Confirmed: Waratahs pluck Maddocks from Rebels

Thanks MitchO

Such a shame that Ngatai had his concussion issues. What a special inside centre he could have been.

I see Laumpe and Kerevi as a similar sort of monster runner at 12 and whilst I love watching them I prefer my 12s to be a bit more cerebral. That doesn't make me right. I do like Farrell as a player though. He's tough and tries hard and he has that magic boot. I love the threat of that boot.

Fair enough but Korobeiti has only been good for a season or so.

Hmm, not convinced by Farrell at 12. I think he’s a better 10. He misses a lot of tackles at 12 and isn’t a strong runner. Crotty was a good player and smart defender, but I think there’s a reason he didn’t start for the All Blacks.

I didn't include Koroibete simply because he was developed in NRL. TN and Sefa were on the way up 5 years ago and had already played Super Rugby so I didn't consider them as recent.

and Korobeiti of course. He's a test level winger now. I liked Naivalu but he was unlucky with injury and selection. TN with at least one good coach could have done some damage.

If you are talking world's best 12 then personally I'd have preferred Farrell and Crotty to Kerevi. From an Aussie point of view I'd have preferred JOC at 12 because I think he'd give better organisation and still a lot of good attack. Then sub Kerevi on late for impact.

Sorovi the 9 looks okay to me and there's a youngster named James O'Connor at the Reds and Karmichael Hunt at the Tahs. Hegarty looks a decent super player too. We should not forget Nick Jooste who is reinventing himself as a 12. He could make a come back to super rugby sometime. We need some locks and a 6 so lets hope Valenti and LSL can step up. I used to like Matt Philip too. He's a decent player. And we still have Rob Simmons who is still young enough if his body can handle it. He's been playing at the top for a long time.

Yes Armchair. Crichton was a top union junior who went to league instead of staying with union. He's had some success in league but I don't watch enough to know how good he is. Plenty of competition in league for guys his size though. Lotta talent like Frizzel, and Turbo and Cordner.

Sure. It’s relatively better than the NRC.

Are they still being picked from the M10C? That is professional competition for representative teams sitting at the pinnacle of their provincial development structures, so fully ready or not, players selected out of it will have had professional development in one of fourteen fully professional development programs. The NRC by comparison is a pro-am competition, without associated development structures other than the training sessions during the competition window. The only serious development program a player newly selected to SR from it will have had remains whatever his amateur club or school could provide. Ready or not, someone coming to SR from the M10C is still way more ready.

I think what you said was true once, but with the exodus to the north, more and more rookies who aren’t really ready need to play super rugby, unfortunately..

I think we are probably arguing semantics now. Ofcourse more growth happens at Super level, just as growth happens at international level. And the level of player at Super level will obviously be quite varied, from the rookie to the veteran.

Difference is, their 'rookies' are largely still players who have had professional development in a professional environment. Unlike Australia, where they are amateurs fresh out of club rugby and experiencing professionalism for the first time. The NRC should be that development step, but no-one that matters seems interesting in allowing or helping that to happen.

Even New Zealand doesn’t simply ‘polish’ the players at super rugby level now. Too much talent lost to the NH. I think it’s something like 25% of players in the Kiwi super teams are rookies this year.

What are Development squad players for? What are the Gen Blue, Brumby Runners teams for? I think it's a big ask to suggest players just need a bit of polish out of Shute Sheild or Schools. I see SS and Schools as talent identification mechanisms where the ones with promise can be developed at the state and national level. Development happens in the professional sphere where there are skills coaches, dietitians, sports scientists, etc and full time training.

I think expecting the Rebels to 'develop' players is an interesting notion. The Rebels, and by extension Super Rugby, are the highest level under international representation in Rugby within Australia. This level should be about refining and building on players who have already developed through lower grades. Super rugby should be about polishing the finished player off, to be ready for International call up; School boys and Shute Shield etc should be about developing players. As an aside, this is a fundamental building block to a successful national team, one which is sorely missing in Australia right now.

I wondered about that. He’s got smarts. I wonder if he can do a Bernie?

Because if we go that way then you have to say players like Phipps, Maddocks, Hodge, etc. are Rebels produced. I can understand both arguments, but based on the original comment that players from Sydney are not produced by the Rebels, I consider my interpretation in line with that.