Waratahs 2012

[Jnor]

Interesting to see on the Tahs team sheet that Sarel Pretorius is attached to Gordon. Not the club I would have picked.

Where would you have picked? Fair few saffas up there, perhaps that's why?

 

[barbarian]

Yeah maybe. I was more going off Gordon's low table position and lack of established Waratahs. Seems an odd choice. I suppose with the current season structure he will barely play anyway.

 

[Torn Hammy]

The Waratahs kicked so much last week because they performed so poorly in the collisions.

The team that Foley picked to play the Force was notable in that it only had one player that is dominant in the collision, Benn Robinson. A player that wins the collisions is one who after breaking the line, uses his balance and strenghth stay upright and move forwaed in the tackle and then quickly present the ball to his supports. Think Wycliff Palu. A good collision usually gives you a good breakdown and hence time and momentum for the backs.

Palu, Carter and Mitchell would help as would back in form TPN and Horne.

 

[Knuckles]

How appropriate that this was posted by someone known as "Knuckles". The first Knuckles, as QLD coach, didn't give a toss about attractive rugby, was an exponent of ten man forwards-based rugby and now has the temerity to post in a Tahs thread about how unattractive and kick-focussed the current Waratah team is.

Please return to those threads inhabited by your red-necked cousins, this thread is designed for fact-based discussion.

Making it personal there Hawko..........

If you really think I am the Knuckles you refer to above, then you are entirely deluded.

Perhaps you should just concentrate on keeping your club afloat after the board kicked the cash cow out!

 

[qwerty51]

I thought Pretorius won't be playing club rugby and go back to the Currie Cup? Anyway I'm expecting to be selected in the Springbok squad which would prevent him from playing club rugby.

 

[Bruce Ross]

I thought Pretorius won't be playing club rugby and go back to the Currie Cup? Anyway I'm expecting to be selected in the Springbok squad which would prevent him from playing club rugby.

I doubt that your form warrants it, qwerty. In any case I'd be surprised if you meet the citizenship criteria.

 

[qwerty51]

I think I might meet the criteria, one of my parents in South African born, I'll have to give Heyneke a call to see if I'm on his radar, I hear he might be looking for a blindside.

 

[suckerforred]

I think I might meet the criteria, one of my parents in South African born, I'll have to give Heyneke a call to see if I'm on his radar, I hear he might be looking for a blindside.

Where are you currently residing? If outside SA can you swing a short notice club contract in SA? If you answer to both of these questions you might be in for a chance then.

Oh except for the whole flower thing.

 

[RedsHappy]

I think I might meet the criteria, one of my parents in South African born, I'll have to give Heyneke a call to see if I'm on his radar, I hear he might be looking for a blindside.

You certainly possess the required intensity .

 

[Waylon]

Universities live off international and post-grad students. That's where the sweet, sweet money that seems to be all they (as institutions) care about is. But, as LG would say, I digress.

HECS

HECS was introduced to help relieve the university drain on the federal government

International students are a lucrative bonus as they are "full fee" paying students.

 

[Langthorne]

IMO, and I know the Uni apologists will completely disagree and throw his stats at me, but the problem for a long time has been Tom Carter. Yes, he has not been playing lately, but it is still the inherent problem.

Even when he isn't playing, he is the problem?!

(with apologies to Barbarian) This is patently ridiculous. If we have learnt anything from the last few weeks it is how vital Tom Carter is to the Waratah's chances of success this season. Not only has he given them solid defence and strong ball running, kick chasing, a strong presence out wide in rucks and mauls, but his distribution has been very good. Some of his carry on drives me up the wall, but at least he gives a shit and throws himself in boots and all.

One further question for Knuckles - what did you mean by the Waratah's recruitment being based on the school the players went to? Are you American and refering to their University? Or were you refering to the Sydney University club? Or a particular high school?

 

[Sandpit Fan]

How appropriate that this was posted by someone known as "Knuckles". The first Knuckles, as QLD coach, didn't give a toss about attractive rugby, was an exponent of ten man forwards-based rugby and now has the temerity to post in a Tahs thread about how unattractive and kick-focussed the current Waratah team is.

Please return to those threads inhabited by your red-necked cousins, this thread is designed for fact-based discussion.

Knuckles appears to be one of your own Hawko, according to the supporter avatars. Anyhow, as you were with that fact based discussion...

 

[Inside Shoulder]

How can a player, who to be in the team has to be selected every week and who hasn't been, represent an "inherent problem"?
Is he like that former fugitive Naden - just his being anywhere within the state of NSW is an issue for the tahs?.....and they just don't recognize it?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[fatprop]

Very good, but harsh piece, a few inaccuracies but I think he has a point

Stale Tahs will keep serving up stinkers if they don't freshen up their ideas

Paul Cully

March 23, 2012
Accurate conclusions in the aftermath of last week's performance might have, at first, seemed difficult for Waratahs followers to reach. There were multiple incompetencies to consider, and hard liquor is known to hinder cognitive clarity.

