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Roar Rookie
Joined December 2020
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God I’ve been watching you people for the last two months and throwing around this or that name for this or that position gets us nowhere. There’s no obvious path. However we have shitloads of really good players. All over the shop. Only an administration can change things.
'I'm so pissed off': Eddie open to walking away from Wallabies if it suits RA, sticks knife into Hoops, Quade
Some consistently raised points include:
Unbalanced squad, throwing the baby out with the bath water
Injuries to key people
Inexperience
Lack of combinations
Inability to play what’s in front of them and trust their team mates.
Constant silly mistakes, regardless of coach
Etc. We all know it…
My favourite, which comes up often, is that we don’t have the depth. I don’t know but I reckon we might have more adult players going around than Ireland or Wales, or Scotland, or even NZ? And that’s just on a population basis. You could probably say the same for Italy and maybe Argentina too.
That tends to run with the theory about the advent of professionalism in the late 90’s. I think it’s fair to say that Australia took advantage of that earlier than most and the ‘99 World Cup the obvious prize. Super rugby at that time was an absolute joy to watch, with the brumbies leading the way.
A lot has gone wrong since Wilkinson’s shank dropped over the crossbar, but the administration(s) must bear most of the blame. The whole thing about it being an elitist game played (well) by mostly private schools is fundamentally true, and it’s not just players. there is one private school from Sydney that seems to produce in inordinate number of senior administrators. This exacerbates the situation, and they seem out of their depth. Some will know all too well that this schools first XV has only won a handful of games in the last ten years. Is there a correlation? Maybe. But what is for sure is that the haughty attitudes of these kind of schools isn’t helping. There is greater numbers of Polynesian schoolboys playing in these competitions but not many escape the clutches of NRL scouts. They get put on six figure retainers and that is that…
Meanwhile you can go and enjoy a beer and a steak sandwich on the sideline of a second division game and come away thinking that the grassroots are in good shape. I suppose my point is ultimately that it’s a mess and I don’t think anyone can imagine a workable solution.
The horror five minutes that put Wallabies' World Cup on life support as Eddie's huge 10 call falls flat
Hope. That’s all we seem to have. I liked 11 thru 15, although Ikitau might be a more stable option for 13. Otherwise, if you base it on the replies in this thread, we don’t know who is what and where. And we haven’t for a while. Halfback, five-eighth, hooker, both props, at least one second rower and then the back row other than Valentini. And we don’t have a goal kicker. Try as we might Australia has tried to win test matches without known goal kickers in the past. By and large it failed but we scored some lovely tries. This ain’t no smash and grab, this is a smash and get out the dustpan and broom job. And maybe the mop…
'We can be a bloody good team': Eddie says he got selection right and Wallabies can still be RWC threat
I’ve hated Broad but he’s come around for me. Maybe Ive been a bit slow off the mark but now he’s an entertainer! And a good one with a record that has him comfortably on the second shelf, with longevity to throw into the mix as well. Not leaning on his bat either. he’s putting in always. Great career. Memorable.
You can admit it now - if Stuart Broad was an Aussie, he'd be your favourite player
Roderick! My cousins name is Roderick. Not many of you..
You can admit it now - if Stuart Broad was an Aussie, he'd be your favourite player
England fans are meaner, we don’t have it in us.
More sour grapes from England as Ponting pelted by loutish fans during on-field interview
We are just becoming better aussies, dunno about the rest.
More sour grapes from England as Ponting pelted by loutish fans during on-field interview
But what if they work? We really have no choice. And its that sort of situation that gets me excited as i believe, by and large, that we have the cattle. Not to win, that’s highly unlikely, but we have a killer QF, win that…? This a time for optimism people.
Exclusive: Carter's meteoric rise continues with young gun replacing Quade at No.10, Tate set to start
And we are tying ourselves in knots about bowlers who can bat a bit…pick bowlers as bowlers and anything else could be handy.
Ashes Fifth Test teams: Better late than Neser, Murphy in the mix, Warner looks safe again, Anderson under pressure
Hazlewood has bowled relatively well and missed a game or two. Last one I’d leave out. BUT the fast bowling captain issue has come back to bite us, so Cummins must play even if we know he’s not going to be his best. If you accept Murphy must play then who? Starc has a niggle, that could be convenient. But Starc is one of the most dangerous bowlers in world cricket. Marsh is only good for ten overs over both innings. What would give us a big lift is Green pitching it up not banging it exhaustively into the middle of the deck.
Ashes Fifth Test teams: Better late than Neser, Murphy in the mix, Warner looks safe again, Anderson under pressure
Exactly. 3-1 would turn the knife, and i am all for it. I feel strangely underwhelmed by this series and I don’t know why but there seems some correlation with the hard edge of the world todays, social media turning the senior England public into suckers for titillation. Aussie humility etc. Feast.
