Ohayou gozaimasu. I hope this missive finds you happy, fit, punching well above your weight and swimming in a vat of either bacon fat or your favourite liquid refreshment.
Well it was an interesting weekend of rugby to say the least. But before I launch into my musings, I’ll insert here that this is a fan-run site and contributions are more than welcome. Barring the merest check for decency and decorum, feel free to reach out to me at HERE be it with an article an idea, or an opinion piece. And there’s also the ‘Submit a Story’ option on the home page if you want to do your own thing. So feel free to have a crack as the more opinions and ideas and folk to share the load, the merrier we (and our significant others) all are.
Nutta’s Super Rugby Team of the Week (Week 10):
Usual selection criteria applies: if you play for an Aussie Super franchise you can get picked. I should also clarify the reserves strategy. For the record, it’s always the same with 16/17/18 the fronties, 19 a lock, 20 a loosie, 21 a halfback, 22 a midfielder and 23 an outside back. I get that most people have worked that out, but I wanted to make it clear at least once for posterity.
Anyway, to this week’s TotW (wk10)
- James Slipper – two spells and a power of work for he who seemingly doth not age.
- Billy Pollard – had a great spell and was part of a magnificent Front Row effort.
- Allan Alaalotoa – welcome back 6As, bloody hell welcome back.
- Jed Holloway – yeh, he was a bit flat eh? His half a match was better than others’ full match.
- Darcy Swain – niggle, hustle and all work. The Aussie Scott Barrett?
- Rob Valetini – rock solid rock star performance.
- Charlie Gamble – hard over the ball all night.
- Charlie Cale – creative, dangerous and just so deceptively quick.
- Ryan Lonergan – accurate, timely and reliable.
- Noah Lolesio – well this is getting monotonous.
- Marky Mark – more touches in one game then in his previous 4.
- Tamati Tua – his general destructiveness reminded me of Tas the Loony Tunes character.
- Josh Flook – a genuinely class footballer.
- Tim Ryan – that debut is going straight to the pool room.
- Tom Wright – generally smart stuff and a timely return to form.
- Matt Faessler – a good game of meat and potatoes against class opponents.
- Peni Ravai – all power, hustle and sheer energy.
- Jeff T-Allen – a great shift and sideline pantomime to boot.
- Ryan Smith – getting better and better.
- Liam Wright – very close struggle with Swinton, but the Assassin gets the jersey.
- Nic White – the guy seems born again since moving west. Less crap and more class.
- Hamish Stewart – a genuinely smart footballer there.
- Andrew Kellaway – best of a sorry Rebels mob.
Comments about Wk10:
- There was genuine contention in the crapparazi circle over Harry Wilson v Charlie Cale. Harry’s 22 carries and 21 tackles were damn impressive. But the concern was the lack of penetration from the carries, whereas Cale is just proving all round class, and is simply so fast around the ground.
- Will Harris played his best game for some time IMO and easily his best game for the Force. He was unlucky to not get a jersey.
- Suliasi Vunivalu and the fumbled try – as a lifetime frontie who sometimes finds it a challenge to have anything positive to say to or about outside backs, I am positive I would’ve found plenty to say to him about respect for the ball after that effort. Good God man, what is your profession again exactly?
Nutta’s Super Team of the Tourney (Round 10)
Given it was Rd10, I thought an update to Team of the Tourney was appropriate. As a reminder, a starter’s jersey got 5pts and a ressies run got 4pts. For the nerds, there have been 87 names mentioned so far. And the top group based purely on caps and then score are:
However, the Team of the Tourney as it stands right now after Rd10, adjusted for those injured, is:
- The injury list includes Lukan S-Loto (7&35), Mahe Vailanu (4&20) and Angus Bell (3&15).
- Some others to miss out include Sam Talakai and Zane Nonggorr both on 3&14, Carter Gordon on 3&14 and Fraser McReight on 3&15.
Random Comments from a Random Guy:
Lineout importance – how badly were/are NSW missing a functioning lineout? Seriously lads, how many times did you enter opposition territory and come away empty handed because of a misfiring lineout? It’s just basic meat and potatoes stuff that you cannot win without. I get they’re struggling with front row injuries, but it wasn’t their scrum that was their undoing.
