The Wallabies’ 2017 campaign is officially wrapped up after Sunday’s loss to Scotland, so now’s a good time to look back at the year that was.
Every week we asked our readers to vote in our DIY player ratings and every week you delivered. We posted up the results every week, but how did things look across the season?
Below, we’ve compiled all of this year’s player ratings results into a single chart, including the average rating that each player received.
Looking at these ratings alone, there’s a few players you could make a case for as the Wallabies’ most valuable over the course of the season.
Marika Koroibete, surprisingly enough, finished with the highest season rating of any player, with an average of 6.73 across seven appearances.
However it’s fair to say that only playing half the season rules him out of the title there – he’ll certainly be one to watch in 2018, though.
Israel Folau (6.52, ten games) and Adam Coleman (6.45, eleven games) were arguably Australia’s best on balance, both playing a reasonably large portion of the season at a consistently high level.
If we were to give out an award for the Wallabies’ Mr Consistent, however, it would have to belong to Tatafu Polota-Nau – one of just four players to feature in every match, and with the highest average rating of any who did.
In a disappointing season it’s fair to say there were some slow kids in the class too.
Ned Hanigan rose from obscurity to quickly become Wallabies fans’ resident whipping boy, and his average result of 4.16 was the lowest of any player who regularly featured in the starting side.
Nick Phipps drew the ire of the voters on more than one occassion too, and finished with a season average of 4.02, mostly coming off the bench.
Check out the full results below and let us know what you think in the comments.
| Opponent | Avg | FIJ | SCO | ITA | NZ | NZ | SA | ARG | SA | ARG | NZ | JAP | WAL | ENG | SCO |
| Date | 2017 | 6/10 | 6/17 | 6/24 | 8/19 | 8/26 | 9/9 | 9/16 | 10/1 | 10/8 | 10/21 | 11/4 | 11/12 | 11/19 | 11/26 |
| Alan Alaalatoa | 5.05 | 6.49 | 5.11 | 4.77 | 4.48 | 4.61 | 4.25 | 5.19 | 5.26 | 4.97 | 5.37 | 5.56 | 5.10 | 4.55 | – |
| Rory Arnold | 5.35 | 5.93 | 4.78 | 5.13 | 4.75 | 6.06 | 5.42 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Kurtley Beale | 6.03 | – | – | – | 5.73 | 7.57 | 7.69 | 6.09 | 6.07 | 5.64 | 5.81 | 6.82 | 7.19 | 4.25 | 3.50 |
| Sam Carter | 4.65 | 5.53 | 4.18 | 4.23 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Adam Coleman | 6.45 | 7.32 | 5.93 | 5.87 | 5.72 | – | 6.48 | 6.36 | 6.58 | 6.53 | 7.07 | 6.49 | 6.57 | – | – |
| Quade Cooper | 5.09 | 5.29 | 5.30 | 4.67 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Jack Dempsey | 5.49 | – | – | 4.28 | – | – | 3.90 | 5.03 | 4.78 | 7.15 | 7.81 | – | – | – | – |
| Blake Enever | 4.21 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4.74 | 3.67 |
| Tetera Faulkner | 4.64 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4.68 | – | – | – | – | 4.60 |
| Israel Folau | 6.52 | 7.69 | 6.53 | 6.37 | 4.73 | 6.77 | 5.84 | 7.39 | 6.40 | 5.65 | 7.78 | – | – | – | – |
| Bernard Foley | 5.20 | 7.06 | 4.52 | 5.11 | 3.71 | 4.89 | 4.94 | 5.86 | 6.56 | 5.73 | 4.88 | – | 6.22 | 4.10 | 4.03 |
| Will Genia | 5.99 | 6.76 | 3.66 | 4.77 | 4.04 | 7.74 | 5.43 | 6.32 | 6.79 | 7.33 | 7.20 | – | 8.43 | 5.09 | 4.34 |
| Ned Hanigan | 4.16 | 5.76 | 4.36 | 4.59 | 2.80 | 4.32 | 3.24 | 3.60 | 3.48 | – | 4.63 | 4.58 | 4.75 | 3.84 | – |
