Waratahs played 'worst football' imaginable: Waugh

The handling errors were disastrous and I left the stadium shattered, but having watched the game twice again on replay the doom and gloom is a bit dramatized. Four tries went begging but if any had stuck the outcome would have been different, perhaps very different A pop up from Carter on the ground metres from the line was interfered with by a player on the ground. The ball dropped by Horne on the angle was ever so close and not incompetence ! Tuquiri's pop up to Mumm was inaccurate but his body was rotated, .........and SamNK's pass to Turner was timed perfectly but pushed behind the man. These were errors but not shameful ones and without taking anything away from the Crusaders that try when the rugby ball gifted them a try by turning through 90 degrees was a great one but lucky. My point is simply there's no need for wholesale changes. I would put Mumm back into the second row to get another chaser on the field like Beau Robinson or Ben Mowen. Thomson didn't improve the lineout despite his height and is too slow around the paddock. Speed is everything. Otherwise I'd say accept the fact that this season's the most open for years, we have a twenty year old 5/8 who took us to a finals last year, running a very young backline behind a creditable foreward pack. We have an inspirational captain but a new coach. We're still fourth despite foolishly giving up home ground advantage to play at Homebush. Let's hope we can do the Blues at Auckland playing it with a tight, boring, forewards dominated game...... or any other. GO THE TAHS

Working Class, you are on the money on every point here. Waugh is a great player, but leadership wise he is an inspirer more than anything else is how it strikes me. Needs a bit more Gregan in him (even though I didn't like him in that regard). He needs some other blokes out there also giving direction. I think we are missing Vickers in that regard, and we have too many young blokes in the loosies and backs to do the job. The most experienced in the back line is Tuqiri, and he has never struck me as that type of leader. Carter isn't in the side enough, and although older hasn't the rusted on security to rip blokes up. SNK - no, and a full back is too removed anyway.

I want NSW to keep Beale. But he's terribly out of form. Playing the wrong game plan and a little lost at the moment. He's lacking the support that guys like Cooper and O'Connor in the forms of Barnes and Giteau. Both of those can try something rash and know they have cool heads to back them up. Beale has no one on the field. People can say he has Waugh or Tuquri but neither are playmakers like he is. And he hasn't got control of the backline with the centres calling the plays. Not good for a playmaker. That would be hurting his confidence alot. The other major issue is leadership and the lack of it at the minute. Waugh is a great player but is lacking in the leaders department. Against the Brumbies when Palu was sin binned, and Mortlock did a similar thing minutes later and the Hoiles cynially obstructed Beale both of those would have warranted binnings if Palu's did but Waugh didn't fight for his teams right and accepted the inconsistencies. I gave Horne a rap before the Brumbies game but he's performance have been lack luster since, with too much selfish play and poor positioning and handling. SNK well I've never been a fanand glad to see he's off to Cardiff. The Waratahs should chase O'connor hard, followed closely by Mitchell. But heyhe's a left field roughy, bring Peter Hewat back from England. A severely underrated fullback who was the highest points scorer in the S14 for a couple of yers there. And has been in pretty god form in the Guiness Premiership.

There was a article from Spiro a week or so ago calling for the Force to be made to take Sam Norton Knight to replace Giteau at No.10, for the sake of Australian Rugby. Based on what I am hearing about the Waratahs they want to replace Beale at No.10 because he is not working out for them either. If this happens can the Force have Beale?? The waratahs have a stockpile of three No.10's all of which they are not happy with. My gut feel is that it is the Waratahs coaching and playing style that are killing these guys. I am sure we will not be hearing the same story from Spiro about Beale being forced on another team for the "sake of Australian rugby".

Kepu and Ratu might add something different than what we have now. Baxter might be out this week and Kepu is the logical choice to replace him, I don't rate Palmer at all, he's too young mentally for the position nothing like robinson when he hit the scene. The first thing I was told when I started playing Prop was always aim where you want to go because thats where you'll end up and guess what it worked, Palmer kept looking directly at the ground and guess what thats where he ended up most of the time. As for Ratu a big that big moving at speed should provide the penetration in attack we have been lacking a open up many more opportunities, surely we couldn't stuff them all up. I could be very wrong.

Kepu and Ratu are both due back. But injecting them back into a team that isn't performing won't fix everything. I agree on Beau Robinson - what happened to him? He played well last year, and suddenly they are putting on blokes from the train on squad who have no caps. Ease them is by all emans, but why leave out a guy who showed he could play at the level? The general consenus appears to be: 1. NSW are not playing anywhere as well as they should. 2. They have the cattle to play a better game even with losses, but aren't. 3. The current style doesn't work or suit them. 4. Before the last 2 games, there was a general expectation that the style they were playing would eventually fail them, and they'd lose. This appears to have been proven right. 4. Something needs to change.

