Will Waratahs entertain us or drive us away?
Roar Guru By Rickety Knees, 21 Jan 2010 Rickety Knees is a Roar Guru
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- Rugby Union, Super Rugby, Waratahs
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Waratahs' Wycliff Palu comes under pressure from the Highlanders' defence during round 3 of the Super 14 Rugby match at Sydney Football Stadium, Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. AAP Image/Dean Lewins
There has been much written about 2009 being Annus Horribilus for Australian rugby. No Australian Super 14 team making the Super 14 finals laid the foundation for this.
The Waratahs, the best performing Australian Super 14 side in 2009, had at best a mixed season.
At worst, they chose to ignore their backline and passed up try scoring opportunities (and bonus points) to play “ugly rugby”.
The ultimate irony being that the Waratahs just missed out on the semi finals, by not accruing enough bonus points, even though they won more games than the team finishing above them in fourth position.
In the process, crowd numbers and TV viewers were significantly reduced as fans lost interest.
Monty Python lives on.
The off-season has seen many articles written and many spleens vented by Waratah supporters – reflecting anger and frustration with a season which saw a highly talented Waratah team play one dimensional rugby, continually kicking the ball away, even within the opponents 22!
In 2008, the previous Waratah coach, Ewen McKenzie, was sacked mid-term for playing an unattractive style of rugby. In another twist of irony, his replacement, Chris Hickey, in 2009, added dimension to ugly rugby and took it to a new level of inane boredom.
So where to in 2010? What have Messrs Hickey, Weismantel and Waugh in store for the Waratahs in 2010? Will they seek to entertain or continue to drive us away?
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January 21st 2010 @ 9:52am
Dandy said | January 21st 2010 @ 9:52am | Report comment
You have made a very good point sheek, the Tahs lack creativity in the midfield, Carter and Horne offer nothing. The flyhalf is only half the issue, i am not sure if Carter even possess footwork or has the abilty to pass and kick.
If the the tahs want to move forward they need to have a big rethink of 12 and 13.
January 21st 2010 @ 9:56am
Terry Kidd said | January 21st 2010 @ 9:56am | Report comment
No worries Knees, I would be happy to see your backline take the field too. I have no doubt that we’ll see both yours and my backline at some stage. For me the key is Barnes, he must play 10 and no where else.
January 21st 2010 @ 9:59am
ballboy said | January 21st 2010 @ 9:59am | Report comment
Barnes is a huge gain for the Tahs and should at the very least be able to control the running game and add more stability to their kicking game. In saying that the Tahs don’t seem to have the firepower in the centres. Carter is good without being a world class centre as is Horne. Having Mitchell (who I think is overrated), Beale and Turner as the back three will be a solid back three but again it doesn’t quite have the firepower of some other teams. Their forwards are their strength and winning is more important tha losing. Is winning more important than playing attractive rugby…sad but probably true. If I were Hickey, which thankfully I’m not, I’d be hoping for two things. 1. Teams kick to my back three and they run the ball back instead of kicking it away. 2. Playing the game in tight and relying on Barnes to get us good field position.
So, I’m afraid you Tahs fans out there, it’s another year of yawn rugby…but you just might have the players in the right positions to sneak into the 4.
January 21st 2010 @ 10:04am
Brett McKay said | January 21st 2010 @ 10:04am | Report comment
Rickety, I’d reckon we’ll have a pretty reasonable idea of the answer to this question by fulltime Saturday 24 April
Not all beers will happy ones that night!!
January 21st 2010 @ 10:14am
Rickety Knees said | January 21st 2010 @ 10:14am | Report comment
Brett – Iam really looking forward to catching up with you at Tahs v Brumbies – hoping that fellow Roarers might join us as well. Mate – I will be just happy to see attacking Rugby – regardless of who wins. However if it becomes a yawnathon kickathon well that will be a differnent story. Mind you being an old Cooma boy – I can have two bob each way on the night.
January 21st 2010 @ 10:24am
Brett McKay said | January 21st 2010 @ 10:24am | Report comment
Indeed mate, it’ll be great if we can put some faces to psuedonyms!!
Stay tuned Roarers…
January 21st 2010 @ 10:07am
Rickety Knees said | January 21st 2010 @ 10:07am | Report comment
BB – I hope that you are wrong. It depends – if they play Barnes at 10 and Beale at 15 – they then would have a great attacking option in Beale to run off Barnes – as Beale did to great effect when he played outside Cooper on the last tour.
January 21st 2010 @ 10:10am
Terry Kidd said | January 21st 2010 @ 10:10am | Report comment
I agree about Mitchell …. I cringe every time a high ball goes up in his direction or when a team runs the ball at him but I have to admit that the bugger can find the try line and has plenty of pace. The Tahs will need to score tries, Mitchell can sure do that, therefore …. for that reason alone, he is in my run on team.
