Meet Wallaby Israel Folau

Thanks for bringing some perspective to this Falou frenzy

thank you. Sick of the Falou talk. Lets let his manager talk him up, it seems everyone on here has a cut! His try was good, but try of the season? That is such a silly call it aint funny. Has anyone seen Savea (2 tries against Tahs) or the quantity and quality of top finishers in this comp? Have a look outside of this Sydney bubble and appreciate quality.

Agree to disagree indeed. You’re not going to acknowledge that you’re crossing into something here (union and league technique and best practices) that you know very little about. To suggest that it is a common occurrence for a ball to go to directly to ground from a bomb without anybody getting a hand to it is a clear indication of just how little rugby and rugby league you’ve watched before. This is rubbish. Yes, a ball going to ground after an attempt is more common but then again, this is also the case in AFL. You’re right, Israel Dagg may not take too many marks in AFL. But as I’ve pointed out to you above, the aerial techniques are different as a result of the different rules. In rugby and rugby league we have to maintain control of the ball throughout the entire action. This being the case, there wouldn’t be a competent rugby or rugby league coach on the planet that would encourage players to go into aerial contests with their hands above their head unless it was an attempt to tap the ball back to their side of the field. And this is where you may be getting your wires crossed. I’m sure during Izzy’s 2 years in aerial ping pong he learnt how to take a mark like an aerial ping pongest. However, prior to his time with GWS he was one of the best in the air as a Bronco and a Storm(er??). You couldn’t fault his technique and he got the runs on the board (again I urge you to youtube his NRL highlights). And again, what he demonstrated on Friday night isn’t something that’s become a part of his game since he gave his a retirement fund a shot in the arm in the AFL. There is clear evidence of this from 2007 to 2010. Regarding your clip, I never made it ‘your job’ to search for clips to prove your point. If it was your job you’d be sacked because what you’ve posted above in no way proves the point you’re pushing. What you should be prepared for is that if you’re going to make outlandish statements such as AFL is responsible for Izzy’s ‘newfound’ aerial abilities, is that people are going to ask you to back that up with some supporting material. I don’t take your word, nor would anyone who took in interest in rugby league from 2007 to 2010.

For the LAST time, the super rugby schedule is the first one to be finalised. The afl decided to hold the swans game knowing the Tahs were playing. They have been holding games at the same time in WA which is apparently payback for pinching subiaco for the saffa test last year. They are not a friendly bunch.

And on the defence Masaga and Anscombe, neither player made the ball his object and there was more than enough time for them to do so...they didn't do that because neither is practiced at contesting aerially..you're misinformed - any AFL player that allowed Folau to mark in that circumstance would be hanging their heads..

Great question. My answer is no, I think you need a good kicking winger and 15 or we wlil be seriously pinned down

we'll have to agree to disagree...you're not going to acknowledge something you can't appreciate.. I did youtube Israel Dagg world cup highlights, and what that package reminded me was how many time these 'bombs' in RUnion, and RLeague actually go to ground - I'm not sure of the stats but seems like half of them go to ground with nobody touching the ball because everyone misreads the flight!!... The other thing I learned from the clips I saw is that while Dagg is competent for the RUnion competition he plays in, from what I saw he too enters the drop zone a little too early and catches the ball below the ideal position - he wouldn't be marking too many balls in the AFL but in RUnion this is good enough...as Folau found out, marking in the AFL is much harder than in the NRL - and the main reason is that AFL players have all marked the balls many thousands of times in training and in junior careers; they are expert at it and therefor when the ball is in play in the air the competition is much more fierce.. On the clips mate...since when did it become my job to serve you up something that'll satisfy you... Folau has said in several interviews he learnt to mark from his time at the Giants, and I'm not going to spend one second searching for those clips...you take my word or not, I just don't care less either way..

How on earth does this clip prove the point that you’re trying to make??? What’s your billing address so I can invoice you for those 2 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back??

Rob9- I clearly stated last 2-3 years. How many tries has AAC made in INTERNATIONALS in the last 2-3 years? How many breaks? What stat do you have that he passes often?, that he draws the man? No doubt that he is a class above McCabe. Also agree AAC's attack is better and not one dimensional like McCabe's. But he has lost his mojo last 2-3 years in intls' in attack. In super rugby he looks like he has got it back. Still passes rarely. Look at his stats for runs verse passes if you do not believe me. The 0/C does NOT have to run virtually every time he gets it.

