Waratahs 2010

[Scarfman]

fos, you know how bitter and resentful Kiwis become when the Wallabies beat the All Blacks? Primarily because they see us like a bullying big brother and are desperate to get one over on us?

Well, just think about it, is all I'm saying.

 

[formeropenside]

fos, you know had bitter and resentful Kiwis become when the Wallabies beat the All Blacks? Primarily because they see us like a bullying big brother and are desperate to get one over on us?

Well, just think about it, is all I'm saying.

Well, thats two posts in a row that dont make any sense.

I'm just making the point the first option for Tah rugby is to poach, rather than develop players of its own.

But I wont crap in Hatchie's force thread anymore, so I will be quiet here now also.

 

[Scarfman]

Maybe the QLD thread has simpler - sorry, MORE EASY - style and grammar?

 

[formeropenside]

Maybe the QLD thread has simpler - sorry, MORE EASY - style and grammar?

well no, but you do have to type really slow when you post in it

 

[cheezel]

Was it poidevin who said something along the lines of "it was good to tour with Queenslanders, because you were always guaranteed to have a couple of good banjo players"

 

[naza]

Was it poidevin who said something along the lines of "it was good to tour with Queenslanders, because you were always guaranteed to have a couple of good banjo players"

They used to be able to play, back in the good old days. Now they banjo bash with their collection of wooden spoons.

 

[steiner]

Well, a bit of money freed up for the Waratahs and will be interesting to see who they get. They will be steaming about missing out on De Villiers, believing that Tahu was committed, and rightly so. Geez that is a huge miss!

Other possibilities being mooted: Ioane, Barnes and French centre Jauzion. Any one of the three would be a great buy. I'd prefer not to rape the already-violated Reds, so would prefer Jauzion. That could turn out to be pie-in-the sky however.
I wonder what Gasnier is up to or what his contractual situation is? Perhaps 2011 a possibility? He'll be sounded out at some stage you'd think. The mungo-haters would not be impressed, but I'd be happy enough.

Good to see Vickerman's name mentioned as a possibility of returning, and you'd reckon that would be the case at some stage. I was surprised people didn't read more in to him signing a one-year contract with his current club. The lure of a world cup is mighty! Perhaps the world's best all-round lock will be back even before 2011?

Great to see Josh Holmes playing well at 12 for the Rats and the Waratahs' losing a few players has emphasised the value of his acquisition as a halfback and utility player. Has played wing before in club footy and other positions are a possibilty as well. Perspicacious acquisition by the NSWRU, even if they did buy him just as a halfback!

And if that is the first time the word perspicacious has been used in the same sentence as NSWRU, hopefully it won't be the last.

 

[Epi]

I wonder what Gasnier is up to or what his contractual situation is? Perhaps 2011 a possibility? He'll be sounded out at some stage you'd think. The mungo-haters would not be impressed, but I'd be happy enough.

Can't see Gaz coming back unless perhaps Link does... Sounds pretty happy in Paris and why wouldn't he be?

Let's face it - without a decent domestic comp, Australia isn't a great place to ply your trade as a professional rugby player if you actually like playing footy.

 

[Lee Grant]

And if that is the first time the word perspicacious has been used in the same sentence as NSWRU, hopefully it won't be the last.

It has been used before, but usually the same sentence had "... acquisition by the Brumbies ... " and " ... his talents were ignored by the ..." in the same sentence.

A few years back the idea of the Waratahs Super team operating independently of the NSWRU was mooted. The Union should do the things they had always done in the amateur days excepting the operation that is now professional. The Tahs pro team could be then run as a business.

From Paris Link McKenzie said he was frustrated by the demands of union work during his time at the Tahs and though he couldn't argue that it was responsible for the failings of his team on the park, it was one of several reasons why a division of the operations would have been fruitful.

It keeps being mentioned and if a Melbourne S15 team gets up, and is run separately from the Victorian Union, it may become a model for other Oz Super teams.

As for NSW money being freed up because of the absence of Tahu and Tuqiri: I don't know what the NSW CEO was talking about when he mentioned "merging the money." I thought that any money freed up would be ARU top up money and funds provided to Tuqiri by 3rd parties.

You never know, but the Tahs must have been at long odds to get JdV, though getting away from the fishbowl must have appealed. He could walk down George Street in Sydney and not be recognised; something he couldn't do at home.

Jauzion? Oz couldn't match what he gets for Toulouse, even though he's on the wrong side of 30, but, like JdV, he would have been exciting to watch.

Gaz? I'll back him to become a very good rugby player in the coming season as there were some good signs in the last one. They have a big stable at SF, but I hope that he gets more time at 13 in 2009/10. If he does and he succeeds, the ARU will become more interested in him and offering top up money. Only then we can think of his coming home to play his rugby here.

