Wallabies v All Blacks Melbourne

[Thin Thighs]

Doh!

...snip....

There are areas where the players need to improve:

THE FUNDAMENTALS. Passing, catching, tackling...Please everyone stop using Robbiespeak and calling them 'little things' - they are big mother fucking things if you aren't doing them.

snip.....

In my opinion this is the best analysis of last night on this site by a long chalk!

And IMHO if a player has not learned the basics of pass and catch, and tackling by the Under 13's, then they will never learn those skills to a satisfactory level to be able to consistently perform them under pressure.

Like all rules there will be exceptions, but this observation is based on personal experience of more years of coaching junior age players than I would care to remember at all levels from Under 8's to Under 18's.

 

[cyclopath]

Not gonna say much, just that I'd like to thank Robbie for vindicating my support of his naming Dick Brown at 8 - he's so fucking shit it makes me laugh and Drew Mitchell would be a good player if he could keep his discipline. Good runner but thick as pigshit.

Probably best you don't say much...it's a bit feisty round these parts, Scorz.
I'd be enjoying my team's dominance in relative silence!

 

[Scotty]

The size of the loss was most definately blown out of proportions by the refs performance. I saw at least three tries, all of which were in the first half that shouldn't have happened. The difference this made to the game was immense, but the ABs would have won anyway (but I suspect by only around 10 points)

Carter was offside from Mils for his try.
McCaws try coming from the ABs playing the ball on the ground.
Prior to Jane's first try Pocock should have received a penatly for Thorn holding on in the tackle. It was a pretty straight forward one.

Joubert decided to bin the likes of Franks and Mitchell (twice) for some of the softest indiscretions I've ever seen. The second of Mitchells was particularly poor considering the ABs had offended in slowing down quick taps at least twice, and the Wallabies just the once. The only fair yellow card that should have been given for mine was repeat infringements in the 'red zone' by the ABs at the breakdown. The penalty count was 12-7, and a lot of those against the ABs were in their own half. How Mitchell and Franks get yellows and yet Joubert doesn't even warn McCaw for repeat infringements at the breakdown is beyond me.

 

[cyclopath]

And IMHO if a player has not learned the basics of pass and catch, and tackling by the Under 13's, then they will never learn those skills to a satisfactory level to be able to consistently perform them under pressure.

Like all rules there will be exceptions, but this observation is based on personal experience of more years of coaching junior age players than I would care to remember at all levels from Under 8's to Under 18's.

Indeed.
We also have the not insignificant problem that a few of our backs do not seem to understand how or when to pass. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) for all his good points is just terrible with the ball in hand unless he does it all himself (and sometimes, he does). JOC (James O'Connor) acts like a finisher, not a creator too. I think several of the AB forwards have a better grasp of drawing a man and passing.

 

[Thin Thighs]

Probably best you don't say much...it's a bit feisty round these parts, Scorz.
I'd be enjoying my team's dominance in relative silence!

Scorz, Sometimes the loudest statements are those unsaid.

 

[cyclopath]

The size of the loss was most definately blown out of proportions by the refs performance. I saw at least three tries, all of which were in the first half that shouldn't have happened. The difference this made to the game was immense, but the ABs would have won anyway (but I suspect by only around 10 points)

Carter was offside from Mils for his try.
McCaws try coming from the ABs playing the ball on the ground.
Prior to Jane's first try Pocock should have received a penatly for Thorn holding on in the tackle. It was a pretty straight forward one.

Joubert decided to bin the likes of Franks and Mitchell (twice) for some of the softest indiscretions I've ever seen. The second of Mitchells was particularly poor considering the ABs had offended in slowing down quick taps at least twice, and the Wallabies just the once. The only fair yellow card that should have been given for mine was repeat infringements in the 'red zone' by the ABs at the breakdown. The penalty count was 12-7, and a lot of those against the ABs were in their own half. How Mitchell and Franks get yellows and yet Joubert doesn't even warn McCaw for repeat infringements at the breakdown is beyond me.

Maybe, Scotty.
The charge down - nobody called the offside in real time, it happened so fast, but on replay it was offside. Hard to grumble too much.
The second one - Conrad Smith was all over the player on the ground, and reefed it back on the ground, but interestingly on the other side of the play to the ref. Where was the Arse-Ref? Bad call for me too.
The third - well, I missed that with Thorn, but he hardly pinged anyone for not releasing the tackled player all night, so why start there?
We were more than 10 points worse, mate. Easily.

