“Could I tempt you to name an NRC 15 from what you’ve seen so far this year?” Roarer Hugo put to me last Thursday. Yes, Hugo, you definitely can.
Picking theoretical teams and so-called ‘form XVs’ are always fun and generally fraught with danger. Often, it’s who you’ve left out that’s more important than who you’ve picked.
Regardless, I was disappointed I couldn’t take up Hugo’s challenge at the time and promised to think about it this week, in anticipation of the question being repeated. But after another weekend of really enjoyable rugby, there’s no point holding off until Thursday. Hugo, here are your standouts…
Props
Pek Cowan has been really consistent for Perth Spirit at loosehead, and his experience and leadership in the ‘piggies’ pack is telling at scrum time, where the Spirit has one of the best in the comp.
Young Harry Lloyd from Canberra is another one I’ll mention here, too; he’s a consistent worker around the ground, loves operating in the tramlines, and his scrum work at this level has been top notch.
On the tighthead side, Cowan’s Spirit and Western Force teammate Tetera Faulkner has probably been the pick of the no.3s, with Sam Needs from NSW Country another to impress early on.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Hooker
Greater Sydney’s Hugh Roach is the clear pick here. Canberra’s Robbie Abel, Sydney Rays skipper Damien Fitzpatrick, and even Brisbane City’s Andrew Ready have all been good too, but Roach wins the nod here for four consistently solid performances to date.
Roach is back to his hard-over-the-ball best, and he’s showing plenty of skill with ball in hand, too.
Locks
Pretty easy pickings here. Perth’s Matt Philip and Brisbane City’s Lukhan Tui have been outstanding over the first month, and are playing exceptional rugby the pair of them.
Tui will miss the next few weeks while away with the Wallabies squad, and all eyes will be on whether Michael Cheika comes good on his thoughts about trying Tui out as a blindside flanker. If Philip hasn’t been contacted by the four Australian Super sides by now about next year, then I’ll be stunned.
Tom Staniforth has been great for NSW Country, too, and he actually leads the competition for carries after four rounds
Flankers
I’d love to have cheated and put Staniforth in at blindside here, but I won’t. Fijian Drua no.6 Samuela Saqiwa has been great, Kotoni Ale for the Rams has come back to this level very nicely, but I think Ben Hyne from the Vikings has been the unheralded standout.
Hyne suffered what could be a serious knee injury late in the game against NSW Country on Saturday, and I really hope he’s not out of the game for an extended period of time now. He’s been getting through a mountain of work for Canberra so far, and leads the competition for tackles, averaging more than 18 per game.
On the open side, again, there’s a swag of good performers: Perth’s Kane Koteka, the Rams’ Dave Hickey, Brisbane City’s Michael Gunn, the Rays’ Tom Connor, too.
But all of them are trailing Fijian Drua no.7 Mosese Voka, who has the second-highest tackles for the comp, and many of them absolute bone rattlers.
Voka has been great around the ground too, providing the perfect link play, but also sits third on the list of turnovers won; Hugh Roach leads this, coincidentally.
No.8
Perth’s Isi Naisarani. Easy.
I don’t write it like that to be flippant, but it’s just such an obvious pick. Sam Ward is doing good things for NSW Country, and I really like the look of Rob Valetini for Canberra, too, but they’re all trailing Naisarani.
(Image: ARU)
Scrumhalf
This is definitely harder to pick, and I would probably flip a coin between Queensland Country’s James Tuttle and Perth skipper Michael Ruru. Both Nines have been really consistent in their delivery over the first month, delivering good ball cleanly and crisply, and are a major reason why both sides are travelling well.
Fiji’s Frank Lomani gets a mention here, too, who is doing all the good things well, and all the sneaky things bloody brilliantly – like picking the ball out of the back of a tryline-bound scrum to score in the corner himself!
Flyhalf
This might be the hardest to pick of all positions because there are a lot of good, consistent players, but not necessarily any real standouts.
Jonno Lance and Quade Cooper would be easy picks, but neither have played every game. Peceli Nacebi was excellent for the Drua, but again, he only played about 84 minutes at no.10. Sam Lane from the Rays, Tayler Adams for NSW Country, Mack Mason for the Rams have all been good, too.
Jack McGregor from Melbourne gets the nod here, in a really close field. He was among the Rising’s best in the first few losses and was really good in their first win over the Rams on Sunday. His combination with Sione Tuipulotu and Jack Maddocks is excellent, and I wasn’t at all surprised when he told me a few weeks ago that the three of them spend a lot of time together when they’re not training.