January 21st 2010 @ 12:12pm
Who Needs Melon said | January 21st 2010 @ 12:12pm | Report comment
No-one likes Beale at 12? Maybe my memory ain’t so good but I’m not as dead set against him as others are. I think he is better at running and sleight-of-hand short passes and kicks and so more suited to a 12 than a 10 at the moment. Sure defence is a bit of a problem but Barnes and Horne are, if I remember correctly, both very good in defence and I’d like to hope Barnes could lead and influence Beale in this respect.
My backline would be:
Burgess
Barnes
Beale
Horne
Turner
Mitchell
Sanesi
Give that a shot for a few weeks.
January 21st 2010 @ 12:26pm
Bay35Pablo said | January 21st 2010 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
WNM, good point but my first thought is Beale is still too small for the centres. However, maybe we have just gotten used to big centres, and forget that smaller blokes can do plenty of damage just in a different way there.
January 21st 2010 @ 2:44pm
Campbell Watts said | January 21st 2010 @ 2:44pm | Report comment
Pablo,
He’s not that small – +90-odd kg playing weight I believe. Also lets wait and see what Beale comes back from the off-season weighing! Didn’t he tip the scales at +100kg last year? A bit too much KFC over the break??
January 21st 2010 @ 12:36pm
Terry Kidd said | January 21st 2010 @ 12:36pm | Report comment
Hey Melon I have no issues with your backline either and as I said earlier there will be all sorts of combinations tried early on, but I think we all agree that Barnes must play 10, Horne must play 13 and the back three should be Turner, Mitchell and Anesi. Is Sidey a 12 or 13? Either way it leaves Beale, Hangers, Carter and Sidey to fight for the 12 spot and provide injury cover. Obviously Burgess will start at 9 but I would like to see what McKibbin can do. I don’t rate Josh Holmes as a 9.
January 21st 2010 @ 1:01pm
Roger said | January 21st 2010 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
Terry, Sidey is a 13, so that leaves KB, Hangers and Carter as going for 12. KB would def get on bench as backup 10 and 15, although today i recalled he and Timana played in centres in SA and did very well. I am warming to suggestion above of KB at 12 as, as suggested, Horne and Barnes are not exaclty wallflowers when it comes to defence.
All in all, I think Hickey will play Carter at 12, and see how Anesi goes in attack off 2nd phase like Sivi does for ABs. if Anesi isnt dynamic enough, I think Hickey will bring KB to 12 and instruct his backrow to shadow KB in defence (as they would probably do anyway).
I for one am also keen to see players like The Mad Roodter, Cam Jowitt and Chris Alcock playing…I also see on Tahs Academy side they have a 204cm 19y.o. GPS lock. Wow.
January 21st 2010 @ 1:01pm
ballboy said | January 21st 2010 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
I’m with you B35P – Beale is too small for the new aged centre positon and his defence will be exposed.What’s wrong with Carter at 12. he’s played there for the past year and not shamed himself. I don’t know much about Anesi but he seems to be the pick from everyone else at 15. Beale’s a strong bench player…as long as he doesn’t get the shits by not being named in the starting 15.
January 21st 2010 @ 2:49pm
Bay35Pablo said | January 21st 2010 @ 2:49pm | Report comment
Carter has been criticised as being too one dimensional with not enough variation to his game. I.e. he only barges it up and isn’t good enough with the offload. Doesn’t run enough angles. Nathan Grey Lite. Great in Shute Shield but ho hum in S14.
January 21st 2010 @ 2:52pm
Campbell Watts said | January 21st 2010 @ 2:52pm | Report comment
BB
I think it’s Beale poor defence rather than his size that rules him out from playing 12.
Anesi is a beautiful runner with the ball, speed to burn and has strength that suprises a lot of defenders. I see him having a great year with the TAH’s if he can cement the 15 spot as his own.
January 21st 2010 @ 1:20pm
short-blind said | January 21st 2010 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Melon – I like your backline as well and agree re Beale at 12. He has gained in confidence during the Wallaby tour and has the footwork, short-long pass and kicking game to make a break on his own or set up horne/ anesi on the angle runs. His defence has improved and if he just goes low like giteau etc he will handle it. Some of the better 12s in the last 10 years were not big men – walter little, aaron mauger, giteau etc. Carter at 12 is solid but one dimensional, Halu at 12 is better but he is not as capable a line buster as Beale. Lots of options but i agree with most roarers – pick a team and let them play for 4-5 games to build confidence and teamwork. ps re 9 love the enthusiasm Burgess brings but his poor passing game won’t go away just because his jersey is blue and not gold, Holmes just hasn’t cut it in ‘adult’ rugby yet as a 9 – has a slow pass and crabs across field. Give McKibbin a go – I think he may end up surprising everyone……