 

[spectator]

Mitchell's indiscretion after he had already been yellow carded was just plain dumb, dont know what he was thinking? Regardless, that didn't have a bearing on the game. The All Blacks seem to be in a league of their own at the moment. Great team to watch and a few of the older guys seem to have found a new lease of life. Thorn and Mealamu are playing as good as they ever have, Rokocoko seems to have found a bit of form at last, and when was the last time Muliaina played this well? And with youngsters like Vito and Dagg coming on, these guys could be at the top of the tree for a while.

Bit disappointing for the Wallabies but on last night's form the reality is that The All Blacks are a superior team and don't let other teams play well.

 

[Thin Thighs]

The size of the loss was most definately blown out of proportions by the refs performance. I saw at least three tries, all of which were in the first half that shouldn't have happened. The difference this made to the game was immense, but the ABs would have won anyway (but I suspect by only around 10 points)

Carter was offside from Mils for his try.
McCaws try coming from the ABs playing the ball on the ground.
Prior to Jane's first try Pocock should have received a penatly for Thorn holding on in the tackle. It was a pretty straight forward one.

Joubert decided to bin the likes of Franks and Mitchell (twice) for some of the softest indiscretions I've ever seen. The second of Mitchells was particularly poor considering the ABs had offended in slowing down quick taps at least twice, and the Wallabies just the once. The only fair yellow card that should have been given for mine was repeat infringements in the 'red zone' by the ABs at the breakdown. The penalty count was 12-7, and a lot of those against the ABs were in their own half. How Mitchell and Franks get yellows and yet Joubert doesn't even warn McCaw for repeat infringements at the breakdown is beyond me.

Scotty,
I sense shades of the dribble from the Fox Sports commentators in their post mach wrap up.

As a side track whilst on the subject, they are awful, but like the current batch of Wob's, they are probably the best available on Commercial TV.

The Game played in Heaven has stolen The Commentary Benchmark, Bill McLaren, from us to cover a shortfall in their commentary ranks.

The ABC Shute Shield team are probably the best remaining.

Back to topic, Cyclopath was on the money.
At any point in the second half, if the Men in Gold had approached anywhere near a 10 point gap, they would have upped their work rate and scored the required amount of points to set things straight. We were ordinary, they were not. The eventual overall margin flattered the Men in Gold. We should not cry too much about that, or they will really get stuck into us next week.

 

[chief]

The problem is, Deans doesn't complain about refs. Henry is a serial whinger and even when he wins he still has something to say about the refs. We need a coach who will address this problem

Mitchell's first Yellow was bullshit.
Carter was offside and a try came from it.
All Blacks were off their feet when they played the ball which lead to McCaw's try.

 

[Scorz]

Scorz, Sometimes the loudest statements are those unsaid.

Strange definition of forum in your house mate?

Cyclo you will recall I hoped Dick was named a long way back? And I meant what I said about Mitchell. You guys know I don't gloat here.

 

[cyclopath]

Strange definition of forum in your house mate? Or is it "losers only" time? :lol:

Cyclo you will recall I hoped Dick was named a long way back? And I meant what I said about Mitchell. You guys know I don't gloat here.

Scorz, you do not gloat, and I didn't think so here. I remember what you said about Brown too. He was not our worst, though. There's a lot of anger flying around, I was just suggesting enjoying from the sidelines is all!

 

[Thin Thighs]

Strange definition of forum in your house mate?

Cyclo you will recall I hoped Dick was named a long way back? And I meant what I said about Mitchell. You guys know I don't gloat here.

Scorz, you do not gloat, and I didn't think so here. I remember what you said about Brown too. He was not our worst, though. There's a lot of anger flying around, I was just suggesting enjoying from the sidelines is all!

Also was not having a go at you Scorz, or suggesting a gloat from you.

Just suggesting that in situations like this that quiet enjoyment is often a very effective and powerful communication tool.

Agree that Mitchell's actions did not suggest that he has enormous intellectual capacity.
Regardless of how soft the yellow card offence was, he was on strike one and to use Police parlance "known to the referee". If he was not reminded of the nature of the eggshells he was walking on, over the thin ice of Etihad Stadium during his 10 minute sin bin, and the 1/2 time team talk, then the team management did not do their job.