But the job had already been done. In the only honesty session that means anything, those at the top of the Australian rugby tree - the Wallabies selectors - sat down in mid-October last year and picked a team to represent the country in the biggest game for four years. Fifteen names were jotted down and only two, Sekope Kepu and Dan Vickerman, had represented Australia's biggest province that season. The performance against the Force, like middle age, had been coming.

Nothing encapsulated the Waratahs' laziness better than the phases of play that lead to the angry boos in the second half on Saturday. Daniel Halangahu's kick out on the full was the catalyst for the dissent, but other errors had been committed. After 73 minutes, and trailing by one point, Halangahu had tried to spark a counter-attack following a poor clearance by the Force's Dave Harvey. Halangahu came off the right touchline to look for contact to set up the next phase. One forward - Dean Mumm - was on the scene to secure the ruck. As the ball was spread wide from Sarel Pretorius, there were nine Waratahs standing in a 25-30-metre space across the field, including two props - Benn Robinson and Paddy Ryan - and second-rower Kane Douglas.

The tight five is decorated but not working hard enough. Twice in two weeks it has been targeted. The cold steel of the selection axe should be pressing on their necks, but instead they - along with Wycliff Palu, another with plenty of kilometres on the clock - are being asked to lead the revival. Perhaps the tone had been set when two ageing Test forwards with injury problems and a lack of recent top-end rugby were recruited and Ben Mowen departed.

The Tahs' sluggishness made Harvey's performance all the more endearing. The 29-year-old utility back, plucked from club duties on a short-term deal, will never be flown around the world in Wallaby gold to play at rugby's great cathedrals. He took one intercept and set off as if his boots were full of lead. Other contributions included a swing-and-a-miss clearance and another out on the full. But he also supported the ball carrier nicely, with an appreciation of depth, to collect a neat try and kicked his pressure goals with ability and admirable character. By the look of him, Harvey has had a real job. Perhaps that's why it meant more to him. Rugby's gods have picked an opponent this week designed perfectly to exploit any repeat softness in the Waratahs' approach, physical or mental. South African teams arrive with their own baggage, as little more than one-dimensional bruisers. It is an outdated description.When Pretorius left Bloemfontein for Sydney he was saying goodbye to the more innovative rugby environment.

The Sharks have lost three of their heftiest ball carriers - Beast Mtawarira, Jean Deysel and Ryan Kankowski - to injuries (all teams have them) while John Smit is now at Saracens. Willem Alberts and Jannie du Plessis are only getting into their work after slow starts. They have a relative waif at No. 8, the ball-playing Keegan Daniel, and their pack was 12 kilograms lighter than the Reds.
For the first few rounds they looked like a side searching for their identity, but they found it spectacularly last week against Queensland, and youth and adventure was at its core. From the opening seconds, receiving the Reds' kick-off, livewire halfback Charl McLeod spun it to Springboks winger Lwazi Mvovo.

When McLeod later made the break for their crucial first try last week, he found 22-year-old second-rower Juandre Marais on his shoulder. The game's outstanding loose forward, Marcell Coetzee - surely a Springbok of the future - was born in the 1990s. The loose-head, Dale Chadwick, also 22, battled against inexperience and a bulk inequity at the set-piece but kept coming back for more. Necessity has played its part, but the Sharks are backing their young, hungry players, a policy that served the Reds so well last year and has been spotted in Wellington and Hamilton this year.

You get that same vigour when the Timani brothers or Tom Kingston are given some licence. They are a reminder that the Waratahs aren't dead, this season or beyond, they've just had their eyes closed.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/stale-tahs-will-keep-serving-up-stinkers-if-they-dont-freshen-up-their-ideas-20120322-1vmuz.html#ixzz1psfr6ijE

 

[wamberal]

The SMH discovers a real rugby journalist shocker.

 

[Hawko]

Knuckles appears to be one of your own Hawko, according to the supporter avatars. Anyhow, as you were with that fact based discussion...

The quality and content of his post indicated that his heart at least was situated north of the border.

 

[Lee Grant]

Cully is the best rugby writer in Oz.

His remarks about the laziness of the Tahs were spot on.

 

[Brumbies Guy]

Cully is the best rugby writer in Oz.

Don't be modest LG

 

[SuperGrover]

Cully is the best rugby writer in Oz.

I'll take almost anything over another Matt Bourke column.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

I'll take almost anything over another Matt Bourke column.

Unless you've written at the highest level you dont know how hard it is to write a column......... especially one defending the tahs