Wallabies v Lions - 3rd Test, Accor Stadium, Saturday 2 August

[stillmissit]

all backs; i can not recall a league forward successfully adapting to union whereas Price and Thornett did from union to league (dick i think) both did (from the mighty Parramatta for who my dad played for 1sts for in '52 against the clive churchill Souths with 10 internationals )

I played against Ray Price a few times. He single handedly showed a new way for a backrower to play. Instead of diving on the ball and setting it up as most BRs did in those days, he bent down, without slowing, picked the ball up and kept going. Amazing skill set for an amateur player in those days.

 

[stillmissit]

I don’t know about Lolesio’s future in gold

R-AU, I think he will be on the bench in SA if Lynagh recovers and ditto Lolesio.

 

[stillmissit]

Funnily enough Gleeson played rugby league for South Sydney U20s. (Not saying he is a convert)

That explains a lot Strewth.

 

[stillmissit]

SBW?

A Back - Spam

 

[Slim 293]

He was a league forward though…

Peter Ryan made the transition.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Even Skelton was a League kid in HS until the coach realised his physique and lack of speed couldn’t play league so he made contact with Sydney Uni. You could tell when he first appeared at the Tahs.

There’s a few that could if they wanted. Body type permitting. Sam Burgess did remarkably well in a short time then got scape goated.

 

[stillmissit]

He was a league forward though…

I wonder if that tells us all we need to know about league forwards?

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

They carry a greater ball playing ability?

We love Wilson and McReights hands but that’s stock standard in a cup level rl piggy. They create support play opportunities non stop. The Reds no surprise with Kiss and his background lived off it.

 

[Dctarget]

Fuck it feels good to listen to podcasts and analysis again. The absolute state of English media. We were all predicting that the Wallabies would be the most deflated and had the least to play for. Now I have to listen to the English pundits saying the toughest come down was for the Lions after their win and they didn't really care about the third match. I'll be dining out on this for a while.

Wallabies lost the series by a controversial try, won four halves out of six, points differential of -1 and were ahead on the scoreboard for 66% of the series.

Also, how gorgeous was our handling last night? Would've been impressive for a dry night let alone whilst swimming in the pacific.

 

[wamberal99]

I played against Ray Price a few times. He single handedly showed a new way for a backrower to play. Instead of diving on the ball and setting it up as most BR's did in those days, he bent down, without slowing, picked the ball up and kept going. Amazing skill set for an amateur player in those days.

How about his defence? I still remember his "Cumberland Throw" at the SCG - Ian Kirkpatrick was the victim.

BTW A mate of mine who toured with Pricey to the UK said that he admitted on the flight home that he had a hernia.

 

[Adam84]

My RA spy informs me last night was potentially the largest gate take (outside Sydney Olympics) in Australian sporting history. Even bigger than last weeks MCG epic with 90k. Unofficially the number being bandied around is $26.5m. Given the cheapest ticket was something like $250 it probably stacks up.

thats $330 per ticket based on 80k crowd, so not unrealistic given the premium prices they were charging for large swathes of tickets

 

[whitefalcon]

Any idea on the split? Is it 50/50? Do we get more then 50%?

Considering silver tickets were $259 from memory this tracks

 

[Spamnoodle]

A Back - Spam

League forward and Rugby back and excelled in both. Interesting skill set.

 

[Spamnoodle]

He was a league forward though…

Peter Ryan made the transition.

Indeed, Peter Ryan was a very handy rugby player.
Tiaan Strauss is another.

 

[Brumby Runner]

where has that enthusiasm / talent been for the first two tests ?

Making a case for being the closing Lock off the bench.

 

[emuarse]

haven't been to a rugby match for 50 odd years; do they have coffee outlets ?
yours, teetotaller since '73

Might as well be dead, for what you miss out. I mean, no beer tasting, & no rugby.. must be a member of a closed order.

 

[Shiggins]

I actually had a similar thought last night. Skelton is 33. At best he'll probably look to go out at a home RWC so we have two more years of the man. His impact on the pitch is notable. He gives us a big body with an aggressive mindset to balance things out. They next closest we have to that from the last 6 weeks is Valetini and LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto). But I think we need to find at least one or two more Skelton like players.

And there is a place where we can look. The NFL is now running academies here and attracting some very large young blokes. Something the NFL is good at is identifying athletes. But even then only a small number of them will go beyond this stage. We should be scoping these kids out and looking to get some across.

Is it possible to find skelton like players ? 140kg locks are not everywhere. He is probably a once in 20 year player. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) is the closest

 

[molman]

Fuck it feels good to listen to podcasts and analysis again. The absolute state of English media. We were all predicting that the Wallabies would be the most deflated and had the least to play for. Now I have to listen to the English pundits saying the toughest come down was for the Lions after their win and they didn't really care about the third match. I'll be dining out on this for a while.

Wallabies lost the series by a controversial try, won four halves out of six, points differential of -1 and were ahead on the scoreboard for 66% of the series.

Also, how gorgeous was our handling last night? Would've been impressive for a dry night let alone whilst swimming in the pacific.

Couldn't agree more. The revisionist take by some of the NH media has been bemusing to say the least. From lauding the selection of the strongest team, the whole 3-0 narrative to the now as you said it didn’t really matter enough to questioning the team selection in hindsight.

Boy how I wish we'd had won that second test.

 

[Joe Blow]

I disagree re Lynagh, I thought the team looked less dangerous with Donaldson out there, his kicking is conservative and his use of the backline was a bit pedestrian. Not sure Lynagh is going to last with his history of concussion but he is the better option in my opinion. I agree regarding his goal kicking reliability.

Donaldson s kicking was poor and his decision making off. He got the job done but it was easy to see why Lynagh was preferred to start.
Not sure what we do for the RC. Hope Lynagh is OK and can carry on but how many more head knocks before he cannot?

 

[emuarse]

Any idea on the split? Is it 50/50? Do we get more then 50%?

Considering silver tickets were $259 from memory this tracks

To quote Chat GPT...
"
Here’s how the profit split works for the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour of Australia:

• Rugby Australia (the host nation) will receive 60 % of the post‑tour profits.
• The British & Irish Lions organisation (including the four home unions, players and designated clubs) will take the remaining 40 %"

The post-tour profits you'd imagine would be severly dented by the cost of both squads (incl. assist. coaches, fitness personnel, medical staff, players immediate families etc.) airline tickets, accomodation and so on.