Waratahs 2014

[Richo]

Play in finals?

Touché.

I'm assuming that the Tahs would have been willing to put a bit of cash on the table, but perhaps that's not right.

 

[Richo]

Charles is contracted till 2014

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk 2

Thought he was off contract this year. My bad.

 

[Lindommer]

Time for a mid-season review in the bye week.

1 Adam Ashley-Cooper - off contract would like to keep but maybe it's time to make a pile of yen Re-signed
2 Ollie Atkins - off contract dunno anything about Ollie, can someone fill me in Still dunno
3 Berrick Barnes - off contract been very injury-prone during his entire Tahs' stay, see AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) Looks like he's off to Japan
4 Peter Betham - off contract worth keeping Fix up your defence, Peter, or you'll be looking for your fourth Super side
5 Tom Carter - off contract can't see Tom fitting in with Cheika's philosophy/style/plans No change
6 Cam Crawford - contracted How 'bout seeing what this bloke can do, Cheks?
7 Dave Dennis - contracted
8 Kane Douglas - off contract MUST KEEP No change
9 Damien Fitzpatrick - off contract if the medicos don't give Damien a clean bill of health later this year it's goodbye No change
10 Bernard Foley - off contract I imagine Foley's the sort of player Cheika would like to mould into something decent How prescient of me
11 Grayson Hart - off contract when you get the chance, Grayson, perform or else No change
12 Michael Hodge - contracted See Crawford
13 Michael Hooper - contracted
14 Rob Horne - off contract my support for Rob's starting to wane, see Fitzpatrick Better, but must grasp Cheika's ball-in-hand style FOR OTHERS or he's off
15 Sekope Kepu - off contract every Super squad needs a bank of props, keep Re-signed
16 Tom Kingston - off contract keep, young Tom's going to be a good'n No change
17 Pat McCutcheon - contracted
18 Brendan McKibbin - off contract probably keep, must improve his passing Shoulda taken that Scottish gig, Brendan. Is it not too late?
19 Drew Mitchell - off contract see Fitzpatrick and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) A fit Drewster's worth keeping, please look after yourself
20 Wycliff Palu - off contract ditto ditto
21 Greg Peterson - off contract this young giant was supposed to be the next Ian Botham, but what's he done? No change
22 Tatafu Polota-Nau - off contract heart and soul of the Tahs, keep See Mitchell and Palu
23 Benn Robinson - off contract props should peak in their late 20s, keep (but improve your fitness, Benn) No change
24 Paddy Ryan - contracted
25 Jeremy Tilse - off contract probably would've been a better prop with more game time, dunno No change. How 'bout giving Superprop some game time, Cheks?
26 Lopeti Timani - off contract MUST KEEP No change
27 Sitaleki Timani - off contract if he wants to go, let him You'll have to up your participation rate in France, Sita
28 Lachie Turner - off contract see Fitzpatrick and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), probably should keep one of Turner or Mitchell No change. Looks like Father Time/injuries have caught up with him
29 John Ulugia - off contract never let the Tahs down, keep Playing well for a 3rd string hooker, but must up his participation rate
30 Israel Folau - off contract let's hope he enjoys rugby enough this year to want to stay No change, Izzy could be something special
31 Mitch Chapman (replacement for the injured Fitzpatrick) - off contract MUST KEEP No change. More game time please, Cheks
EXTENDED PLAYER SQUAD
Jed Holloway - off contract never seen Jed play, dunno No change
Luke Holmes - off contract ditto Let's look at other up-and-coming hookers. Roach?
Sam Lane - released see Foley (who do you WANT to play for, Sam?) Slots in Barnes' pozzy. Get medico's clearance first
Matt Lucas - off contract the bits I've seen of Matt he looks all right, see Lane Keep, best pass of the current scrummy lot. Put on some weight
Ben Volavola - off contract MUST KEEP No change. Must work on defence

 

[Richo]

Agree with all of that, Lindo.

But I reckon it would be fine to let Turner go at this point. Unless he wants to play for a low contract and be in the squad as injury cover, he simply offers far too little these days. With so many dynamic outside backs in Australia, he's just not worth paying much anymore.

With the season stuffed, I'd really like to see more of Volavola, Lucas and Lopeti. If Matty keeps playing the way he has, the Tahs will be wondering how to un-sign Phipps.

 

[Froggy]

Not disagreeing with what's being said at all, but Lachie Turner is only 26, bit tough saying Father Time has caught up. I actually thought his couple of appearances this had been pretty good, but Cheika obviously prefers others. Pretty tough competition in that back 3, with Folau, Mitchell, Betham, Kingston, Volavola & Turner, not to mention Crawford & Hodge who haven't got a look in.

We seem to be very unbalanced to me, with all that strength and our paucity of strenght at 9 & 10, got to hope Foley stays fit!

 

[Lindommer]

We seem to be very unbalanced to me, with all that strength and our paucity of strength at 9 & 10, got to hope Foley stays fit!

Well pointed out, Froggy, which makes signing/keeping Lane and Lucas doubly important. Having at least a couple of serviceable halves in every squad is vital, as both the Reds and Brumbies found out last year when all their 10s went down wounded. At least this year the Reds were able to cover Genia's absence at halfback, but another scrummie injury could've put paid to their season. Another thing: the importance of halves' depth to a squad makes me think what a wise move it's been by the Brumbies to persevere with To'omua the last few years with his many injuries. An object lesson for all coaches and managers.

