We got this email from Roar reader GaleForcePerth asking for some insight from The Roar readers:
Last Sunday 15 April, Knuckles Connolly wrote an article on RugbyHeaven. In it he said: ‘The Reds and the Waratahs have battled with injuries and form, but a number of the senior Wallabies in their ranks have been among the best performers in the competition’.
I posted a thread on Yahoo’s ‘In the Scrum’ forum entitled ‘What the hell is JC talking about?’, asking someone, anyone, to enlighten me as to exactly WHO he was referring to? To date I’ve not been enlightened. Noone on the thread seems to know. I emailed Spiro. He doesn’t seem to know. I don’t think Knuckles knows.
Perhaps the enlightened community on The Roar know: who are the senior Wallabies at the Tahs and Reds who are ‘among the best performers in the competition?’
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- Explore:
Ben said | April 21st 2007 @ 8:03am | Report comment
The only one that springs to mind is Rocky Elsom but I am not sure I would describe him as a SENIOR Wallaby. Certainly none of the other Wallabies in NSW spring to mind. Unless Connolly is of the McKenzie school that statistics about line breaks proves Lote Tuqiri is the best player in the competition despite not dominating games or even scoring points in a generally shambolic Waratahs outfit.
On the Queensland side, John Roe and David Croft have tried their hardest all year, are senior and have been capped so they may qualify. Also there are the necessary two to qualify for the plural that Connolly have used. Nevertheless, neither have been consistent selections in recent times so I would hesitate to refer to them as SENIOR Wallabies.
Maybe he means that Dan Vickerman is the best performing waterboy in the competition? Although Phil Waugh isn’t also doing so which means this possibility doesn’t meet Connolly’s reference to players rather than a player.
I am as stumped as you are unless we accept the possibility that Connolly, as is not unknown for him, is talking out of a certain orifice. (cough, cough)
Mitch said | April 21st 2007 @ 11:57am | Report comment
I have to agree with you Ben, and I think i would go a little farther to say that there arent ANY SENIOR Wallabies playing for NSW or QLD. Latham is injured, and as you said Vickerman and Waugh are in the same category. Same said for Lyons, although as you said for others; is he a SENIOR Wallaby? And I know Lote hasnt been playing well, but is he SENIOR?
I suppose the question is arising – What constitutes a SENIOR Wallaby? (Sorry to avert attention from original post, but i think it is along the same vein).
The only guys I can think of with consistent selections over recent years, who have been playing this year, either play for the Brumbies i.e. Mortlock, Larkham, Gregan, Paul, Smith, or the Force i.e. Sharp. As the post suggests, who the hell is senior in the Reds or Tahs, let alone senior for the Wallabies, from these teams…!!
sheek said | April 21st 2007 @ 1:57pm | Report comment
GaleForcePerth,
I’m sorry, but I really don’t care what john Connolly is saying, or who he is referring to. I’m writing off 2007 as a bad dream.
Hopefully when I wake up on 1st January 2008, it will dawn a brighter Australian Rugby year. Maybe…..
Greg said | April 21st 2007 @ 5:53pm | Report comment
As I have kept saying over and over, John Connolly has no guts to make the tough decisions, he will invariably select a similar team from the last few years because he seems to have no faith in the up and comers and way too much in the “established” players Tuqiri et al. This will lead to a bad world cup performance – the sooner he leaves, the better.
The majority of the selections should come from the strongest performing teams (Brumbies & Force) with the few standouts (Elsom one of the few I can think of) coming from the Tahs and Reds. Inevitably selections will mainly come from the Tahs and the Brumbies which is a joke because the Tahs have just not stood up and deserved a spot in the Wallabies based on this season. There is way too much politics going on from NSW for it to be any other way it seems…
Danny said | April 21st 2007 @ 8:34pm | Report comment
Look Knuckles is an idiot full stop. The guy has rarely added value to any team he’s coached in the sense that no team has played above itself as a result of his efforts. The current Wallabies are no exception.
His Queensland teams of the past were chock full of superstars and won many matches, but even then he did his best to ruin them with murderously boring 10-man rugby. Frankly he nearly wrecked Jason Little.
