Try-ranosaurus Rex
Darby Loudon (17)
TOUCH SOME WOOD IMMEDIATELY
Wallabies 31 Man Squad
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TOUCH SOME WOOD IMMEDIATELY
BDA
Jim Lenehan (48)
As I see it there are really only five viable options for the final prop spot.
1. Palmer
2. Sio
3. Cowan
4. Holmes
5. Ryan
Holmes is probably out, because the selectors are apparently not big fans. Sio I think is probably too green (probably EOYT material). Cowan has probably been the pick of the bunch this year, but I'm not sure we need another LH specialist. TH is more likely to be the area we will come under pressure because we don't appear to have a genuinely strong scrummaging TH prop (although I think Slipper, Kepu and Alexander are all fairly solid at TH). If we are blown out of the water in that area in the first test we may want to bring in a specialist TH to stem the flow. I think Palmer fits the mould. Ryan is much more well rounded but lets face it, the 5th props in the squad is unlikely to see a lot of game time, and barring a major injury toll (touch wood) definitely won't be starting. To that end, I'd opt for our most technical TH, Palmer. At most he'll play 30 minutes in a game and he can be fairly industrious over that period of time. Keep in mind we already have two of the most mobile props in test rugby in BennyA and Slipper.
Tiddly Winks.
Little is it known that Slipper, Kepu and Alexander make a formidable tiddly winks team. They destroyed Tana Umaga's team recently.
Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
The playing field has changed (the goal posts moved?) in relation to the props now that there will be two on the bench. Two reserves allows two specialists to be chosen. Versatility is no longer such an important consideration. Of course, that doesn't mean that Deans will recognise the change.
RoffsChoice
Jim Lenehan (48)
At the moment, I'd be expecting Paddy Ryan over Dan Palmer. Similarly, expect Ben McCalman over Fotu, Schatz and Quirk. If there is an additional lock, Hugh Pyle or Sam Carter. More likely is another Hooker, namely James Hanson.
There will probably be two scrum halves in the next six. Depending on how Phipps goes against the Reds and the Brumbies, it could be Phipps and Burgess or White and Burgess.
Chances are there won't be another 10 - Barnes and O'Connor will be seen as enough and as we all know, Deans is okay with players out of position (See JOC (James O'Connor) at 10 in 2010), so we'll probably see Lealiifano at 10 before we see another 10 in the squad.
There will probably be another winger - Drew Mitchell is the best bet for reasons known.
So I expect the next 6 will be
Hanson, Ryan, McCalman, Phipps, Burgess, Mitchell.
There will probably be two scrum halves in the next six. Depending on how Phipps goes against the Reds and the Brumbies, it could be Phipps and Burgess or White and Burgess.
Chances are there won't be another 10 - Barnes and O'Connor will be seen as enough and as we all know, Deans is okay with players out of position (See JOC (James O'Connor) at 10 in 2010), so we'll probably see Lealiifano at 10 before we see another 10 in the squad.
There will probably be another winger - Drew Mitchell is the best bet for reasons known.
So I expect the next 6 will be
Hanson, Ryan, McCalman, Phipps, Burgess, Mitchell.
Ash
Michael Lynagh (62)
Damn, shows how little I know about rugby. I was certain that it was Tight Wad. Everyone knows that the props are the cheapest guys in the team, probably because they spend all their pay on beer and pies.
I think some versatility will still be valued. The current position of Australian propping stocks sees Robbo, Slipper and Alexander as clearly better than the other options.
I'm not sure who will start out of Alexander and Slipper at THP but my guess is that Deans will be looking to get as much of the 160 minutes in each test out of those three as possible.
Potentially we could see whoever is on the bench out of Slipper and Alexander coming on for whoever needs replacing after half time and the remaining starting prop going as close to 80 minutes as possible before being replaced. This tactic will work better if Alexander is a bench prop as he's probably a better LHP than Slipper and Slipper is a better THP than Alexander.
