Waratahs 2011

[en_force_er]

They were probably desperate for Qld not to get him. Perhaps now we will see Holmes used as a 12?

 

[Moses]

Do the Highlanders have any updates on how Roodt was progressing? Seems a shame to lose him after all the hype, could it be the nickname Dud was not just funny, but also appropriate?

 

[Lee Grant]

It's overkill having 3 scrummies with full contracts but we had 3 before Valentine left. Essentially he will be taking Nadolo's contract.

I was hoping the Rebels would take him for the sake of Oz rugby but since they didn't and the Reds still didn't want him, I'm glad to have him.

I guess that the Tahs will give Ed Jenkins another pro Academy year to cover wing, as by my count the 30 man roster is full but for Roodt's vacated spot and I still don't know if Tilse is going to be under contract next year.

I had rookie Greg Peterson getting Jowitt's contract but because Dud is going and Caldwell's continued illness may exclude his playing in 2011, perhaps Jowitt should remain on the books with a new deal and the real swap will be Peterson for Dud.

 

[#1 Tah]

It's overkill having 3 scrummies with full contracts but we had 3 before Valentine left. Essentially he will be taking Nadolo's contract.

I was hoping the Rebels would take him for the sake of Oz rugby but since they didn't and the Reds still didn't want him, I'm glad to have him.

I guess that the Tahs will give Ed Jenkins another pro Academy year to cover wing, as by my count the 30 man roster is full but for Roodt's vacated spot and I still don't know if Tilse is going to be under contract next year.

I had rookie Greg Peterson getting Jowitt's contract but because Dud is going and Caldwell's continued illness may exclude his playing in 2011, perhaps Jowitt should remain on the books with a new deal and the real swap will be Peterson for Dud.

Caldwell should be 100% next year, he just did his hammy towards the end of this year.

 

[Hawko]

I am glad we have re-signed McKibbon. If I was Hickey I would be using Burgess and McKibbon as halves and start looking at Holmes as a back-up player further out. He is very quick and a good defender so, although small, could be a good back-up at 12 and maybe even 13.

Lest people misunderstand this post, as a member of the FHC, I don't think Hickey will do this for at least another two years. He's not quick to see what's in front of him.

And I really rate Caldwell for his mongrel. He does the work in tight that a lock should do, and is one player that meets Lee's criterion for tight five selection.

 

[Lee Grant]

Yeah Caldwell doesn't have the athletic skills of some but he has the mongrel. I'm not sure that the assertion that Caldwell just has a hamstring problem is correct as I recall topo's saying that he still had an illness problem.

Holmes is 91kgs; so he's not tiny. Last year I saw him play a lot for my club, the Rats at 12 and he seems more natural there than as a scrummie. He's tall and long armed and doesn't have the natural quick dispatch of a short armed scrummie and he is languid by nature anyway. I've seen him play everywhere in the backline except fullback, not necessarily officially. He's a damn good winger and fast enough.

 

[TheRiddler]

Do the Highlanders have any updates on how Roodt was progressing? Seems a shame to lose him after all the hype, could it be the nickname Dud was not just funny, but also appropriate?

As a supporter, glad to see the back of him. His presence seemed to upset the balance and functionality of the pack and I believe its one of the reasons why Gordon have had such a poor start to the season. Not sure what the politics were or what instructions/demands were received by Gordon from NSWRU but the fact he kept on getting picked in firsts week after week on the back of some piss poor performances was a travesty. Maybe the club were offered $$$ if the Dud played firsts?

 

[RugbyReg]

Meanwhile the Force are interested in Anesi if the Tahs don't want him...

The HSBC Waratahs have taken another step towards completing their 2011 Super Rugby with the signing of Australian Sevens star Brackin Karauria-Henry on a two-year contract.

New HSBC Waratahs recruit, Brackin Karauria-Henry.
After joining the Brumbies Academy this season, a spate of injuries saw Karauria-Henry make his Super 14 debut off the bench in front of a crowd of 40,271 at ANZ Stadium. The following week he earned his first run-on cap against the Queensland Reds in Canberra.

