Jordan Petaia's quest to become a proper utility player

Thats assuming BT will play him there. He was locked on at outside centre originally at the reds but was pushed onto the wing because they had few of those but a lot of centre options. Rennie will probably have a word. That will be a decent back 3 with him, Vunivalu and Daugunu.

In the mines I believe.

interesting phrase that "a proper utility player" - it's abit of an oxymoron - it's a tittle that stifles people's careers - it's only good to be referred to as utility player if you can't make the side as an out and out selection in one position - certainly it's no way to describe a potential once in a generation marquee player - the more we talk about JP's versatility the more damage we are doing - we need to lock him in as a winger for the long term - to put it bluntly - he is too erratic to be seen as a 13 or 15. He can be great but at this point he needs to go away and put together 20 or 30 SR performances and work on his game. The saloon passage he is currently receiving from DR and also from Cheik has in my opinion damaged him - when he first appeared in the lead up to the RWC in England he was really assured and could have been anything - but the injuries and positional uncertainty have conspired to turn him into a basket case with little or no appreciation of the basics like when to pass and when to go down and recycle - if you step back a bit from all the hype around him - he can't seriously be seen as anything better than the sixth best winger in Australia yes sixth - and why he keeps bopping up in the plum no 23 position on the bench is totally beyond me - it's almost as though it's been written into his contract that he gets to play every game irrespective of performance - i'm sure that clause has been written in other Wallaby contracts over the past 20 years. Aus wingers in current pecking order - MK, AK, Tom Wright, Suliasi Vunivalu, Filipo Daugunu, Jordan Petaia (6th on the list and i also get the feeling i've missed someone else that should also be on the list)

He breaks to easy for the midfield

30 is not old

As an aside what evr happened to Irae Simone? Surely he would be in contention as a hard running centre and a good boot as well.

Richie, what an outstanding halfback and walked away to go back to truck driving, if my memory stands the crunch of time!

To be fair, we never saw Paisami outside Cooper. Ikitau looks like he is growing into a big powerful body, but given his youth, probably won't properly dominate with it for another season or two. I don't think we have another 12 like Samu - it's hard to replace arguably the best centre in the world. Hodge is a big body who could play 12, but he's only just settling into the fullback role. Simone is a big boy, but not in the squad.

Remember Merrick, the halfback from the Hunter Valley being selected from nowhere. Those were the days! :stoked:

Perese has that ability.

I agree. To get selected for your country and perform to your potential are two different things.

Would like to see Jordan having a shot at 15 but the Test arena is not the place to experiment. Hopefully Thorn will try him there next year in Super Rugby AU. Then, take it from there.

I don't think we're doing the right thing with JP - to me he's too scatter brain in attack - when he runs with the ball it's as if he's trying to bust the game wide open with every time he touches the ball - noone around him can get any sort of fix on whether he's going to pass a 1 per center or lose the ball or not pass at the right time or just simply go down and recycle for the next attack - for this reason his only possible position - probably for the next two or three years at least is right winger where he can inject himself at will and build on his already strong defence - this constant talk of him being a 13 or 15 is fanciful - i mean look at someone like Ikitau - the bloke gets two or three chances to prove himself and then starts to excel and own the position - with JP - we've been trying to do something with him since before the 2019 RWC and granted he's had injuries but why does he get so many opportunities and others are left in the dry docks - and i'm starting to think the same with NL - absolute saloon passage based on false economy of playing behind brumbies pack in SRAU - there's a famous catch phrase "carpe diem" high time some of these young guys get the message - these are guilt edged opportunities that their getting to represent their county and make these positions their own - imo some of them need to go back to SR and stew for a while so that they can understand the concept of "carpe diem"

Richie, over the years we have had many players who looked good in SR but couldn't make the step up. A look through the wallaby team over the years has many who played one or two games only. Anytime you make the Wallabies makes you special, what we are talking about are the 50% of the team who are regulars and have shown they can step up. It isn't as simple as seeing a good player in SR. Bob Dwyer pulled Phil Kearns and Nick Farr-Jones out of grade rugby but there hasn't been much of that since.

Surely this season and the redemption/change in play of guys like quade, JOC and Kerevi have proven that a leopard can change its spots. Petaia is only 21. His future is still in front of him.

But we know they don't provide gainline ball. This is the question, who can provide that without kerevi at 12? If you play paisami and ikitau, can a hodge or petaia give that gainline from the wing/fullback... I am unsure.

from the bench, DR said he has worked on his speed and now could be considered to cover f/b.

It will be Paisami and Ikitau. Beyond them, who knows?

I doubt JOC covers fullback now, unless we get more injuries. Looked like Petaia went on at fullback in limited minutes last week.

Music to my ears.