Wallabies DIY player ratings from Bledisloe 3: The results

The most puzzling talk since this game. 'Bring back Jesse Mogg at fullback'. Let me tell you, unless it's another player with the same name, no selection in the past had All Black fans and the All Blacks themselves happier. He'd have his moments, but once he had a bad one, his game would implode.

Your love affair with anything Hooper is quite disturbing.

Cross purposes Terry. A different view of the quality/value of Hooper.

Backrower it is not a case of who is untouchable. It is a case of who is best. Currently Hooper is head and shoulders, by the length of Flemington straight, above any other Australian 7 ...... so just who would you put in his place? Yeah .... no one else, so end of argument.

Aussies are useless. Forget about your skipper, scavengers no matter how good are going to win you a game. Not one Aussie would make an All Black team, put Beuden brothers in alone into Wallabies and they would be improved heaps

hooper is older than samu..

IMO we’ve seen the best of Hodges, he’s reliable not an X factor. While Banks has been disappointing, so have many other wallabies, which is why we’re seventh in the world.

Dazell..he needs a couple of seasons under his belt before being considered for a national call-up

All agreed Ferret, except re 15. Not saying I’m a big supporter of Banks but if our focus is on our fullback, we really have taken our eyes off the ball. On Sunday, the backs shovelled the ball out - Banks gets it and there are 2 or 3 ABs in front of him - what’s he supposed to do. His kick for touch was a shocker, of course. I think we should now be selecting with a focus solely on 2023. To me, quality in the backs lies with Petaia and Wright....even if recent form is off, they are quality players. Kerevi and Petaia in centres with Wright on one wing. MK is rocks and diamonds. He gave 3 penalties in first half and missed clear one-on-one for AB try in 2nd. He doesn’t have hands or a kick. Good at his limited abilities, but can we have that. Look at Jordan’s hands when he collected Barrett’s grubber....so simple but MK wouldn’t do that. Forwards - can’t understand why Uelese was sent packing. Need Arnold back and McMahon.

Like your thinking. COVID-19 is the stumbling block presently. I’m hoping DR takes Donaldson, Harrison and the youngster from the Rebels away on the spring tour. Just to be part of the squad would be huge for those young blokes progressing forward.

You bring up a great point -is his style really working for the wallabies- and I think the answer is that it does not matter who we have at 7 and what they bring to the table. Something is missing in this team (apart from the obvious of a half decent 15). We have a decent set of players across super rugby and they just can’t step up to test rugby. Is the lack of JOC at 10 the issue? Is it a lock pairing that does not have enough punch? I don’t know, but each week I hope that 1) Some bloke on the crowd is selected at random to play 15 and 2) this is the match that we finally click. And yes… I would have loved to have seen a pocock, Fardy & McMohan back row. McMohan was the biggest loss to Aussie rugby during the farce that was the Cheika selection policy.

Is that the test tho Terry? Just because he might be ahead of McReight and Wright, does that make him untouchable? It’s not a stable of superstars is it. People on this site scored Hooper’s game on Sunday as an 8 (or 9) out of 10. I find that incredible.

I agree… I always find it amusing (or confusing) how a player come on at the 70 minute mark can be rated so highly. Not pointing at any player in particular today… but more a general thought I always have when reading these. I can see how a player coming on at the 55 min mark can, but if you are getting 15 min or less game time you should not be getting more than a 5 unless you do some seriously amazing stuff.

But he wouldn’t have been in the team if Pocock had been at 7. We’ll never know what a Pocock, McMahon and Fardy back row would have been like. Hooper’s greatest attribute is durability and then speed. There is a big question as to effectiveness once he gets there. You talk about different style of 7....but it isn’t working! Anyway, it’s just opinions. I don’t see the value as being the same as many on these pages. I accept that, right now, he’s probably the only option but smart coaches would be looking for a change in direction in my opinion.

Is that it? I could give you 5 more issues and none of them are his bowl cut.

Banks at 15 will have the Boks licking their lips… he is a gift 15 points for them. They are going to pump the ball at him all day and he is going to turn a lot of ball over.

When Pocock was playing I will agree that Pocock was the best 7 (and often loose forward) on the pitch, but Hooper was often still the best player. The problem most of you all have is that he is not a traditional 7. He is not a true jackal or that link man we want to see in a 7. What he is though is a work horse. He is getting in and getting huge amounts of other work done that no one else in the Wallabies is capable doing for 80 minutes week in week out. I don’t think he is the best choice for captain. But I also don’t think there is anyone else worth being installed above him for that job. I’d love to see McRight get some more game time, but I think that won’t come for another year or two simply because the engine in Hooper is not slowing down.

I'd like to see Donaldson from the Tah's get a chance off the bench behind JOC at 10. He seems very calm. composed and mature.

Pick out of left field for me at 10 would be Donaldson from the Tah’s. He’s a bit bigger, very consistent and just always looks composed.

Frustration Richie, especially when players like hodge can’t get a start.