If this tactic is used then the fourth choice prop also needs to be versatile as they could come on at either position in the last 10 or so minutes.
I like to watch
David Codey (61)
Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
I agree that either Benny A or Slipper will start at TH; I would prefer Slipper and keep Alexander as cover for LH. Then a specialist TH should be on the bench to cover for Slipper. I don't see any need for another versatile prop to be included. The same goes for Alexander starting at TH, but then Slipper would be the LH cover.
youngone
Allen Oxlade (6)
I (shortsightedly surely) find it funny that people/I/we are picking benches based on rational decision making when Deans will do nothing of the sort.
Try-ranosaurus Rex
Darby Loudon (17)
Nope. That's what you call a cunning, theiving halfback.
Dumbledore
Dick Tooth (41)
Just on Timani quickly. I was having a look at some stats and he's virtually leading player for 'first into' rucks at the Tahs. He's first in 9.5 times per match, he's only behind Cliffy Palu who's first in 9.8 times a match. Just found it interesting, given how often he gets talked up as being lazy, while Douglas' hard work in tight is praised. Douglas, by comparison, is 'first into' rucks 2.7 times per match, the second lowest on the entire team. Horwill is on 7.4, Simmons is on 5.4, Pyle is on 6.6. The only other lock who even comes close to Timani is Luke Jones with 8.6.
I reckon Deans wants to play very much a ball-in-hand, possession-heavy style of play. Timani's ruck involvement could well be what got him picked. Anyone got any explanation for why Douglas' numbers are so low? He's making 10.9 tackles a game, but that's still lower than Timani's 11.8. Timani even averages 9.4 runs per game compared to Douglas' 3.2. The numbers are suggesting Timani's workrate is at least double that of Douglas, so why does he get abuse while Douglas gets praised?
I reckon Deans wants to play very much a ball-in-hand, possession-heavy style of play. Timani's ruck involvement could well be what got him picked. Anyone got any explanation for why Douglas' numbers are so low? He's making 10.9 tackles a game, but that's still lower than Timani's 11.8. Timani even averages 9.4 runs per game compared to Douglas' 3.2. The numbers are suggesting Timani's workrate is at least double that of Douglas, so why does he get abuse while Douglas gets praised?
en_force_er
Geoff Shaw (53)
Where do you get these states Dumbledore?
Dumbledore
Dick Tooth (41)
en_force_er
Geoff Shaw (53)
Sounds a nice counter-intuitive find, but could it be an effect of the Tahs pod system? I.e Timani is first to the ruck because his job is to sit next to the ball runner ready for the clean out? Might be worth looking at the pattern. Also might be worth seeing how effective / what type the clean out is.
Scott Allen's talked about Dennis' rate to Rucks quite a bit
USARugger
John Thornett (49)
He could be first in to every ruck in the match and it still wouldn't matter. I had to watch the past several rounds of Waratahs games a few times for that Waratahs bit on the front page and either his technique is awful or he is very lazy. He does a lot of flopping around at ruck time.
If you watch the clip of Adam Jones at ruck time that Scott used in his first LIONS THREATS article it is nearly identical to how Timani hits most breakdowns.The difference in physicality in that area changes a lot when Skelton comes on.
If you watch the clip of Adam Jones at ruck time that Scott used in his first LIONS THREATS article it is nearly identical to how Timani hits most breakdowns.The difference in physicality in that area changes a lot when Skelton comes on.
Bruwheresmycar
Nicholas Shehadie (39)
In a nike sweatshop in Africa, they simultaneously stream super15 rugby games. So in between jobs the workers record Waratahs breakdown entry stats.
And if they get enough time they record the number of steps the players take. Those "KM's ran" statistics you sometimes see aren't the result of GPS tracking, it's the number of steps a player takes multiplied by the average distribution of stride lengths that player has against an opposition of that nationality.
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