Wallabies 2023

[wamberal]

https://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby/wallabies-prop-taniela-tupou-would-love-to-stay-in-australia-beyond-his-current-contract/news-story/134505768d136d84eb02ffe25a510357

Hopefully.

Could be a negotiating tactic, cynical old me!

 

[LeCheese]

https://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby/wallabies-prop-taniela-tupou-would-love-to-stay-in-australia-beyond-his-current-contract/news-story/134505768d136d84eb02ffe25a510357

“Hopefully the Reds are keen to have me here for the next few years.

Interesting callout, given the persistent rumours over the last 18mo that he’s unhappy at the Reds.

 

[fatprop]

Interesting callout, given the persistent rumours over the last 18mo that he’s unhappy at the Reds.

Sometimes players/managers measure "keenness" by the size of the contract on offer

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

I think there's a big chance for changes in QLD if results aren't good which I would say means finishing outside of the top 2 Australian teams. Could be in his mind. There's always the Force... A players last stop before going overseas

****Sorry to bring up coach chat

 

[RugbyReg]

Interesting callout, given the persistent rumours over the last 18mo that he’s unhappy at the Reds.

he'll get a Japan sabbatical contract offered for sure.

 

[Adam84]

Japan haven't normally thrown big money at props, but most props aren't like Tupou

If it's a long term contract, The Super Rugby club he signs with will depend largely on which one allows him to take the most sabbatical's

 

[fatprop]

Japan haven't normally thrown big money at props, but most props aren't like Tupou

If it's a long term contract, The Super Rugby club he signs with will depend largely on which one allows him to take the most sabbatical's

He hasn't exactly demonstrated lately a large load of durability

Playing more rugby per year will be an interesting gambit for him.

There were comments he was unhappy with the workload/minutes expected of him at the Reds as well

 

[emuarse]

I have only heard that he is a prick of a human but if he gets us to the final he can phone me at 3am and screams FFFFF's at me as long as he likes.

Whatever turns you on....

 

[Wilson]

Japan haven't normally thrown big money at props, but most props aren't like Tupou

If it's a long term contract, The Super Rugby club he signs with will depend largely on which one allows him to take the most sabbatical's

The when is probably a key component of that too, I imagine there's probably a push for a 2024 sabbatical which would be 2 seasons in a row without him from a Reds perspective, followed by a Lions year when RA will likely look to rest him and manage his load. You have to question the value in it for them at that stage, particularly if there's another sabbatical in 2026.

Probably easier for another side to justify paying early to get him in, particularly if they're in need of star power. The Reds calculation right now might be Tupou or Kerevi from 2024 onwards, and who they can get the most value out of on reduced minutes.

 

[Adam84]

The rumours previously suggested Reds were willing to support 1 sabbatical in a multi-year contract, but Rebels were dangling 2

 

[Wilson]

Yeah, there's no value in 2 sabbaticals for the Reds unless RA covers the bulk of it and it's largely exempt from the cap. On a contract through 2027 that would only get them two reduced load seasons (25 Lions tour, 27 World cup). Any cap burden in that and squad management becomes impossible with this big chunk fluctuating in and out of the available spend, let alone the straight cost of it.

 

[rodha]

Yeah England looked great

To be fair, you can't expect Borthwick to work miracles overnight, Eddie left the team in a utter diabolical mess, it's the worst state an England team has been in the professional-era, which is a sad reflection of the chaotic disharmonious environment Eddie produces:

​

Steve Borthwick: The England I inherited from Eddie Jones weren’t good at anything

Steve Borthwick said that the England team under Eddie Jones “weren’t good at anything” as he plots a big rebuild after defeat in their opening Six Nations gam

www.thetimes.co.uk

​

"I've been frank from day one in saying there's a lot of work to do,” he said after the loss at Twickenham. "When I looked at the team in the autumn, when I got all the data for the team, we weren't good at anything..."

