The first in a series of Wallaby team previews, position by position.
FULLBACK
The incumbent(s):
Drew Mitchell (WA) – played the last two tests at fullback last year, taking over from the seemingly out of position Adam Ashley-Cooper. Has taken over from Cameron Shepherd in the custodian role for the Force. There’s no doubting his running abilities particularly his strength in the tackle, however concerns still lie over the consistency of both his boot and his defence.
The likely candidates:
Adam Ashley-Cooper (ACT) – was the Wallaby fullback of choice for most of last year; however his seeming over reliance on the highish kick and chase game left many Wallaby fans frustrated. There’s no doubting his abilities, just what position he should be?
Mark Gerrard (ACT) – AAC’s team mate at the Brumbies and their actual fullback. It’s where he made his name as a schoolboy and it’s where he seems to be re-establishing himself in elite football, after time on the flank. His kicking game is arguably the best of any player in Australian rugby. His distribution skills are high class and his positional play sound. Speed is the question, or is it? Perhaps his supposed ‘hamstring-induced-lack-of-speed’ is more a myth than a fact. Either way it would be hard to argue that over the 2nd half of last season and the first half of this season he has been Australia’s form fullback.
Sam Norton-Knight (NSW) – what a frustrated fellow is Sam. He is, in my eyes, the Tah’s most consistent back and a player with whom they always look better with (or rather, seem to perform worse without). He has a close to Latham-esque boot, and a wonderful long pass, a natural run over from his fly half days. The trouble is, he doesn’t trouble the defence, rarely breaking the line. If he does confirm his departure for Wales, as has been reported, then that’s it for him. A two-test wonder.
Cameron Shepherd (WA) – if Mark Gerrard was the form Australian fullback in the 2nd half of last season, then Cam Shepherd was the form Australian BACK for the first half. Until injury intervened, Shepherd was in career best form. He managed to come back from injury in time to start the Wallaby season at 15. A broken leg against France, however, brought his season to halt. And it’s hard to say he’s looked as on top of his game since. In form, I’d suggest he’s the natural selection.
The Roughies:
Lachlan Turner (NSW) – started the season slowly and has now started to find his feet. Most importantly he is looking a lot more dangerous bringing the ball back from a kick. Kicking and play making may well be his downfall, but that depends on who is picked where elsewhere in the team.
James O’Connor (WA) – is getting shunted around a bit at the Force, which should be a concern for him. Will want to settle into a position, one way or the other, sooner rather than later. Deans sees him as a strong fullback option, and his skills are obvious. Has a bit of maturing to do before he’s ready for the constant rigors of test footy though I reckon.
Mark McLinden (QLD) – this was an odd signing by the Reds. Sure there was some logic too it. An experienced back. Highly recommended by the incumbent. Would fit into the Reds game plan of active ball play. But he hadn’t played rugby since school and was probably no more than a league journey man. But, other than a poor game v the Chiefs, he seems to have adapted to the game quicker than any Aussie code switcher of recent times.
What is Deans looking for?
The common theory is that Deans likes his fullbacks to act as a second ball distributed. The thinking behind this seems to come from the fact that he picked Leon MacDonald for the Crusaders and, more often than not, for the All Blacks. It’s probably underplaying MacDonald’s abilities to say he was only picked because he could pass the ball. He was picked because he was the best available. Other Dean’s selections Mils Muliana (All Blacks) and Mitchell and Ashley-Cooper (Wallabies) don’t really fit this mode.
So what does he want? My reading is he wants assuredness first and foremost. Someone with whom you can feel comfortable with at the back of the team. From there it’s probably fair to say, he wants involvement. Someone who likes to use the ball and engages in play.
Who is the answer?
