Another dimension - with Phipps pulled into the Wallabies squad the Rebels are left with one halfback for the game against the Brumbies Friday night. Damien Hill has previous said he wouldn't draft Luke Burgess unless he loses a halfback to injury - maybe Deans is forcing Hill's hand here?
Wallabies 31 Man Squad
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Brumby Jack
Steve Williams (59)
Clearly a ploy to get Burgess game time before the 1st Test.
At least White will know some Wallabies moves after training with them this week.
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Was their any word after White last year left the Wobs camp and had surgery after sitting on the bench?
Was he actually too injured to play or was Deans just not picking him/playing him?
gold heart
Ted Fahey (11)
deans has invited white to training this tuesday, ffs......beale got invited too, they both should have been in the squad for different reasons but this whole squad selection is a load of bull. 25 get invites, 3 get dropped, 3 come in, a couple of extras get special training invitations and we are waiting for another 6 guys to make up the numbers or maybe 4 or maybe 10..... kind of reminds me of girl's tenth birthday party - now lets see who should i invite next as robbie contemplates life??? 
ffs have a decent squad of 36 guys to begin with and oppose each other in training
ffs have a decent squad of 36 guys to begin with and oppose each other in training
qwerty51
Stirling Mortlock (74)
He did not get one minute of game time in the Wales series so he opted for surgery after Super Rugby finished to be back early. As far as I know, the injury did not prevent him from playing at all. His reasoning was basically, why bother warming the bench for nothing, I'll get my surgery done now. Of course no one was to know Genia was going to go down shortly after.
gold heart
Ted Fahey (11)
Why is it no good? Because I have just had a new flatscreen set up downstairs near the bbq with setanta all connected.... and I had encouraged the better half to go out with the girls this Wednesday night so I could watch the big fella make his comeback - that is why its no good.
Whilst McCalman is a bit of a strange selection, I think the reasoning behind it is that he's another backrower who can play in the second row at a pinch.
MMM is still not ready and Dennis injured his hamstring to some degree on Friday night.
I think there is a clear plan to have both Hooper and Gill in the matchday 23 and also maintain a 5:3 bench split. To achieve this we really have to play a reserve who covers 4/6.
Whilst I'd definitely argue that selecting Dennis or McCalman in a Wallabies team is a weaker option in that particular position than several of the alternatives, I believe it is seen as a necessary evil to select two opensides in the matchday 23.
Obviously the upside of being able to do that is considered better than the downside of having to select a 4/6 who isn't in spectacular form.
MMM is still not ready and Dennis injured his hamstring to some degree on Friday night.
I think there is a clear plan to have both Hooper and Gill in the matchday 23 and also maintain a 5:3 bench split. To achieve this we really have to play a reserve who covers 4/6.
Whilst I'd definitely argue that selecting Dennis or McCalman in a Wallabies team is a weaker option in that particular position than several of the alternatives, I believe it is seen as a necessary evil to select two opensides in the matchday 23.
Obviously the upside of being able to do that is considered better than the downside of having to select a 4/6 who isn't in spectacular form.
Richo
John Thornett (49)
I think that's the logic, yeah. Hooper showed on Friday how capable of breaking open a game he is and Gill must be close to the form Aussie forward of the competition. They are also very different players, which means they can be on the field at the same time.
But how good are Dennis and McCalman at locking in the scrum? That's what worries me the most. Lions feed, 5m out, a handful of minutes on the clock in a tight game...
Ignoto
Peter Sullivan (51)
With Digby's fitness being borderline, you'd have to seriously wonder whether JOC (James O'Connor) will be shifted to the wing and Barnes at 10.
MarkJ
Bob Loudon (25)
Another possible theory on White's non-selection - is Deans actually doing the Brumbies a favour by not bringing White into the squad yet? As I understand it if White had been named in the squad now, he wouldn't have been available for the Rebels game.
Wasn't there some talk earlier in the season about making some allowances for teams that were in contention for the finals?
Wasn't there some talk earlier in the season about making some allowances for teams that were in contention for the finals?
Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
He's pissed TPN and Timani aren't available
FIFY.
ACT Crusader
Jim Lenehan (48)
Is Tomane and Cummins under a cloud also?
It's very hard to keep up with who's fit and who's not.
I would not be surprised to see Barnes at 10, as much as it is very tough to watch, I think with other factors at play JOC (James O'Connor) may be needed on the wing.
I guess one thing in Deans favour is that JOC (James O'Connor) at 10 is hardly a Nathan Grey at 10 experiment
ACT Crusader
Jim Lenehan (48)
Sorry FP, yeah I think they deserve selection no doubt, but isn't one or both of them carrying an injury?
Scott Allen
Trevor Allan (34)
gold heart
Ted Fahey (11)
could not agree more
So, given that many posters here would agree with the premise of having both Gill and Hooper in the matchday 23, how do we pull this off given the following circumstances:
a) only five forward reserves (three of which are a full front row
b) MMM is not an option
Assuming that Higginbotham is out for the first test, do you start Mowen at 6, Palu at 8 and put a genuine lock on the bench?
The upside is you have a specialist lock reserve and if Mowen comes off early, you have to play Gill and Hooper for the rest of the game. If Palu comes off early, you have to move Mowen to 8 and then have Gill and Hooper at 6 and 7.
The potential downside is that you could be forced to play a really small backrow for too much of the game.
The upside is that you have a specialist lock on the bench and the ability to play two 7s has no downside if you're not forced to take Mowen or Palu off early.
a) only five forward reserves (three of which are a full front row
b) MMM is not an option
Assuming that Higginbotham is out for the first test, do you start Mowen at 6, Palu at 8 and put a genuine lock on the bench?
The upside is you have a specialist lock reserve and if Mowen comes off early, you have to play Gill and Hooper for the rest of the game. If Palu comes off early, you have to move Mowen to 8 and then have Gill and Hooper at 6 and 7.
The potential downside is that you could be forced to play a really small backrow for too much of the game.
The upside is that you have a specialist lock on the bench and the ability to play two 7s has no downside if you're not forced to take Mowen or Palu off early.
Richo
John Thornett (49)
That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking too.
So the backups are likely to be:
16. Hooker
17. Prop
18. Prop
19. Lock/6
20. Gill/Hooper
21, Halfback
22. Inside back
23. Outside back
6. Higgers 7. Gill/Hooper 8. Mowen would have solved a lot of problems, since either Mowen or Higgers could play 80 and then we could take a specialist lock on the bench.
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