Centres
Duncan Paia’aua gets the nod at inside centre, and probably only trails Naisarani as the form player of the first month. He’s the competition’s leading try scorer, but he’s been offering plenty in attack for teammates, too. Has a really nice combination building with forgotten Queensland Reds centre Chris Feuaui-Sautia.
Billy Meakes for Perth gets a mention here, as does Drua skipper John Stewart, though he’s played on the wing and at 13 as well.
Stewart’s teammate Eroni Vasiteri is my pick at outside, and he’s the focal point of the Fijian attack from the first phase. he is a wonderful defender, and with an offload to die for. Canberra’s Andrew Robinson and Chris Kuridrani for Brisbane City are both playing well, too.
Wings
Taqele Naiyaravoro would take my no.11 jersey and I note that the Rams have managed to find a no.11 jersey that fits him.
Naiyaravoro isn’t really doing anything particularly special, but he’s dominating the attack stats currently, either leading or rating highly for metres, defenders beaten, clean breaks, and offloads, and meaning that I’ve not watched him closely enough.
(Image: AJF Photography)
On the other wing, Kitione Ratu has been wonderful for Melbourne, as was Izaia Perese for Queensland Country before he joined the Wallabies on tour, but John Grant on the other Rams flank has probably been the standout here.
That’s no mean feat, considering he re-joined the Rams this NRC having played the season with Cowra in the Central West of NSW.
Fullback
Tom Banks from Canberra. As easy to pick as Naisarani.
Maddocks is going really well for Melbourne, as is Apisalome Waqatabu for the Fijian Drua, but Banks is the clear standout no.15 over the first month.
ThugbyFan
Guest
Ack, I should have learned by now, read all the posters before asking. I see others have commented on the MIA Harry Jones also, so there ya go.
ScottD
Guest
Godwin is an excellent tackle but doesn't use the ball as well as he might. There's still time for him to get to the next level and he has the potential, but I'm not confident he will.
ThugbyFan
Guest
G'day Brett, very nice NRC15 on the four rounds so far, will be interesting to see if these blokes can keep form for the whole comp. I honestly cannot understand why Tetera Faulkner isn't in the WB team, at least as a reserve. He was a rock for the Force in the SR2017. As for the 5/8 positions, the Fiji Drua bloke in the Round 3 game against the Rising was magnificent. Just a quick question, do you or anyone know what's happened to the winger from Warringah, one Harry Jones (NOT the Roar Guru)? He's killed them in this year's Shute Shield AGAIN, gets a gig with the Tahs as an "emerging prospect" and is promptly dropped for logs like R.Robinson et al. He is a pretty big bloke, is quite fast, knows what to do on a rugby field, sniff out tries and shares a birth date with me, so must be a fabulous bloke. :)
ThugbyFan
Guest
G'day Charlie, I know its only one tackle in a season but I still remember the hit that Duncan Paia’aua put on the rushing Ryan Crotty when the Reds played Crusaders. It was one of the tackles of the season, and Crotty is one very big boy. DP certainly can tackle but he does miss some also. If I remember he started as a #10 which is promising but tbh haven't seen him use his boot much in tactical field kicks. This season has pretty much played most of his matches as IC. And agree with others, Hamish Stewart played good footy in the U20's and looked good in the one game I saw him in the NRC. Didn't the Reds take him up as a replacement for Jake MacIntyre who following the gold rush North?
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
Yes CH, but NSW is where I am, and my local teams are very cross catchment. We need more of the wave that the Spirit and the Rising etc are riding.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Do you understand that the tribalism you are talking about is already the case with non-NSW teams?
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
He's only 20 years old, a product of The University of Western Australia Rugby Club and the Future Force Foundation. You'll be hearing plenty about this Australian Under 20s player in years to come although probably not fully professional until he finishes his engineering degree.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
NSW is a victim of believing in it's own superiority. 'We are the Heartland so of course we can have more teams. The results show clearly that the best players from other state's premier grade competitions are just as good as their NSW counterparts and has been noted above there are the same number of professional players in every state with a Super Rugby team.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Like many other Force players, Ruru has other viable options besides playing for an east coast team.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Yes but other Australian players are actually Australian.
andrewM
Guest
Has Ruru made any committment to stay in Australia or play for Australia? How does his family back home feel about it..Don't want him to become the uncle no one talks about..
ethan
Guest
Ditto cuw. If you can step with both feet and carry with both hands, then either wing works. But some players can only step off one foot, or carry in one hand, in which case they are only really suited to one wing. Savea is great enough to make the wrong wing work, but plenty wouldn't be. Be interesting to see how much more of an impact he can have then he already does!
