Wallaby Giteau reminds Folau of Lockyer

If only Mark Ella had stayed with rugby league, Die Hard, he might have raised those standards that you lament...

Yes. People keep saying that all other nations use 1 playmaker and a hard running 12. They dont. Arg dont. Eng havnt. Aus doesnt. Italy doesnt. Scot havnt. NZ made Nonu develop those skills. Yet people keep saying that Aus is at odds with the rest of the world. Folau and Kuridrani are hard runners. Dagg and C.Smith, not so much. Im constantly amazed at the close minedness of the fans on the Roar who make all these declarations about what players must do, or what positions are meant to be. Its bizzare because I live in a world where one of those declarations actually are true. Yet the declarations continue.

Yeah just lie and make things up about a player you dont want picked for no logical reason.

Max and Pete, a lot of roarers it seems are with you on the selection of Kerevi, and perhaps Cheik is saving his trial run for a match up against Nonu?... time will tell...But he is clearly attached to the dual playmaker plan, but even the best teams with the best examples of bulk at 12, still have second playmakers in the mix- think Lambie or LeRoux at fullback for the Boks with JdV or Frans Steyne at 12; or the ABs with Ben Smith or Barrett at 15, with Nonu or SBW at 12. Cheika too has the players available to him to run with such a structure. According to the reports, he has kept the home fires burning for JOC, and we already know that he is a big fan of Beale. Beale at fullback and JOC at either fullback or blindside wing provide a second playmaker if Kerevi were to be picked at 12. And moving Folau to the wing is neither some kind of demotion, nor limitation on his involvement.The potency of the Wallaby backline has never quite been the same since Ioane's fallout with the Reds and subsequent move to France, and his signature high octane charges off the blindside wing off the shoulder of Genia or Cooper has been sadly missed ever since for both state and country. Folau could be perfect in this role with his offloading and tackle busting ability, and while he is a guardian angel under the high ball, his inability to return kick is increasingly becoming a huge problem if not catered for, as was very evident in the Tahs SF against the Highlanders. And certainly the ABs and the Poms don't shy away from selecting their best backs on the wing if that means getting the best starting XV all on the field at once. Taylorman, AAC at 12 would be an absolute disaster. He's a great line breaker and open field runner; he's an excellent defender who is so strong over the ball that he is almost like an extra number 7 swanning out wide; and he kicks better than all of the wingers in Cheik's current squad with the exception of Mitchell. But he refuses to distribute and so the weapons in the outside backs would never even get the safety catch off, let alone get to fire a shot in anger. You can't have a bloke at 12 who won't pass. Peter is right, he (and Horne too) are welcome at 12 in defense but they can't be there in attack. TK is 13. Wing or bench is two-dad's rightful place.

I think Gits will be ok in attack What we really need to see is what he has in defence as he will be up against some big boys. Toomua's defence is solid but he and Gits are still relatively small and likely to get run over or the defence takes too much out of them. As other's have mentioned would have loved to see Kerevi get a chance at 12, even off the bench in this RC as I think he will be a big point of difference.

Aaaah but at least the wheels of change are turning...we'll convert you yet... :-)

not if you pick AAC there. Has 12 written all over him. In NZ or SA or England, thats exactly where he'd be. SA perhaps 13 as well.

Have major reservations about the selection of Gits (Mitchell as well..) as they are coming out of club rugby, where the defences are no as hard as S15...but really hope he has a blinder. He may approach his training etc like a Lockyer, and both are left footed, but that is it.... Pity Kerevi is not in the squad, as we will have a small 12 no matter what.

Maybe this is why he chose League Diehard. ".Following his return to Australia from the undefeated 1977-78 Schoolboys tour of England, Wales, Ireland ,France, Holland, and Japan , Lewis faced discrimination in the Queensland Rugby Union fraternity due to his rugby league background. After being told he would no longer be selected for any representative teams if he continues to play league , he immediately decided his future lay with rugby league "

1977-78 Aussie shoolboys who became Wallabies.. Tony D’Arcy, Gary Ella, Glen Ella, Mark Ella, Michael Hawker, Anthony Melrose, Shane Nightingale, Michael O’Connor, Dominic Vaughan, Chris Roche .and rugby league great Wally Lewis

Yeah i spose he`d be some kiwis favourite player to watch as he`s let AB`S run straight over him or around him in many test matches against them..Yeah i can see why stainlesssteve has him in his top ten..hehe

Lewis would have been 10 for the Wallabies for many years. Ella only played 25 tests, retired at 26.

agree that is my point. Skills have declined at the expense of size and power. Far more boring and repetative now. This is why there is a common belief that Lockyer had amazing skills when in fact he was the best of a lowly skilled bunch.

Wally Probably would have been 12 with Mark Ella at 10 with Mick O`connor at 13..

And add 4 TIime premeirship player and 5 times origin series winner Alfie Langer who dominated his opposite number 7 Johns at the age of 35 in his last ever game...An origin decider match in fact in 2001..

Where would the Wallabies be now if Wally Lewis stayed with union Peter? Now there was a genuine playmaker. Or any of those others you named. I think that standard of RL has declined since those players sadly.

Peter you are wrong mate ..Stop now, It`s getting emabarrassing..

Sterling, Lewis, Johns, Thurston, Ricky Stuart, Fulton, Laurie Daley were all better Agree 100% PeterK. I'd add Fittler in there too. He had that annoyingly good left foot step 10m out which resulted in a try most times.

only on defense.

That is now, he played many years as the preferred 12 as just a big hard runner, he added those other skills over the years. Kerevi has more of those skills than Nonu did at the same stage of his career.