Wallabies team for next week?

[Scotty]

Maybe that's what Beale will provide. Deans used Leon MacDonald as a playmaker despite him playing at 15.

But if you get the forward stuff right, the backs should take care of itself IMO. Win the collisions and make the Abs commit numbers and Giteau won't have a need to crab.

I agree Beale will play in a second attacking line, probably either just outside Ant or just outside AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

 

[Scotty]

Some are forgetting the tries that A finger set up this year with little grubber kicks, offloads or flick passes. He has the ability as long as he is confident enough to make the space for the likes of AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and Mitchell outside him.

In saying that, I get a feeling we won't see much from him this saturday, but I hope I'm wrong.

 

[RedsHappy]

In my opinion this is a better 22 than last weeks. If we had Brown out, with either McCalman or Higginbum on the pine or in the XV I would be completely satisfied given the troops available.

Agree. But should not Ma'afu have been dispensed with? And could not Hogdson represent a better risk-reward in the starting side, ditto Simmons? A major problem is that RD should have blooded these new players incl A Finger way earlier in the June Tests, or Bris Boks, (where the pressure and risks were lower) plus used Hodgson far more, for at least 20+ mins off the bench as often as was possible. Thrusting them into a huge pressure game v ABs with very little prior Wallabies game time and when the team's morale is now suffering, the weather/conditions are unfamiliar, and we're playing away, is merely reckless and will worsen their risk potential and likely blunt their reward potential. I find this whole season's approach to these bench and new incoming players incomprehensible.

The decision to persist with Brown at all costs - and what costs with him did we incur last week! - is inexcusable IMO. What possible logic is there for this other than some kind of mad, stubborn 'loyalty' that defies a truly game-winning strategy. We need to boot out players with a proven capacity for risk and v mediocre reward (at best) and do everything possible to install players where, yes, there will be risks, but the likely capacity for reward is far higher.

 

[Gnostic]

Agree. But should not Ma'afu have been dispensed with? And could not Hogdson represent a better risk-reward in the starting side, ditto Simmons? A major problem is that RD should have blooded these new players incl A Finger way earlier in the June Tests, or Bris Boks, (where the pressure and risks were lower) plus used Hodgson far more, for at least 20+ mins off the bench as often as was possible. Thrusting them into a huge pressure game v ABs with very little prior Wallabies game time and when the team's morale is now suffering, the weather/conditions are unfamiliar, and we're playing away, is merely reckless and will worsen their risk potential and likely blunt their reward potential. I find this whole season's approach to these bench and new incoming players incomprehensible.

The decision to persist with Brown at all costs - and what costs with him did we incur last week! - is inexcusable IMO. What possible logic is there for this other than some kind of mad, stubborn 'loyalty' that defies a truly game-winning strategy. We need to boot out players with a proven capacity for risk and v mediocre reward (at best) and do everything possible to install players where, yes, there will be risks, but the likely capacity for reward is far higher.

Actually Ma'afu really is all there is at THP now. Slipper does have to stay on the bench as he can cover both sides. The only other THP options IMO were in order of preference Alexander, Baxter and Palmer and all three are injured. Kepu has been pretty unspectacular for the Wicks so far after his multiple injuries and hopefully he will be back to full fitness for the EOYT. Dunning had a woeful season with the Force and needs a big one next year at S15 level to even be considered. Weeks struggled (though he was played out of position at LHP :angryfire in the Bar Bars. The only other option is Fairbrother and whilst he was better than Dunning he was solid at best in the S14. As much as I don't like it Ma'afu is now it until next year at least. If he can maintain his work rate as in the Bok test we may get by. If he plays like he did in all the other tests this year he is a liability.

Deans couldn't drop Brown, that would mean he made two changes to his lineup, and that would be unthinkable no matter how shit he has played.

 

[JJJ]

I disagree with you Redshappy that Brisbane was a lower pressure, lower risk match. It was the highest pressure match of the tournament, since it was the one we were most expected to win. If we hadn't won that one we'd be staring down the barrel of a winless 3N and Robbie would almost certainly have paid the price. So there was no way he was taking any unnecessary chances with the lineup.

 

[RedsHappy]

Actually Ma'afu really is all there is at THP now. .... Weeks struggled (though he was played out of position at LHP :angryfire in the Bar Bars. The only other option is Fairbrother and whilst he was better than Dunning he was solid at best in the S14. As much as I don't like it Ma'afu is now it until next year at least. If he can maintain his work rate as in the Bok test we may get by. If he plays like he did in all the other tests this year he is a liability.

Thanks Gnostic. I think you'd agree - that whole 'trial' of Weeks was bizarre, playing him out of posn. IMO, to have banished him fm further consideration just from that trial was short-sighted and foolhardy given the many issues we were facing with our stock of forwards. He played important games for the Reds, and often contributed mightily, plus Macqueen we'd all agree is no fool, and Weeks was an early recruit to Melbourne and Link fought hard to keep him. Baxter was injured in a club match post his rejection by RD as I recall. And would Fairbrother potentially have offered more than Ma'afu? The whole point here as you say is that, now, 'we are stuck' with Ma'afu, and there were/are other alternatives that should have been brought into an extended squad and experimented with, for good reason.

 

[RedsHappy]

I disagree with you Redshappy that Brisbane was a lower pressure, lower risk match. It was the highest pressure match of the tournament, since it was the one we were most expected to win. If we hadn't won that one we'd be staring down the barrel of a winless 3N and Robbie would almost certainly have paid the price. So there was no way he was taking any unnecessary chances with the lineup.

Point taken JJJ. I guess I was thinking of Boks Bris as 'lower pressure' given the very fact as you note that we were expected to win there given fortress Suncorp, etc, but I understand where you're coming from. But how regrettable is it that from Bris if no win 'we'd be staring down the barrel of a winless 3N'. Just as an add-on though: I'd still say that A Finger would not have been a significant risk if he'd played in that game, in fact I think he might have contributed reward. We'll never know now, he's going to be blooded in the gladiatorium on a 5 degree, rainy night playing in an unsettled team vs the very best no doubt determined to give him an experience he'll never forget.

 

[fatprop]

I think they were seeing if Weekes had the flexibility to be a bench option

 

[Viking]

Hodgeson for Brown for f's sake. He was possibly one of the super 14 players in the whole tourney. Why doesnt Robbie at least use him off the bench? Especially when brown is brain farting and missing tackles. Id rather a smaller work horse in Hodgeson then a slightly bigger dope that is Brown, why cant Robbie see this?

 

[disco]

Some are forgetting the tries that A finger set up this year with little grubber kicks, offloads or flick passes. He has the ability as long as he is confident enough to make the space for the likes of AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and Mitchell outside him.

In saying that, I get a feeling we won't see much from him this saturday, but I hope I'm wrong.

Scotty,
I don't really want that from Ant Fainga'a anyway I hoping for some rock solid defence & straight running & good support play like the old league legend Terry Lamb.