Comments on: Who will be the next great Wallaby fly-half?

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:22:06 +0000

Above NZ glory boy Carter?

ROFLMAO!

By: AussieFAN

AussieFAN — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:59:31 +0000

Sorry Frank but i’l have to disagree with ur first point abt Giteau nt bein great. I find it hard to believe that because since mid year of 2008 he has been rated the best flyhalf in the world…and even now he is rated no 1 above new zealands glory boy Carter. My point is for two years he has held the title of best number 10 and still going. If thats not great i really dont know what u want him to do.
oh and also he is a *flyhalf* and last year was the worlds international leading try scorer -extremely rare- and we only won 1 match in the try nations. Australia has a crap game, loses and Giteau stands out game after game…honestli Frank, if that aint great…then what do you want.

To answer the question of next fly half, Giteau aint going nower bud

By: Colin N

Colin N — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:22:37 +0000

WW,

What do you make of this?

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12321_5945010,00.html

By: ilikedahoodoogurusingha

ilikedahoodoogurusingha — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:27:24 +0000

I think he may be playing in Perth tonight and his initials are MT.

By: Terry Kidd

Terry Kidd — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:16:17 +0000

Who cares who will be the best 10? Just bring on the rugby !!!!

WW … I happen to know a bit of Cipriani and do not think he is a flawed character, however for whatever reason his international career seems to have hit a road block, so why not take a sabbatical with the Rebels, learn some more of his trade under McQueen then go back to NH rugby a more complete player?

From my point of view it would seem a great option for both Cipriani and the Rebels, and also a great option for England in the longer term.

By: SJ

SJ — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:02:05 +0000

Brad,

I would rather be old with no more credibility than the rest, rather than senseless with no credibility.

By: AndyS

AndyS — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:08:20 +0000

I do sometimes wonder about the “world class general” principle myself – isn’t it amazing how often a “great” 10 plays in a great team able to give him time and support?

By: AndyS

AndyS — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:58:44 +0000

So what you are saying is that Australia has two senior players interchangeable at 10/12, but recognise that one of them is a little injury prone. To cover that they have two younger players, one of which is also developing primarily at 10/12, the other playing primarily 12/15 but (probably) with the long term view towards 10.

Personally, I would have said that such a situation is exactly the sort of depth any international coach would work hard to achieve. Come one of them getting injured, or flitting off post-2011, it will look a pretty smart arrangement. Still, I suspect that if it were otherwise you’d be finding a way to criticise Deans for his inability to succession plan…

By: Wavell Wakefield

Wavell Wakefield — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:24:52 +0000

You have the front to talk about firing broadsides having offered the nonsensical ‘show pony’ comment. Wow. I guess Crocodile Dundee wasn’t a myth. Just don’t offer me a game of knifey-spoon. Watch some rugby before you comment, RK. Your stereotypical guff about anything remotely NH is wearing as thin as Mortlock’s hairline.

By: mattamkII

mattamkII — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:58:05 +0000

Quiet time Brad…quiet time.

By: brad

brad — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:43:33 +0000

Sheek being old does not give you more credibility than the rest of us. Larkham played his best years behind a very powerfull pack. Australia will never have a great flyhalf because all the youth want to be backline players and the beefy boys are constantly riduculed by the uninformed press as being unfit. Australia is a league country and unfortunatley rugby is an ameteur sport. It was all evens during the ameteur days and in 1999 most of the rugby world was still ameteur. Now that the world has caught upwith proffesionalism the wallabies can not even beat Scotland! I guess you can still have agreat WALLABY flyhalf, its just that the rest of the world may not think they are that great. Very much like your obsession that 99% of all league players would rip union apart. I always forget that Australia is not a knowledgeable rugby country. They can not even find an Australian coach for their national side.

By: Sammy22

Sammy22 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:16:13 +0000

Thanks for that RK, I used to work for a company owned and built up by the real Wavell Wakefield and then Chaired by his daughter some years ago. I just find this guys use of the name distasteful to say the least.
May as well just change my handle to John Eales …….. I dont think so !!!!

By: Peter K

Peter K — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:06:22 +0000

Currently Barnes is the only complete 10 we have. But he is very injury prone, far more than Larkham who suffered most of his i njuries late in his career not every year like Barnes.

Barnes though is very good rather than Great or brilliant but is young and may improve.

Cooper has come on far more than Beale. Giteau is a 12 never a 10, probably the same with OÇonnor.
Cooper has really improved his pass and kick. Still behind Barnes there though. His running game is excellent. Defence still weak. However what he lacks most is the ability to control a team and hence a game. Once he can do this then he may challenge Barnes.

By: mattamkII

mattamkII — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:15:56 +0000

Oddly enough I found KO fairly well formed in debate….

Throwing barbs at a whole country because one or two people think Cipers is a pony seems rich to me…

By: mattamkII

mattamkII — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:12:12 +0000

tend to agree…Both of them dont seem to like getting the ball with a wall of set D fronting them…they need some momentum from either side to work some magic.

