Super Rugby AU Round 2 teams: Hodge to the bench for Rebels, Hunt back in Tahs lineup

Bloody good question. And my argument slapped effectively. They need to decide if he's their best 15. I reckon he's their best 12 but they're in love with Meakes. Short answer, dunno

VC is hardly a lock. Looking at the rest of the players in the back line there is very little experience. It is good to have a leader in the fwds and backs and the rest of the back are either just finding a spot in the starting side and/or are very inexperienced. I could see Godwin taking over VC. Gordon as VC when fit (though I don't like halfbacks as VC's as I prefer VC's to be 80 min players). Foketi would potentially be a VC candidate id he was fit and on the field. I think Godwin will see Hunt wrap up his time. But I also think Moeroa will likely be moved on too if we don't see him by the end of the year. A shame. I thought he would make a good line bender. Our backline is on the small side, so I hope we can develop craft and speed

Given Penney made Newsome the VC, I suspect we'll see him at 13 until there's a change of coach.

To say it was all Quade and Genia is complete unfair. Why did Koroibete only score 6 tries from 13 games and DHP only 2 tries from 11 games? Nobody has said he should be automatically picked for the Wallabies. We just completely disagree with your assertion that he has never delivered. He's a developing player no doubt but he's going pretty good for 23.

Yes it was exceptional TWAS, very good, i enjoyed watching him, it but we do know Quade and Will G created most of those tries for him when he was a winger. No Quade or Will G to help him his year. DHP and Banks are the best fifteens we have right now. Maddocks is way down the pecking order.Let him build up game time for a year or two in the blue 15 jersey, before we start saying he is the new Wallaby Wunderkid like Folau, Jack is still young and his turn may come. Right now the only way Jack could possibly be Wallaby 15 is if the more superior DHP and Banks are both injured. Even then he would not be an automatic pick.

I’m not surprised the Force is not playing Nick Frisby or Pek Cowan. The pair have only just lobbed up to training and would be a hindrance until they are savvy with the team’s moves and quirks of their players. I would not expect either in the 23 until at least 2-3 weeks if at all. Otherwise I can imagine the coach saying on Friday at training; “Nick and Pec, ya playing tomorra! Meet Jono and Feleti, they’ll be playing next to ya. Nick I luv your harbour bridge passes so Jono will stand 15 m from you as he luvs getting creamed by flankers. Pec, try to contain yourself and not jump in the lineouts, we got other blokes to do that job here”. The Force only got these 2 as back-ups. The Force played a great NRC2019, only lost one game if I remember and belting an almost top Brumbies side in the final. Under-estimate them at your peril!

Maddocks scored 10 tries in 14 games last year. It's an exceptional try scoring rate. Tom Banks at 23 (the age Maddocks is) had 2 super rugby caps for 86 total playing minutes. DHP had less than 10. And no. Very few players have made it as regular wallaby selections by 20. Chris Latham one of our greatest ever fullbacks had barely been able to crack the Tahs bench at that age.

No worries. :thumbup:

TWAS plenty of players have made the Wallabies by 20 and succeeded..you very well know that. But some of the blokes i mentioned haven't even made it in super rugby yet. Maddocks is one of them. He has a lot to work on if he wants to be in the GOLD 23. He definitely will not oust DHP or Banks at Wallaby 15 and he is not a bench option.

Probably as we don't have any locks in OZ and thus are unavailable for Rennies Wallabies due in part to the " Clown Law " No Arnold No Carter No Coleman No Rodda No Hockings. Angus is one of the best performed locks in 2020 with Neville and Philip. Juries still out on LSL and Simmons is a bench lock at best. Oh better more complete fullbacks Banks and DHP are way in front of Maddocks. So no position for him in the Wallaby 23 as he cannot play wing or centre. He can wait and develop his consistency in super rugby. Prefrably his tackling and post contact meters.

The Rebels were shocking. Hard to blame the 10 based off of one match in a team that is so dysfunctional. Let’s all forget about how good he was against one of the best teams in the world, Wales, when we were 8-25 down when he came on last year.

Peterk that's why i do not rate Toomua as a test 10. Rennie needs to play Lolesio or Harrison now. They already look much better than Toomua ever has at 10, they are natural 10`s.They are the future.Toomua is the past. Maybe he can be a bench option for Rennies Wallabies, but nothing else.

Yes he’s been very lucky not to have been hit by injuries to centres.

agree pretyy well , solid etc at 12 or 13 BUT never very good games like he has at f/b or wing.

Also recruitment, he invariably has unbalanced squads, too many backrowers and not enough locks, or too many hookers, or too many wingers, not enough centres etc.

Yeah I can envision that too. But I think Jock has the evasiveness to do the Roff type wing more so than a fullback. If Lucas had stuck around Paisami would have struggled to make the centres and might be on other wing.

I thought he was going pretty well at 12 at international when he had that stint there. I also agree that if you put together a highlights reel of his best moments they'll have mostly been playing as a fullback.

I agree on Petaia to 13 but they'd still have a few to figure out how to fit in. I can easily imagine Paisami at 12, Jock at 15 and Hodge winding up on the wing again.

Godwin has signed for next year. He will be a decent 12 or 13. He and Hodge would make a good pairing. I’d be tempted to put Godwin at 13 though.

I feel like selections have consistently been Wessels’ biggest weakness. I think he develops decent game plans and tactics, his players generally play okay, but then he chops and changes guys playing well (English, Hodge, etc) and then doesn’t move on guys when they have consistent periods of average play (Genia, Meakes, plenty of the props).