15 Tom Banks
14 Mark Nawaqanitawase
13 Len Ikitau
12 Samu Kerevi
11 Andrew Kellaway
10 Noah Loloesio
9 Nic White
8 Rob Valetini
7 Pete Samu
6 Ned Hanigan
5 Matt Philip
4 Rory Arnold
3 Allan Ala'alatoa
2 Lachlan Lonergan
1 Scott Sio

9 from the Brumbies this year

No Fainga listed. But Porecki one of the worst. Very interesting.

 

[Viking]

Yeah guys honest mistake… heaven forbid someone would mistake thinking a Wallabies hooker is from the Brumbies

Connal McInerary to be the dark horse starter in 2023.

 

[Slim 293]

There's still a few days to add to the list...

The Wallabies' 2022 casualty ward

Izack Rodda
Pre-existing foot injury, unavailable all year.

Harry Johnson-Holmes
Ruptured Achilles in training ahead of England series.

Jed Holloway
Calf injury during training before England series, returned against Argentina.

Ned Hanigan
Pre-existing knee injury aggravated during training before England series.

Tom Banks
Broken arm in first England Test.

Quade Cooper
Calf injury in warm-up for first England Test.

Andrew Kellaway
Hamstring injury during training after first England Test.

Izaia Perese
Knee injury during second England Test.

Cadeyrn Neville
Knee injury during second England Test.

Jordan Petaia
Concussion in second England Test, returned against Argentina.

Len Ikitau
Calf injury during England series, returned in third England Test.

Angus Bell
Toe injury in third England Test.

Scott Sio
Shoulder injury before Argentina tour.

Quade Cooper
Shoulder injury before Argentina tour.

Hunter Paisami
Concussion in training before second Argentina Test.

Samu Kerevi
Knee injury in Australian sevens Commonwealth Games campaign.

Dave Porecki
Concussion in training before first Argentina Test.

Folau Fainga'a
Head clash in training with Rob Leota.

Rob Leota
Head clash in training with Folau Fainga’a.

Michael Hooper
Left Argentina tour, citing ‘mindset’ issues.

Taniela Tupou
Calf strain, ruled out of South Africa match in Sydney.

Noah Lolesio
Concussion, ruled out of Bledisloe series.

Rob Leota
Ruptured Achilles tendon in first Bledisloe match.

Matt Philip
Sternum injury in first Bledisloe match.

Scott Sio
Hamstring injury in first Bledisloe match.

Lalakai Foketi
Shoulder injury in second Bledisloe match.

Jed Holloway
Hip injury in second Bledisloe match.

Bernard Foley
Concussion in second Bledisloe match.

Angus Bell
Aggravated foot injury, out for season.

Pone Fa’amausili
Hamstring injury in Australia A clash.

Matt Philip
ACL injury before spring tour.

Jordan Petaia
Adductor injury before Scotland game.

Pete Samu
Back injury before Scotland game.

Allan Ala'alatoa
Concussion in Scotland match

Tom Banks
Ankle injury against Scotland, sent home.

Lalakai Foketi
Shin injury against France, sent home.

Nick Frost
Ankle injury and illness before Italy game.

Hunter Paisami
Knee (MCL) injury against Ireland, sent home.

Dave Porecki
Concussion against Ireland, sent home.

Rob Valetini
Ankle injury against Ireland, sent home.

Taniela Tupou
Ruptured Achilles against Ireland, sent home.

Andrew Kellaway
Toe injury against Ireland, sent home.

Nic White
Concussion in Ireland game, sent home.

Michael Hooper
Concussion in Ireland game, sent home.

40 men down: ‘Alarming’ Wallabies injury toll to be reviewed

The Wallabies will finish their season against Wales with coach Dave Rennie needing to draw upon almost his entire spring tour squad to field a team.

www.smh.com.au

 

[qwerty51]

HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) did his in Wallabies camp didn't he?

So that's 4 Achilles whilst under Wallabies and 0 from Super Rugby. Not to mention all the calf strains.

This is 99% on the Wallabies S&C.

Broken bones, concussions, ACLs are probably just luck.

 

[Wallaby Man]

HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) (Harry Johnson-Holmes) did his in Wallabies camp didn't he?

So that's 4 Achilles whilst under Wallabies and 0 from Super Rugby. Not to mention all the calf strains.

This is 99% on the Wallabies S&C.

Broken bones, concussions, ACLs are probably just luck.

let’s not forget the Rebels and Reds injury toll this season was shocking as well. Rebels had 16 players out the week that they played the Drua in week 4 or 5

I agree it looks an S&C issue but is it a Super Rugby issue and not prepping players for training/playing demands of int rugby or wallabies S&C? It might be a bit if both, standards at Super Rugby not good enough and the int team pushing players not prepared for the standards too hard. They say most injury proofing happens with pre-season which is Super Rugby run.