By: Mike G

Mike G — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:02:33 +0000

exactly RK – Beale looked great at 12, the extra space & time was perect for him…I hope to see him have a blinder at 12 on Sat night – Go the tahs!!

By: Rickety Knees

Rickety Knees — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:01:54 +0000

Mattamkll – WW was formerly known as Knives Out – mate he just loves a stoush especially anything to do with 1 English Rugby 2 NH anything. By the timing of his posts from the UK he always gets first crack at all published articles and just loves firing a broadside to anybody and everybody. He certainly add some spark to the posts.

By: mattamkII

mattamkII — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:01:38 +0000

thanks* for spelling tips….

Dont want to get sent home with another letter to mum.

By: mattamkII

mattamkII — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:00:17 +0000

My lord you come across as a bitter fella.

Mate, trust me. Every Australian rugby supporter knows about him and has seen or heard about his skills. Even Spiros has mentioned on this forum something like “Cipriani is special”….now for a English number 10 to get that from him is pretty amazing.

PS – thats for the spelling tips. You come across like an awesome bloke.

By: Rickety Knees

Rickety Knees — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:40:00 +0000

SB – defence is a combination of attitude and timing. Berrick Barnes learnt to tackle by practising on Shane Webcke – I hope that Toomua adopts a similar regime.

By: Rickety Knees

Rickety Knees — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:28:53 +0000

I believe that KB is a bit like Giteau ie he plays better at second receiver. Certainly that was the case when he partnered Tahu towards the end of the last S14 when they won three games on the trot is South Africa, which is no mean feat.

By: Wavell Wakefield

Wavell Wakefield — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:49:03 +0000

I presume that the average Australian doesn’t know anything about him, and that has been made abundantly clear throughout the various ‘contributions’ – something that you confirm with your ‘doesn’t fit the mold (sic)’ comment. My thinking is that GP and HC rugby isn’t widely available throughout Australia and given his injury problems the average Australian would not have seen Cipriani at his peak. Did you? Watch many of his games recently? I will stop making assumptions when the Australian side does (celebrity girlfriend, showpony etc).. Yawn yawn.

By: Wavell Wakefield

Wavell Wakefield — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:46:03 +0000

No, but I have spoken to him, and have mutual friends. I went to a school that was funded by the same charity that funded his school, one of three in the area.

By: Wavell Wakefield

Wavell Wakefield — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:41:56 +0000

It can be a tabloid, PHB, because the nature of the journalism is tabloidistic, and not just the sport section. The Times has some vile writers. Obviously Australians wouldn’t know that, but the thing is that The Times is pro-Cipriani. However, conversely no paper is anti-Cipriani, it’s simply that Stephen Jones (everybody knows his line of writing is certainly not informed broad paper material) uses the alleged dropping of Cipriani as irrefutable proof of the conservatism of the current England regime.

Cipriani has only made four negative headlines: 1: for allegedly going out with a transexual (I think that’s the correct term), 2: handing out tickets to friends who happened to be at a night club, 3: for having a fight with Josh Lewsey and 4: dating Kelly Brook. Nothing cynical and nefarious. He is never in the papers and he is not an English celebrity.

By: rugbyfuture

rugbyfuture — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:48:49 +0000

(this applies to both nsw and qld joes)

whats a baby wallaby?

By: Armchair Sportsfan

Armchair Sportsfan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:46:06 +0000

As a Queensland fan who did live in Sydney from 2003 to 2007 i almost went mad with the the hype surrounding the next ‘greatest flyhalf to ever strap on a boot and despite still not having left school yet, the fact that he has played in the Joey’s 1st XV since he was 4 years old means that he will automatically play for Australia for the next 100 years as he’s just such an amazingly talented New South Welshman”

dont’ think Kurtley Beale has been mentioned on this blog once.

has something changed NSW?…maybe reality?

By: Liam

Liam — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:33:15 +0000

No one ever will be as good as Stephen Larkham. Not for a long time either, the current Flyhalf stocks are not up to half of his standard.

By: rugbyfuture

rugbyfuture — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:04:35 +0000

wales were less stringent to the amateur days I do Know.

By: JF

JF — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:39:52 +0000

NZ is the exceptional one here, probably only Wales that can match NZ for penetrating the entire populous. In every other rugby-playing nation, it is supported by a certain rung of society with a strong connection to private schooling and the middle-class. Geographical strongholds are also evident such as in France, England, Ireland and Italy. Can’t really answer why this is – I am more puzzled by the sport’s ability to be free of this stigma in NZ and Wales.

By: Short-Blind.

Short-Blind. — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:34:49 +0000

Sheek whilst I tend to agree with you in general that a competent (by international standards) 10 will do as long as the people around him are very good. There is no doubt that an exceptional 10 will add increased value to a team – but cannot regularly win a game on his own if running with poor cattle or pigs. Unless of course your name is Hugo Porta and you kick 8 penalties to win a game….