Wallabies v All Blacks Melbourne
- Thread starter Lance Free
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Langthorne
Phil Hardcastle (33)
Gee, it has taken the Wallabies coaching staff ages to read GAGR on that topic.
disco
Chilla Wilson (44)
Yeah he crabs to much & his pass is crap, the only good thing is Giteau & Barnes are both playing 2nd fiddle to Cooper so they'll both be looking for big games whilst he is out.
DPK
Peter Sullivan (51)
Interesting that the question of Cooper's suspension being thrown out was raised to Deans in a press conference; he said that they had been and are preparing with the expectation that Cooper would be unavailable for this match and would only consider adding him to the side if the suspension was lifted.
The_Brown_Hornet
John Eales (66)
DPK
Peter Sullivan (51)
Don't turn into a Waratahs version of Reddy, #1 Tah.
DPK
Peter Sullivan (51)
He's not that bad. He's just not up to Test footy.
Scotty
David Codey (61)
Yes, but did you know that Genia > Burgess ?
DPK
Peter Sullivan (51)
Not quite, WJ isn't so vocal about Wallabies matters.
#1 Tah
Chilla Wilson (44)
Depends what game plan you have. Burgess is in form, remember, and Genia is injury-prone.
M
Muttonbird
Guest
New Zealand on verge of greatness, says Macqueen
Reuters - July 28, 2010, 6:55 pm
MELBOURNE, July 28 (Reuters) - New Zealand are the litmus test for teams with World Cup ambitions and have assembled a side that stands on the cusp of greatness, former Australia coach Rod Macqueen said on Wednesday.
Macqueen, who led the Wallabies to their second World Cup triumph in Wales in 1999, said the All Blacks possessed the hallmarks of the Sean Fitzpatrick-captained sides of the 1990s.
"I suspect that it's a side at the moment that's probably on the verge of greatness and looking back at the last decade, probably getting back to the Fitzpatrick-type days -- that kind of team that's quite measured and doing very well," Macqueen told reporters.
"(New Zealand's) Achilles heel in the past has been not having a plan B, when things start to go wrong, they continue to go wrong.
"But we're seeing instances now within the New Zealand side that they're making decisions themselves within the team and they seem fairly confident and when things start to go wrong they come back pretty quickly."
The top-ranked All Blacks were second to South Africa in the Tri-Nations last year, but routed the champions in their opening two home matches with an ominous blend of pace and power. They face the Wallabies at Melbourne's Docklands stadium on Saturday.
Much of the All Blacks' quality could be put down to the captaincy of flanker Richie McCaw, Macqueen said, who had anchored the playing group over a period of years.
"(McCaw's) been a nice steadying influence in there over a period of time and when you look at some of the down-times New Zealand had, they were chopping and changing the captaincies and so on.
"You've got a fairly stable lot there now. The coaching staff hasn't changed a lot for quite a while and the captaincy and leaders within the group (haven't changed), and it's come together quite nicely."
Macqueen was less bullish about Australia's World Cup prospects, saying the young side had hard work to do and needed to take notes from their match on Saturday.
"I think they'll know a lot better after this match. I think this is going to answer a lot of questions," Macqueen said.
Reuters - July 28, 2010, 6:55 pm
MELBOURNE, July 28 (Reuters) - New Zealand are the litmus test for teams with World Cup ambitions and have assembled a side that stands on the cusp of greatness, former Australia coach Rod Macqueen said on Wednesday.
Macqueen, who led the Wallabies to their second World Cup triumph in Wales in 1999, said the All Blacks possessed the hallmarks of the Sean Fitzpatrick-captained sides of the 1990s.
"I suspect that it's a side at the moment that's probably on the verge of greatness and looking back at the last decade, probably getting back to the Fitzpatrick-type days -- that kind of team that's quite measured and doing very well," Macqueen told reporters.
"(New Zealand's) Achilles heel in the past has been not having a plan B, when things start to go wrong, they continue to go wrong.
"But we're seeing instances now within the New Zealand side that they're making decisions themselves within the team and they seem fairly confident and when things start to go wrong they come back pretty quickly."
The top-ranked All Blacks were second to South Africa in the Tri-Nations last year, but routed the champions in their opening two home matches with an ominous blend of pace and power. They face the Wallabies at Melbourne's Docklands stadium on Saturday.
Much of the All Blacks' quality could be put down to the captaincy of flanker Richie McCaw, Macqueen said, who had anchored the playing group over a period of years.
"(McCaw's) been a nice steadying influence in there over a period of time and when you look at some of the down-times New Zealand had, they were chopping and changing the captaincies and so on.
"You've got a fairly stable lot there now. The coaching staff hasn't changed a lot for quite a while and the captaincy and leaders within the group (haven't changed), and it's come together quite nicely."
Macqueen was less bullish about Australia's World Cup prospects, saying the young side had hard work to do and needed to take notes from their match on Saturday.
"I think they'll know a lot better after this match. I think this is going to answer a lot of questions," Macqueen said.
liquor box
Peter Sullivan (51)
I dont want to sound like a clown, but this will increase the All Blacks chances which will help with the World Cup coming up
I thought in all honesty it should have only been one week but if we manage a win then it only makes us stronger to win without a top line player.
I think Barnes should have been a straight replacement so I am a bit dissapointed with Gits being moved
Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
My take on the Giteau positioning:
1: Barnes and Horne are an established centre pairing. They decisively bettered this very AB pairing during the S14.
2: Barnes was 12 in our best backline performance this year.
3: people are wondering why Horne has had so little impact. One reason is that Gits has not been passing to him. We may see more of Horne this weekend.
1: Barnes and Horne are an established centre pairing. They decisively bettered this very AB pairing during the S14.
2: Barnes was 12 in our best backline performance this year.
3: people are wondering why Horne has had so little impact. One reason is that Gits has not been passing to him. We may see more of Horne this weekend.
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