Queenslanders fill the Wallabies squad

Hate to correct you, but neither Faingaa (nor his brother Anthony), nor Giteau are from the ACT - they are all from QUEANBEYAN NSW, and we get pretty tired of Canberra stealing our sports stars ....

Formeropenside makes a good point about Australian schoolboy selections . Perhaps its the quality of selectors and their obsession with size that is letting Australian rugby down. I believe QLD have dominated Aust schoolboy championships for the past five years but how many know that two of these sides where QLD 2 sides who don't get a look in come selection time. What happens to these kids and how many are lost to the system for being late maturers?.We must become much smarter at identifying and retaining skillfull players and put effort into there physical development. We lose too many promising young players because they are not shown any interest and no financial support provided and it doesn't have to be much to keep a kid in uni and keen.

I see Left Arm's spinners can turn either way!

I just knew this debate would get better and better as it ran on - Abdul Moore 'n all! It reminds me of the earnest search for more-than-coincidences between Lincoln's and Kennedy's murders after 1963 - did you know (uttered breathlessly) that Lee Harvey Oswald ran from a book repository to a cinema and John Wilkes Booth ran from a cinema to a book repository? Having migrated to QLD from NSW, long ago, I find it helpful to know the hidden minutiae, such as Brett offers above, to trot out when it suits. Usually to prove unequivocally one's unquestionable, long term support for whichever team is doing better at the time.

Well he is, but he is also a product of the Queensland Schools System

that is genuinely surprising. always thought sydney was so much bigger then everywhere else

You mean Higginbottom was born in WA while his Brisbane Wests Rugby dad was working there. But keep trying...

A bit over twice as big

Actually, its not accidental - we teach them to walk into things as a cheap way of toughening them up.

"another thing i’ve noticed is that the kids up here seem to accidentally walk into things alot for some reason (walls, other children, banana trees, statues of wally etcand this probably makes them naturally better suited to contact sports." Very true. Kerian Perkins got into swimming through rehab after walking through a sliding glass door as a child. "

Sheek " In Sydney, I would make a massive drive at developing player participation numbers in the greater west, from Penrith in the north-west through Parramatta in the central-west & Campbelltown in the south-west. " Amen.

Ballboy, There were many wonderful volunteer coaches in my day, many the like of whom seem to be lost to the sport now. Maybe they're resentful of the "show me the money" mentality exhibited by many players, coaches & officials. Obviously finding quality coaches at all age levels is critical to developing players & their talent. In Sydney, I would make a massive drive at developing player participation numbers in the greater west, from Penrith in the north-west through Parramatta in the central-west & Campbelltown in the south-west. I would demand to take control of secondary schoolboy rugby, disbanding GPS, CAS, etc & developing both metropolitan & country zone comps, with a super final play-off to find the best schoolboy 1st XV in Sydney, NSW/ACT & even in Australia. At senior level I would restructure both district & suburban comps, to make the demarkation between professional & amateur clearer, as well as providing better career pathways from juniors to seniors.

Altohugh his father was a wests boy and higgy played school-boys and club rugby in brisbane, unfortunely the poor bast@$d was born in WA. But the family did have the common sense to move back

G RS, seems pretty obvious the only way "talent identifiers" & others of the sort can justify their paychecks is by backing those young guys they picked for age group rep teams. It's all a bit silly, isn't it?

dunno about that mate, city versus country is usually pretty even with no side winning year after year.

having played subbies in both cities i will say that there are a lot more teams in sydney (i would say 10-20x as many when you take into account all the grades - no idea really tho). i'd say the average player in subbies in brisbane puts in a bit more effort to be there and is a bit more serious about the game as most clubs (outside of the premiership) dont have many grades so you can't just play taking it easy and still get a game in 4th grade. so overall maybe the rugby system up here is a bit more serious and a higher proprtion of those playing see themselves as working towards ahieving something in the game instead of a bit of a run around (extreme attitudes of course). another thing i've noticed is that the kids up here seem to accidentally walk into things alot for some reason (walls, other children, banana trees, statues of wally etc) and this probably makes them naturally better suited to contact sports.

i woulda thought sydney would be at least 4 x as big as brisbane so more than 4 x as many kids to choose from so they still should have a greater representation.

Jerry!!! Higginbotham does not come from WA he is Queensland his father played for Brisbane Wests Bulldogs in the 70s. Even though the family traveled overseas Scott didn't play Rugby until he went to Wests as a colt at about 18. That's why Scott is still playing for Wests even though they are cellar dwellers at the moment, I'm sure he is loyal to his fathers club as a lot of sons from fathers of that era have gone on to play at Wests. And I agree where they learned the game should be their origin. Ballboy there is a lot of truth in your post, I have remarked before that it seems the death nell if you haven't been noticed before you get to club level, and I fail to see the wisdom in that fact as young men develop at different stages some are good young as other take a bit more time to develop. However it seems that if you are not in the talent squad by the time you get to year 11 or 12, thats it. I admit some make it after school but that would be a miniscule % compared to those that are noticed when they are young. I have the opinion that all Wallabies should have played at least 2 seasons at Club before they are eligble to be selected then you would have a harder type of player with a bit more sense.

Dont get too worried about NSW schoolboys - despite losing the final, and the 3rd/4th playoff, NSW got the bulk of the representation in Aust schoolboys, with Qld making up the bulk of Aust A: After Qld II beat NSW II in the final, and Queensland I beat NSW I in the 3rd/4th playoff. The sole victory NSW achieved over Qld was NSW II over Qld I - a 1 from 4 success rate, which somehow yet provides, in the schoolboy no.1 side, a NSW representation of 13 of 23, while Qld only get 7. In the no.2 side, things are a little better, with 13 Queenslanders compared to 8 New South Welshboys, but what does a team have to do to get the representation Qld deserve? Obviously winning is not enough.

Interesting discussion. One of the problems in NSW is that NSWRU have very little to do with schoolboy rugby unless the players make the rep sides. then they are picked up. Whilst some GPS schools have decent coaches, others have coaches that know and love the game but don't necessarily have the coaching skills to turn a potential great player in to exactly that - a great player. Maybe NSWRU (and the ARU across Australia for that matter) should be spending some of their time at the training sessions of the U14's - 16's. Provide support and training for these school's 1st's coaches. I'm sure there are boys sitting in Maths right now that could be superstars of the future if only the right sort of person saw them early enough.