While it is hard to argue with the majority of the Wallaby selections announced today, there are a few players that could feel a bit unlucky. The selection of Matt Hodgson in front of Ben Mowen and Mitchell Chapman was a bit of a surprise as was the inclusion of Quade Cooper and one wonders what Will Caldwell has to do to get a chance.
A big surprise for me was the fact a specialist fullback was not chosen, sure, O’Connor and AAC have spent a fair bit of time there this year, but someone like Cameron Shephard might feel a bit miffed – even Mungo McLinden might have been burning a candle.
Anyway, below is a statistical comparison between the player chosen and the other players that may have been in the selection mix.
| Lock | |||||||||||||
| Player | Games | Runs | Metres | Mtr/ Game | Offloads | Line Breaks | Tries | Try Assists | Effective Tackle % | Pilfers | L/O Won | L/O Steals | Total L/O Wins |
| Peter Kimlin |
13 | 78 | 257 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 78% | 0 | 20 | 5 | 25 |
| Will Caldwell |
13 | 78 | 263 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 84% | 0 | 26 | 5 | 31 |
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| Number 8 | |||||||||||||
| Player | Games | Runs | Metres | Mtr/ Game | Offloads | Line Breaks | Tries | Try Assists | Effective Tackle % | Pilfers | L/O Won | L/O Steals | Total L/O Wins |
| Richard Brown | 7 | 46 | 372 | 53 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 90% | 3 | 18 | 2 | 20 |
| Stephen Hoiles | 9 | 38 | 305 | 34 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 95% | 0 | 10 | 7 | 17 |
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| Blind Side | |||||||||||||
| Player | Games | Runs | Metres | Mtr/ Game | Offloads | Line Breaks | Tries | Try Assists | Effective Tackle % | Pilfers | L/O Won | L/O Steals | Total L/O Wins |
| Matthew Hodgson | 13 | 78 | 376 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 91% | 6 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Mitchell Chapman | 7 | 46 | 143 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 86% | 1 | 18 | 2 | 20 |
| Julian Salvi |
12 | 69 | 252 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 93% | 2 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Ben Mowen |
13 | 78 | 363 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 83% | 2 | 45 | 17 | 62 |
| Fly Half | ||||||||||||
| Player | Games | Runs | Metres | Mtr/ Game | Offloads | Line Breaks | Line Break Assists | Tries | Try Assists | Effective Tackle % | Kicks | Metres/Kick |
| Quade Cooper |
13 | 78 | 569 | 44 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 61% | 128 | 35.22 |
| Kurtley Beale |
12 | 69 | 392 | 33 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 67% | 89 | 35.64 |
| Christian Lealiifano | 9 | 38 | 390 | 43 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 81% | 74 | 34.26 |
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| Fullback | ||||||||||||
| Player | Games | Runs | Metres | Mtr/ Game | Offloads | Line Breaks | Line Break Assists | Tries | Try Assists | Effective Tackle % | Kicks | Metres/Kick |
| James O’Connor |
10 | 41 | 357 | 36 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 81% | 37 | 33.86 |
| Cameron Shepherd | 7 | 46 | 356 | 51 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 63% | 28 | 34.21 |
| Mark McLinden |
12 | 69 | 722 | 60 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 56% | 51 | 35.24 |
I guess looking at the Locks, based on pure stats it is hard to see how Caldwell didn’t get a run, maybe the fact the Noodles had better attacking stats tipped the balance.
Dick Brown wins out over Hoiles because he is more potent off the back of the scrum racking up more metres/run than Hoiles although Hoiles is clearly the better attacking option with far more offloads and try assits, not to mention line-out steals
Mitch Chapman outpoints Hodgson in all areas except metres/run and the defensive stats so maybe that suggest Deans want his blind-side flanker to do plenty of dirty work.
Quade, well he doesn’t stack up too well against Lealiifano huh?
As much as I rate Mungo and Shephard, it is pretty clear that young JO’C is the man.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="3156 https://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/?p=3156">33 Comments
I’d be very interested to see defensive stats for Caldwell and Kimlin. Reckon Caldwell made 40% more tackles, 60% more rucks and 1500% more mauls.
Caldwell made 124 tackles to Noodles’ 64 so the case gets stronger
Seems I underestimated him, 200% more tackles, the difference in fitness levels between the two players is mammoth
Caldwell was unlucky but will get there eventually with injuries or Sharpe dies of old age….Cant wait to see him get his opportunity to belt some ABs
I reckon it’s just the fact that Kimlin can play 6 that got him in ahead of Caldwell. If Horwill or Sharpe go down then I’d expect Big Willy to get the call up.
Not sure where those stats are from though. They give KB 0 line break assists but I can think of at least 2 clear examples straight off the top of my head.
Maybe they’d converted into tries? KB had 5 of those
These player stats are never 100% accurate though, just give broad direction
I’d prefer to see J’OC at inside.
If barnes is inside then their will be 3 playmakers on the field. Maybe a bit of an imbalance? With noone available for strong hard running.
Great stats JC.
