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Waratahs 2025

scrans21

Ted Fahey (11)
Not sure the Tahs need more wingers, despite how good Lancaster is. He'll be competing with Pietsch, Reilly, Sua'ali'i, Kellaway and Jorgensen for a spot. Would have made more sense for him to go to the Brumbies or Force. Either way, hope he goes well.

With Salakai-Loto coming to gods country, it wouldn't shock me to see Blyth make the move down south, which hopefully would shore up your lock stocks a bit more.
 

Pass it to Dunning!

Bob Loudon (25)
Not sure the Tahs need more wingers, despite how good Lancaster is. He'll be competing with Pietsch, Reilly, Sua'ali'i, Kellaway and Jorgensen for a spot. Would have made more sense for him to go to the Brumbies or Force. Either way, hope he goes well.

With Salakai-Loto coming to gods country, it wouldn't shock me to see Blyth make the move down south, which hopefully would shore up your lock stocks a bit more.
Sua'ali'i, Kellaway and Jorgensen all play different positions too, and I think Reilly is probably a bench option at best. Lancaster is probably a better prospect than Pietsch and maybe Jorgensen at this point.
 

Jimmyjam

Watty Friend (18)
Sua'ali'i, Kellaway and Jorgensen all play different positions too, and I think Reilly is probably a bench option at best. Lancaster is probably a better prospect than Pietsch and maybe Jorgensen at this point.
I expect that one of Kellaway or Sua'ali'i will play 13. I also suspect that Jorgensen will be rotated in-between starting and bench due to his age and injury history. So threequarters and FB would in my opinion be 11. Pietsch. 12. Foketi. 13. Sua'ali'i. 14. Lancaster 15. Kellaway with 22. Walton and 23. Jorgensen. Very Solid....
 

Steve_Grey

Darby Loudon (17)
I probably wouldn't be starting Gamble much longer if Wilkin signs with the tahs as rumoured.
Agreed - IMO Gamble is more of a #6.25 than a #7.
Leota at #6 is an upgrade IMO, FLW (Fergus Lee-Warner) and Sinclair can backup there also.
 

Derpus

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Not sure the Tahs need more wingers, despite how good Lancaster is. He'll be competing with Pietsch, Reilly, Sua'ali'i, Kellaway and Jorgensen for a spot. Would have made more sense for him to go to the Brumbies or Force. Either way, hope he goes well.

With Salakai-Loto coming to gods country, it wouldn't shock me to see Blyth make the move down south, which hopefully would shore up your lock stocks a bit more.
On the other hand Lancaster is actually, you know, good.
 

The Cleaner

Ted Fahey (11)
Hopefully Tane will return from his NPC stint BETTER and ready for 2025! UP THE TAHS!!
 

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The Ghost of Raelene

David Codey (61)
Not sure the Tahs need more wingers, despite how good Lancaster is. He'll be competing with Pietsch, Reilly, Sua'ali'i, Kellaway and Jorgensen for a spot. Would have made more sense for him to go to the Brumbies or Force. Either way, hope he goes well.

With Salakai-Loto coming to gods country, it wouldn't shock me to see Blyth make the move down south, which hopefully would shore up your lock stocks a bit more.
Lancaster > Reilly & Pietsch and I really like Pietsch and what he brings in effort but sometimes a guy is just better. Think we also saw the best of Reilly but we saw his ceiling IMO also.

I can see Kellaway and JS being used at 13 throughout the year with Foketi the 12 and Walton the backup. Jorgensen still developing at only 19. EJ (Eddie Jones) named him in the Wallabies squad so it seems we think this is it.... He's a couple years off what he will be. QLD still have Aubrey in the development pipeline and he's 21. Kellaway to be used there at times I'm sure.

It wouldn't be too much to have these guys in the same squad at all.

In regards to Blyth, I'd take him due to the departures in the squad but seriously he's very average and lucky he's tall (Smith must be shitty up there). Does nothing more than Sinclair. But, for the right price...

Bad 2025 ahead though for the Tahs and it's their own fault but I hope they show some grind. Looking at some squad numbers like the Reds and Force I think there will be a lot of names open up ahead of 2026 but who knows what the comp will look like then either.
 
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Wilson

Phil Kearns (64)
Lancaster > Reilly & Pietsch and I really like Pietsch and what he brings in effort but sometimes a guy is just better. Think we also saw the best of Reilly but we saw his ceiling IMO also.

I can see Kellaway and JS being used at 13 throughout the year with Foketi the 12 and Walton the backup. Jorgensen still developing at only 19. EJ (Eddie Jones) (Eddie Jones) named him in the Wallabies squad so it seems we think this is it.... He's a couple years off what he will be. QLD still have Aubrey in the development pipeline and he's 21. Kellaway to be used there at times I'm sure.
Whether or not they pick up Lancaster I'd be looking at shifting Pietsch across to 13 over Kellaway and Sua'ail'i. I think those guys have much more upside elsewhere and for all his good traits Pietsch is not a good finisher (and arguably not a good decision maker in the back 3). He is a good footballer and his size and pace would serve him well at 13 without his weaknesses being so exposed. It is a transition that would take time and they'd probably need Kellaway there at least sometimes as he picks it up, but after a few years of super he still has the same persistent flaws in his wing play where as his general game has been improving.

