Waratahs 2020

[Rugbynutter39]

I think having Hanigan back would help add some starch to the wallaby defence - that is assuming people accept while Hanigan not wallaby standard he is good super rugby standard.

 

[rugboy]

I have faith that Penney will make the hard decisions and turn it around. Let the 5/8th play, don’t have Beale and hunt over ruling him all the time. Get the second row to push hard at scrum time. Have a few players on the team who can bend the line. Moroa seemed to do that comfortably. Need a second rower or number 6 or 8 who can do that too. Get Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) having the same amount of touches in the final 20 minutes from the bench as he seems to have all game. Teach him to hit and drive in defence.

I'd like to see Moeroa transition to 6 or 8. Would give us something we desperately need. Foketi is doing well and it seems a waste to throw Moeroa on just for the final 20 if he can possibly bend the line and provide that impact from the start.

 

[Drew]

I'd like to see Moeroa transition to 6 or 8. Would give us something we desperately need. Foketi is doing well and it seems a waste to throw Moeroa on just for the final 20 if he can possibly bend the line and provide that impact from the start.

Agreed, his few touches seemed to get us moving forward and uncomplicate things. The transition to loosie would be ideal.

 

[Blackadder]

Agreed, his few touches seemed to get us moving forward and uncomplicate things. The transition to loosie would be ideal.

I think inside centre giving us some strong runs out wide.

 

[Hawko]

The point was that they weren't necessarily incompetent decisions at the time.

This I take issue with. From the moment Gibson was appointed, he worked to replace Power forwards with Small, High Workrate forwards. We never attempted to replace Potgeiter, Palu, Skelton with similar players. Instead we went with lightweight energiser bunnies. We can afford to have maybe one or two of those (Hooper plus one), but the rest need to have the sort of explosive power that can move scrums, rucks, mauls and rampaging opponents. Maybe some of the younglings might develop that but they certainly don't have it now and the older heads are all low-power workhorses.

The seeds of destruction that have flowered so beautifully this year were planted three years ago. Between Hore and Gibson, the two people who were ultimately responsible, they have destroyed the franchise for at least two, maybe three years. And there is no quick fix because even if we had the money we couldn't spend it because of the salary cap.

It might be true that they didn't look like incompetent decisions when viewed individually, but their breathtaking incompetence is absolutely clear over the whole of that process.

 

[fatprop]

I'd like to see Moeroa transition to 6 or 8. Would give us something we desperately need. Foketi is doing well and it seems a waste to throw Moeroa on just for the final 20 if he can possibly bend the line and provide that impact from the start.

Disagree, he is a 12

 

[Braveheart81]

I think Hunt has been pretty mediocre so far. I'd give Moeroa a go in the 12 jersey. His defensive decision making could be an issue for a while though.

 

[John S]

The Tahs' own defence will come under scrutiny after leaking 11 tries across the first two rounds, with the players still adjusting to the demands of defence coach Phil Bailey, who was only appointed two weeks before their first game this season.
"We're learning as we go, obviously having (previous defence coach) Steve (Tandy) here for so long, and now Phil coming in and changing bits and pieces. It's definitely not an excuse," Whitaker said.

So they're aware of the issue, is this just paying lip service or actually going to happen?

Had a funny thought about us as fans, if the Tah's had won the first two games it would be all like "two games don't make a season", but because they lost it's a little bit like "it's going to be a long season"

 

[fatprop]

I think Hunt has been pretty mediocre so far. I'd give Moeroa a go in the 12 jersey. His defensive decision making could be an issue for a while though.

It shouldn't be an issue at 12, he has been an edge forward in the NRL for years

Just tell him to smash anything that runs at him and run over anything in front of him

 

[Braveheart81]

It shouldn't be an issue at 12, he has been an edge forward in the NRL for years

Just tell him to smash anything that runs at him and run over anything in front of him

Yeah, I agree. A much easier task and also, I expect him to improve rapidly. That stint off the bench was literally his first rugby game for about 7 years. Missing the trials was certainly a setback.

 

[fatprop]

Yeah, I agree. A much easier task and also, I expect him to improve rapidly. That stint off the bench was literally his first rugby game for about 7 years. Missing the trials was certainly a setback.