 

[Braveheart81]

They say most injury proofing happens with pre-season which is Super Rugby run.

Most of these guys don't really do much of a preseason though because they are on the EOYT.

It's all well and good to blame the Super Rugby sides for not conditioning players enough but when is that meant to happen when the test players only join the squad a month before the first Super Rugby game?

 

[dru]

Most of these guys don't really do much of a preseason though because they are on the EOYT.

It's all well and good to blame the Super Rugby sides for not conditioning players enough but when is that meant to happen when the test players only join the squad a month before the first Super Rugby game?

You do it in their recovery program on return from injury.

 

[Braveheart81]

You do it in their recovery program on return from injury.

How? The period where players are being pushed their hardest physically is right now leading up to Christmas.

You can't really push someone to their limit to build that fitness and strength when you are trying to bring them back from injury. It's the opposite. You're ramping them up from a low base.

 

[D-Box]

There is a challenge between Super Teams and National from a S&C perspective. The staff at Super Teams have the the goal of getting teams humming at the start of Feb and peaking around June. At the national level we want to peak (most seasons) around August giving no real recovery between the two. Next year potentially works better for the two peaks (June and then mid September)

At the moment the super squads will be doing a lot of base type work - stamina and size. The Wallabies players will be coming back with the stamina but will miss the opportunity to build size as they come back in early Jan to more strength focused sessions.

The sequencing of the Northern Hemisphere season would be much easier from a S&C perspective.

 

[gel]

S&C isn't the only thing that can lead to injuries

Rennie said a while back that the players were underprepared when they came into the international team. He didn't specify what was underprepared.

(Can't link it for easy reference right now, sorry)

 

[Derpus]

S&C isn't the only thing that can lead to injuries

Rennie said a while back that the players were underprepared when they came into the international team. He didn't specify what was underprepared.

(Can't link it for easy reference right now, sorry)

Pretty sure Cheika said the same thing.

 

[D-Box]

But from reports it is lack of fitness (linked to club S&C) and to counter it they are putting big loads into players where clubs have just tried to get them to peak. While not perfect high workloads, and in particular a rapid increase in load is associated with soft tissue injuries

 

[gel]

But from reports it is lack of fitness (linked to club S&C) and to counter it they are putting big loads into players where clubs have just tried to get them to peak. While not perfect high workloads, and in particular a rapid increase in load is associated with soft tissue injuries

Not saying that's not true, I just haven't seen those reports from within rugby Australia or the coaching group

Just underprepared.

Match fitness?

There is no indication of this wallaby team, or any of the super rugby teams fading in the last 20, and none of them look "Qld Reds 2014-2016" pudgy.

They look gym and aerobically fit.

Seen plenty of "gosh, I have no idea where to put my head in this tackle, ruck, maul" injuries though.

*Edit* - not doubting your reports at all, btw - I just haven't seen them. I can hardly criticise your view if I can't be arsed to provide the links myself to where Rennie said the underprepared bit. Wtf do I know, I'm just some guy with a phone.

 

[Adam84]

But from reports it is lack of fitness (linked to club S&C) and to counter it they are putting big loads into players where clubs have just tried to get them to peak. While not perfect high workloads, and in particular a rapid increase in load is associated with soft tissue injuries

Regardless of where they are in club level, it's still poor S&C at the Wallaby level if they're overloading players in the process of trying to increase their fitness once in Wallaby camp. A slightly less fit player is still better then an injured player, as a coach they could tailor the game plan to reflect fitness levels as many other nations do.

Alternatively manage the workloads of the players who are lacking fitness better, put them through dedicated S&C programs away from match conditions. But from what the casual observer can see, we haven't see any of that. If anything, we've seen the opposite where players were promoted into the matchday squad whilst still carrying lingering issues.

 

[D-Box]

Regardless of where they are in club level, it's still poor S&C at the Wallaby level if they're overloading players in the process of trying to increase their fitness once in Wallaby camp. A slightly less fit player is still better then an injured player, as a coach they could tailor the game plan to reflect fitness levels as many other nations do.

Alternatively manage the workloads of the players who are lacking fitness better, put them through dedicated S&C programs away from match conditions. But from what the casual observer can see, we haven't see any of that. If anything, we've seen the opposite where players were promoted into the matchday squad whilst still carrying lingering issues.

Yep - poor management in return which is on the whole of the performance and medical staff, or if the coach is overfilling them the coaches

 

[Wallaby Man]

One benefit Ireland and NZ have is their union appoints the S&C at club level, so it’s essentially the same program all year. Whereas we have issues with the Super Rugby clubs wanting/prioritizing something the national team might not value etc. and vise-versa.