A thought occurred to me today: Whilst Cooper is good, perhaps Beale is the real reason for the resurgance of the Wallabies late last year.
Don’t get me wrong, I think we need both as much as the other, and I am a huge fan of Cooper. I think he is the man for the Wallabies 10 with his fantastic long, accurate passing, and his running game.
But, I had the thought that perhaps Beale is the reason the Wallabies played such entertaining running rugby last year. When he went to fullback, truly anything could happen. He set up breaks, made breaks, and supported breaks.
It has been a long time coming from the bloke long touted as the second-coming, and I am not 100% sure of his long term committment, with him saying he was interested in playing league.
But I think he might be just what we need to break open tough defences these days.
Just my thoughts over breakfast anyway. Certainly New South Wales seems to have broken the ugly shackles with him at the back.
If for nothing else, I like his playing style for that reason.
fithdy
Guest
Cooper is a liability in whatever team he's playing for. As Jiggles mentioned, Cooper's defensive tactics are so blatant it's beyond me how anyone can pick him in a side. Barnes spent the entire game scanning for Cooper, and wherever he found him was where the ball was sent, either by kicking or passing it to runners aiming at Cooper's channel. The few times he was required to defend, Cooper made half-hearted attempts and as soon as was practicable, he'd be gone. His long passing is no better than Barnes, and at least Barnes won't throw it if there's no-one there to catch it. Oh yeah - Barnes can kick too, unlike the reds' superhero.
Who Needs Melon
Guest
Sorry Hoy. I got your point. But my response doesn't indicate I did, does it? It's just so hard to argue who has made the biggest difference. Cooper, Beale and others (JOC, Genia) have all done wonders at one time or another. Beale seems to be kicking on so far this season whereas Cooper isn't and it's difficult for that not to distort your view. Going forward I actually is more important to the Wallabies to have Cooper playing well. Good as Beale is, we need a good 9 and 10 or the whole shebang will fall to pieces. If Beale is injured we could always put AAC back there. Or JOC. Or maybe Hynes. On the other hand, while Barnes has done well the last couple of games, I think Cooper at his best is WAY better than anyone else at their best in Oz in the 10 spot right now.
Hoy
Roar Guru
I am not sure if the article is being taken the wrong way or not, but I certainly was never pondering who should play 10, more like who is more important to the Wallabies now. I think Cooper was at the start, given his ball playing, but again, it did just occur to me recently that what Beale did when he came in, and now what has happened at the Tahs, means that perhaps he is the more important of the two players for our chances this year.
Who Needs Melon
Guest
I agree with ballboy and Ben S. From fullback Beale seems to have a real knack of injecting himself at just the right time and place and doing just the right thing(s) when he does. I'm sure we are going to see some awful mistakes at times from him because he takes risks but his instincts for a good gamble seem so nicely honed now and jeez it's good to watch.
Ben S
Roar Guru
Beale completely reviltalised the Wallabies. Goodness knows what would have happened if Horne had never got injured.
Bruiser
Guest
The fact is that any 1/2 or 5/8 will struggle when they have a forward pack that can't get AT LEAST some parity. The reds have been pathetically bad in the forwards in the 1st 2 games and so there is a knock on effect down the line. On the other hand Kurtley's team is on song, so its much easier to do things well going forward. Give some go forward ball to Cooper and i think we'll see him come into his own.
ballboy
Guest
Keep Beale at 15. you need him running with open space and cutting into the line where he pleases. Cooper gone if he doesn't improve. Will be really interesting to see him up against Giteau this weekend.
Hoy
Roar Guru
Jiggles, I actually wrote the article before the game, and I didn't get to watch the game. I still think Australia needs Coopers ball playing at 10, but I have shifted now and think that Beale is just as important from the back.
Jiggles
Roar Guru
Hoy I was at the game, and Cooper was pathetically bad. One movement stood out for me the most - Lachie Turners try. You could see the Tahs stacking left 5 metres out, Cooper has a quick look and starts to jog off the wing into the centre of the field. Turner gets the ball and is over! What was cooper thinking, you could see as clear as daylight the Tahs were going left and he decides to go in, it was gutless and pathetic.