Welcome, once again, to the Weekend Edition.
There’s nothing quite as exciting in rugby, for me at least, as the week before the first test match of the year. The slow build up that starts with speculation of the first squad of the year, then the naming of that squad, followed by the outrage and/or elation when your favourite player misses out or makes the squad, the speculation over the first test team, the leaks of the first test team, the naming of the first test team, the outrage and/or elation when your favourite player misses out or makes the team.
After the team is announced, we have about two and a half days when our Australian optimism takes over and our team could be world beaters. Our climb back up the rankings could be just a matter of time. We think this could be the year the Bledisloe makes that trip back across the Tasman. For two and a half days the Wallabies are glorious. Inevitably, the Wallabies can’t live up to our expectations (what team could) and we walk away disappointed.
This year, I’m as excited as any other, but my expectations are tempered. We have new coaches and a new philosophy. This first test team seems to be, mostly, selected on form and work ethic; this has not been one of our strong points in the past. Too often, we have looked past our players’ shortcomings because of the one thing that they excel in.
So, to start with, I’m going to be happy with a good effort and a never give up attitude, while hoping for a win. All the while hoping that the Wallabies build as the year goes on. In addition to that, I’m going to do my best to stop stressing about our world ranking.
It’s A Leaking Ship
As I’ve stated above, I love this week. What I don’t love is most of the test side being leaked before the announcement. I was able to piece together the majority of the 23 before the announcement, and that took a little bit of the joy out of it for me.
In this week’s Talking Teams podcast, Happyman suggested that RA could cut the leaks out and turn the announcement into an event. I think I’d be happy with one or two leaks and a team announcement followed by a deeper analysis by the media. Trickle feeding the team to the media takes away from the experience for us fans. I know you’re trying to build interest in the game, but please don’t do it this way. More in the poddy below.
Well, that’s all from me this week. Have a great weekend, and I’ll talk to you in the comments.
Sully out.
