I still don't get how JOC (James O'Connor) became first choice, gits was, then in south Africa Beale stepped up and won a game on the buzzer, then thhe next week gits didnt want to kick and Beale, even though he was back up kicker was overlooked for JOC (James O'Connor) who really hasn't set the world on fire but seems to be regarded as the only one capable.
Well JOC (James O'Connor) spent all the time with the kicking coach, remember reading an article about the work he was doing towards the end of last season, and his kicking this year hasn't been too bad. As for Gits he has had the last 5 or so years to establish himself as Australia's number one kicker and although there was a period there where he was consistent he is a little too hot & cold for my liking, he's a much better player when he focuses on rugby and not converting tries. You may recall Mortlock was preferred over him numerous times but neither would be in my top 10 australian kickers of all time.
As for Beale, I seem to get the impression that he prefers long distance kicks. I know he's not too shabby from close to the sticks but his willingness to step up for the 50m kick after the buzzer showed he has balls. I wouldn't mind seeing him kick for the WOBS and I wouldn't be surprised if he has the kicking duties at certain points but I think he's one of the players that pressure gets to, we need him focusing on his assets such as the kick return and less on conversions.
JOC (James O'Connor) is the choice at the moment due to his work with kicking coaches and his technique is the most likely to succeed out of the bunch. We have no 'ideal' kicker but someone's got to do it and I'd rather give it to a young kid with nothing to lose than to Git's who is struggling to make the XV and has had numerous years to prove himself and hasn't or Beale who is likely to get shaky if he's not having a good game at fullback.