Wallaby Watch 2014

[Dumbledore]

Almost like they were playing different roles for their teams.

Unfortunately for Hodgson, Hooper has been Australia's best player for the last two years. One slightly off day isn't enough to undo 24 months of work. Hodgson has had five good games in a row, but he was playing so poorly in the first couple of rounds that people were calling for his head. There's absolutely no way he's going to be starting for the Wallabies, and he'll be lucky to make the squad at all. That's the rough side of being 32 with a team geared towards an event that's more than a year away.

 

[ForceFan]

Almost like they were playing different roles for their teams.

Unfortunately for Hodgson, Hooper has been Australia's best player for the last two years. One slightly off day isn't enough to undo 24 months of work. Hodgson has had five good games in a row, but he was playing so poorly in the first couple of rounds that people were calling for his head. There's absolutely no way he's going to be starting for the Wallabies, and he'll be lucky to make the squad at all. That's the rough side of being 32 with a team geared towards an event that's more than a year away.

Playing so poorly????

16 tackles and 2 turnovers for each of the 1st 2 games. Only people in the East Coast were calling for his head.

The Wallabies need a No 7 not another Centre.

Currently Hooper is playing as a 7 in Jersey number only.

He's lowered his colours to Hodgson in both Tahs vs Force games this year.

As the stats show Hopper has been missing for more than this "slightly off" game.

The Wallabies will be playing 3 games against France THIS year and currently Hodgson is the only form specialist 7 and leading the Super XV in Tackles and equal 5th in tries. As well as leadership in defence.

 

[Dumbledore]

Playing so poorly????

16 tackles and 2 turnovers for each of the 1st 2 games. Only people in the East Coast were calling for his head.

The Wallabies need a No 7 not another Centre.

Currently Hooper is playing as a 7 in Jersey number only.

He's lowered his colours to Hodgson in both Tahs vs Force games this year.

As the stats show Hopper has been missing for more than this "slightly off" game.

The Wallabies will be playing 3 games against France THIS year and currently Hodgson is the only form specialist 7 and leading the Super XV in Tackles and equal 5th in tries. As well as leadership in defence.

Sounds like we should probably make him captain too.

 

[Crazy Grey]

Can we accept the fact that there was only one open OSF playing in the Force vs Tahs game and it was Matt Hodgson who gave Hooper an absolute bath.

Hodgson 17 tackles and 3 turn overs vs Hooper's 5 tackles and ZERO turno-overs.

Not bad for a 32yo who carries the extra burden of being Captain..

Hooper runs the risk of playing like a Centre when his team needs him as #7.

A bit like Higgers seagulling on the wing instead of using his bulk to do the hard stuff.

There's some force in that :l

 

[Bairdy]

Serious question, but with Alexander and Kepu shaping up as the first choice tightheads in the Wallabies 23, who do we go to if either of them are injured (touch wood)?

I consult the team lineups for the weekend, and starting at or subbed in at tighthead, we had

• Laurie Weeks and Paul Alo-Emile for the Rebels
• Kieran Longbottom and Ollie Hoskins for the Force
• Greg Holmes and Jono Owen for the Reds
• Ben Alexander and Ruan Smith for the Brumbies
• Sekope Kepu and Paddy Ryan for the Waratahs.

Besides the aforementioned duo, only Holmes and Ryan have Wallaby experience, and Ryan is the only one of the two to have played at tighthead.

Now, I know I could throw out any promising prop's name out there (Salesi Manu being an example), but the fact is that Link is not likely to pick an up-and-comer like Ollie Hoskins, who is playing his first full year of Super Rugby (he is still one for the future though, but for a tight-five player, is perhaps too young for the RWC in 2015), or someone like a Salesi Manu who has played little to no Super Rugby this year.

So will Link a) pick an "old head" in Holmes, Weeks, Longbottom or Owen who are dependable stop-gaps for between now and the 2015 RWC; b) stick with Ryan because he already has a few caps under his belt; c) pick a young player with huge potential outside that group; d) convert one of the looseheads running around into a tighthead; e) Pay to bring back Salesi Ma'afu from Northamption and give him a top up equivalent to Folau's contract?

My opinion - Link should play Slipper at tighthead, leaving him to pick one of the many good looseheads in Australia. As well, personally I don't think Ryan should be the 3rd choice incumbent Wallaby tighthead, when he has only played two tests.

 

[Slim 293]

I'd have to agree..........

I think there's some gap between our top 5 props (Sio, Slipper, Alexander, Kepu, Robinson) and the rest of the bunch........

 

[Braveheart81]

Can we accept the fact that there was only one open OSF playing in the Force vs Tahs game and it was Matt Hodgson who gave Hooper an absolute bath.

Hodgson 17 tackles and 3 turn overs vs Hooper's 5 tackles and ZERO turno-overs.

Not bad for a 32yo who carries the extra burden of being Captain..

Hooper runs the risk of playing like a Centre when his team needs him as #7.

A bit like Higgers seagulling on the wing instead of using his bulk to do the hard stuff.

This is a bit of a silly comparison given how bizarre this game was.

The Waratahs had 2/3 of the possession through the match which is why Hodgson's defensive stats dominate Hooper's.

It's hard to make tackles and steal the ball when your side already has it.

Hooper had 69 run metres and a linebreak versus 11 metres for Hodgson. Statistics only tell part of the story, but in this game they very clearly reflect the fact that Hooper's side had the ball for most of the game and Hodgson's didn't.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Longbottom had another great game on the weekend he should be close to the 3rd choice THp now. the last 2 weeks he has achieved par or better against Robbo and Slipper as well as against he chiefs no easy feet he would be ahead of Ryan who was lets face it kak on sat.