The other one that I wonder about is Hudson Creighton. With Lawson apparently coming in and McKellar having been the one to recruit him to the Brumbies originally he could be a target, though probably only for 2026.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

David Codey (61)
Whether or not they pick up Lancaster I'd be looking at shifting Pietsch across to 13 over Kellaway and Sua'ail'i. I think those guys have much more upside elsewhere and for all his good traits Pietsch is not a good finisher (and arguably not a good decision maker in the back 3). He is a good footballer and his size and pace would serve him well at 13 without his weaknesses being so exposed. It is a transition that would take time and they'd probably need Kellaway there at least sometimes as he picks it up, but after a few years of super he still has the same persistent flaws in his wing play where as his general game has been improving.

The other one that I wonder about is Hudson Creighton. With Lawson apparently coming in and McKellar having been the one to recruit him to the Brumbies originally he could be a target, though probably only for 2026.
Hudson was playing some good footy a couple of yars ago when he made the Aus A side for the Pac Nations tournament. I'd take him in a heartbeat even though I'd rather the Tahs go after bringing back O'Donnell at the Force.

Thats good news finally someone the Tahs can afford!!
I like it as a guy you know can play the level. Does it say something about McKellar and his opinion of Edmed? Can't imagine he knows or has much assessment on Bowen.
 

Hogie

Herbert Moran (7)
The Lancaster signing does not make sense and I cannot see him breaking the match day squad on too many occasions next year. RA need to learn their lesson to more evenly spread talent. Mosese Tuipolotu never got a shot last year and he has now headed off to Scotland where i fully expect him to become an international force in the Scotland centres with Australian fans left scratching heads once again how another aussie is capped for another nation.
 

eastman

John Solomon (38)
Whether or not they pick up Lancaster I'd be looking at shifting Pietsch across to 13 over Kellaway and Sua'ail'i. I think those guys have much more upside elsewhere and for all his good traits Pietsch is not a good finisher (and arguably not a good decision maker in the back 3). He is a good footballer and his size and pace would serve him well at 13 without his weaknesses being so exposed. It is a transition that would take time and they'd probably need Kellaway there at least sometimes as he picks it up, but after a few years of super he still has the same persistent flaws in his wing play where as his general game has been improving.
You think the Waratahs should invest time in Pietsch, when they have just made a huge investment in JS who has far more upside?
If you want a limited hard running centre, Pietsch could do a job, but like you said he’s a poor decision maker and limited passer.
I don’t think that it’s an investment worth making for the Tahs given the options.
 

Wilson

Phil Kearns (64)
You think the Waratahs should invest time in Pietsch, when they have just made a huge investment in JS who has far more upside?
If you want a limited hard running centre, Pietsch could do a job, but like you said he’s a poor decision maker and limited passer.
I don’t think that it’s an investment worth making for the Tahs given the options.
I don't think Pietsch is necessarily a poor decision maker overall, I think his decision making is poor in the back 3, particularly when it comes to finishing. I think a lot of his play and skill set would actually be well suited to 13 and he has a stable enough base in the 15 man game to make the switch.

As far as Sua'ail'i at 13 goes, I'm not convinced it's his best position, but even if it is that's going to be a long term project which will probably start with a year or 2 almost entirely played in the back 3, largely on the wing to start. The tahs need someone there next year (and cover for them as well) and with Pietsch unlikely to start in the back 3 ahead of Sua'ail'i, Kellaway, Jorgensen and Lancaster (I'd have Reilly above him as pure winger too), there's a lot of upside in him making that change, even if it's just so that he can offer more coverage in the 23 jersey. If they had more centres in the squad it might be a different story, but as it stands they've only retained Foketi and probably Walton with no others rumoured from that Rebels group. The rest of their options are all makeshift who are better in other positions, so you may as well work on converting the "odd man out" in Pietsch. Otherwise he becomes very difficult to re-sign in a years time, where other teams will likely be able to get a lot more value out of him, particularly as Jorgensen comes into his own.
 
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dru

David Wilson (68)
This...
The Lancaster signing does not make sense and I cannot see him breaking the match day squad on too many occasions next year.

And this...
RA need to learn their lesson to more evenly spread talent. Mosese Tuipolotu never got a shot last year and he has now headed off to Scotland where i fully expect him to become an international force in the Scotland centres with Australian fans left scratching heads once again how another aussie is capped for another nation.

Seem mutually contradictory.
 

Yoda

Cyril Towers (30)
I don't think Pietsch is necessarily a poor decision maker overall, I think his decision making is poor in the back 3, particularly when it comes to finishing. I think a lot of his play and skill set would actually be well suited to 13 and he has a stable enough base in the 15 man game to make the switch.

As far as Sua'ail'i at 13 goes, I'm not convinced it's his best position, but even if it is that's going to be a long term project which will probably start with a year or 2 almost entirely played in the back 3, largely on the wing to start. The tahs need someone there next year (and cover for them as well) and with Pietsch unlikely to start in the back 3 ahead of Sua'ail'i, Kellaway, Jorgensen and Lancaster (I'd have Reilly above him as pure winger too), there's a lot of upside in him making that change, even if it's just so that he can offer more coverage in the 23 jersey. If they had more centres in the squad it might be a different story, but as it stands they've only retained Foketi and probably Walton with no others rumoured from that Rebels group. The rest of their options are all makeshift who are better in other positions, so you may as well work on converting the "odd man out" in Pietsch. Otherwise he becomes very difficult to re-sign in a years time, where other teams will likely be able to get a lot more value out of him, particularly as Jorgensen comes into his own.
Pietsch may leave the Tahs? He’s off contract isn’t he? Force could do with him.
 
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