As I alluded to above, in form Cameron Shepherd is probably the man. He is a very confident fullback and has a substantial boot (both out of the hand and off the tee). He would need to get back on the field and quickly regain his touch and confidence over the remainder of the season. Otherwise I can see the only other alternative is Mark Gerrard, a player not too dissimilar to the aforementioned MacDonald. The only question mark is whether or not he is heading overseas next year. There’s no point picking him, 2 years out from a World Cup, if he won’t be here for it. After these two, it’s back to last year’s options in Mitchell and Ashley-Cooper.
As referred to by Archie below
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2170 https://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/?p=2170">18 Comments
I think Mini Cooper did well last year. Sure, he’d kick the ball when he fielded it but defensively he tended to be where he was needed and played great as a 2nd winger.
Norton-Knight seems a bit one-dimensional really. He kicks a shitload, but other than that the similarities between he and our Stephen Brett are insane. Good on set pieces but average in broken play and weak on defence unless he’s got a big boy backing him up.
Naly D’s last blog post..Super 14 Week 7 highlights [video]
I think it will be O’Connor, he did well with his limited chances on the Wallaby tour late last year and has looked solid when he has turned out for the Force this year at no 15.
There is lots of talk that O’Connor is a long term fly-half but I’ve never really seen him as a distributor so I don’t think this is realistic. Plus there are a fair few ahead of him for that position, Gits, Qwoooade and Berrick.
On pure at the moment, then it would be Gerrado, but he has had his time one suspects
if you are going to question gerrards speed i think you need to question shephards as well. he gets run down quite a bit. if a fullback does make a break i want him to go 100 metres and score. mitchell and turner are the only ones who can actually offer this in australian rugby at the moment.
Mitchell, Turner, Hynes, McLinden, and I doubt Digby will play 15 but I dare say he could do it as well.
No talk of Hynes as a roughie at FB for the Wobblies, interesting.
Dean selecting MacDonald for the AB’s hey? Not since 2003 Interesting you would say MacDonals selection there for the last few years is because of Deans where he had limited involvement with Henry’s Men. Currently (well last couple of years) MacDonald has been one of the best technical fullbacks in the game, thats why he was chosen.
lets not forget also that the lineup for the Semi Final against the Wobblies in 2003 (John Mitchel and Robbie Deans in charge and pretty much the last IMPORTANT game Mitchel and Deans chose a side) had MaDonald at OUTSIDE CENTRE alongside Aaron mauger and Carlos Spencer. And that was kinda because Tana Umaga was out. MacDonald WAS A centre until he started losing pace and getting stormed in the contact, something he realised after moving over to the Northern Hemisphere. MacDonald was also kicker and NZ highest poitns scorer at the 03 WC…..at Out CENTRE. 15 for that game was Mils Muliaina…as he was for a majority of the 02 and 03 season.
Do you just makeup stuff to talk about?
Dommo – what’s your point?
If you re-read Noddy’s post he was talking about Deans selecting MacDonald at 15 for the ‘Saders.
Do you just selectively read some of these articles?
The common theory is that Deans likes his fullbacks to act as a second ball distributed. The thinking behind this seems to come from the fact that he picked Leon MacDonald for the Crusaders and, more often than not, for the All Blacks. It’s probably underplaying MacDonald’s abilities to say he was only picked because he could pass the ball. He was picked because he was the best available. Other Dean’s selections Mils Muliana (All Blacks) and Mitchell and Ashley-Cooper (Wallabies) don’t really fit this mode.
I thought it was because he was a five-eighth moved to fullback himself.
Did you selectively forget that? ;)
Great post Noddy – I’m pretty much with you on all of it, except I’ve got questions over Shepherd’s mental set-up. He has these games where he just decides not to tackle or do any tough stuff, like a petulant kid.
While Mitchell to me is a make-do 15, he looked a hell of a lot better there than AAC, who I think we can agree isn’t going to make that his own.
In the two games I’ve seen O’Connor play 15 he’s looked sensational – surely he’s the future.