We are NSW their are "no excuse's", play the right game plan, "STOP KICKING AWAY POSSESSION". Burgess wenting probing on several occasions on Saturday and was left out to dry by not only his forwards ( who have been extremely lazy this season), but Beale as well. The loss of three Big Three is significant but not that significant. Lyons barely played last season, Rocky had a understudy in Beau Robinson ( who seems to have disappeared, did they let him go in favour of FAVA, there is a good reason why the man's a journeyman, he's average at best, big mistake). Vicks is the real blow especially in the lineout. Caldwell isn't of the same quality, Mumm is more of a loosey and Thomson hmmm..............!. SOS Vicks and Rock come back now PLEASE!. Hickey being "malleable" is frightening. The best coaches I ever had were anything but malleable. He needs to run the team not the team run him. Its about time they injected some X-factor. Kepu should be near ready to return ( his injury was supposed to keep him out to mid season, well its now mid-sason) geta big, quick ,hard running, ball playing Prop on the field to complement Fat Cat.(Robinson for those not informed, our best player this year by far). Next bring in Ratu Nasiyangavi ( I think thats how you spell his last name) 6"4 125kg winger who could destroy defence openig up space and time for other when injected at the right times. He again should be ready to be introduced after injury as when he was meant to be out for a month two month's ago.

The could play the game on Mars & it wouldn't make any difference if they continued to serve up Saturday's rubbish. In both defeats the Tahs were beaten by teams that could actually pass & catch, kept the ball in hand rather than kicking it every time they touched it and scored tries. SNK has the best pass in the team, is creative and can kick and defend. Surely he must be move to 10 with Turner to FB. Neither Beale nor Hangas appear to be the answer.

I've had my long say on the "Stillmissit" posting, but would like to add that the move to ANZ Stadium for the Crusader game was a major mistake. Stadium was not even half full, had no atmosphere, was far too far from the playing pitch and in the front row of level 4 looking thround the strands on safety wire. Parking miles away and the match at a time of other major competion. Took my son 1 hour to get to his seat when only 3kms away. Just not good enough. If NSWRU persist with such decisions I'll stay at home and watch it on Foxtel. As for the Tahs performance ..... Just not good enough for cost of a season ticket. Let's hope the NSWRU punts this decision into touch for good.

I do not advocate more than one game at homebush per year.. However in tems of growing and funding the game it is important. Free tickets or not the key question is how many new spectators attended. I will not accept that the ground was completely responsible for the lack of passion. With the exception of the usual few i did not see the passion. It was a poor Waratah exhibition for those new spectators. Slade chased everything thorn was a giant.The Crusaders youngsters were admirable in their effort. Waratah passion and communication was missing. Was it the ground .An easy scapegoat. Next day I saw a replay of the Penrith v Bulldogs game. Players showing some real passion at the end of a close loss. The waratah passion was missing.

As a sign of complete and utter desperation play SNK or Halangahu at 12 and have them call the shots. Carter is too bash and barge to provide any tactical nous to Beale, push Tahu out to 13 and use Horne as the impact player. Tahu or Carter at 12 is a mistake, just look at the level of support Quade Cooper gets from Barnes and how much better Cooper looks for it. Oh and besides all that, teach the Tahs to score tries like that length of the field effort from the Crusaders, only a Kiwi team can score a try like that! Simply unstopable - they could still have got to the try line if it had been 800 m instead of just 80!

The only positive to come out of last night's game was that it took me about an hour less to get home from Homebush than it does from the SFS. The Tahs seemed to be lacking basic skills in passing, catching and ball retention. Something is seriously wrong. In addition, from a personal perspective we have paid a substantial sum for 4 Blue Blood memberships (ie top category) and last night we were allocated seats just 9 rows back from the front (ie on the flat) so we had to watch the screen rather than the real game in order to have any idea what was going on. Having paid nearly $2,000 for our tickets we didn't expect to habe to watch the big screen, I can do that from the comfort of my home.

