Australia's rugby talent is the 'best we've had since 2003' - it's time to let them flourish, not be shackled by team 'system'

Anyone who watched last season and this should know the SR teams are almost all better now (tahs aside), we should be mindful that Jones was a dufus and Rennie was hamstrung by injuries, the Wallabies might get quite a bit better with a decent coach and this new talent steadily ageing

@Riggers Am I correct in recalling you're our Welsh commenter from past years?? Good timing to get into us aussies with Wales touring in 2 months time :) So you took a 1 weekend look at our talent and decided it's time to talk us up huh? I fully agree with you on the NRL talent - it is impressive. In aussie rugby though you name Charlie Cale, Corey Toole, Matt Faessler, Hunter Paisami, Josh Flook, Max Jorgensen, Angus Bell, Tamati Tua, Tom Lynagh, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, Darby Lancaster and .... it goes on you say. Looking at 1 game is usually decieving though Riggers and the 4 names I crossed out are not Test standard now and never will be imo. I add Porecki and Wilson to that list. Lynach and Charlie Cale do have great potential though. And I think Tua is a kiwi and not currently eligible for WB selection. But unfortunately we won't see this potential for this upcoming Wales tour. So if Wales arrive with a good squad I'm tipping the dragons to win this series :happy:

Yes and we played that way 25 years ago.. Definitely not suggesting it's all fluke there brilliance, but that fast countering is as much about instinct as structure..

I would settle for some basic marketing to let people know when games are on.

The cycles are still there, the peaks just aren't as high as they used to be!

No it's the same with all fans articles as they're placed so low on the page.

As I have said previously if the defense today played like they did in the 90s, early 00s then the defense coach would be sacked mid season and the coach would be lucky to get his contract renewed. Yes players should play whats infront of them but players like DMac and Marcus Smith who look amazing but against smarter defenses they can get isolated and have alot less impact. Look at the Blues and Reds, they are much more forwards based this season and while they have lovely backs the dirty stuff is what is allowing them to do the things in the back. Like in Soccer you can have amazing players in one area but lose games because of defense. League on the other hand is much more like basketball which is about scoring. Media/RA could do more to promote players but people like the forward as much as the back.

Mack Hansen, Manny Meafou and Jack Dempsey go some way to prove we have plenty of talent, just not always the systems to identify or develop it or the opportunity to give top tier game time to help promising young players flourish.

Based on how Kiss has developed his young squad and the relative success he’s had in a short time, I’d say there’ll be more to follow his example. The Rebels are well structured behind Gordon yet there’s still room to play eyes up footy when it’s on. The hurdle bigger than the coaching for me, is the marketing, which the author’s noted well. Kids need to be unwrapping their Cadbury Furry Friends (or Rucking Legends) in the school yard and finding a newly minted card with Tim “the Junkyard Dog” Ryan on it so they can swap it for a holographic Ned “The Shed” Hanigan. If running rugby is rewarded at the turnstiles and on the scoreboard it’ll become part of our “DNA”

You miss the point, even the razzle/dazzle NZ counter attack has a structure and plan around it, that plan will just be fluid/flexible. It may be as simple as choose open/blind, kick/pass/run, support close and attack space but that is still a structure that all players on the field would be aware of and work towards. Do you think its just luck there is someone perfectly positioned for an offload/pop pass on those NZ counter attacks or more likely something thats been drilled into them for years...

I do like heavily structured forward plays as it's ultimately creating something for the backs,lineouts ,scrums, rolling mauls set plays I'm fine with heavily coached regimented robotic behaviour...one out stuff annoys the crap out of me BUT with the backs yes some clever moves I'm all for but off the cuff stuff with fast moving counter plays is where we should be heading...N.Z Wallabies type game..sadly only one of those plays it like that now ..

Great teams are always cyclical and they will be fewer and farther apart one gets the feeling in Australian rugby unfortunately but agreed there's some great young talent coming thru and a group of older players who have the ability too be more successful given the right coach and game plan..I'd add the Force open side to that I think he is an outstanding talent and potentially world class if given the chance..some people get overlooked if your not in the right teams we have too get past that philosophy..find the right talent and get them in the Wallaby camps..find out only way.

becuase its a delusional piece. we dont have the talent

not as many as you want to believe

So the Expert's article has 400 posts by now and this invisibly places article has 6, hidden under articles by Experts that are days old. What a shame.

It's great to see these young players doing well, they seem to be very balanced and natural footballers, not often on a debut you get to excel on your first outing and not get 'Stage Fright', but these players have a no fear factor which i love. I believe we have always had talent but have had the wrong guidance along the way. In saying that, some of these players are not wallaby ready yet but some are. What's lacking is player depth when a good player get injured, so depth and all round skills are what's needed, great attack, good defence, and proper ball skills, having trio of these skills will make these players great.

No professional sporting team goes onto the pitch without a system/plan. NRL has a huge amount of structure baked into it as does union. This idea of the coach just putting his feet up and giving the keys to the boys is just silly. The question is - what structures are being put in place? Do they maximise players potential? Are they flexible to allow players to adapt/think etc? Its a shame that when a bloke like Tim Ryan performs how he does you think that was essentially just a bit of luck and his innate skill because it fails to recognise the huge amount of work he and the coaches would've put into him and the systems for that expression of skill. Tamati Tua's try in the video above doesn't happen without runners in motion and the pod system. Ryan doesn't beat 3 blokes down the touchline if the reds prop and 9 don't do their job and they don't id the blindside being light on. If you take into account the systems, its even more impressive when guys like lancaster and ryan put in the performances they do.

Rugby's a different game to the 1990's. Smarter defences, bigger players, faster, often more phases before unpicking a defence. Systems are more important and yes scoring can be done off set piece plays, that is not ruled out indeed it happens often. The challenge remains as it ever was: 15 players makes the field smaller when compared to 13, and requires a slight change in approach accordingly, and so I agree with your point that there's a coaching problem. The comparison you made with overseas rugby coaches, Kiss being an example, is perhaps more to the point rather than comparing to the 13 code.

The backgrounds of these new players would be interesting compared to the league equivalents listed. I wonder how many had rugby backgrounds.

Cheers. There are some exciting young players across the board i think. Some excellent young forwards too but wish our front row stocks were a bit deeper - unleashing is much easier behind a powerful pack!