He’s been brought in by the now defunct senior leadership of the ARU on a 2 year contract as a yes man for senior Brumbies and ARU figures. He’s simply spewing corporate-speak, holding a line when all around him can see the idiocy of it. That’s why Flowers had to go. Knuckles should definitely be part of this cleansing. Frankly his patronising lines like the ones above are offensive to true Aussie rugby supporters.
ChrisB said | April 22nd 2007 @ 9:13am | Report comment
Connolly is obviously paving the way for a number of woeful Reds to be included in the Wallaby team. As per last year.
andrew said | April 23rd 2007 @ 12:21am | Report comment
connolly should never have been given the job. I can’t believe my beloved sport is in such dire circumstances in aus.
sack the aru. bring back o’neill.
(ditch the nswru recruitment and spin doctors as well – josh holmes should be a waratah, sheehan is a joke)
connolly should go now, since flowers is out.
but who do should get the gig?
maybe someone else has already said it, but isn’t it ironic that two randwick men are turning the largest provinces into the wooden spooners! I suppose ewen and eddie are taking ‘forwards’ revenge for the running rugby of the 80-90′s wicks backline!
that leaves billy connolly ( laurie fisher). mitchell needs to stay with force to build them up. nucifora likewise at the blues.
maybe deans?
is there noone else?
whatever happened to finding ex-players and tapping their brains? how come campo has never had a gig coaching backlines for the wallabies? what about ella – surely the wallabies are more important than the sevens?
blades should be part of the forwards team, along with evans.
just one other comment. did anyone read the rubbish ewen wrote in the smh about throwing into the lineout? i’ve played hooker and throwing is not that hard. surely for pros, there is enough time to practise throwing straight! let alone practising hitting a jumper. his comments about sports science developing the ‘arc’ for the higher throws is insulting to any basketball player!
Cheats said | April 23rd 2007 @ 9:55am | Report comment
Your search is over – it shoud be known that Knuckles doesn’t look any further then the side line – the crowd side of the side line that is. Senior Wallabies Phil Waugh and Chris Latham have been amongst the best in their fields this season. Phil Waugh best dressed award for S14 ’07 – looking very dapper (and miserable) in his dark suit, week in week out. Chris Latham takes out worst dressed, what is with those grubby ‘tennis whites’? Bleach Chris, bleach …
Pete said | April 23rd 2007 @ 11:47am | Report comment
I’m a firm believer that Connolly was the only one silly enough to put his hat in the ring after Jones was sacked. Everyone else could see that given the dire state of Australian rugby, anyone who took the “top” job would fail miserably at this year’s World Cup and have one of the shortest tenures as a Wallaby coach in history.
The rest figured they’d sit back and jump in when he was sacked.
Of course, they didn’t figure on having a dire S14 in the interim !
Since that time we have seen several promising young players step forward, several who were promising not step up, and some older players find their niche with new teams and flourish. ( Huxley combining with Larkham springs to mind)
Those who suggest Connolly should take a punt on these players are not wrong, a Wallaby coach with a future in the job should be far-sighted enough to ignore the short term for the long term’s benefit. ( Eddie was doing this before he was sacked for failing to deliver wins…good one Flowers) That is, of course, if the coach has a long term future, which Connolly doesn’t.
He will therefore do what anyone in his position would do, pick experienced players who could fluke their way to at least a semi-final and not totally implode as a team embarrssing their coach and their country, not to mention themselves.
Sadly, this season has shown us we continue to have no new coach ( EJ not included) of a standard to take us to a World Cup win. Mackenzie has been shown up for his lack of backline knowledge, Fisher continues to be average and will once again fail to take the best squad in the country to the semi-finals of the S14. Mitchell has one more season to get the Force to the semi’s or he will have ‘failed’. The jury is still out on Nucifora, waiting to see if he can reverse the slump that started when his ‘All blacks’ returned and disrupted his season.
So where are we on the Wallabies, post World Cup embarrasment ?
Nucifora is my pick, he is the ONLY one to coach a S12 winning team, only to be sacked for plannng to drop some “senior” players and blood youngsters with a view to the future. A decision in which it appears he has been thoroughly vindicated.
Oh, and please Brumbies, get rid of the Yin and hire Kafes, I don’t think I can stand another season of seeing such a talanted squad wasted !
Greg said | April 23rd 2007 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
Agree andrew – Ewan’s columns in the SMH seem to be always filled with excuses, not answers.