Front Row Yanked – so Kevvy Foote pulled his starting front row of Gibbon, Mafi and Talakai at 30min on Friday night after they were repeatedly towelled up by the Cru’s Bower, McAlister and Newell carving them up like pork roast. I would love someone to correct me, but I don’t think I have ever seen anything quite like that before – a whole front row being hooked in disgrace at 30 minutes. Anyone? I recall the Bokke hooked a front row last year, but that was planned.
Queensland ‘Pink Floater’ – I heard the same phrase/chat mentioned a number of times over the weekend about how the Reds seem to consistently rise and fall to the level of their opponents. I think there may be something in that comment and note the behaviour needs to be broken if they want to be true contenders. Consistency lads, consistency.
ANZAC Bledisloe – with the new Rugby Championship structure, apparently we only have two scheduled Bledisloe matches a year in the programme and not the usual three. Well why not have the extra test required to keep up the three-game tradition on ANZAC Day? With some local rules to keep it tight and contained it would be a cracker, one week preparation only, domestic/Super players only, a general Super bye instead of this three weekends of half-rounds crap, and the guys who play the ANZAC test must have the following weekend off. We could rotate it year about between Aus and NZ. It would be massive. It would pack any stadium anywhere and the TV folk would pay through the nose for it. So why not?
Around the Campfires:
RA, the board and money: Those who pay attention to such matters will know there were board and politics upheaval of late, culminating with board changes and announcements as late as mid Monday afternoon. I’m going to stay away from it today as frankly I’m a bit sick of it and also I’ve devoted wayyyy too much attention to such matters over the last 6-12mths. I’ll leave it to others more engaged and au fait with the goings-on than I to dissect and comment on the board as the week progresses.
Walkerburn Rugby, hailing from a wee hamlet a little to the east of Peebles in the Scottish Borders, and playing in Scottish East Region Reserve League Division 2, this venerable club was looking likely to fold, in this their 140th year, due to dwindling players, sponsors and resources. But after their plight went a wee viral following the cancellation of what was to be their 100th annual sevens tournament, not only is the sevens tourney now back on, but the sponsors are signing up thick and fast, and the lads may even be fielding a second team this coming season. There’s a recovery effort if ever I saw one. And it stands as a beacon to little clubs struggling everywhere to take hope and hit the social pages hard, because love don’t come easy these days.
Over in the ACT, the Hall Bushrangers rolled ADFA pretty convincingly in the lads game of the weekend just played, but the girls got a bit done over in return…
Elsewhere, the Geurie Goats played out a bell-ringer against Canowindra Pythons on Saturday in Central West Rugby Union, with the Goats coming away as 31-19 victors at the Geurie Showgrounds prior to post-match ‘afters’ at the Mitchell pub. Oscar Beasley at breakaway was man of the match for the Goats apparently and one can only wonder at the mercurial efforts he must have achieved to out-point the 3-pies snatched up by Ratu Roko on the left wing. Go you Goats!
Meanwhile, the Braidwood Redbacks got their season off to a flying start, posting 3 tries in the opening 10min and scooting away to a 36-0 win over the Cooma Devils last Saturday in the thriving metropolis of Braidwood. It’s been a few hard years for the Braidwood lads and so with a mix of old and new heads, alongside a few lads completely new to our most holy of games, it was a cracker of a 1st game result for the reborn club. But I’m assured all heads are screwed on and are well aware of the enormity of the task they face next week against the battle-hardened Mudchooks of Bungendore.
Down in Tasmania, something is clearly in the water at Taroona. Meanwhile Launceston 1s, Burnie and Glenorchy posted some pretty solid results as well…
A little further north in the Southern Inland competition of NSW, it is tragic to see Griffith Blacks having to go to the fundraising efforts so early in the season to help seriously injured players. Folks if you can spare a $10 or two, give them a hit…
And because I can’t close out on a downer, I’ll throw in a Big Thumbs Up for the Blue Mountains Juniors – The Blue Tongues – who were part of the tunnel and general festivities at the Waratahs v Chiefs game on Friday night. Go you good things!
So that will do for this week. I hope you all have a fantastic week, comrades. And get down your local club on the weekend to pay the gate, buy a sausage, slurp a few beers and donate some raffle tickets, while you show your colours and retell in my day stories with your local mob of steers, goats, rams, bin-chickens, tigers, swamp-monkeys, maggots, sheep dogs, pythons or whatevers.
Feel free to comment away below, especially on Team of the Week stuff.