Bugger the england cricket let team. they were so sure they’d cracked the code, and its the truth to say they they’ve changed it for the better. But not this year boys. Four more years.
Weather they like it or not, England only have themselves to blame for Australia being raining Ashes champs
A Hilux?
Weather they like it or not, England only have themselves to blame for Australia being raining Ashes champs
Big call on Root. In his absolute prime now, not unlike other batsmen in his class in the past
Weather they like it or not, England only have themselves to blame for Australia being raining Ashes champs
Gaining an advantage? Rubbish, Labuschagne is just preserving his wicket aka.trying to survive. It’s not apples for apples and only English sore losers could possible see it any other way. I’ve no issue with Starcs catch, he should have turned his wrist around and despite catching it cleanly I knew it wasn’t going to be upheld, cause THAT’S THE RULES!
Stuart Broad has just given Pat Cummins a lecture on moral standards. The audacity is gobsmacking
Ive always said that if you needed an all-time eleven to play Mars for the survival of the planet, Allan Border is the first person inked. The comments above about his courage, commitment etc are all spot on but it’s always struck me that he wore a helmet with just a couple of Perspex tabs running down the side a couple of inches. No visor or grill. And against a relentless collection of the nastiest quicks for twenty years. Now i do realise that when he started playing first class and test cricket helmets weren’t a thing, nor were they made to todays specifications, but he wore them seemingly begrudgingly, not wanting to concede anything to these heathens. Don’t make ‘em like they used to…
'If I make 80, that'll be a miracle': Allan Border reveals tragic Parkinson's diagnosis
Looks like they threw out the Kool-aide and switched to apple cider vinegar for a dose of reality? During the first test i remember thinking that the “Bazball” approach must have been exhausting for Stokes as they had pre-determined fields and strategies for every batsman, necessitating constant adjustments. Some of them worked well. Yesterday though Stokes was asleep at the wheel. There was not much in terms of inventive fields, and so it looked like they have reverted back to more traditional approach when bowling, hoping the conditions and first use of them were going to do the job. And it may have, but really you need proper fast bowlers not seam-up trundlers. Mark Wood made the last ashes series in Australia exciting, a true threat, but he remains in cotton wool. Is the depth of English fast bowling as bad as it is in spin bowling? Maybe “bazball” will be best applied when batting in future. After all it’s really just a positive-cricket-at-all-times approach, probably best used with a bat in your hand.
UK View: 'Are you joking?' Stunned ex-stars turn on England's 'absolute shambles' in 'worst day of Bazball era'
The most ridiculous thing was not that Robinson mouthed off to a batsman who had scored 140 over eight hours to bring Australia back into the game, but that the ball hardly merited a wicket. Tired and frustrated by fields that seem to be on the edge of sportsmanship, Khawaja yorked himself with what otherwise would have been another rank half volley at 75mph. Cue the tough talk by someone who looks about third grade standard.
All at the same time it goes very quiet when its discovered that the pommy spinner has a sore finger and sought to medicate it with some balm, seemingly not known to be outside the rules…
UK View: 'Hardly angelic' - Poms react to 'ironic indignation' after Uzzy abuse, Green hailed as 'finest' of all time
I think they’re at least better to watch and appear to be having a crack in the last few weeks. And Centre, resilience is important in supporters, you don’t dump them like a sack of spuds just because currently they seem light on in the integrity department. Like you I’m very wary of Flanagan, but then again, it’s rugby league, a game played by rugby league players….
Why Dragons' controversial call to put faith in Flanagan could turn fortunes around but also blow up in their faces
Love the way “core passing game” is in the vernacular now.
'Best halfback': The 'bold' play that helped seal SF - and rocketed bolter's Test captaincy credentials
Yeah the poor bugger doesn’t need the politics
Dragon the team back up the ladder: Rating the coaching contenders for tough St George Illawarra mission
That was pathetic albo, do better.
Dragon the team back up the ladder: Rating the coaching contenders for tough St George Illawarra mission
Cant pass, cant kick. So, no.
SRP talking points: Eddie everywhere offers something Rennie never could, how Rodda can channel Eales
I’d forgotten about Craig Young, That was idiocy of the highest form, but that’s rugby league. I think we’ve all overlooked an obvious contender for the Dragons captaincy during Origin. Not Avery good footballer yet someone who, sensibly, is already looking at a career beyond football, someone who is good on the tools and especially proficient with a hammer…
Making de Belin captain of Dragons a sad indictment on a club that doesn't know what true leadership looks like
Hard drugs most of the time? Get real. Dropping an eccy before a game is stupid and reckless but it would have been a handful of times at most.
Making de Belin captain of Dragons a sad indictment on a club that doesn't know what true leadership looks like
He’s not an architect, he’s an opportunist.
'I'm so pissed off': Eddie open to walking away from Wallabies if it suits RA, sticks knife into Hoops, Quade