I agree Cam Shep was unlucky – he’s not injured again is he? – but maybe part of the problem is that he has been playing wing instead of fullback.
Where are these stats from?
How do Mowen’s stats compare?
There are loads of things the stats don’t seem to cover. For example, how about all the crap passes Lealifano made to Mortlock? Early on in the season, Mortlock hardly got a decent pass. He was constantly checking his runs, catching balls behind him, at his knees.
Penalties conceeded? Yellow cards?
Anything else? :D
Mowen – I meant to include him sorry
Games – 13
Runs – 78
Mtr – 363
Mtr/ Game – 28
Offloads – 8
Line Breaks – 2
Tries – 1
Try Assists – 0
Effective Tackle % – 83
Pilfers – 2
L/O Won – 45
L/O Steals – 17
Total L/O Wins – 62
Like I said, Deans must want his blind side to do the dirty work as Mowen also performed pretty well – especially at Line-out
Penalites Conceded
Peter Kimlin – 2
Will Caldwell – 7
Matt Hodgson – 14
Mitchell Chapman – 4
Julian Salvi – 6
Ben Mowen – 1
Richard Brown – 5
Stephen Hoiles – 6
Shit Passes
Quade Cooper – 37
Kurtley Beale – 11
Christian Lealiifano – 10
I guess the definition of an ‘shit pass’ is the key and I’m not sure what criteria was used with these stats to define it. What ever the case, Quade sure threw a heap of ’em
There was not enough Yellow Cards handed out to worry about.
If Horwill wasn’t picked for his yellow card prowess, then what?
Mowen – 17 L/O steals – fuck me dead.
He warrants inclusion on that stat alone
Gagger’s last blog post..My Week – Robbie Deans
I agree he is the one player I really did think would and should get a gong. But there is still time, and maybe Robbie just doesn’t see a future for him without second-row experience and with Rocky to compete with for the starting spot??
If he was the one dumped for Phil Waugh, I’d be f***en mad :)
For me he’s Rocky’s true shadow.
Hodgson’s a good chunky scavanger – do we need another?
Mumm and Kimlin are both dynamic locks who make lumbering 6’s.
Gagger’s last blog post..My Week – Robbie Deans
Mowen certainly has the ref hypnotised. Nice work, son.
Thinking about this really makes me wonder: where the f***’s Australia A?
Why oh why did we get rid of that again?
$
Short sighted, penny pinching bollocks!
Did JOC ever play 15 for the force this year?
Yep, earlier in the season when Shep overdid the pies on Thursday. Was really good too.
Don’t think 3 playmakers is an imbalance. Plenty of ball carrying ability with mortlock and the tendency to see forwards hanging out in the backline now, so if big cliffy, sharpe or rocky in the team there will be plenty of players to provide go-forward especially with an alexander type ball carrier in the front row.
Also Lote is still in the team, and Ioane is on the wings.
Ioane picked up a serious injury, think he’s out for the season. Massive shame.
Lote cops a bit of stick but he’d be close on the most experienced winger in world rugby these days. Doesn’t hurt to have a wise old head in the wings…
By in the wings I meant waiting to make his arrival, but I did think he would be back during 3N – but it looks like you are right and apparently not, which is a damn damn shame.
what about this for a combo…caldwell and horwill in the same pack. They would be as tough as and stick it to anyone. Add Elsom, Brown and Mumm off the bench and the pack is looking pretty fierce I reckon…
How about this for a pack
1. Benn
2. TPN
3. BaxTAH
4. Caldwell
5. Mumm
6. Mowen
7. Smith
8. Palu
With the exception of Smith this pack has already made the pride of RSA and NZ their bitches in the last 12 months… adding smith gives them a kicking option…
Would be great to see it. But it ain’t going to happen. I just get the same feeling with Caldwell as I get with Gerrard. They deserve to be there but they won’t be…
I would like them to release a voting list to see how far these players are off.
You’d think a squad of 40 would have 8 brumbies plus Caldwell and Mowen.
I also think the inclusion of JOC is a mistake, its lose lose for deans here. JOC will either be solid, found out or injured. He’s not gonna set the world alight as a 18 year old fullback…
cooper being picked is a bit of a joke.
deans went on about how no one safe and its on form. load of crap really
Shepherd is broken, and will be for 4 months. McLiden is the only genuine fullback left with SKN and Gerrard buggering off. And McLiden is not Wallaby quality yet. Id like to see Turner tried there, as a long term option.
Hodgson was the form 6 in Australia this year, he is amazing. But he shouldnt be in the Wallabies. At international level, his height of only 176cm is a liability at lineout time. And he is essentially a 7 playing at 6. As a 7 he is 5th in the rankings so he is not there to cover openside.
I think of all the players that missed out, Caldwell is the unlucky one. Swap Hodgson for Caldwell and you have a very good squad.
Having said that, Hodgson is no slouch and has played excellent rugby this year for the Force.
Hodgson is over 6 foot… i’m sure of it mate. Generally agree with the rest of it. Gotta feel sorry for Caldwell.
James,
Have you ever played the game?