Wallabies 2023

[The Ghost of Raelene]

I'm more tempted to put T.Hooper on the bench with Leota. Arnold has offered nothing IMO and Hooper can play in the 2nd Row (199cm, 122kg) listed size even though I don't know where he's hiding 10kg. He's just not a 7 and it's not his fault but he's going to get a reputation he doesn't deserve.

 

[Dctarget]

I'm more tempted to put T.Hooper on the bench with Leota. Arnold has offered nothing IMO and Hooper can play in the 2nd Row (199cm, 122kg) listed size even though I don't know where he's hiding 10kg. He's just not a 7 and it's not his fault but he's going to get a reputation he doesn't deserve.

Biased but I want big Philip in.

 

[KOB1987]

Biased but I want big Philip in.

It's not a biased opinion.

 

[wamberal]

Also this 100% his fault but we said at the time his assistants are pretty much nobodies. They should also be copping it. That's probably the biggest issue for me.

Be fair. Surely all the good support staff are on contracts through the RWC?

 

[PhilClinton]

Be fair. Surely all the good support staff are on contracts through the RWC?

The idea there are no decent coaches around until after the RWC is a fallacy.

If this is seriously just a 'smash and grab' mission to try and win a RWC, why not call someone like Thorn and get him involved for 6 months?

 

[KevinO]

Biased but I want big Philip in.

Even as a Rebel fan I don't understand this, Philip runs to high and does not do much for impact going forward. His D is good but I would have Hosea in the squad ahead of him. Thought he was unlucky to miss out and Philip was lucky to make it.

 

[Braveheart81]

The idea there are no decent coaches around until after the RWC is a fallacy.

If this is seriously just a 'smash and grab' mission to try and win a RWC, why not call someone like Thorn and get him involved for 6 months?

Thorn wasn't available when the appointments were being made.

I think this is why it's difficult to decide you're just bringing in the Super Rugby coaches for this season. They're focused on Super Rugby at the time when you need to be getting all your planning done because once the players are available and the test season starts all that planning work already needs to be completed.

It's also compounded by the fact that unless there happens to be the person you really want, you're not offering anyone enough tenure to really make the role attractive because you want to have another go at hiring after the RWC when there's a lot more coaches on the market.

 

[Dctarget]

Even as a Rebel fan I don't understand this, Philip runs to high and does not do much for impact going forward. His D is good but I would have Hosea in the squad ahead of him. Thought he was unlucky to miss out and Philip was lucky to make it.

Hosea? Hosea did absolutely nada this season, I was singing his praises from the rooftop last year but really disappointed this year. Have to disagree on Philip's runs, I always thought it was his strength.

 

[KevinO]

Hosea? Hosea did absolutely nada this season, I was singing his praises from the rooftop last year but really disappointed this year. Have to disagree on Philip's runs, I always thought it was his strength.

He didn't play last season, when a runner gets held up constantly and gets to ground a few seconds later. The opposition is defensively set and the next phase has little to no impact. Your not moving the ball quickly, your not making large meters past the advantage line, and your giving the opposition time to align in defense.

It's a complete weakness for the team in attack, you either need to get tackled and recycle the ball quickly, or you keep gaining meters to put the D on the back foot. When you fail to do either at this level your just killing your teams chances of creating gaps and opportunities.

 

[NoName]

Absolutely, and you need to wonder how much of a contributing factor it is in our poor performances against the Kiwi teams, particularly as we are often within reach at half time and then get run over in the second half. From memory in Cheika's case in 2019 he had stipulated to the Super coaches he wanted them to up their fitness regimes, and when they came into camp it was apparent that no one had taken any notice of him.

Negative talk about how the players train during the regular season just ends up with a shadow ban (or at the very least ridiculously long page load times )

 

[Mr Pilfer]

As Wallabies fans we just have unrealistic expectations which is understandable with the hype etc. The year we finally win back the Bledisloe Cup is going to be the same year that we win Super Rugby and have 2 teams in the semi's and the same year where we beat Argentina. It won't be a year like this where we spent the whole year with 4 out of our 5 super rugby teams getting flogged.

