Wallabies Squad - the Link Era

[Inside Shoulder]

Or. It could have been his input at training, Link has very little to go on apart from what he has seen from the players in the games throughout the year and finally what he has witnessed on the training paddock the last 2 weeks.

Robinson'a 2013 form obviously warranted selection in the Wallabies, however similar to his demotion to the bench for the Tahs at the start of the year, the rest is based on the training paddock..

I'm prepared to reserve judgment and see how it all pans out - I really like the look of Sio.
I guess I should assume Link knows what he's doing and that Fat Cat deserves this - that only leaves me questioning how come he isnt more like an AB forward - they almost always only get dropped on form not attitude!

 

[Deputy Van Halen]

Now the drama bomb is dropped this is the team I would like to see out of that squad.

Sio
Moore
Alexander
Fardy
Horwill
Mowen
Gill
McCalman
Genia
To'omua
JOC (James O'Connor)
Lilo
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
Izzy
Mogg

Fainga'a
Slipper
Kepu
MMM
White
Cooper
Kuridrani

Keep Mowen at 6 to stay in their scrummies face all night, with no Piri whoever it is starting won't have his experience.

I fully expect Douglas and Simmons to be in there somewhere, I really hope Links faith in them is rewarded. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cummins in there somewhere also, I would prefer that over Tomane at least.

 

[Scoey]

And then you will say,no one complained about the selections before they got whipped.
I am uneasy over all of this.
it's not like he was appointed to the job after any real process.He has been appointed on the back of the reds performance in 2011,and his media management in 2013.
He has been critical of his predecessors tactics,but it appears to me that he intends to play just as negatively.
I can't see we are on the cusp of any golden period ATM.

Christ on a bike. That's about as negative a post as I've seen. No wonder you're uneasy man!

 

[Ignoto]

Fardy, MMM, Mowen McCalman, Gill, Hooper

At least three or four excellent combos in there for mine. But I guess he wanted a guy who actually played 6 this year so.

You didn't read the team list did you?

 

[TOCC]

There is a big difference between being benched in the 1st game of a long Super season and left out of a 30 man squad right after said Super season has finished.
.

So you don't believe Ewen McKenzie is using the wallaby training camp to influence his selection decisions?

 

[RoffsChoice]

Phipps over White? Really? Show me one.

......... me .........

 

[Scoey]

Yep there were plenty that were championing Phipps over White.

 

[Zander]

Ok I must've missed those, I thought everyone hated Phipps.

 

[Scoey]

It was more about the opinion that White was daylight ahead of Phipps. Many saying that Phipps actually had a very good season and has runs on the board at Test level and that the line between them was much more blurred.

 

[Dumbledore]

Under different scrum laws. Super form doesn't count for much either I would assume. No one outside the Wallabies camp has any idea how the front rowers are handling the changes.

Are you suggesting that a Super Rugby winning international coach might know more than a few random punters on the interwebz?

The mental gymnastics are extraordinary.

 

[barbarian]

So you don't believe Ewen McKenzie is using the wallaby training camp to influence his selection decisions?

He clearly is. But it is a bit different to a pre-season scenario where the training paddock is your main guide to how a player is travelling.

I would hope Link is weighing Super and Lions form above training paddock form, but his decision to leave out Robbo makes me wonder whether this is the case.
.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Under different scrum laws. Super form doesn't count for much either I would assume. No one outside the Wallabies camp has any idea how the front rowers are handling the changes.

My understanding is that the Wobs often get an Aussie ref in to trainings to help them with interpretations.
I assume they did this or something like it with these new laws.
Do we know who they got?

 

[Scoey]

Are you suggesting that a Super Rugby winning international coach might know more than a few random punters on the interwebz?

The mental gymnastics are extraordinary.

What can I say, I must be some kind of genius. The concept must be harder to grasp than it seems though or else this conversation wouldn't have gone past a page!

 

[thierry dusautoir]

Which I could understand if Benny Robbo had been in shitty Super form. But he was the clear 2nd pick behind Sio at loosehead.
.

Lets be real here, Robinson no athlete. I would say he would have a lot less strength than his peers.
Robinson's scrummaging technique came from low body height and a technique suited to making his opponents having to adjust their hit due to his technique/body height which I have always thought is questionable (shoulders below hips).
Under the new laws their is no hit once and no need for readjustment from said hit (an area that Robinson thrives in taking advantage from) its just a battle of strength and technique.
Which unfortunately is not Robinson's strong point. I maybe wrong but perhaps resident scrum doctor Scott Allen could shed some light

 

[Ignoto]

I would hope Link is weighing Super and Lions form above training paddock form, but his decision to leave out Robbo makes me wonder whether this is the case.
.

Maybe in the cold the cat was the last one out of the bed. Maybe he didn't bring the intensity Link etc wanted to training and is now suffering. Maybe they did internal beep-tests and the Cats scores were lower than previous.

The fact that Benny R has been dropped by two seperate coaches in the same season is concerning. It worked well the first time and maybe he needs another kick up the arse to get going again.

 

[fatprop]

It was more about the opinion that White was daylight ahead of Phipps. Many saying that Phipps actually had a very good season and has runs on the board at Test level and that the line between them was much more blurred.

He ended up winning the Rebel player of the year

 

[barbarian]

The fact that Benny R has been dropped by two seperate coaches in the same season is concerning. It worked well the first time and maybe he needs another kick up the arse to get going again.

I love it how we are twisting and turning, trying to justify this selection.

I don't think anyone ever went this far trying to explain a Deans selection, it was just a 'shit call'. But now it is 'clearly he wasn't trying hard enough on the training paddock'.

The 'new scrum laws' is the only viable explanation IMO. You don't drop our only performing prop against the Lions because he recorded a dodgy beep test.
.

 

[TOCC]

He clearly is. But it is a bit different to a pre-season scenario where the training paddock is your main guide to how a player is travelling.

I would hope Link is weighing Super and Lions form above training paddock form, but his decision to leave out Robbo makes me wonder whether this is the case.
.

I mean i agree in principle, but Robinson hasn't played in a month and even prior to that his last two games were against the Reds and Lions in which both cases he was pretty average..

Taking that into account, i think training paddock form is pretty relevant..

 

[Ignoto]

I love it how we are twisting and turning, trying to justify this selection.

I don't think anyone ever went this far trying to explain a Deans selection, it was just a 'shit call'. But now it is 'clearly he wasn't trying hard enough on the training paddock'.

The 'new scrum laws' is the only viable explanation IMO. You don't drop our only performing prop against the Lions because he recorded a dodgy beep test.
.

I'm not trying to justify any selection. If this was straight out of the blue I'd agree with you. But the fact that he's been dropped twice this season but two separate coaches is indicative of something.

 

[KevinO]

He ended up winning the Rebel player of the year

Higgers won the Player of the year, Phipps won the Rod Macqueen Pursuit of Excellence Award which is for both on and off field stuff.