The Burgess-Beale link isn't performing right now. Persevering with something that isn't working is the surest way to fail. That's not to say they won't come good. Is it any wonder Hickey is content to coash winning ugly if he has "no excuses"? The media were all writing the Tahs off without Vicks, Lyons and Rocky. So why weren't we expected to rebuild? Then suddenly we win 4 and everyone complains it isn't sexy enough. However, most on the Roar were aying the emperor had no clothes and the wheels were going to come off eventually. Well, they're looking those wobbly those wheels ... Fact is , and I said this early, we still had a good side with those 3 out. But we are playing the wrong style for the team. These boys want to play a wider game and can't. The game plan doesn't call for it, and Beale has the yips (in part). We picked our game up last year when they changed the style, played wider, and the players started enoying it. Time to do it again (just without the entire sacking the coach thing). And if the players like Hickey being malleable that is a worrying sign. There can only be one bloke in charge. The "leadership group" is there to help the coach not be a separate source of leadership. The Brumbies florished with "player power" for a while, but it all seemed to go wrong there, as eventually it had to. Listening to players is one thing, still sticking to your guns is another.

Bay35Pablo Having the centres call the plays will work if you have a good quality 12. Someone like Horan or Lynagh playing at 12 or, currently, someone like Giteau or Barnes at 12. Carter and Tahu are far to inexperienced to give Beale any guidance and his lack of tactical nous has become painfully obvious. The Waratahs improved markedly with Halangahu at 10, even thoughhe is not a permanent solution at No 10.

The "Beale-Burgess" link was good enough to take the team to the final last year - judging by the players missing this year from some of the teams, particulalry NZ you could hadly say the standard of the competition has risen, so expectations of the Waratahs,a team that made the finals (3 times in the last 4 years) should justifiably be high. If a coach was handed a 13th placed team that has been consistenly poor (probably the reason for changing the coach) then inheriting a poor squad might be a fair excuse. I am not sure that Chris Hickey can use this excuse. In fact he lauded the sqaud and their Chairman, Ed Zemancheff said that this season there would be "No excuses" so a team that fielded no less than 11 Wallabies against the relatively inexperienced Crusaders might do well to live in the here and now. Lote made the comment the other week that he liked Chris Hickey because he was more "malleable" than his predecessor. If the players are driving the agenda then they need to take some responsibility

I think even the current bunch on the board reckon they can't punt Hickey yet. And it's still unclear whether the issue is his coaching or the players. Many are blaming the Beale-Burgess link, and may have a point. But Hickey's apparent structure of having the centres call the plays makes no sense to me. 32K at Homebush calls into question why they would bother having it out there. You have to ask how many more would have gone at th SFS, because I am sure a lot hate Homebush and didn't go. What a waste. Having said that, the deal was signed several years ago when everything was rosy. But even then I questioned the sense of it. We have rarely sold out SFS for games. The last time I recall having near to full houses regularly was 2002. Guess the NSWRu wsn't ecpecting the fair weather fan syndrome the Kigs and Swans have seen to strike them ...

After watching last night's debacle I want my money back for my 2009 membership. What on Earth is going on in the NSW camp. What do they spend all week doing?. Training? from last nights display that can't be the case. Their skills this year have been horrendous, highlighted by the lack of any co-hesion and frankly s@#t house handling. If I were the NSWRU I wouldn't give any of them a single cent in match payments for whatever the hell they called that last night. Hickey is a joke, his coaching staff a joke and at the moment about 70-80 per cent the squad are too. With the largest talent pool, we seem incapable of forgetting silly politics and do the right thing for NSW. There are several players in that squad that in my opinion should not be there. Politics got McKenzie out of his job and Hickey in. He won the first four games but without any real conviction and now the cracks are showing and he keeps denying the problems. BRING BACK EWEN!!!!!!!!!!!! . I have been a long time Beale fan but he hasn't got his heart in it, so send him back to club land to regain some passion. So one needs to spark spme passion in the Tahs, the jersey is a privilege not a right. I'll keep watching, but changes are seriously needed.

Where are the calls for Hickey's head? Just proves that it was all personal with McKenzie, nothing else. Double standards abound in the Rugby community. 32k at Homebush - i'm assuming this makes the move a failure, how many of these were free tickets?

I wonder what Hickey is thinking at the moment. Stillmissit , if you read this piece I noticed from another article that you have a connection through family with Penrith. I suggest to you and anyone else who has direct contact with the Syd. club scene to ask players how they feel the NSW squad has been selected. Now I know that claims will be made that there are sour grapes out there and undoubtedly some of this will be true. But use your judgement and listen to the opinions of current players. My long winded point is that Hickey has been handed an existing squad over which he has had little control. If he still has the reins next year (and who knows with NSW Rugby ) and if some players are off contract is it possible that he will inject new faces from left field? There are some players in the squad who don't have the respect of even their own club mates---not in a bitchy sense just in recognition of football worth.

I rest my case: the Tahs are only an average team so far this season. More freight trains a' coming.