Before you go any further with this line, I strongly urge you to take a look at an Israel Falou NRL highlights package. You’ll see aerial skills even more impressive than what he demonstrated on Friday night. What you won’t see is any hesitation in his run to the ‘drop zone’ or this so-called ‘stopping and propping’. It’s a fluid sprint to the mark where he goes up with momentum behind him to take the ball, and being a highlights package he’ll come down and score. Seriously, this is nothing new in his game and anyone who’s followed the NRL from the mid to late naughties would know this. Furthermore, any NRL standard winger worth their salt has some sort of aerial abilities. That’s not to say there aren’t the Utai-moulds still getting around but teams coming up against these players will always do their best to exploit these players and teams with these barrels will also do their best to hide them at the end of a set that’s finished in their red zone. If you watched much NRL, you’d know all too well that a cross field bomb at the end of a set inside an opposition’s 20 is a legitimate finish to a set and surely you must concede that such a common play would be trained for. This includes these two key elements of receiving a kick that I’ve discussed above. Watch a game and you’ll discover that a well placed kick will always give the advantage to the attacking team as the intended target will run up to the mark, jump through it, (if they’ve got up higher than their opposition and had a clean attempt at the ball) take the ball and come out the other side with momentum behind them. If this ‘stopping and propping’ was such a common trait of NRL wingers, we’d see a fraction of the tries scored from cross field kicks. You’re also failing to acknowledge rugby’s aerial master in Israel Dagg. A guy with no AFL experience but is arguably the best in the air in either code. And he’s not the only effective player in the air in world rugby. If the skills associated with regathering the ball in the air weren’t practiced do you seriously think we’d ever see an up and under on the rugby field? The reality is, this particular attacking manoeuvre is used regularly during the course of your average game and players put boot to ball with the idea of maintaining possession. If players didn’t practice the second half of the play it would be like practicing passing without catching. Your assessment of the Masaga and Anscombe kick defence is also ill-informed. By no means did they put in an A+ effort but this kick was always going to be tough to defend against. Considering where the play was, there positioning was ok. Anscombe could have positioned himself deeper in an attempt to combat what eventuated but to be fair, it was a low percentage play that clearly wasn’t expected. To pull it off the kick had to be perfect and luckily for the Tahs it was. The lower stabbing kick allowed the ball to travel to the area faster which didn’t allow the defenders the chance to re-align. It also dropped right between Masaga and Anscombe which was beneficial for Falou’s attempt on the ball. The fact that in both rugby codes a line of defence exists (last feat in rugby and 10m behind the play the ball in league, or the try line in both) means that a well placed kick gives the advantage to the attacking team as they have the momentum behind them to attack the ball. In AFL, defenders (and attackers) can come from any which way, making a kick to a crowded area a more 50/50 predicament (although you’d hope the kicker would make kick choices to areas where the numbers are stacked in their teams favour).

Personally, I think Folau is best suited to 13. Australia is currently struggling to find a good 13 to replace Mortlock. In recent times we've used Faingaa who is good but not the key player Australia needs Horne who is incredibly overrated, doesn't pass, is relatively quick and last year played dreadfully for the Wallabies Ashley-Cooper who is a great utility, but not suited to 13, or any position for that matter. Best keep him as a bench player in my opinion. Tapuai who is a great player, but is not really up to the standard of Ashley-Cooper, Faingaa and Folau. Folau suits 13 perfectly as he is quick, agile and large. He fits the shoes of Mortlock in every way apart from the great kicking game and leadership skills which would come with more experience.

The sad thing is is that you seem to be serious with this awful rubbish about marking/drop zones and straddling??....As Rob9 said these skills are basic in other sports and the players do them quite regularly and do them well. The only "skill" the afl has that they do better than the other football codes is the fumble and you are delusional if you think afl can teach real footballers how to play a real impact sport, not that fumble-a-thon you are trying to claim as the prophet of all sports.

I don't live in Sydney. was the Anzac league test televised live from Canberra? If so it was stupidest scheduling decision ever. Lets schedule a match against the 2012 super champions at same time as Anzac test and swans game. Dumb as

Can wallabies afford two non kicking players in back three in folau and ioane? If u pick these two then u have to pick a third player who has a super kicking game. Namely mogg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZxLyG4ZMC0 Here Folau refers to skills he picked up that he didn't have before the Giants...skills, i.e. marking/kicking not dieting/running marathons which are not skills..

Not rocket science I agree but it takes practice, and RUnion and RLeague players just don't do it well...they run into the drop zone too early and prop..they all prop and stop from what I've seen, except Folau and Slater...in the recent Folay try the two defenders both stopped at the wrong time and took their eyes off the ball - any half decent AFL defender in the same position would have easily picked off that ball and prevented a Folau try...again, Folau has developed a 'fosby flop' and the other guys are running around with an inferior 'straddler' technique (as an analogy)..his new AFL technique is superior to what other RUnion players use... Folau has taken a new skill with him that he didn't possess prior to the Giants, and he says this himself...hit him on twitter and ask him yourself..

Have to agree with you 100% Mr Lord watching the game Friday night Izzy is pure class everytime he made a try-saving tackle and handled the ball and scored a try :-) Onwards and Upwards !!!!!!

Folau was always going to become a good rugby player. It was only a matter of when that would happen. Seems like he could come into contention for the Lions on his current form.

They are helping out a struggling club... the tahs.

This by PeterK: “In defense he has been rock solid but his attack woeful. In intls he made no breaks , no tries, rarely tested the defence.” Yea only 23 tries for the Wallabies… A woeful and inaccurate judgment of AAC’s game. It’s easy to make an assumption but it’s kind of important to be able to back it up with some facts and meat. And as A Different Cat suggests, clearly those that play around him value his on field contributions.