Waratahs 2013

[Inside Shoulder]

Weren't you one of the people calling for answers and for the Waratahs to engage their fans?

What were you expecting? Heads on stakes in the Moore Park Gold Member Carpark?

Steaks on heads?

As Club Captain, Pat McCutcheon could organise various players to take a head on a stake round to primary schools for show and tell.

It would be a good way to teach kids the importance of living up to the success demanded in the harbour city.

Any other year - when we got beaten in semis, in the final - this would have been a fair call: but this year its hard to see that anyone is out of order in wanting something more in keeping with the Tahs importance to Oz rugby.

With those home games they'd be smart to move the Cheetahs game to Newcastle as they'll struggle to get any more than 15000 to the SFS and with the interest generated by the Wallaby test v Scotland this year may get 25000 plus to the game up there. But we are talking Waratah's management so intellignece is not a prerequisite it would appear.

Is it an option given their contractual position with SFS?

 

[Badger]

Is it an option given their contractual position with SFS?

Probably not as the Trust would be loathed to lose anymore games to another venue.

I vaguely recall the contract with the Olympic Stadium ends in 2015, so one or both games allocated there could be played outside of Sydney.

 

[HodgoBerro]

Seems like the Tahs are doing massive clean outs ATM
Chris Alcock has signed to the Force.

2 backup 7s gone now.

 

[Hawko]

Seems like the Tahs are doing massive clean outs ATM
Chris Alcock has signed to the Force.

2 backup 7s gone now.

Hard to do ruck cleanouts without a fetcher there first.

Looks like Hooper and McCutcheon will be the two sevens for the squad. That means we'll need some good back-up for injury in the EPS and we deliberately did not choose an up-and-coming fetcher in the development squad this year. Chickens, roost anyone? So who in Shutelooks to have the quality to step up that is not already earmarked?

The Force are continuing to try to get their hands on any available seven, somehow cornering the market. But now they have two sevens in Hodgson and Alcock that are not strictly fetchers, but have a much wider skillset. If Eberson goes well at 10 then the Force won't be a bottom four team if they can get their act together early. Their pack has serious quality from front to back.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Seems like the Tahs are doing massive clean outs ATM
Chris Alcock has signed to the Force.

2 backup 7s gone now.

Not far enough. Still some high level administrative wallahs yet to be cleaned out.

 

[fatprop]

Hard to do ruck cleanouts without a fetcher there first.

Looks like Hooper and McCutcheon will be the two sevens for the squad. That means we'll need some good back-up for injury in the EPS and we deliberately did not choose an up-and-coming fetcher in the development squad this year. Chickens, roost anyone? So who in Shutelooks to have the quality to step up that is not already earmarked?

we had 3,000 in the squad, it wasn't needed for this year

 

[I like to watch]

.... That means we'll need some good back-up for injury in the EPS and we deliberately did not choose an up-and-coming fetcher in the development squad this year. Chickens, roost anyone? So who in Shutelooks to have the quality to step up that is not already earmarked?

Katone Ale from Manly and Boyd Killingworth from the Rats are schoolboy 7's from 08 & '10.Both are definitely worthy of a start.

 

[Bruce Ross]

One for the little black book from the Uni stable at 7 is David Hickey. The most aggressive player they have had in the past 20 years with an extraordinary work rate. Needs to control his impetuousness. If he does so he can go all the way.
.

 

[Langthorne]

Each year the Tahs seem to have a slogan. In 2012, it was "Stronger Together". Maybe next year it should be "Redemption".

2013 - hopefully less shit

 

[Aussie D]

Miller from Norths looked handy at the start of the year, haven't seen him for a while so not sure how he is going now. Played Oz schoolboys last year.

 

[DPK]

I agree with Bruce, Hickey's got the sauce but needs to control himself a little better. That said I'd prefer them choose a player that needs to be tamed than someone they have to fire up.

Miles McCaffery is another option, but not for some time. Needs to bulk up more.

 

[blues recovery]

]One for the little black book from the Uni stable at 7 is David Hickey. The most aggressive player they have had in the past 20 years with an extraordinary work rate. Needs to control his impetuousness. If he does so he can go all the way.