There's multiple areas that we have tried to change. You saw some improvement in the scrum, which I was pleased about, because it has been ranked as the worst scrum in Tier One rugby [in 2022]"

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

2011 was pretty bad. A player jumped off a ferry

 

[Qldtragic]

Yeah, there's no value in 2 sabbaticals for the Reds unless Rugby Australia covers the bulk of it and it's largely exempt from the cap. On a contract through 2027 that would only get them two reduced load seasons (25 Lions tour, 27 World cup). Any cap burden in that and squad management becomes impossible with this big chunk fluctuating in and out of the available spend, let alone the straight cost of it.

do we really think he has the durability to be around in 4/5 years with the same impact as he does now? For mine he has a 2 to 3 year of high perfromance.

 

[Tex]

Japan haven't normally thrown big money at props, but most props aren't like Tupou

If it's a long term contract, The Super Rugby club he signs with will depend largely on which one allows him to take the most sabbatical's

Tangent but there's a cool doco called "Big In Japan", details westerners who develop cult status over there.

Taniela could become bigger than godzilla if he plays it right, and that's got absolutely nothing to do with his on field prowess.

 

[John S]

To be fair, you can't expect Borthwick to work miracles overnight, Eddie left the team in a utter diabolical mess, it's the worst state an England team has been in the professional-era, which is a sad reflection of the chaotic disharmonious environment Eddie produces:

​

Steve Borthwick: The England I inherited from Eddie Jones weren’t good at anything

Steve Borthwick said that the England team under Eddie Jones “weren’t good at anything” as he plots a big rebuild after defeat in their opening Six Nations gam

www.thetimes.co.uk

​

"I've been frank from day one in saying there's a lot of work to do,” he said after the loss at Twickenham. "When I looked at the team in the autumn, when I got all the data for the team, we weren't good at anything..."

There's multiple areas that we have tried to change. You saw some improvement in the scrum, which I was pleased about, because it has been ranked as the worst scrum in Tier One rugby [in 2022]"

So, were Australia just unlucky to lose a series to an England who "weren't good at anything" back in June? Or were they good at things back then and dropped the bundle in 5 months?

Surely it's not just all Eddie?

 

[PhilClinton]

do we really think he has the durability to be around in 4/5 years with the same impact as he does now? For mine he has a 2 to 3 year of high perfromance.

The benefit Tupou has is that he's in a position where he's not expected to keep up his current work rate for the length of his career.

Once he starts to lose some of that explosiveness, you'd hope he starts moving his attention towards the more technical aspects of propping.

There have been far less talented props who've gone on to have careers well into their 30s.

 

[Qldtragic]

The benefit Tupou has is that he's in a position where he's not expected to keep up his current work rate for the length of his career.

Once he starts to lose some of that explosiveness, you'd hope he starts moving his attention towards the more technical aspects of propping.

There have been far less talented props who've gone on to have careers well into their 30s.

The issue is that the game is evolving rapidly and what we expect props to do now is markedly different to other eras. There will always be the new kids coming in with more speed, more size, more skills and bigger work rates that will entice the selectors.

 

[TSR]

The issue is that the game is evolving rapidly and what we expect props to do now is markedly different to other eras. There will always be the new kids coming in with more speed, more size, more skills and bigger work rates that will entice the selectors.

Very few props are expected to produce the explosive efforts Tupou is though, but most are expected to counter that with higher work rate and accuracy. The game evolves all the time but I don’t think we are suddenly going to see a bunch of props with Tupou’s power & Ala'alatoa’s work rate.

 

[LeCheese]

The issue is that the game is evolving rapidly and what we expect props to do now is markedly different to other eras. There will always be the new kids coming in with more speed, more size, more skills and bigger work rates that will entice the selectors.

I'm not sure we'll someone of Tupou's size and skillset for a while tbh. Provided he stays reasonably healthy, he'll be impactful for as long as he keeps playing.