Happy Wednesday, team. Another few hours of basking in the glory of last week before we start facing up to the weekend games ahead. If your team’s on a bye then you have an additional week of wondering what might’ve been and could they just possibly have got across the line.
Another league convert. But this time hoping for NZ – Nice to dream
As written here on Fox Sports, Dolphins young gun Isaiya Katoa is open to following in Roosters star Joseph Suaalii’s footsteps in switching to rugby union, but only for the chance to play for the All Blacks.
Although currently tied up with the Dolphins Isaiya is saying he would consider switching codes in the future saying “I’d never close out the opportunity to play rugby union because I grew up playing rugby union. It was the first sport I played”.
Katoa’s father Kotoni told the Herald last month his dream was to see his boy play for the All Blacks “It would be his biggest dream as well, to be an All Black; he still has that dream in the back of his mind,” Katoa Senior said.
In some ways I’ve liked the way Jones has brought rugby into the media. I personally hate his fascination with league but even here I do see how it could be enticing to some league players. But, please, enough already!
Sorry Katoa, NZ is not the same. Happy for you to have that dream, but if you want to go to rugby follow the SBW process, not the Suaallii one as that won’t work in NZ.
Prove yourself as good rugby union player overseas, come back and play in the NPC to prove you have it, get selected for a Super team and then demonstrate consistently you are one of the two or thee best players in your position and you might just get selected for the ABs.
NZ doesn’t give away free gold passes to unproven ex-school fanboys regardless of the code.
Playmaker options at Reds
As written here by Jim Tucker, the re-signing of Tom Lynagh for two years is only part of the puzzle at No.10 for the Queensland Reds as they plot the club’s playmaking future. James O’Connor has indicated he is keen to stay in his home state beyond this season, even mentioning the mentoring of Lynagh as part of it. If that positive comes to pass, the Reds will also have another major beneficiary in young gun, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.
McLaughlin-Phillips’ signing during the off season until the end of 2025 was without the Lynagh fanfare but shows a lot of promise. He was playing Queensland under 18s last year in his final year at school and will likely be sharing the Australian under 20s flyhalf role this year.
McLaughlin-Phillips has already stepped up in first grade. He was a significant cog in unfashionable Souths knocking off University of Queensland 18-14 last Saturday.
In Lynagh and McLaughlin-Phillips, the Reds have two excellent yet very different No.10s. Lynagh’s kicking is better than most No.10s in the country but his tackling and physical aptitude are still work-ons. McLaughlin-Phillips is far more of a dasher in attack and more physical in defence.
With JOC being available to assist these two players the Reds seem to have a good future at 10 that may see them knocking at the wallaby door in the near future.
Vunivala. Yes for Jones, NO for Thorn – Why?
Wayne Smith asks here the question we all have about Vunivalu. Why does Jones rate him when almost no one else does?
The Reds have lost four of their six matches this season and failed in their past 10 attempts to beat Kiwi sides. This defeat wasn’t solely responsible for the Reds getting only four players selected in Eddie Jones’ initial 33-man Wallabies squad, but perhaps a win might have seen a stay of execution for Tate, JOC and Wilson, or maybe not.
Somehow Vunivalu was one of four Reds players selected by Jones, and by far the least deserving. The game against the Crusaders demonstrated much of what a lot, including me, don’t appreciate about a player who has been re-signed for $400K a year. The Crusaders kicked the ball through and a number gave chase. Two Red players also responded. One was second-rower Ryan Smith who immediately put on a sprint to get to the ball. The other was Vunivalu. However, the speedster and wing just loped back casually, allowing Smith to handle the Crusaders. As written by Smith “Jones has spoken at length about the sort of player he wants in his side, players prepared to roll up their sleeves and get to work. By selecting Vunivalu, he is giving preference to a player who couldn’t be bothered removing his cufflinks.”
If Jones believes his “cattle prod” (typical Jones bullshit comment) is sufficient to restore Vunivalu to his Melbourne Storm days, then fair enough. However, personally I’d prefer to see a player demonstrate that they are trying and working hard before they are picked for the Wallabies. I think the message Jones is sending to other up and coming players is bad and will see less wanting to stick with rugby as they won’t see a place for them while this sort of crap continues.
Women’s 7s team on their way to the Olympics.
The Aussie women are heading to the Olympics after winning their pool in the Hong Kong 7s this weekend. Despite being beaten in a tough final, after winning their pool they had enough points to guarantee a place in the Olympics. The women backed up their pool play with wins against Ireland and Great Britain to make the finals.
There are some seriously good players in this Australian side with Bienne Terita, Sariah Paki, Madison Ashby and both Reagan and Maddison Levi all showing they aren’t far off the super star Charlotte Caslick’s level.
Despite the loss in the final the women demonstrated that they are going to continue to be a threat to New Zealand. It was a tight game and apart from the yellow card, it was really only a couple of poor bounces and some serious NZ defence that allowed NZ to win.
I personally love women’s rugby, I love that they just play rugby. None of the macho crap that permeates through the men’s game at all levels. Also, especially at the top levels, the individual skills are fantastic. Some of the catch and pass will put the men’s Super Rugby teams to shame and just the sheer joy the players show is fantastic. If you haven’t seen any, do yourself a favour and watch some of the women’s 7s games. I’m sure you’ll love it.
