Waratahs 2013

[wamberal]

Time for Lopeti to make a step up in performance.

 

[Quick Hands]

Jets - I don't really like the idea of appointing a captain who would be or should be routinely subbed in the last 15 minutes of a game. To me these are the most important minutes of the game.

The Waratahs lost several games last year due to poor decision making in the final minutes. Either having a captain who isn't likely to be on the field at that point or one who should have been subbed but has been kept on because they are captain doesn't work for me.

That is why Dennis seems like a good pick to me. He would be the forward most likely to play the most 80 minute games.

I think you're right, when you factor in being on the field for 80 and being level headed, it probably comes down to Dennis, Barnes and Hooper.

I usually find when an outside back is captain, it's difficult to have those subtle conversations with the referee. When an outside back wants to speak to the ref, he either has to run in or shout, both of which make it look aggressive. Assuming Barnes plays 15, that counts against him.

Then it comes down to whether or not Hooper's youth is an advantage or disadvantage. I think that both Dennis and Hooper would grow into the role and either would do a good job (as would Barnes).

 

[TOCC]

Will Genia wasn't much older then Hooper when he was named captain of the Reds in 2010, and coincidentally it was following his Test debut and a breakout EOYT in 2009.

I dont think experience is as important as genuine leadership qualities and attitude, blokes like Robinson and Barnes can still provide a voice of reason and experience.

 

[TSR]

I feel it would be a mistake to make Hooper captain. While Genial & Pocock are both very composed Hooper seems to me much more bull at a gate. Not that this is a criticism - his play is fantastic, but if I was Cheika I wouldn't be burdening him. I'd be just letting him go 100 miles an hour with as little else to worry about as possible.

On the flip side, I think Douglas could be an inspired choice. He would be a guaranteed starter and is likely to play 80 minutes - given his likely starting partner will be Timani. Most importantly he is hard nosed and would lead from the front.

I would be interested in hearing from those who know him personally whether they feel he has the personality to be a good captain.

 

[Dave Beat]

I feel it would be a mistake to make Hooper captain. While Genial & Pocock are both very composed Hooper seems to me much more bull at a gate. Not that this is a criticism - his play is fantastic, but if I was Cheika I wouldn't be burdening him. I'd be just letting him go 100 miles an hour with as little else to worry about as possible.

On the flip side, I think Douglas could be an inspired choice. He would be a guaranteed starter and is likely to play 80 minutes - given his likely starting partner will be Timani. Most importantly he is hard nosed and would lead from the front.

I would be interested in hearing from those who know him personally whether they feel he has the personality to be a good captain.

Interesting, possibly a good idea

 

[Pete King]

I have heard that Mitchell chapman is a bolter to start ahead of Douglas or at least get some game time in the row or at 6 due to the fact that chieka is looking for a line out general. This is fefinately why he was drafted into the squad.

 

[Pete King]

Draws reference to it here
http://www.waratahs.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/157/ArticleID/8208/Default.aspx

 

[fatprop]

I have heard that Mitchell chapman is a bolter to start ahead of Douglas or at least get some game time in the row or at 6 due to the fact that chieka is looking for a line out general. This is fefinately why he was drafted into the squad.

Timani & Douglas are really both TH locks, I can see a scenario where they rotate all season for that side with Atkins, Chapman & Dennis covering the LH lock/6 in rotation. Then you have Lopeti covering Palu and budget Hooper to play 80 minutes.

 

[Brum]

Does anyone think Peterson has resigned himself to the fact that he is now the 6th and last choice lock at the tahs and this will undoubtedly be his last season in super rugby?

 

[wamberal]

Does anyone think Peterson has resigned himself to the fact that he is now the 6th and last choice lock at the tahs and this will undoubtedly be his last season in super rugby?

It's interesting, a few years ago he and Jones were being hailed as the great new lock sensations. Jones is now a 6, Peterson has just not progressed.

 

[en_force_er]

It's interesting, a few years ago he and Jones were being hailed as the great new lock sensations. Jones is now a 6, Peterson has just not progressed.

Jones is a funny one. Played 8 for his school but lock for rep teams so his future was always in question. He's probably not big enough to be a lock but is certainly a good build for a 6 that sees time in the 2nd row.

Funnily enough whilst the Force and Rebs backed Jones for success at a very young age he never actually got a decent run for the U20s. Nuci was not a fan.