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[tigerland12]

My opinion - Link should play Slipper at tighthead, leaving him to pick one of the many good looseheads in Australia. As well, personally I don't think Ryan should be the 3rd choice incumbent Wallaby tighthead, when he has only played two tests.

I do understand your train of thought, but Slipper has been the best loosehead in the country all season, so I'd be reluctant to move him to tighthead.

His scrummaging has also been a lot better at LH.

Start him as our #1, but if there are injuries, he'd be the next in line TH.

 

[Forcefield]

My opinion - Link should play Slipper at tighthead, leaving him to pick one of the many good looseheads in Australia. As well, personally I don't think Ryan should be the 3rd choice incumbent Wallaby tighthead, when he has only played two tests.

I never quite understood why Slipper has been used as a loosehead. I don't know bugger all about scrummaging, but Slipper mostly played junior rugby through to U20 level at THP (didn't he?). Why change him over then? It's not like the Wallabies or Reds were brimming with good options at THP.

 

[TSR]

Slipper has always said he prefers LHP and sees himself first and foremost as a LH. In saying that he has played a lot of THP for Qld but more at LH this season. I would prefer they stick with Kepu or Alexander until an injury forces a different decision to be made, purely on the basis I want to see props picked playing on their best side. We are very weak on the tight head side, but I'm not convinced Slipper is a better solution than the other two anyway.

As for Hooper, I've been a critic of his play at the breakdown and it's impact on the Wallabies despite the excellence of the rest of his game. But, I think there has been a clear improvement in his breakdown work this year, while the rest of his game has remained top shelf. I'd be amazed if he wasn't one of the first picked for the Wallabies, despite how well Hodgson has also been playing.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Are you high?

QC (Quade Cooper) is special but nowadays very very infrequently - line breaks are seriously missing. Does he set up his outside backs a lot - not too frequently.

 

[Tomikin]

Slipper has always said he prefers LHP and sees himself first and foremost as a LH. In saying that he has played a lot of THP for Qld but more at LH this season. I would prefer they stick with Kepu or Alexander until an injury forces a different decision to be made, purely on the basis I want to see props picked playing on their best side. We are very weak on the tight head side, but I'm not convinced Slipper is a better solution than the other two anyway.

As for Hooper, I've been a critic of his play at the breakdown and it's impact on the Wallabies despite the excellence of the rest of his game. But, I think there has been a clear improvement in his breakdown work this year, while the rest of his game has remained top shelf. I'd be amazed if he wasn't one of the first picked for the Wallabies, despite how well Hodgson has also been playing.

At the Brumbies, Hoopers roll in 2012 was a break down menace and his brilliant at it.. just last year for the tahs and wallabies he was asked to do a different roll.

At the Tahs they were changing mind set and he was covering for others. In the wallabies we had Fardy, Mowen hard at the break down so needed Hooper to run more.

Dropping Hooper for Hodgson is crazy talk. But Hodgson should get the backup roll for the French.

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[Braveheart81]

I'm still not convinced that Hooper is really playing that much of a different role to any other 7. His average pilfers are similar or better than other 7s except for Hodgson. If you look through some of the Force's recent wins though, they're doing it without a lot of ball. Hodgson will always top the tackle and pilfer stats when his side is spending a lot of every game defending.

To paraphrase Robbie Deans, you can only play what's in front of you. If your side doesn't have the ball clearly you're doing to do more tackling and attempt to steal the ball at the breakdown.

If you play like the Brumbies and contest a lot of breakdowns en masse, you will also be attempting more pilfers.

The Waratahs are really only trying to steal it at the breakdown after a dominant tackle. A lot of sides they've played have kept kicking the ball to them which means they don't have to try and steal it.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

just on Hodgson with some making comment about his age this is what link has to say.

One player who caught the eye at the weekend was flanker Matt Hodgson, who was at his workhorse best in making a game-high 18 tackles to lead Western Force to a famous fifth-straight victory.

McKenzie said the Force skipper had been impressive – and wasn’t worried by the fact he’ll be 33 by the time the third Test against Les Bleus comes around.

“I think he’s been playing really well,” McKenzie said.

“For me, being a Wallaby is about performing. I’m not going to sit there and worry about how old they are. Sure you’ve got to keep regenerating but in the end you’ve got to look for guys who are in-form, guys who know how to play and guys who can go out there and compete and there’s plenty of guys at the Force who are showing that at the moment.”

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/su...-1226883622990

 

[tigerland12]

I think he'll be in the squad, but no way in the 23.

You can't leave two of McCalman, Higginbotham and Palu out of the match day squad on current form.

 

[Viking]

Hooper will be the starting 7. And rightly so. Hodgeson I hope will be back-up. With the form he is in I will be disappointed to see Gill ahead of him in the pecking order.

 

[scaraby]

I think he'll be in the squad, but no way in the 23.

You can't leave two of McCalman, Higginbotham and Palu out of the match day squad on current form.

Actually with Fardy,Higgers and Palu in you could..Fardy can cover lock and we will need a back up 7 not sure Ben Mc would want that roll again...

 

[BDA]

Comparing Hodgsons v Hooper tackle and turnover stats for the game on Saturday is not the best indicator as to who should be playing for the wobs. Surely the Force were made to make a lot more tackles than the Tahs. The Tahs seemed to have the weight of possession.

 

[Train Without a Station]

You also have to consider that Hodgson is relishing in the Force's style of play. The Wallabies' style of play will almost certainly be nothing like that.