T
Turban
Guest
The force seem to have this horrible habit of luring players by offering them starting jersey's. It was an epic failure with henjak, lets hope it didn't happen this time.
Lee Grant said:gambler
Yeah he's gone to Japan. He told the Force he wanted to play in the 2011 RWC for them and they released him so that he would have a long enough residence there to qualify for their team.
Turban
No S14 franchise would guarantee a player a start in their team. It would depend on trial form.
Turban said:You mean like how the ARU wouldn't garuntee league converts a start in the Wallabies? I must be more cynical than you.
Ash said:I wouldn't be surprised if some of the league converts were practically guaranteed selection in the Wallaby squad, but starting? I find that nearly impossible to believe. The outcry would be ridiculous if a poor convert took the spot of someone in stunning form - you could never see it happening.
In an each way bet I can see the coach being encouraged to pick the big name leaguie - bums on seats and all that. But, to be honest, the only 2 leaguies with the potential for big bums on seats have been Tuqiri and Dell - and Dell outstripped Tuqiri easily in that department. Whilst Dell did have some memorable performances, including a great one for the Wallabies vs England in a losing test, unfortunately union was not the game for him and he never matched his crowd pulling ability.
Lee Grant said:You are right: you are more cynical than me, especially on league players being guaranteed a start in the Wallabies.
Geez, just make me look petty. If you have something that might change my mind on the fact tell me, I'd love to find out I was wrong. I just have serious doubts about the legitimacy of several Wallabies claim to the jersey and similar issues with the Force. In both cases it was after players where lured away from another code or state.Lee Grant said:You win - you had the last word.
Turban said:Drew Mitchell was brought over from the Reds and given a free run at 15 all season despite Cam Shepard being the obvious choice. When that 1st year ended suddenly he was shifted to the wing despite the fact that every man and his dog knew he should never have been left at 15 for the whole first season. Verbal commitments must have been made, It would take a very strong arguement from someone with inside contacts to persuade me otherwise.
Scarfman said:Turban said:Drew Mitchell was brought over from the Reds and given a free run at 15 all season despite Cam Shepard being the obvious choice. When that 1st year ended suddenly he was shifted to the wing despite the fact that every man and his dog knew he should never have been left at 15 for the whole first season. Verbal commitments must have been made, It would take a very strong arguement from someone with inside contacts to persuade me otherwise.
That's compelling evidence, Turbs, but I'm not sure of what. How about this: Cueball needs another outside back. DM says - I'll only come if I can play fullback, simple as that. Cueball looks him in the eye and says fair enough - we'll go with that.
So, perhaps it's not as grand a conspiracy as all that.
Tahu provides the opposite evidence. He got dropped from the Tahs when he wanted to play. Looking at his recent form, maybe he should have played.
Force hit by double injury blow
Western Force centre Scott Staniforth and Australian Under-20 lock Sam Wykes have succumbed to injury and are likely to return home early from the Force's five-week development tour of the UK.
Staniforth damaged cartilage in his knee during last week's 25-15 victory over English Premiership outfit Newcastle Falcons.
It is a bitter blow for Staniforth, who missed the final three rounds of the 2008 Super 14 season after injuring the same knee.
That knee injury late in the Force's Super 14 campaign also cost Staniforth the chance of breaking into Robbie Deans' new-look Wallabies line-up for Australia's current Tri-Nations series.
Wykes, who was listed as one of the team's best in the 10-point win over Newcastle, joined Staniforth on the casualty list on Sunday when he dislocated his shoulder during a lineout session at the teams new base at Hatfield.
Both players will undergo precautionary MRI scans but are expected to be ruled out for the remainder of the six-match tour.
Flanker Tamaiti Horua is already back in Australia after deciding to return home for family reasons.
Just wondering who the back up to Gits is. Daruda... anyone else?