Hooper scoops prestigious Eales medal

He rarely does it... in a team that is rarely on the front foot. Foley rarely does it. Last game it was one of the few times he's done it this season - that's not a reflection on Foley.

Because Coopers incapable of dictating play off the front foot. He either cramps sideways looking for runners, or is effective by drawing the defence in so he can hand off. And he never knows when it's on to put his head down and have a go himself. That's illustrated by the fact that he rarely does it. Foley on the other hand can suddenly snipe and he's gone. He did that recently and scored and first thing that came to mind was 'Cooper would never have done that'. He would have flicked on and the chance lost.

TWAS - I am not sure about that re how people judge Hooper against Pocockas the standard. Sure a lot of the focus is the lack of effectiveness at the ruck. He does not disrupt the ball enough nor effectively protect it enough is a significant criticism. However a large part of the view is he is not on the ball all the time, he waits out in the wider channels to run the ball too often. Neither Smith or Wilson did that anywhere near as often as Hooper. George Smith more inbetween the 2. 7 David Wilson Wherever the ball went David Wilson was never far behind. His high workrate, speed to the breakdown and fearless approach to the contest was responsible for countless turnovers and disruption of opposition ball. Yes Hooper is similar in many ways to Wilson except he does not always follow the ball. Pocock is not as fast but has a high work rate , is fearless at the contest, disrupts the ball and causes a lot of turnovers. George Smith was more of a link man than any of them. He also was the most multiskilled. Hooper supports attacking play well but does not act as a linkman. BTW I judge Hooper as I do Pocock based on the balance of the pack what roles / skills are needed most as a combination. So in some areas Hooper is more like Wilson and Smith in others Pocock is more like them. I do agree Bakkies probably was for Hooper when he played for the brumbies.

What I find frustrating is that people judge Hooper as a 7 based on the way Pocock plays the role. But they ignore the fact that Smith and Wilson did not play the game the same way Pocock does and in many ways were probably closer to Hooper in what they offered. Likewise McCaw (the grub!) was not simply a ruck monkey either and had a very rounded game that Pocock is not able to match. I wonder what Bakkies thought about Hooper 4 years ago when he wore a different Super Rugby jersey. I tend to think it may have been different...

Can a player vote for himself?

And Bakkies continues to make rugby culture in Aus worse.

Bakkies doesnt understand and sadly he thinks that unless a player fits in with his narrow understanding of the game it makes that player poor. The truth is that the only thing thats poor is his understanding because Hoopers winning awards.

Coleman and Timani should be doing more tight work than Hooper. Tight work is easier to repeat as you essentially walk/jog from contest to contest. You can't just fully pro rata Timani's numbers as it's highly likely he would have dropped off. Coleman's numbers are absolutely exceptional though. In a great game Pocock will have 40 rucks, 10 tackles and a handful of carries so Hooper's involvements are pretty high too.

I am very happy with the selection of Hooper. Well deserved. Yes, Pocock was better at the World Cup, but since then Hooper have been better. And Hooper was not too shabby at the World Cup either. When I picked my team of the tournament for this TRC, Hooper was the only Aussie I included.

I can't believe that Fardy was replaced by Mumm? My combination would be, Fardy @ 6,Hooper @7 and Timani @8 ,McMahon 1st of the bench . That's for the Northern Tour.

IMO his work rate was down as was his impact. Hooper had 54 involvements for tackles, runs and rucks. Coleman had 61. Mumm had 47. Timani had 41 for 55 mins which for 80 mins is 60. Coleman and Timani doing more work in tight and considering their size says something.

10 runs for 37 meters is pretty good. Only made 6 tackles. But considering NZ only had 35% possession and had around 50 rucks that's not really too low. He was responsible for about 10% of total tackles/rucks. Was involved in 39 rucks in total, 31,attacking rucks which makes up for 25% of our teams total attacking rucks.

Daz, I like your take on the matter, and would like to add mine Hooper is the best in the world at playing his position. He has raked in the awards for it. My problem is that I have no Idea what position that is and he is the only one that plays it. In the last Bledesloe he was forced to play the traditional #7 role. Could someone find me some flattering stats from that game? I am used to hearing about a large number of tackles and large run meters but haven't heard the usual plaudits.

It was watching a funeral.

Hooper is such an effective player for the Wallabies. I love how easy he gets cleaned out at the breakdown offering quick ball to the opposition and his inability to pilfer more than an average of about 1 per match means our backs don't have the ability to attack against unstructured defences. He inspired me jumping in the lineout against Kieran Read (one of Chieka's masterful tactics) and then I enjoyed him barely getting over the gain line with ball-in-hand against the All Blacks save for a short dash in the first half of the last game. What I love most about him is he keeps the world's best openside from being selected in his position and his understudy will never get the chance to see if he can shine at this level (he left Aus rugby). Congratulations on your second John Eales Medal 'Legend of the Game' !

No surprises there. Only 3 players were on the paddock for a sustained period: - Squeak - Hoops - Izzy - maybe Mumm Poey got injured. The rest were musical chairs. Against the man involved in the most shocking LO performances in Aussie professional era, and out of form Izzy, and Mumm - Hoops wins it.

'isn’t there hitting those wider rucks when we are stretched when he plays.' That's why certain backs have it in their skill sets.

'In the last 2 games where Timani and Mumm have started and Hooper has to focus on the ruck more he has had a lot less impact.' Which is what a backrower is supposed to be doing

He won a separate player's player award a few years back. Don't know how

On what basis is Foley going to get better and better but Cooper not equally capable of doing so?