Maybe we should be organizing more games against the lower ranked nations (Japan, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, USA, Japan etc) and then we could win 7 or 8 out of 10 games in a season and develop more of a winning culture and mentality.

 

[KOB1987]

As Wallabies fans we just have unrealistic expectations which is understandable with the hype etc. The year we finally win back the Bledisloe Cup is going to be the same year that we win Super Rugby and have 2 teams in the semi's and the same year where we beat Argentina. It won't be a year like this where we spent the whole year with 4 out of our 5 super rugby teams getting flogged.

Maybe we should be organizing more games against the lower ranked nations (Japan, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, USA, Japan etc) and then we could win 7 or 8 out of 10 games in a season and develop more of a winning culture and mentality.

Agreed - something realistic would be half our games against teams ranked above us, the other half against those below us and aiming for a 60% win rate. I know it would be hard to schedule that exactly but set the goal based on where we are ranked against who we are slated to play against. None of this Pulver-esque pie in the sky bullshit where we are going to beat everyone and go to number 1 in the world with the only change being his own appointment and everything else staying the same, or declining.

 

[stillmissit]

Has any Wallabies coach lost the faith of the Australian supporter base faster than Jones?

For clarity sake I’m not advocating for Rennie to have kept on, but geez some of his media comments and then these results have really turned things into a shit show.

I suspect Eddie will be gone after the RWC and maybe Mclennan too. So I'm betting on a new coach for the new year.

 

[stillmissit]

Skimming through the posts, it strikes me we are in a very tight spot where players can be shuffled and changed but it won't change much. We need to pick a team and hope to get them to play together well enough to get us out of our pool, which is starting to look less definite than it did.

 

[Dctarget]

Any more news on Michael Hooper's injury? He seemed so sure he'd be healthy for Bled 1 but no show and now confirmed not going to NZ for Bled 2. Not looking great.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Eddie is now the 2nd straight Wallabies coach that has found it necessary to attempt to boost the fitness levels of the players coming from Super Rugby

Some serious questions need to be asked about the work (or lack thereof) being done by the Super teams when it comes to getting players up to speed

Super rugby players aren't trained or coached for a smash and grab. They have a longer season and need to be able to survive many more games. I don't know how that exactly transpires but I'm pretty sure there could be different fitness requirements. Anyone have some insights to share?

 

[Tomthumb]

Super rugby players aren't trained or coached for a smash and grab. They have a longer season and need to be able to survive many more games. I don't know how that exactly transpires but I'm pretty sure there could be different fitness requirements. Anyone have some insights to share?

The NZ players that play in the same comp don’t require as much extra fitness training

 

[Tomthumb]

Agreed - something realistic would be half our games against teams ranked above us, the other half against those below us and aiming for a 60% win rate. I know it would be hard to schedule that exactly but set the goal based on where we are ranked against who we are slated to play against. None of this Pulver-esque pie in the sky bullshit where we are going to beat everyone and go to number 1 in the world with the only change being his own appointment and everything else staying the same, or declining.

Stop all this “poor us” talk

if Ireland can be the best team in the world, so can we. If Wales can win a grand slam, we can surely go a year without being embarrassed by NZ

 

[KOB1987]

Stop all this “poor us” talk

if Ireland can be the best team in the world, so can we. If Wales can win a grand slam, we can surely go a year without being embarrassed by NZ

In principle I agree with you, but it’s going to take more than someone just saying it. There are a lot of things that need to be actioned and they all involve money, lots of it.

 

[HogansHeros]

Its suprising to me that our players would be unfit... didnt the changes to super rugby this year (time limits on scrums, penalty kicks etc) mean we had more time in play and a faster game. Surely our players should have seen some benefit in this?
Maybe another reason the Aussies struggled against NZ sides this year.