Reds in talks with Cooper, Houston

I hate the word "haters"

Hate is a strong word haters is a teenage word for people who are too thick to look at both sides of a comment

Abs would love quade to be back in wallabies

cs, yes re Nassar. Agree re Jono. Would like to see more of him. He was great in NRC and the few games he played for the Force. Thought Eagles was crazy and desperate to field him at 10. Until i saw him play there. Hope he keeps its up when he returns.

Is Khoder Nassar his manager? Anyone would be better than J McIntyre. IMO the second best no 10 in Aust is Jono Lance, who is currently injured. Our stocks of 9's & 10's are frighteningly low.

gday riddler. As I mentioned. QC hasnt moved on. Hes playing like KB in pre-Check days kpm: I think we're generally talking about two different things here - I think you'll find general agreement QC is not the WB 10 these days - What Im sharing (guessing) is what's caused this situation Where we differ in opinion I believe is: - I believe you think he's a inadequate terrible player with little prospect for improvement - I think he's a good player, and valuable for the Reds... if he is guided well

Utah, hard to argue that Foley's game against England was one of the best seen from a Wallabies flyhalf in years (the best since Quade's performance on the 2013 EOYT against Ireland). But Foley was poor against Fiji, invisible against Wales, and were it not for a fortuitous penalty being awarded after the buzzer, would have been the one responsible for the Wallabies being knocked out in the quarters against Scotland. Australia still does not have a standout concrete selection for the flyhalf position, and has not since Larkham retired.

You ignore one thing Redsback. The Reds have finite money to spend due to salary cap. Overspending on one position will result in under spending in another position.

rob i just commented somewhere else about his form at toulon.. have u watched the games? he has played very few and not well.. have a squizz at tonight's one against castre for typical quade game..

rubberlegs.. have u watched any toulon games this season? just finished watching the game now against castres and quade had a shocker,, playing at fullback as 4th string choice, after halfpenny, armtitage, mitchell.. doesn't kick for touch nor gosl nor re-starts.. completely missed numerous high balls (as commentator said, lacks courage) .. long cut put pass direct into touch when through the hands would have been fine, charged down kick and the usual going high missed tackles.. there was a classic quade tackle at about the 70 minute mark.. understand his fans claiming he is a confidence player etc or needs front foot ball.. well tonight he had heaps of front foot ball, so must be the confidence issue, which in turn means it is the coach's fault for not handling his ego correctly.. his form is very, very ordinary this year.. will be very surprised if he gets a second season here.. as michalak is going, trinh duc comes in, think they might prefer to spend their money elsewhere.. like props, although they played well tonight, smashed the castre srcum..

I don't really agree with you TWAS. We are massively missing a decent 10 this year. Also, 8 is a problem spot. In terms of money, Cooper alone is good for at least 5,000 seats per match - that's a conservative estimate in my opinion. if the team starts winning - and I expect with that lineup and coaching structure it will - you can expect 15-20,000 more people per match than what they are currently getting. That should comfortably pay for the costs involved. They should also all be on ARU top ups. To be honest, I don't think we can afford not to do it. With those three recruits, the Reds automatically become title contenders. The absolute shame of it all is that we lost Gill. A very good 7 is the missing piece, although we did win in 2011 with a bit of a journeyman. If Cooper and Houston come in addition to Moore, the real advantage of this will be that we start to have a competitive bench, which is where we are currently losing a lot of games.

That's the 7s team that's currently ranked 4th right and has played in a couple of finals so far this year, right?

How he plays isn't really the issue: it's more the general reliability which is what isn't wanted anymore. Cheika clearly wants someone steadier.

disagree kpm when you mentioned EM has no influence on QCs output. On the contrary, I believe QC has been orphaned somewhat since EM left. First the Reds, then WBs. In attack: - He sees opportunities before many people do. He is very smart - This is part of his creativity - But he sometimes sees things more than whats' there - These were the high-risk plays that EM wanted and nurtured - He needs to dial back these high-risk plays, as I mentioned in my earlier post. In defence and rucks: - In the past, he was allowed (by EM) to get away with focusing on attack - This no longer applies - Watch his games in Toulon. He gets into rucks and tackles just like everyone else - So he's improved In general: - He's been lead to believe he's the "Messiah". The match winner. - No prizes for guessing which coach did this. - But it worked whilst EM was organising him and the team around him - This disappeared as soon as EM disappeared EM has moved on. QC has not.

RobC it has nothing to do with EM: Cooper's fragility in play was there all along. What's happened is a more steady 10 has been favoured and so Cooper is on the outer. With QC it's always a case of risks vs rewards. I think it's dangerous to play him in knockout matches without a second 5/8, but then a second 5/8 can be a waste of position that might be occupied by a strong runner.

Somehow I don't think his manager's usual method of negotiation will cut it anymore. The whole "pay up or he'll go to league/boxing/Europe" will fall on deaf ears.

The Wallabies backs were hampered by having a 10 who couldn't do an accurate cut out pass at the start of the World Cup tournament, but Foley could by the end of it and we know who was coaching him. We all know Folau was playing injured for much of the tournament and I don't know where you get the idea about Kuridrani having poor form, he scored some key tries and was a defensive linchpin. I disagree on the Brumbies backs, they were playing well for the first 6 or 7 rounds before injuries, illness and other events at the club hampered the team. They just need to get back into the groove and things like that back line move that put Ah Wong over the line on Saturday suggest to me that Larkham is on the job.

Not wanted in the Northern Hemisphere,dropped from a mediocre 7s team,ineffective at test level.Queensland reds only need to hold their nerve and they may get him at learners rates,should fit well with their mob.

Quade gets the ball to Folau more often than Foley does. That is reason enough to give him time in a Wallaby jersey. New Zealand teams do not make their #10s play 80 minutes so Foley's career will last longer. Watching Quade play for RCT, his passing is as accurate and timely as ever and he is backing up well. He is uninjured and has had experience playing with some of the biggest names in world rugby. If crowd numbers keep dropping the Reds will not be able to afford McIntyre.

The Reds resurgence in Super rugby started when they ditched 'Whitney' Houston. The tries against the Reds are scored through the gaps in the backline. the forwards are holding their own. The Reds forwards rarely get the benefit of some easy metres because of a decent kick by a back. They must find a person who can kick for touch and goal. The pop-gun kickers they are currently using are not good enough to take the Reds to the top half of the table. I cannot think of worse kickers in the competition than Hunt, Greene and McIntyre.