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I honestly thought I was done with rugby the week after the loss to England at Twickenham, but our wonderful and hard-working editors are a persistent lot over this holiday period.
And so here I am, in the final days of 2014, with the Kookaburra far more prominent than the Gilbert, talking about rugby again.
In a topic worth exploring while we tuck into unfortunate chickens stuffed into unfortunate ducks shoved into unfortunate turkeys, and consume silly amounts of sugar and beer while making fireworks plans, the question is: who will be the best Australian Super Rugby signings in 2015?
NSW Waratahs
The reigning champions will be legitimate title contenders again in 2015, but they’ve been rather quiet on the recruiting front for the coming season. In truth, they’ve not suffered any major losses other than Kane Douglas, and a few fringe backs, and so recruitment has been around refreshing the squad and bringing through some promising youngsters.
That all said, Andrew Kellaway is the youngster I’m expecting to shine for the ‘Tahs. The Australian Under-20s and NSW Country Eagles star winger last year, Kellaway has already shown no real issue in taking the step up in class, and with one wing spot there for the taking, I’m expecting him to do the same again.
I think things are set up for Kellaway perfectly. His natural, hard-running game is perfectly suited to how the Waratahs’ play, and he showed in the NRC that his low centre of gravity makes him hard to bring down.
Kellaway also has a good eye for the try line, and more importantly, he knows how to find it. He was the leading try scorer in the NRC, with 9 tries in as many games, and set a new IRB Junior World Championship record with ten tries, beating the previous mark of eight shared by former New Zealand international Zac Guildford and current All Black Julian Savea.
With the Waratahs’ wing spots still very much up for grabs – with names including Horne, Betham, and Naiyaravoro in the mix – Kellaway is a more than worthy contender for 2015.’
ACT Brumbies
How the Brumbies cover the loss of Ben Mowen will be their biggest challenge in 2015. The leadership will at least be well catered for, with Stephen Moore already confirmed as Captain for next season.
However, Mowen was their lineout general, and his departure along with the loss of Leon Power and young Jack Whetton returning to Auckland means the Brumbies have a few holes in their lineout to fill. And so it’s for this reason why I think the signing of two locks, Blake Enever and Rory Arnold, will be crucial.
The recruitment of two big locks – both players top two metres in height – gives the Brumbies some flexibility in their pack, meaning that Wallabies flanker Scott Fardy can go back to the side of the scrum for Super Rugby, with Fotu Auelua more than capable of doing some damage from no.8.
Enever played his one and only Super Rugby game for the Reds back in 2012, and has just come off a reasonable season for Queensland Country in the NRC. He played for the Combined Country side against the touring British and Irish Lions side in 2013.
Arnold, at 208cm, will officially be the tallest player in Super Rugby, and he also impressed for the Canberra Vikings in his handful of NRC games in 2014 after arriving in Canberra mid-season. Arnold has only been playing rugby seriously for four years, and also played in that Combined Country side against the Lions.
From there, he had a season of Currie Cup with Griquas, where he found himself embroiled (and subsequently cleared on appeal) in a bizarre biting allegation in his debut game.
Western Force
The Force will be celebrating their tenth Super Rugby season in 2015, but they’ve not been overly active on the recruitment front, as Michael Foley continues his plan to rebuild the club from the ground up.
I’ll be keen to see how young front rower Ollie Hoskins and hooker Robbie Abel go, should they get a crack at this level, having both been promoted from wider training squads last season and playing a major part in Perth Spirit’s charge to the NRC final in 2014.
The Force faithful might not have to look far to replace their cult hero Nick Cummins, with former Waratahs and Leicester Tigers flanker/lock Steve Mafi ready to leave his mark on Super Rugby again this coming season. Mafi returned to Australia to take up a three-year deal in Perth, and played pretty well at both lock and blindside for the Greater Sydney Rams in the NRC.
His ability to offload will be dangerous, and his ball-in-one-hand running style is sure to make him as big a crowd favourite in Perth as he was at Welford Road.
Queensland Reds
All the headlines will be around the Reds’ snaring James O’Connor and Karmichael Hunt, but for me, the biggest recruiting coup will be that of signing former All Blacks backrower, Adam Thomson.
As much as the Reds missed Will Genia and Quade Cooper through the 2014 season, they missed a major impact player in the backrow just as much.
In Thomson, they’ve landed themselves the dangerous wide-running loose forward they’ve craved since Scott Higginbotham moved to Melbourne, and around the time of his Reds signing announcement in late 2014, he was the leading try-scorer in the Japanese Top League!
As well as the attacking threat, Thomson brings solid defence on the fringe of the ruck, and a proper presence in the lineout. So here’s a big call, if the Reds make the semis, we’ll be talking about Thomson being the signing of the season.
Melbourne Rebels
The busiest of the five teams this off-season, the Rebels have done pretty well on the recruitment front, adding some solid experience along with some exciting talent.
Mike Harris is the biggest name of the several outside backs signed, the group including wingers Cam Crawford and Dom Shipperley, fullback Jonah Placid, who was really good in the NRC, another NRC revelation, bullocking centre ‘Super’ Sefa Naivalu.
Harris, in particular, will bring a calming head to what shapes as an exciting young backline. With Jack Debreczini earmarked for the no.10 jersey, Harris could slot in nicely at inside centre and bring an ability to straighten the attack as required, as well as being a new focus of attack.
Harris’ dead-eye goal kicking will be a major acquisition, too, and if the Rebels’ band of backrowers can start imposing themselves on the breakdown, the ability to convert defence into points can’t be underestimated.