Wallaby 31 players for 2015 RWC

[Floggn']

Poey vs Hoops Tackle % are interesting.

 

[Slim 293]

Brumbies stats with Fardy and Pocock.

Cheika can't work with that, he needs his backrow being strong attackers.

Yep, he should totally drop Fardy and Pocock and bring in the likes of Cottrell, Schatz, Gill, Hodgson, C Fainga'a or Gill...............

 

[Braveheart81]

isn't it a rule of thumb that you have three jumping options? or does pocock/skelton count as our 3rd?

Palu and Skelton both offer enough of an option to make it work if you have Simmons and Higginbotham as the main jumpers.

 

[Highlander35]

You need to go for 3 full time jumpers, or 2 full timers and 2 part timers. Higgers and Simmons, and Palu and Skelton fill the latter category. If you were to play Pocock and Hooper in the same 23, you'd need to play Simmons, Higgers or McCalman and one of Carter, Horwill and Jones at 8 and lock respectively.

 

[qwerty51]

Yep, he should totally drop Fardy and Pocock and bring in the likes of Cottrell, Schatz, Gill, Hodgson, C Fainga'a or Gill.....

Why bother even mentioning them? I wasn't even advocating dropping Fardy or Pocock but rather they shouldn't play together with Cheika's style. There's clear alternatives in a pairing of them with Hooper, McMahon, Higginbotham, McCalman.

 

[Slim 293]

Here are Fardy and McMahon. McMahon has him covered everywhere but the lineout.

They're from the NZ Herald who sources them from Opta.

It doesn't have as much information as the Vodafone app...........

For instance it doesn't mention that Fardy wins a lot of turnovers at the breakdown, eg. 13 compared to McMahon's 5.

Anyways, those personal and team stats seem to reflect clearly that Fardy, like many of his forward teammates have not had a lot of carries, and they've mostly been done in the tight.............

I'd like to stick to the successful All Black method of not dropping form test players............

While Fardy's raw stats don't compare to some other players, he's still playing well for the Brumbies and the position should be his to lose come test time.

 

[Slim 293]

You cannot play Fardy with Pocock - that would be suicide.

I think that their contribution to the Brumbies' defensive work, and impact at the breakdown actually proves the opposite............

But it might be worth having a player like Higgers at 8 to add a bit more attacking nous to the back row.

Having said that, Pocock has been very good with ball in hand this year.

 

[qwerty51]

I think that their contribution to the Brumbies' defensive work actually proves the opposite....

But it might be worth having a player like Higgers at 8 to add a bit more attacking nous to the back row.

Of course it can work under that style of play but Cheika doesn't play it, he wants the ball longer than the opposition and he wants good carriers.

Having said that, Pocock has been very good with ball in hand this year.

Has he really been "very good"? He's been better than before but he was working off a low base..

I know others think differently but I still don't believe Pocock's defensive game makes up enough for his (lack of) attacking game in comparison to Hooper. I'm aware the stats aren't showing pilfers/penalties won.

 

[Slim 293]

Of course it can work under that style of play but Cheika doesn't play it, he wants the ball longer than the opposition and he wants good carriers.

You can't retain the ball longer than the opposition if you're not efficient at the breakdown or can't create turnovers.........

I know others think differently but I still don't believe Pocock's defensive game makes up enough for his (lack of) attacking game in comparison to Hooper.

Of course you don't.............

 

[Brumbieman]

Looking at those stats from the seven's article on the front page just screamed to me:


"Hooper is a 6!!!"

He may be shorter, but if you didn't know he wasn't 6'4" and you looked at those stats, you'd say he was a shoe in for 6.


So, left field, but fuck it:

Skelton
Simmons
Fardy
Hooper
Pocock

How hard can it be for Pocock to clean up at the back of the scrum? We have 3 lineout options, we get the strengths of both the Cock and Hooper on the field......?

I know it didn't work with Waugh and Smith, but they played the same game. Maybe we should just play to our strengths and sieze the initiative, rather than trying to take everyone on at their own game and failing?

It's not like we have such amazing players at 8 that we'd be losing out on. Hooper is a far better ball runner than Palu.

 

[qwerty51]

You can't retain the ball longer than the opposition if you're not efficient at the breakdown or can't create turnovers...

Nothing wrong with Hooper's attacking breakdown.

 

[Slim 293]

If we're going on Super Rugby form alone:

6. McMahon
7. Pocock
8. Higgers/McCalman

If we're going on incumbency:

6. Fardy
7. Hooper
8. Palu

I'd like to see something in between:

6. Fardy
7. Pocock
8. Higgers/McCalman

 

[qwerty51]

Incumbency is McMahon Hooper McCalman, if you're going off injuries why isn't Pocock considered incumbent?

 

[Slim 293]

Nothing wrong with Hooper's attacking breakdown.

Except when compared to Pocock...........

And on the EOYT he had little impact.

 

[Slim 293]

Incumbency is McMahon Hooper McCalman, if you're going off injuries why isn't Pocock considered incumbent?

I'm simply going off who were the first choice players in 2014 until injury............

Hooper has been the starting 7 for 2 1/2 years, and captained last year.

I wasn't trying to be too pedantic about it............

 

[wamberal]

Poey to start and Hooper off the bench in all the clutch matches.

 

[Floggn']

Defence wins World Cups not attack. You only have to look at every final to realise that. With your openside at 86% tackle success that simply isn't good enough. We all know that Pocock goes into more rucks whether its turning the ball over or slowing it down so defence can set. Hooper is a better attacking weapon no doubt but I revert back to my point that World Cups are never won on attack only on good solid defence.

 

[Slim 293]

I know others think differently but I still don't believe Pocock's defensive game makes up enough for his (lack of) attacking game in comparison to Hooper. I'm aware the stats aren't showing pilfers/penalties won.

Just going back to this point, I think you need to think about it in reverse -

Hooper's attacking game is the only thing that trumps Pocock..............

Undoubtedly Hooper is in a league of his own compared to the other 7 candidates in this regard................

But when it comes to defence (tackles made/%), rucks (engagements/first at ruck/impact), turnovers won (pilfers/penalties forced) etc. he's behind Pocock.

I think if you play Fardy/Pocock it gives you a pretty strong defensive back row, and possibly leaves the 8 jersey open for someone like Higgers who can play a little wider and put his attacking skills to good use.

In fact, there's been so much focus on Fardy the past few pages and how his stats compare to the challengers, that there hasn't been a lot of discussion on Palu and how his stats compare to the likes of Higgers, McCalman and Vaea.

But like Fardy, I'm not so sure if you'd want to discard someone with his test credentials................

 

[Floggn']

But like Fardy, I'm not so sure if you'd want to discard someone with his test credentials......

Let's face it anyone playing the last 2 years for the Wallabies doesn't have a lot of Test credentials. We have sucked.

 

[Slim 293]

We've sucked for the better part of 12 years.........