I wonder if we’ll see a bit of a rotation here between Shepherd, Mitchell and O’Connor. I just hope there isn’t a ‘loyalty’ thing with AAC.
Second that hope re AAC – he’s a fantastic powerful finisher but frankly I would rather Cross at FB, AAC just looked really unconvincing especially on kick returns.
I’d pick Gerrard for 3N with Mitchell/Shepherd as a reserve back and O’Connor forin the squad for injuries and the post-3N tests.
Hey Dommo, mate what I was saying is that it is said that Deans likes a fullback who can act as another ball distributor ala MacDonald. I suggest that this is not true because he picked the likes of Mils, AAC and Mitchell at fullback for various teams.
“Either way it would be hard to argue that over the 2nd half of last season and the first half of this season he has been Australia’s form fullback” – you.
I think Gerrard’s been the form fullback in the 2009 super 14 thus far. He had a bad running game last game, but still kicked well. I think its hard to leave him out when he is our best positional kicker.
Time will tell though. Deans is a strange coach.
I’m totally with this. How crazy is it that he’s the best fullback in Australia and probably won’t get picked!!
Id forget the Macdonald theory as he was playing for crusaders when deans was only manager from memory. He was always earmarked as a player of the future when he was 16-17 yrs old. Id personally choose O Connor, if hes good enough deans wont let age matter. The others are a fairly average bunch. Anyone can have 1000-1 Mc Linden with me if they want
there are seceral thoughts on the FB position, and it all depends on what you do with your midfield.
if your centres are go forward men, with, meh, average distribution skills, your 15 is normally the second playmaker…10-15 option.
If you use your 12 as the 2nd five eight, then you play a 10-12 option.
so essetnailyl he could pick a ball carrier, like Mitchel or AAC to play 15 if he feels gits and berrick (add quade there somewhere), are doing enough of a job without the need for a third playmaker.
Alternatively, if he was to go with say Tim Tam and Mortlock (just an example, not saying Tahu is the man), or hmm, a more realistic example, Ryan X and Mortlock in the centres, he would NEED a playmaking 15 to coordinate play and alleviate some strain from 10.
So the question is not who is the best 15, but which 15 suits which Centre Pairings the best.
The Tri Playmaker setup…as deans and other NZ coaches love, and i dont think is bad by any means, is one that makes more use of 6,7,8 and even 4,5,and 2 in the as ball carriers and link players, with width, like ctrnes offer, on 3rd or 4th pahae when centres are in a ruck, or out of position, or something, but its a very evolved strategy.
Under the tri playmaker strategy, the 15 is actually the ost technially skillful player in the team. The kicking game is top notch, hsi running skills and evasion skills are great, his link skills are great, his organisation is great, adn cover defence is superb, IF complimented by a great backline defence to begin with…its not like he can tackle EVERY back that breaks the line which occurs 90% of the time, ore like 15% he will make the tackle.
As a result of who has been named as potential 15’s..
i dont think any 15 can play THIS specific role for Australia.
Even goig back to Latham, or Burke, they did not have the complete skill set requried….so will deans persist, or will he just choose the best 15 to compliment his backline. which at the moment is 10 guts, 12 Barnes.
At this level, replacing Like for Like is key…barnes replaced by Cooper, or move gits out and play cooper at 10. This fucking ridiculous Barnes for Tim Tam, or Morty in at 12 and Ryan X at 13…fucking helll, no wonder Austrlaia lost games towards the end of the 80…
My thoughts are he will go with a runner who shows potential as a distributer…
but you are right, who the fuck knows…its bound to change week in week out.
I don’t think you can go past Gerrard at the moment – assuming he will stick around, which I understand he will if selected. He was injured at the end of last season and is faster this year. For distribution skills watch his pass to Mortlock which hit Mortlock at full speed and created AAC’s try against the Waratahs.
[EDIT: See new video at bottom of article]
after watching those highlights u would be mad to go past gerrard. No other fullback in australia can even play to that level
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