Ioane and Barnes? I hope that they stay at the Reds and that the Tahs use their own players to fill gaps.

I was talking to an Eastwood fan at the Rats game yesterday and he said that Batger had been performing well during the last month and when the game started you could notice that he was maintaining this form. As we all know: you can't judge Super rugby ability in club games, but he's going well enough to think of as a reserve S14 outside back for 2010. If he shows good form from the bench he could even start at fullback if there is an injury. To this end it will be important for Batger that Eastwood gets to the finals and plays a few games there.

There is nothing better to impress a S14 coach between seasons than good performances in crunch games at this time of the year - especially when that coach is an Eastwood man.

 

[Lindommer]

A few years back the idea of the Waratahs Super team operating independently of the NSWRU was mooted. The Union should do the things they had always done in the amateur days excepting the operation that is now professional. The Tahs pro team could be then run as a business. From Paris Link McKenzie said he was frustrated by the demands of union work during his time at the Tahs and though he couldn't argue that it was responsible for the failings of his team on the park, it was one of several reasons why a division of the operations would have been fruitful. It keeps being mentioned and if a Melbourne S15 team gets up, and is run separately from the Victorian Union, it may become a model for other Oz Super teams.

There's no doubt the New South Wales and Queensland unions have shown they can't rise above their petty squabbles and ambitions to competently manage a professional sporting team. But isn't the stewardship of the Brumbies and the Force separate from the ACT and Western Australian unions? I seem to remember Peter McGrath telling me the Brumbies had a discrete board and the Force copied that concept.

The VRU have mentioned a separate board for their proposed team in some of their press announcements.

PS. I used the word "perpicacious" some time ago and was asked what it meant. Lovely word.

 

[fatprop]

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/rugby-shorts/2009/07/25/1248457702008.html

TAHS EYE D'ARCY

Goal-kicking Marlins fullback Adam D'Arcy is set to be rewarded for another outstanding season by being invited into the Waratahs' academy program next season.

The 23-year-old has been a standout of the Shute Shield this year and is being closely monitored by NSW officials.

D'Arcy is the premiership's leading point-scorer and was courted by the Western Force earlier this season, but Waratahs officials are confident of securing the promising star on a Junior Waratahs contract.

 

[naza]

D'Arcy has really been shown up in the last month or so. He is a liability in defence and seems to have inherited ex-Manly fullback Peter Hewat's capote de brega.

 

[Lee Grant]

D'Arcy has really been shown up in the last month or so. He is a liability in defence and seems to have inherited ex-Manly fullback Peter Hewat's capote de brega.

Gez naz, having seen a few bullfights in Mexico City I know what it means but be careful because the administrators may think you are talking dirty. I bet you had a silver tongue with the ladies in your young days and told them about your chihuahua grande.

But you're right about D'Arcy. He played well in the 2nd half of the season last year and started 2009 with a hiss and a roar, but he has flagged a bit of late. He played in a TV game a few weeks ago and I saw him against the Rats the weekend before last and he wasn't much in either.

The Force have had a good look at him and had him twice over there on training camps, but they must have lost interest. As I said a few posts ago: Batger is looking good - and watching my replay of Saturday's game just now, Papworth mentioned that he was off contract with the Tahs.

 

[Scarfman]

Maybe Papworth can build the new Rams franchise around Batger.

Fred Mishalak: I am coming to Australia to enjoy the beauty of Western Sydney and to play with someone like Ben Batger.

 

[barbarian]

Fred Mishalak: I am coming to Australia to enjoy the beauty of Western Sydney and to play with someone like Ben Batger.

And for the real estate- Homeworld at Kellyville is doing some great deals at the moment, or maybe even a house and land package at Rooty Hill or Emu Plains. Beats the French Riviera I reckon.

 

[fatprop]

So does anyone have any hints on who the Tahs are targetting with all their spare change?

 

[fatprop]

Australia winger Drew Mitchell re-signs with Australian Rugby Union

By staff writers
July 28, 2009

Prize New South Wales Waratahs recruit Drew Mitchell is determined not to place pressure on himself to bolster a backline rocked by the shock departures of Timana Tahu and Lote Tuqiri.
Outside back Mitchell, who is being looked at primarily as a fullback by NSW coach Chris Hickey, has agreed terms with the Australian and NSW Rugby Unions until the end of the 2011 campaign.

Queenslander Mitchell has moved across from the Perth-based Western Force to be closer to his family, the majority of whom reside in Queensland.

Mitchell expressed no reservations or second thoughts about joining NSW even though he had originally expected to be playing alongside Tahu and Tuqiri.

