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Opinion
The Wallabies five-eighth position in 2022 has been a game of musical chairs. Noah Lolesio, James O’Connor, Quade Cooper, Reece Hodge and Bernard Foley have all donned the 10 jersey.
Lolesio finished the season with two wins, two losses and a non-complete. O’Connor underperformed in his cameos off the bench against England and started in the 48–17 loss to Argentina. Cooper played well in his 43-minute stint before getting injured.
Foley is zero for two. Hodge was solid and played limited minutes off the bench in his non-preferred position.
At a glance Lolesio has a decent claim to the jersey and must be the front runner for the European tour. He is also the youngest of the group and has the fewest Test caps to his name, but he has shown dedication to learning and growing his game.
Rennie left Lolesio behind for the 2021 Northern Hemisphere tour because he wanted Lolesio to work on his game and get physically bigger. He’s done so, looking more filled out. Lolesio was then dropped after the England series, Rennie wanted him to work on playing flatter on attack. He came out in Adelaide and delivered.
If we look back at Lolesio’s performances against the All Blacks last year as well as England this year, it shows he implements the same vision as Foley and Cooper. As an aside, Lolesio has excelled at goal-kicking this year, kicking at 92 per cent.
In Bledisloe 1 in 2021, Lolesio contributes to both of Tom Banks’ tries. In clip 1 Lolesio holds up Jordie Barrett by delaying his pass so Barrett can’t drift. From there To’omua does the simple draw and pass to put Banks away.
This is very similar to Cooper’s assist to Jordan Petaia’s try in Argentina this year in Clip 2.
Clip 3 again shows Lolesio delaying a pass to suck in the defence to then throw a cut-out to put Samu Kerevi in for a score.
Clip 4 shows Lolesio grubbering through for Banks to toe through and score. It was a similar tactic implemented by Cooper against South Africa in 2021 to slow their rush defence. This shows vision and variation in Lolesio’s game.
Clip 5 is Bledisloe 2 of this year’s series. Lolesio plays deep for Andrew Kellaway’s second try, feeding Banks from second receiver who delays his pass to draw in the defender, putting Kellaway away in the corner.
This is a mirror image of Foley’s try assist in Melbourne this year in clip 6 except Kellaway does it all himself.
A similar move is run by Lolesio in the first game against England this year in Clip 7.
It is abundantly clear that whether you have fewer than 20 caps or 70-plus, the playmaker is not the be-all-or-end all to this team’s success. The Wallabies have had four playmakers at the helm with only two of them coming away with wins, Lolesio against England and South Africa, and Hodge against Argentina.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Although Cooper played well he did not last 80, nor did the Wallabies win the first half. Foley although playing well did not secure a win and Lolesio could and would have thrown any one of those balls except perhaps Kellaway’s first try (as evidence above) and his goal-kicking is safe as houses.
Between now and November, Rennie will want to see Lolesio take command and to boss this team around. He will also expect the 22-year-old to play flatter at the line, especially when the team has momentum.
But Lolesio’s biggest work-on is decision making. He sometimes commits to rucks when he doesn’t need to, kicks when he should pass – particularly when there are mismatches outside him. He has the fortitude and time to make these changes before November.
These examples are not meant to illustrate that he is the full package, but then who is at 22? They are there to demonstrate that he has done and can do anything his more experienced and older teammates have done since their comebacks.
It is meant to show he is developing as a player and as a voice within the team. He is young and has a lot to add to his game. That will only happen with time on the paddock at international level and at Super Rugby level.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.