On the issue of outside backs, the Tahs have too many. I'd list them in age and then mark them, say points out of ten: if the older blokes aren't a couple of points in front of the younger ones it's sayanora. Sorry, Lachie. On the point of age and Father Time, Froggy, during the Cheetahs match there was one passage of play over on the eastern side when Turner chased a kicked through ball. Lachie got to the ball first and toed it ahead, and was then passed by an opponent, not a winger. This was the young schoolboy athlete who could do a 100m in under 11 secs; didn't look good to me, he's either slowing down or injured.

 

[JSRF10]

Turner looks like he needs a change of scenary, not much seems to be going his way on the field at the moment and a fresh start could do him the world of good. I saw in the SMH today that the ARU are using the Rio Olympics as a carrot to keep Izzy and are fairly sure he'll stay. That would be a massive coup for us and we could end up getting the best years of his career.

 

[Braveheart81]

TPN is playing for Parramatta this weekend against Randwick for the first time in about three years. It's the ABC game.

http://sphotos-d.AK (Andrew Kellaway).fbcdn.net/hphotos-AK (Andrew Kellaway)-prn1/62868_10151451671177144_388077841_n.jpg

 

[Richo]

Not disagreeing with what's being said at all, but Lachie Turner is only 26, bit tough saying Father Time has caught up. I actually thought his couple of appearances this had been pretty good, but Cheika obviously prefers others. Pretty tough competition in that back 3, with Folau, Mitchell, Betham, Kingston, Volavola & Turner, not to mention Crawford & Hodge who haven't got a look in.

Maybe it's not Father Time, but he definitely looks to have lost something or simply been surpassed. He's still a good player but doesn't offer enough now to top the upside in developing the younger, more athletic and dynamic guys like Betham, Kingston, Volavola and Folau. With the salary cap, teams must value players carefully and I would suggest that Lachie just doesn't offer enough to be worth more than a squad-type salary.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Forget Betham - he is verging on being classified a menace

 

[Richo]

Forget Betham - he is verging on being classified a menace

Disagree entirely. Made a few errors, definitely, an his defensive positioning needs work, but he's also been on the end of a few McKibbin Specials that have made his life pretty difficult. Real talent, as he has showed on a few occasions. Like Volavola, he needs game time and hard yards in training.

 

[Dave Beat]

Disagree entirely. Made a few errors, definitely, an his defensive positioning needs work, but he's also been on the end of a few McKibbin Specials that have made his life pretty difficult. Real talent, as he has showed on a few occasions. Like Volavola, he needs game time and hard yards in training.

Denfensive positioning???? when playing in the ITM cup last year with a full back with instinct / experience and that could read a game he was raved about. Now playing with a 15 that is still learning the game his positioning is being critisized???
Nor am i seeing the ball get out to him with space.
I'm sitting on the fence at the moment - wingmen are very reliant on the players on the inside.

 

[JSRF10]

Betham is 24, yes he has shown enough that we give him another season to improve, yes he looks to have some great attributes that we probably aren't utilizing enough. However given his age profile and the potential of other younger back 3 options we have in the roster I'd say he doesn't have much time, a year max for me, to prove he can consistently deliver in Super Rugby. If he delivers on the promise he could be a franchise player for the Tahs, if not he could find himself in a similar situation to Lachie Turner this time next year.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Disagree entirely. Made a few errors, definitely, an his defensive positioning needs work, but he's also been on the end of a few McKibbin Specials that have made his life pretty difficult. Real talent, as he has showed on a few occasions. Like Volavola, he needs game time and hard yards in training.

I'd love to see some stats for the number of handling errors he's been associated with - we can debate their causes.
Dave Beat has a good point in relation to the better quality players he was with in ITM.
I see a lot more potential in Kingston.

 

[Richo]

Denfensive positioning???? when playing in the ITM cup last year with a full back with instinct / experience and that could read a game he was raved about. Now playing with a 15 that is still learning the game his positioning is being critisized???
Nor am i seeing the ball get out to him with space.
I'm sitting on the fence at the moment - wingmen are very reliant on the players on the inside.

I'm a Betham fan, just saying that, IMO, he's been caught out defensively a few times (position and tackling). No need to get your knickers in a knot.

 

[Dave Beat]

I'm a Betham fan, just saying that, IMO, he's been caught out defensively a few times (position and tackling). No need to get your knickers in a knot.

had my head burried in the scrum so my knickers are fine, the tahs cant change over night.
Izzy - not up to scratch now but heaps of talent and potential and he'll only learn on the padock.
Back 3 - covering the space at the back in D, and also chiming into the backline needs practice, communication, and confidence - again time.
Mitchell - I'm seeing more involvement, but there is a lot of crash ball with that involvement.

 

[qwerty51]

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) has already re-signed

Same with Kepu

 

[Braveheart81]

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) has already re-signed

Same with Kepu

Lindo has those details in blue at the end of each line.

 

[qwerty51]

Ah I see now missed that on Tapatalk

 

[p.Tah]

Waratahs if you are reading this can you please make Waratahs stubby holders for 2014.
I have ones for all other Australian Super rugby sides except the one I support.

Meanwhile I am enjoying the G&GR ones.