| Richard Hardwick | 5.29 | 6.17 | 4.41 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Dane Haylett-Petty | 5.37 | 5.96 | 4.26 | 5.46 | – | 5.80 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Scott Higginbotham | 5.76 | 6.58 | 4.93 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Reece Hodge | 5.96 | 4.81 | 4.20 | 5.52 | 4.55 | 4.83 | 6.23 | 6.38 | 6.24 | 7.62 | 7.93 | 7.08 | 6.73 | 5.94 | 5.43 |
| Michael Hooper | 5.99 | 6.36 | 6.17 | 5.53 | 3.87 | 5.78 | 6.22 | 6.27 | 6.74 | 6.70 | 7.30 | 6.19 | 6.52 | 5.71 | 4.45 |
| Rob Horne | 4.89 | – | – | 4.89 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Karmichael Hunt | 5.83 | 7.22 | 6.11 | 6.69 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6.08 | 4.37 | 4.53 |
| Sekope Kepu | 5.61 | 5.13 | 4.31 | 4.36 | 4.65 | 5.64 | 5.46 | 6.99 | 6.04 | 6.17 | 7.12 | 6.98 | 6.23 | 7.38 | 2.07 |
| Samu Kerevi | 4.97 | – | – | – | 2.62 | – | 4.41 | 5.02 | 4.16 | 5.35 | 4.98 | 7.23 | 5.33 | 6.33 | 4.25 |
| Marika Koroibete | 6.73 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5.53 | 7.38 | 7.07 | 6.97 | 7.01 | 6.56 | 7.57 | 5.72 |
| Tevita Kuridrani | 5.89 | 6.31 | 4.47 | – | 5.78 | 6.86 | 6.02 | 5.99 | 5.83 | 5.32 | 5.96 | 7.45 | 6.33 | 5.02 | 5.17 |
| Ben McCalman | 5.70 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6.15 | 5.69 | 5.56 | 5.41 |
| Sean McMahon | 6.40 | – | – | – | 3.76 | 7.07 | 5.41 | 6.62 | 6.07 | 6.18 | 8.20 | 7.28 | 6.55 | 6.66 | 6.65 |
| Stephen Moore | 4.18 | 4.04 | 4.71 | 3.85 | 2.72 | 3.24 | – | – | 4.29 | 4.66 | 5.47 | 5.30 | 5.06 | 3.63 | 3.19 |
| Eto Nabuli | 3.42 | – | 3.42 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sefa Naivalu | 6.33 | – | – | 6.33 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Matt Phillip | 5.40 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5.81 | 5.51 | 4.87 | – |
| Nick Phipps | 4.02 | – | – | – | 3.87 | 3.72 | 5.12 | 3.54 | 4.47 | 4.54 | 4.76 | NA | 3.07 | 3.13 | |
| Tatafu Polota-Nau | 6.33 | 6.68 | 4.84 | 5.09 | 5.20 | 6.44 | 5.63 | 6.49 | 6.59 | 7.35 | 7.17 | 8.06 | 7.44 | 6.24 | 5.46 |
| Joe Powell | 5.02 | 5.11 | NA | 4.53 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5.41 | – | – | – |
| Tom Robertson | 4.00 | 5.23 | 4.06 | – | 3.28 | 4.49 | 3.46 | 4.25 | 3.62 | – | 4.28 | 4.19 | 4.32 | 2.84 | – |
| Izack Rodda | 5.37 | – | – | – | – | 5.36 | – | 5.17 | 5.10 | 5.84 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Curtis Rona | 4.62 | – | – | – | 4.02 | – | 4.10 | – | – | – | – | 5.73 | – | – | – |
| Rob Simmons | 4.70 | – | – | – | 3.77 | 6.40 | 4.43 | 5.54 | 3.86 | 4.63 | 5.14 | 5.23 | 5.20 | 3.99 | 3.50 |
| Scott Sio | 5.57 | – | 4.33 | 4.07 | 4.74 | 5.01 | 5.03 | 6.25 | 6.52 | 5.89 | 6.82 | 6.79 | 5.71 | 6.03 | 5.24 |
| Toby Smith | 4.15 | 5.31 | 2.98 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Henry Speight | 5.33 | 6.63 | – | 4.99 | 4.96 | 5.37 | 4.98 | – | 4.56 | NA | 6.59 | NA | – | 4.57 | |
| Lopeti Timani | 5.16 | – | – | 5.27 | 4.87 | 4.85 | – | – | – | – | 5.50 | – | 5.29 | ||
| Lukhan Tui | 5.60 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4.72 | 5.69 | 7.07 | – | – | – | 4.91 |
| Taniela Tupou | 4.72 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4.72 |
| Jordan Uelese | 3.83 | – | – | – | – | – | 5.28 | 6.21 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
piru
Roar Rookie
It's not irrelevant at all In fact it begs the question why Genia is having to tackle forwards all the time? Is he covering for an underweight back row? Is that tactic working? (if you could let me know if this comment is relevant or not as well, that'd be great, cheers)
JP
Guest
irrelevant comment Piru, as you know other players do the tackling of big blokes for him.Next
jeznez
Roar Guru
If Cheika and Grey have their way, he'd be swapping with Hodge.
