kronic
John Solomon (38)
Fuglistaller 2nd in the comp for tackles.Rebels should have started with Saffy as well, the bloke tackles everything that moves.
Fuglistaller 2nd in the comp for tackles.Rebels should have started with Saffy as well, the bloke tackles everything that moves.
Tom Carter surprised me last week, he was good. Great even.
He passed and took contact respectively at the right times and only did one thing wrong when he tried to run around the ruck after receiving the ball, which only works in U12s.
After looking at the Tahs side, I think it will be close. A lot of pressure on both teams and I think the team that keeps there penalty count down inside there own half will win this one. Going to be a kickers game.
Waratahs: Israel Folau, Tom Kingston, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tom Carter, Drew Mitchell, Bernard Foley, Brendan McKibbin, Wycliff Palu, Michael Hooper, Dave Dennis (capt), Kane Douglas, Mitchell Chapman, Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson. Replacements: John Ulugia, Jeremy Tilse, Paddy Ryan, Sitaleki Timani, Lopeti Timani, Matt Lucas, Ben Volavola.
I like the team Cheika has selected. Chapman/Douglas is a more skilled and balanced combination than Timani/Douglas. Hopefully big Sita comes on for Douglas as Chapman was one of the Tahs' better players last weekend.
As for the backs, I think persisting and building combinations is a good idea. While they really, really don't want to lose this game, they also don't want to go into their shell or starting tinkering every time something doesn't go right. The last few years have dug the Tahs into a deep hole -- getting out might take a little while.
Yeah, I agree with that too.
I also think that the Tahs have accepted that becoming a contending team over the long term requires significant time and may even result in this season being merely a moderate success. I'd imagine Cheika has a long leash in that regard, although we'll see what happens if the losses mount.
What I like about Cheika style, though it didn't show up on Saturday, is his focus on skills no matter how minor they may be.
That's exactly right as everybody would know after watching a few training sessions and believe me: they are not perfectly executed. He doesn't mind if they can't do things yet but is almost apoplectic sometimes if they don't understand what's required.
Here's a quote (but changing the names) after a player stuffed up an exercise:
"Fred f*****g Nerk - I don't mind if you can't do it because I've got plenty of guys that can, but if you can't f*****g understand it, ask."
.
is that just the expletives?I'm liking him more and more.
is that just the expletives?
What sort of crowd are they expecting? And I don't mean mostly disgruntled.
Tom Carter surprised me last week, he was good. Great even.
He passed and took contact respectively at the right times and only did one thing wrong when he tried to run around the ruck after receiving the ball, which only works in U12s.
My main criticisms of him had always been that he took the ball into contact too often, and if he were in the gap or half gap, that he didn't have a good instinct of how to proceed.