 

[qwerty51]

It's interesting, a few years ago he and Jones were being hailed as the great new lock sensations. Jones is now a 6, Peterson has just not progressed.

I don't know who hailed Peterson as a new lock sensation, he never ever filled the hype. Just big at schoolboy level. No skills.

 

[wamberal]

I don't know who hailed Peterson as a new lock sensation, he never ever filled the hype. Just big at schoolboy level. No skills.

I forget now, maybe it was Growden. Or maybe it was just an ARU or NSWRU press release, when they were both picked for Australian Schools. I had never heard of either of them at the time, but had high hopes after reading the article (probably in the SMH).

 

[tranquility]

I don't know who hailed Peterson as a new lock sensation, he never ever filled the hype. Just big at schoolboy level. No skills.

To be fair I think it was LG. He is still very young, and is a massive human being. You can't put in what bloke upstairs left out.

 

[Braveheart81]

Timani & Douglas are really both TH locks, I can see a scenario where they rotate all season for that side with Atkins, Chapman & Dennis covering the LH lock/6 in rotation. Then you have Lopeti covering Palu and budget Hooper to play 80 minutes.

I can definitely see value in not overplaying Douglas and Timani. They're both great but they're both at their best in the same position. One or both of them could have involvement during the entire test season and have both been on the Spring Tour so trying to control their game minutes is a good idea.

Timani especially has played a lot of football since going from the Tahs to Japan to the Tahs to the Wallabies domestic test season and then on the Spring tour.

 

[ShtinaTina]

TPN or Dennis would make great captains. Both hard workers & give their all for the team.

 

[Ruggo]

TPN seems a good team man but his ability to wipe himself out doesn't bode well. Barnes or Dennis would be good options.

 

[Badger]

Latest on membership cards from the Tahs email received today:

MEMBER CARD UPDATE:
As a result of the rescheduling of the HSBC Waratahs Round 3 home match against the Melbourne Rebels due to a clash with the Sydney Mardi Gras, there has been a delay in the mailing of membership cards. These will now be mailed out from February 1. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

[Lee Grant]

To be fair I think it was LG. He is still very young, and is a massive human being. You can't put in what bloke upstairs left out.

Well - I didn't hail him as a lock sensation as the poster said but I certainly mentioned that he was a fine schools player in 2009 - that he was one to look out for in Super Rugby. And ditto for his NSW Schools locking partner Luke Jones, the Qld prop PAE, Qld wingers Situati and CFS, Qld lock Curtis Browning (who would probably play no.8 as a senior player, said I), Liam Gill (who looked as good as Hooper did the year before).

I made the remarks about CFS and Browning when I found out they were only 15, whereas most of the lads were 17 and 18.

They've all got, or once had, Super contracts - I've never seen a schools year that had so many obvious Super candidates in it - though there were some positions that were bereft of promising players. Hooper should have played that year too but he had a shoulder reconstruction and missed nearly all of the season.

Peterson showed promise as a senior player getting in the Manly 1st Grade team very early and I think that all of us are disappointed that he hasn't stepped up yet to get in a Super matchday team. Still early days though.

I will be interested to see how PAE goes this year. He was a player that I thought would do well in Super Rugby early even though THPs take a while to mature.

One guy I was wrong about in 2009 was fullback Jacob Woodhouse. I thought he would have a Super contract by now, but he hasn't. I also thought that Situati would turn out better, even though I mentioned he was an ethnic Islander lad who had matured early.

Hooper is the one that has surprised me in his rise. I wrote on the forum that he was the best player of the Oz Schools tournament in Canberra in 2008, even though he still had another year at school, but unlike with boy-man Pocock a few years before, I thought it would take him longer to make his mark in senior rugby than it has.


No, I didn't say Peterson was a sensation but I remembered writing something about Luke Jones and have just found it:

I think Luke Jones will be a Wallaby one day as a lock, 6, or 8.

That was in March of 2010. It could happen in a year or two.
.

 

[Lee Grant]

PS On Hooper.

If all goes well I will do a Q and A with him on Friday. I have a few standard questions about:

- compare and contrast the coaching style of Jake, Robbie and Cheik
- differences in Brumbies and Tahs set ups
- what he views as his strengths for the position he plays - the challenges?
- technical stuff about his position
- some personal stuff


any other ideas - or technical questions?

I'm not going to ask him smart arse or whining stuff that I know he can't or won't answer.

Thanks.
.