However it is on the Sevens circuit where he has made his biggest name this year after developing into one of Australia's most influential players. Karauria-Henry finished the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series with 30 tries to be Australia's leading tryscorer and the sixth-highest tryscorer overall. His 150 points also placed him as Australia's second-highest pointscorer, and inside the top 15 overall.

"This time last year I was in a cast with a broken hand and didn't quite know what was next in terms of footy, so to be signing a Super Rugby contract twelve months later is really exciting," said Karauria-Henry. "I really enjoyed my time in Canberra, but this is a fantastic opportunity to come back to Sydney where I've lived now for four or five years and push for a spot in the Waratahs side.

"There's obviously a strong backline here at NSW so it will be hard work, but I'm really looking forward to the challenge."

Having finished the IRB Sevens series with the Australian team in Scotland two weeks ago, Karauria-Henry is now turning his attention back to the 15-man game and attempting to win a long-awaited premiership with Southern Districts.

"I owe a lot to Souths," said Karauria-Henry. "They gave me a chance after I broke my hand last year, and from that the opportunities with the Brumbies, the Sevens team and the Waratahs have followed.

"The guys have been doing a great job to be undefeated after nine weeks so hopefully I can be a part of a successful campaign as we go into the back end of the season."

Karuaria-Henry is a product of Christchurch Boys High School, however he came to Australia to pursue a rugby league career after being brought to Sydney by the Cronulla Sharks. He was a member of Endeavour Sports High's Arrive Alive Cup winning team of 2006, however despite progressing through the junior rep system at Cronulla, he decided to cross codes in 2009.

After originally signing with Randwick, Karauria-Henry suffered a broken hand and when he returned mid-season it was with Southern Districts. His form in the back end of the Tooheys New Shute Shield caught the eye of those in Canberra who took him into the Runners squad, while he also gained the interest of Australian Sevens selectors.

Having being required for the Brumbies Super 14 team in the back end of the competition as well as the final two legs of the IRB Sevens in May, Karauria-Henry is yet to make his mark on 2010 Shute Shield but is set to strengthen a Rebels side undefeated after nine rounds of the competition.


Brackin Karauria-Henry
Position: Wing/Centre
Physical: 180cm, 90kg
Born: 31.07.88, Christchurch
School: Christchurch Boys High School
Club: Southern Districts
State Caps: 3
State Points: 0
State Debut: 2010 v HSBC Waratahs [Brumbies]
Super Rugby Caps: 3
Super Rugby Points: 0
Super Rugby Debut: 2010 v HSBC Waratahs [Brumbies]
Test Caps: 0

 

[wamberal]

James Stannard has been performing absolutely brilliantly for the Sevens team, is anybody interested in him? He played full back for Eastwood a couple of times this season, so he is pretty versatile. I would rather have him in a squad than Anesi.

 

[Lee Grant]

Stannard should be in the Rebels instead of Cordingley but that's water under the bridge. They need one for their pro academy; so maybe he will get a gig on half pay. Chances are that with more games pro academy players will play a bit more in 2011 than they usually do; so he could work up to a rookie contract (by playing 3 games) during the season.

Good to get one from the Brumbies (BKH) for a change when we let so many good ones go down there. He fills in the missing winger spot; so it looks like lock Jowitt will have to go leaving Mumm, Douglas, Caldwell and Peterson as the 4 locks as they were over stocked there anyway. I'm assuming that Peterson will be promoted from the pro Academy when he gets back from Argentina.

Sigg in the pro academy would be a good backup though Phoenix Battye is the mystery man both as to his availability in 2011, and his ability. Nuci obviously rates him for the U/20 team.

It's going to be a better balanced S14 squad except for having 3 scrummies in it. Still no news on Tilse though.

 

[fatprop]

Interesting signing, Karauria-Henry looks OK back up for Carter

 

[RugbyReg]

I'm hoping Stannard might come home to the Reds.

 

[Lee Grant]

BKH played on the wing for the Brumbies but when you watch him play 7s he looks like a man for all seasons and who knows if he could be 12?