Hickey said the Waratahs' morale had not been affected by losing Tuqiri, who had his NSW and Australian rugby union contracts terminated, and Tahu, who has asked for a release from his contractual obligations to the same organisations.

“Certainly you miss players like that. They're a very important part and popular part of the playing group but they are things that have happened and we have to move on from there,” Hickey said.

“When I was looking at the prospect over here having guys like Timana and Lote in the squad certainly appealed to me playing alongside those guys,” Mitchell told reporters on Tuesday.

“I don't think anyone really could look into the future and predict what's happened, but I'm here and I've committed myself and I'm really looking forward to and excited about the prospect of next year.”

Mitchell acknowledged with the departures of Tahu and Tuqiri there would be pressure and expectation on him to spark the Waratahs backline in their absence.

“It (the pressure) is certainly going to be there regardless of whether I want it to be or not,” Mitchell said.

“I'm coming here to try and play the best that I can and not only that, I like to play an attacking style of football.

“It (the pressure) is going to be there, but that's certainly not something I'll be putting on myself.”

Hickey was confident Mitchell would respond positively to the pressure and expectation coming his way.

“Drew is the sort of player that can rise to that pressure,” Hickey said.

Mitchell said he was quite happy to play at either fullback or on the wing depending on Hickey's requirements.

“Primarily we looked at Drew as a 15 and I think that he will bring some good attacking thrust with his game,” Hickey said.

Yet to play in a Super semi-final with either Queensland or the Force, Mitchell was hoping to break that drought with the Waratahs, in addition to moving closer to his home state.

“Obviously here in Sydney is a lot closer than I have been in Perth, not only that I just felt it was a good time for a change and with NSW's results over the past five years they've always been strong and competitive,” Mitchell said.

Hickey revealed the Waratahs were talking to former Australian U-21 centre Rory Sidey about joining NSW for next year.

A former Waratahs Academy player, Sidey is currently attached to Welsh club Gwent Dragons.

Hickey said if Sidey signed, it would leave three more spots to be filled on the Waratahs 2010 roster.

He said two of the spots would go to backs and the third to a second rower.

“We are still looking (for a lock) and we've got some interest from South Africa and New Zealand, so it's a matter of trying to work through negotiations with some of those players,” Hickey said.

He said the NSWRU were still talking to a number of players and were confident of confirming some signings over the next couple of weeks.

 

[The Amazing Tah-Man]

Has Jaque Fourie officially put pen to paper for any clubs yet? He seems pretty keen to leave the Lions and Sydney is a far better place then filthy (rich) Clermont. Being an excelent option for #13 or the wing he would be high on my wishlist for players to join the Tahs.

 

[RugbyReg]

So the Tahs have signed Rory Sidey for 2 years apparently, and they are chasing Sosene Anesi.

Not bad:

15 Mitchell
14 Turner
13 Horne
12 Barnes
11 Anesi
10 Beale
9 Burgess
8 Palu
7 Waugh
6 Mowen
5 Mumm
4 Caldwell
3 Baxter
2 TPN
1 Robinson

16 Freier
17 Kepu
18 ?Thompson?
19 ?Coridas?
20 Holmes
21 Halangahu
22 Ratu/Carter

v Brumbies

15 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
14 Mafi
13 Mortlock
12 Smith
11 Fainifo
10 Giteau
9 Valentine
8 Hoiles
7 Smith
6 Elsom
5 Hand
4 Chisolm
3 Shepherdson
2 Moore
1 Alexander

16 Edmonds
17 Maafu
18 Timani
19 Chapman
20 Phibbs
21 To'omua
22 Lealiifano

Hell, even the Force:

15 Shepherd
14 Cummins
13 Cross
12 O'Connor
11 Haylett-Petty
10 Pretorius
9 Sheehan
8 Brown
7 Pocock
6 Hodgson
5 Sharpe
4 Wykes
3 Fairbrother
2 Dunning
1 Cowan

16 Whitaker
17 Henderson
18 Hocking
19 McCalman
20 O'Young
21 Tatupu
22 Sare

or there abouts.

Let's not worry about the Reds

 

[fatprop]

15 Mitchell
14 Turner
13 Horne
12 Beale
11 Anesi
10 Barnes
9 Burgess
8 Palu
7 Waugh
6 Mowen
5 Mumm
4 Caldwell
3 Baxter
2 TPN
1 Robinson

16 Freier
17 Kepu/Palmer
18 Thompson/Dennis
19 Coridas/Latunipulu
20 Holmes
21 Halangahu
22 Ratu

From the papers, Hickey said Barnes would be 10, Beale 12

Barnes at 10 will mean a fair bit of kicking in our own half for field position

We are also hunting for a lock