concerned supporter
Guest
KCOL, Couldn't agree more with what you say about "tribal connection"particularly (in NSW. Bodgie, plastic names like Rams & Rays have no soul. Josh Holmes & other Warringah , Manly players playing for the Rams, domiciled at T G Milner? Sydney University, Southern Districts change alliegence? NSW Country Eagles? Full of Easts, Randwick , Syd. Uni players.Central Coast, Newcastle, North Coast where are they? The football may be entertaining, good to watch, but you can say the same about 7's and even touch. Proper clubs, with members,geograthical territories and connections need to be established, instead they are only exhibition games, or trials for Wallaby selection.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
Yes, Brett. Glad also that you and Hugo cane up with this. No argument around your picks, (though IMHO the sheer quality of Quade's upside deserves a higher rating regardless of missed games). But overall what I am seing is a lot of quality rugby. And buckets of talent in this comp. There seems to be only one thing missing here. Tribal connection. In all games I struggle to identify an an 'us' or a 'them'. There may be ways to harness tribal identity that boosts each team. (And connects and boosts Premier rugby at the same time). The idea is to structure the NRC teams around Premier club Catchments. At the moment we have, for instances, the bulk of the Rats playing outside of the Rays? Correct me if I am wrong. I think a genuine geographical connection for the bulk of each team would go a long way to assist the competition's development. This structure may also assist the Shute shield and other club comps to maintain a tribal cohesion from season to season. The current helicoptering of slabs of players from other regions is not wrecking the rugby. Its a great standard. But to survjve long term the comp needs money and audiences - live and on TV. Remember the Shute shield crowds at the end of this year? If there was a geographically defined funnel into NRC we could see crowds follow their club teams via their favourite players through the NRC.
Ethan
Guest
Ah of course, the journalistic route! Look forward to those interviews
Charcoal
Guest
Brett, there is a clear disadvantage for the NSW and Qld NRC teams compared with the single city teams in that their respective Super Rugby players (excluding Wallabies) are split between multiple teams. The remainder of each team's roster is made up of a majority of Premier Club players, who don't have the advantage of full time professional skills and fitness development. It's not a level playing field and this is one of the failings of the current NRC structure, played over such a limited time frame. Some might argue that NSW and QLD have the majority of playing numbers, so each of those States should be able to support relatively more teams. That may be so, but the reality is that NSW and QLD only have the same number of fully professional players as each of the other State franchises. If the NRC was based on the residual playing rosters excluding Wallabies for each of the former 5 Super Rugby franchises, supplemented by best of the Premier Club players, then it wouldn't be an issue. However, with so few teams, the competition wouldn't be viable. IMHO, in the absence of a Super Rugby competition, the best way forward for AUSTRALIAN Rugby would be for an enhanced fully professional NRC over a full season, when those aspiring Premier Club players in NSW and QLD would have the time to develop to the standard to support the level of competiveness for multiple teams in each of those States. It would then be a level playing field for each State.
Lauan18
Guest
Good read. ?
Charcoal
Guest
John Grant has played for the Woodies in Shute Shield for a number of years including their Premiership successes. For most of 2016 he was out injured, despite often being named in the starting side, but withdrawing at the last minute. Went to Cowra in 2017 and has obviously found fitness and form again, which is no doubt why the Rams' coach John Manenti recruited him for this years NRC. He is a former GPS sprint champion and that still shows in the way he can run down an opponent. I can recall that the former Premiership winning Woodies' and Waratah's coach Chris Hickey earmarked him for a big future in his early playing days. He defected to League to the Balmain Tigers after he was ignored by the Waratahs, but for one reason or another couldn't make an impact. I'll concede though that his defence can sometimes be wanting, which is probably why he didn't succeed in League. Despite that, if he doesn't pick up a Super Rugby contract, then he will hopefully return to the Woodies next year.
Brett McKay
Expert
Melon, this might answer your question: of the XV I've picked, and of which there hasn't really been any huge disagreement in the comments, 12 of them are in Super Rugby programs. I'll agree with your sentiment in saying there are definitely some SR guys playing who are 'just playing' rather than excelling at this level, but I think the vast majority of standout players are doing that because they've got the professional program underpinning their game at the moment..
MM
Guest
I'd have Hyne in my team everyday of the week. Like they said in the movie "Moneyball" the stats don't lie! There isn't a back rower that comes close to him in workload. Not only does he lead the tackle count with daylight second, he is holding his own in run metres as well - Staniforth doesn't come close. Australian rugby is lacking players with all round ability & still we focus on the "names" that have come through the U20 system & the size of players. I hope the NRC continues to provide the platform for players to prove how misguided a lot of the praise heaped on players by commentators & punters a like is directed.