 

[Hawko]

One for the little black book from the Uni stable at 7 is David Hickey. The most aggressive player they have had in the past 20 years with an extraordinary work rate. Needs to control his impetuousness. If he does so he can go all the way.

Is he injured at the moment or is he just playing 2's behind Jono Jenkins?

 

[fatprop]

Hickey has started for most of the last two years

Take a look at their team for this week - faark

Sydney University: 1. Jeremy Tilse, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Paddy Ryan; 4. Liam Winton, 5. Ollie Atkins; 6. Ben McCalman, 7. David Hickey, 8. Tim Davidson [c]; 9. Nic Stirzaker, 10. Daniel Kelly; 11. Michael Hodge, 12. Tom Carter, 13. Mitch Inman, 14. Tom Kingston; 15. Angus Roberts.


vs

Southern Districts: 1. Marcus Heather, 2. John Ulugia [c], 3. Tim Metcher; 4. Andrew Leota, 5. Kane Douglas; 6. Jed Holloway, 7. Jono Hayes, 8. Lopeti Timani; 9. Grayson Hart, 10. Rohan Saifolio; 11. Ben Connolly, 12. Apo Latunipulu, 13. Nic Cummins, 14. Atieli Pakalani; 15. Ben Volalvola.

 

[Richo]

Faark indeed.

Districts ain't bad either though.

 

[Badger]

And the search continues.......

Nick Mallett turns down Waratahs as team of Alan Gaffney and Michael Cheika loom as coaching favourite

• The Daily Telegraph
• August 17, 2012 10:37AM

A team of Alan Gaffney and Michael Cheika appears set to occupy the Waratahs' coaches box after former Springbok and Italy coach Nick Mallett turned down an approach from NSW.
Mallett was on a hit list of targets to replace Michael Foley, but he knocked back the Tahs because of television commitments.
It is understood Mallett recently signed a multi-year deal with South Africa's Supersport, and could only get out of it if offered a Test job. Gaffney has popular support with the board and players and is already locked in for a senior coaching role. Exactly what title will come down to whether Cheika returns.
Cheika flew into Sydney this week and was interviewed by the Waratahs' rugby committee on Wednesday, before flying back to Europe that night.
It's understood he will only take the job if structural changes are made.
Though some contend it is not as close as it was when they coached Leinster to a Heineken Cup in 2009, Cheika's relationship with Gaffney is apparently still very strong.
In other Waratahs coaching news, along with former All Blacks assistant Wayne Smith, Graham Henry was also apparently a Waratahs target. Unlike Smith, who politely declined, stone cold silence from Henry was all the answer NSW needed.

Love the bit about Sir Graham's response. He's in town for the Bledisloe so perhaps someone should knock on his hotel room door to confirm his really isn't interested.

If Cheika isn't keen, seems Gaffney could be a stop gap for 2013, while an extended search continues during the next year.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

WTF are the Board doing chasing coaches. More masonic superiority.

Put an add in the paper or on seek.com and go through normal selection processes to chose the best available.

All decent coaches should know that there is a vacancy in Tahland.

The coach we need is one who will crawl across 50 metres of broken glass to get the position, not one that our board has to do likewise to get.

Some years ago, as a single young fellow I worked for a period in a rather remote town.
Payweek Thursday night at the local pub was the known as the Dance of the Desperates.
Somehow I have the feeling that the Tahs Board are acting like it is late on a Thursday Night in a Payweek as they go about the busioness of recruiting a head coach for next year.

 

[qwerty51]

I'd prefer a coach with some knowledge of the club rugby scene here. Hickey was a good example of that, he wasn't afraid to pick Shute Shield players. I know there's a lot of pros with a foreign coach such as White with the Brumbies but I just don't think it's for the best in the Tahs case due to the strong club rugby scene here unlike in Canberra.

 

[Badger]

That's probably what the Tahs are reduced to doing having to try to find a coach this late in the piece. Besides, I couldn't imagine a coach with a decent track record putting their hands up (or crawling across broken glass) with what's been going on at Tah HQ.

 

[qwerty51]

Well not really, Tim Lane has said he'd take the job if offered.