It's good to get a few more players whose contracts end in 2012. It was top heavy, last time I looked, with 2011 terminations.

 

[#1 Tah]

Yeah Caldwell doesn't have the athletic skills of some but he has the mongrel. I'm not sure that the assertion that Caldwell just has a hamstring problem is correct as I recall topo's saying that he still had an illness problem.

Holmes is 91kgs; so he's not tiny. Last year I saw him play a lot for my club, the Rats at 12 and he seems more natural there than as a scrummie. He's tall and long armed and doesn't have the natural quick dispatch of a short armed scrummie and he is languid by nature anyway. I've seen him play everywhere in the backline except fullback, not necessarily officially. He's a damn good winger and fast enough.

Caldwell definitely was not sick again, he was at the Tahs V Canes game and told me he had done his hammy.

 

[Gagger]

Not sure there's ever been a more appropriate nickname than Dud. Just looking at him you can see he's a tall, soft gumby.

Funniest related incident of the season was Ludeke the Bulls coach try to goad Hickey into picking Roodt through the press, laying on what a great talent the kid is.

 

[fatprop]

BKH played on the wing for the Brumbies but when you watch him play 7s he looks like a man for all seasons and who knows if he could be 12?

It's good to get a few more players whose contracts end in 2012. It was top heavy, last time I looked, with 2011 terminations.

He looks comfortable playing at 12 for Southern Districts with Josh Tatupu outside him

 

[DPK]

Someone remind me, is Tatupu locked up at the Force?

 

[Lee Grant]

I meant to say: .... who knows if he can't be a 12.

Did he play there last week? I recorded the game but haven't had time to watch it yet; so I'll give it a look tonight and I'll look forward to watching him at 12. He looks versatile.

Edit - he didn't play last week so I must have missed him playing 12 earlier in the year.

 

[Lee Grant]

Update of player movements:

There were 32 names on the Tahs player profiles list at the end of the 2010 Super14, and I hear that squads have to be reduced to 30 next year.

So cut these two out because their position was over represented.

Adam Freier >>> Rebels
Chris Thomson > Narbonne

This leaves 30

Other players leaving

3 Daniel Palmer >>> Paddy Ryan
11/14 Nemani Nadolo >>> Brackin Kauraria-Henry
4/5 Dud Roodt >>> Greg Peterson [Note 1]

Players likely to be terminated

4/5/6 Cam Jowitt >>> Brendan McKibbin
7. Chris Alcock >>> Pat McCutcheon
15. Soseni Anesi >>> Jacob Woodhouse [Note 2]
6/8 Ben Coridas >>> Lachlan McCaffrey


Note 1 - Expected - It would be unaccountable if this chap is not signed up.

Note 2 - There have been newspaper articles mentioning that Woodhouse, the 2009 Oz Schools fullback, got a 3 year deal. He got a professional academy spot in 2010; so if the articles are right 2011 would be his rookie year. This would mean that there is no room for D'Arcy.

Note 3 - All the other players not mentioned are staying, though I'm not 100% sure of Tilse's contract termination year.

Note 4 - The rookies would be Ryan, Peterson and Woodhouse, which makes the Woodhouse story ring true and the signing of Peterson probable, because they need 3 rookies - and Woodhouse wouldn't qualify as a rookie with a 2nd year in the pro academy. McCaffrey was on the park for 9 minutes against the Cheetahs; so he doesn't qualify as a rookie any more.

If the Woodhouse story turns out to be as reported, and Tilse is with the Tahs again next year, and Peterson is signed, and the squad has to be reduced to 30, then there is no more room in the Tahs for any more Super contracts, even marquee foreigners or overseas development players.

If the Woodhouse story is bunk then another rookie has to be hired for 2011.

Player manning strategy is the result of more than 1 year of effort; so the Tahs have done fairly well recently in getting 2011 right. The trick will be to get 2012, the year after a RWC year, right. The same will hold true for any Super outfit and for any year after a RWC.

 

[mark_s]

Someone remind me, is Tatupu locked up at the Force?

No, he has signed with otago for the NPC and is expected to stay on with the highlanders for the S14.