Regardless if he wasn't able to work that out himself then he is indeed the dumb arse everyone is claiming him to be.

 

[rsea]

The day after and I'm still feeling disconsolate about the game so I wrote the below. Never done it before and I think it's more of a blog than a forum post but here it is anyway.

The commentators might have been picking them, the odds may have firmed on them, but the Wallabies were always a long shot last night and deep down we knew it. That’s not to say we couldn't win or had no chance, but we needed something to go our way and it did. Mitchell saw an opportunity early and grasped it with both hands. It came from the most unlikely of sources, Dan Carter, and the Wallabies not only had the psychological advantage of the first try, but the possibility of the Blacks play maker being unsettled. This was exactly what the Wallabies needed so desperately. The leg up from which we could push on. The first step to regaining the Bledisloe, the Tri-Nations and our self belief. It wasn’t to be.

The Blacks are a complete outfit. They exude strength, depth, skill and critically experience. Graham Henry banked on beating the Boks by running them to a standstill and it worked. Against the Wallabies he banked on winning through experience and it worked. Henry picked his mark and threw everything against it. His battle hardened veterans went against the Wallabies from the first with everything in their armoury. We can only imagine what was going through Graham Henrys mind as Mitchells brilliance unsettled the plan he’d put everything behind, could it be that he’d under estimated the Wallabies? seconds later his heart rate settled as Barnes’ failed clearance kick restored the status quo. If Henry were a General watching his troops do battle, this is the time he’d have retired to his bunker. The battle was won.

Where to now for the Wallabies? The prospect of travelling across the Tasman to face the Blacks on their own turf is a daunting one. The Wallabies must galvanise themselves for what will be the greatest test of character of their careers. Elsom must show these young Wallabies the way forward. He’ll need all the experience Deans can field. Players like Sharpe, Robinson and Moore must stand and be counted. They must extract every ounce of determination and fortitude that comprises them as our countries best, and be prepared to leave it on Jade Park.

 

[Gnostic]

Take the opportunity to and leave the lot of them in NZ next week and start again.

 

[Reddy!]

Watching videos on the ARU website of Anthony Fainga'a getting his first cap after the game. Happy for him, but feel sorry for him at the same time, what a depressing night to be doing so. The mood in the change room looked quite sad indeed.

 

[Reddy!]

Take the opportunity to and leave the lot of them in NZ next week and start again.

Well we are going to Christchurch next week, here's hoping my favourite coach becomes home sick and doesn't come back with the rest of the team.

 

[Nusadan]

Glad to have missed all of the game bar two minutes early in the second half when I saw one of the ABs tries...actually thought it was a replay...

Thank goodness my kids saved me the misery...taking my 18 year old and 20 of his mates to Albury on a hired bus for his birthday to a party pub and arriving later than planned, then the restaurant was closed, so took my hungry daughter out for a pizza...still don't know the final score and don't want to know!!!!

 

[daz]

I just had a horrible thought: What are we going to do when the Wobs start winning everything? There will be nothing to talk about except how good we are. Gee, I feel sorry for the Kiwi rugby fans. Spare a thought for all the bro's and cuz's who right now are sitting down to analyse the game on the Bluck&All Bluck forums and have absolutely nothing to say.

 

[Scorz]

I just had a horrible thought: What are we going to do when the Wobs start winning everything? There will be nothing to talk about except how good we are. Gee, I feel sorry for the Kiwi rugby fans. Spare a thought for all the bro's and cuz's who right now are sitting down to analyse the game on the Bluck&All Bluck forums and have absolutely nothing to say.

Actually there is lots to say - why didn't the AB's really put the boot in and play with the same intensity for 80mins especially after the red card? Why did Owen Franks become a penalty magnet? Was the goal line defence really that good? Etc...
I know you are going for the big sarcastic laugh, but in reality the standards the AB's are held to are what gets them where they are sometimes. The pressure to win and win well from within the team and outside it is immense, often it does bring out the best though.

 

[Scorz]

Also was not having a go at you Scorz, or suggesting a gloat from you.

Just suggesting that in situations like this that quiet enjoyment is often a very effective and powerful communication tool.

That's nice and all but I'm going to ignore your suggestion and carry on posting about rugby. Quiet enjoyment is seeing Deans face, looking like a hooker just barfed on his foot after a hard night's work.

BTW I think Joubert was an utter turd - but he was consistent for both sides. All you can ask for really.