We will see if there are any brains in the coaching panel, if he gets put at 13, there isn't any

Hunt is the interesting issue, his defense has been average, that was his strength

Before they played a game I thought Hunt could be that solid defensive 13 in the Conrad Smith mould who would blot out attacks and link and support our wingers

Instead we have him falling off too many tackles and wingers who simply can't tackle

I would sack a few for this week, they were shit

Gordon, Newsome, Hunt & Nawaqanitawase - all gone

Replaced with Short, Clarke, Moeroa & Maddocks

The Forwards? Depends if Hanigan is fit

If he is, then

Robertson
Fitzpatrick
Johnson
Simmons
Holloway
Hanigan
Hooper
Dempsey
Short
Harrison
Clarke
Moeroa
Foketi
Maddocks
Beale

 

[eastman]

I think you need to ease Meoroa off the bench off the bench and give him gradually increasing game time. I agree with the other changes apart from Gordon, who had an off game but I think has a lot of upside.

 

[RugbyReg]

what are people's issues with Nawaqanitawase? I missed most of the Blues match.

 

[Braveheart81]

I think you need to ease Meoroa off the bench off the bench and give him gradually increasing game time.

I'm tempted to go the other way and give him 30-50 minutes starting. I think it can be harder getting up to the pace of the game off the bench than starting where everyone is in the same situation.

I thought he showed some good touches against the Blues but also made some mistakes in defence.

I also think the season is looking pretty dire right now so we may as well bite the bullet and throw him in the deep end. We didn't sign him to be a bit part player. It would be a different story if we weren't 0 from 2.

 

[Braveheart81]

what are people's issues with Nawaqanitawase? I missed most of the Blues match.

He's been found out in defence a fair bit. I think we have to play him though. He's our best attacking threat.

Also, he is something of a contortionist. Somehow he not only survived this but is expected to be available this weekend.

 

[RugbyReg]

ok, I think he's excellent from what I've seen and think he should be supported.

He's work rate is excellent. In fact of all the Aussie team wingers so far (albeit only two rounds), he has the highest work rate in terms of involvements (tackles, runs, turn overs). And I know stats don't always tell the story, but hes made more tackles than any other winger in oz (13) and only missed three which puts him at 81% success. Just behind Tom Wright (4 from 4 @ 100%) and Henry Speight (10 from 12 @ 83%) in terms of tackle success. Pretty much all the other wings are in the 60% range and below. He's turned over a bit of ball but similar to the likes of Kellaway, Speight, Koroibete.

I just think he is too good a talent to ditch and don't think he teaches him a lesson.

 

[fatprop]

I think you need to ease Meoroa off the bench off the bench and give him gradually increasing game time. I agree with the other changes apart from Gordon, who had an off game but I think has a lot of upside.

Gordon is too slow to the breakdown

 

[Braveheart81]

ok, I think he's excellent from what I've seen and think he should be supported.

He's work rate is excellent. In fact of all the Aussie team wingers so far (albeit only two rounds), he has the highest work rate in terms of involvements (tackles, runs, turn overs). And I know stats don't always tell the story, but hes made more tackles than any other winger in oz (13) and only missed three which puts him at 81% success. Just behind Tom Wright (4 from 4 @ 100%) and Henry Speight (10 from 12 @ 83%) in terms of tackle success. Pretty much all the other wings are in the 60% range and below. He's turned over a bit of ball but similar to the likes of Kellaway, Speight, Koroibete.

I just think he is too good a talent to ditch and don't think he teaches him a lesson.

Agreed. He's also scored 3 of the Waratahs 5 tries so he's been pretty important there. 2 of them wouldn't have been scored by another player.

Meanwhile Newsome has had two very dud games so it's an easy choice to replace him.

 

[Up the Guts]

I don’t think Nawaqanitawase’s defensive issues have been from a lack of effort or unwillingness to make a tackle, mainly positional problems. This is also partially a function of poor defensive organisation inside him which has left him on the hop a few times. Benching him now might be a bit of a blow to his confidence when he’s been very good in attack.

 

[fatprop]

ok, I think he's excellent from what I've seen and think he should be supported.

He's work rate is excellent. In fact of all the Aussie team wingers so far (albeit only two rounds), he has the highest work rate in terms of involvements (tackles, runs, turn overs). And I know stats don't always tell the story, but hes made more tackles than any other winger in oz (13) and only missed three which puts him at 81% success. Just behind Tom Wright (4 from 4 @ 100%) and Henry Speight (10 from 12 @ 83%) in terms of tackle success. Pretty much all the other wings are in the 60% range and below. He's turned over a bit of ball but similar to the likes of Kellaway, Speight, Koroibete.

I just think he is too good a talent to ditch and don't think he teaches him a lesson.

His defense is terrible, he isn't "missing" tackles because isn't getting near them to miss them