piru
Roar Rookie
The other advantage of Hardwick is that he's very young and has a lot of potential improvement in him.
piru
Roar Rookie
Must be why the All Blacks lose all the time
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Genia was excellent in the Rugby Championship, probably our best player, and was excellent against Wales... The problem is he is being forced to play too many minutes by Cheika.
JP
Guest
^ Agree Foley Phipps out as well
JP
Guest
Is Beale going to the wing on defence??
JP
Guest
A Smith tackles little blokes like himself.He wont go near the forwards, wheras Genia puts his small frame on the line to put hits on locks backrowers and props. Smith does not tackle forwards.Go watch the ABS.He is a passive defender in the middle.
Cheikmate
Guest
Agreed. WG was awful. In the important 9 position, symptomatic of a failing team. WG is viewed with rose coloured glasses by many who pine for the old days. Get the youth in!!
PeterK
Roar Guru
Genia had a poor June series and poor NH tour so no I wouldn't rate him that high.
JP
Guest
Hanigan and Robertson haven`t the talent and won`t be selected again. Please!! The most concerning aspect is the 4 Elephants in the room, " The Untouchables " Foley Hooper Cheika and Phipps .Grave concerns if they are involved in the Wallabie moving forward.Only one is worthy of a bench spot ,Hooper.He can cover backrow/wing in the game day 23 as he is a Hybrid. (bit a backrow, bit a backline) RWC 2015, Scotland game onwards, terrible terrible rugby.
mailman
Guest
Yep, absolutely CJ- it may not be a popular view after the match against the Scots on Saturday, where Kepu had a brain-fade of epic proportions but I reckon before that match he had been one of the most consistent performers in the forwards- fairly reliable in the scrum, solid defender and at times one of the best running props in the game currently. And as for the other three, well it's nice to have consistent 'Mr Reliables' (doesn't quite have the same ring as the 'Invincibles' but I'll take what I can get at the moment Wallaby-wise) in a team prone to inconsistency and falling apart when the plan A doesn't work.
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
I seem to remember, Highlander, a conversation you were having with Nick Bishop in which he essentially said that he thinks publicly available stats are useless. In this instance, because it suits my view of Genia (and because I generally agree with his point also), I am going to agree with Nick's view :)
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
Stu. Glad you are not a selector. Genia has held this very average wallaby side together despite its coach’s failings.
Highlander
Guest
yeah sorry Genia made 24 missed 12 Smith made 32 missed 7 and played way fewer minutes
John R
Roar Guru
Damnnnnnnn really???? 67%!
jeznez
Roar Guru
Hardwick showed promise but then went for an operation. I'd like to see more of him next season. Assuming he bounces back from the injury well I think he would have to be favourite for the 7 jersey at the Rebels next year. Despite the Rebels having guys like Fainga'a and Reid in the squad.
Highlander
Guest
Happy to John R....how'd ya like his 67% tackle ratio :)
Jimbo81
Guest
nice. I'd have Rodda and Dempsey on the bench and probably Leleafano or anyone not named Bernard at 10.