Indeed, and its magnificent because that feature. Will be interesting to see what happens in 20 years time if there is an appetite for capacity increase. The 2 tenant AFL clubs will have a massive say in this if their membership numbers continually exceed 53,500. So to if the oval can attract more major events like the State of Origin and touring concerts acts. The decision may be to increase the size of the current stands over a number of years, similar to what they do with major redevelopments at the MCG. Will be interesting to see.

Pleasure Big A, I work in the stadia event industry and wanted to pass on some context without sounding like a know-it-all, haha. Open ended venues like this one and Metricon Stadium on the GC are very much about future enhancements, as well as the ability for short-term uplift through temporary seating stands as per the GC Comm Games at Metricon in 2018. Even Adelaide Oval lends itself to having its northern end developed when that venue is due for some form of ‘major’ redevelopment. I don’t see any redevelopment of this type happening at Adelaide oval for at least another 20 years however, and the trick for the architects will be how to keep incorporating the beautiful traditional scoreboard into modern design at that end of the ground. Not saying it definitely will happen but its the immediate solution to providing capacity increase with event day enhancements through infrastructure.

https://www.coxarchitecture.com.au/project/north-queensland-stadium/ for some context to the design. Personally I think its a great design and like all stadiums with one end being open, it allows for achievable upgrades and increase in capacity without having to demolish mass infrastructure. In 15 to 20 years that market should be ready for a permanent increase to the venue, and in the meantime they have space for temporary seating installs like what they did for State of Origin this year.

The annual running costs (think of the sinking fund alone) for a $250 million facility hugely dictate the financial viability for investment of this value. In a Utopian world for any such venue, each and every home game of the PI Super Rugby team would be a true sell-out with price per head on food & beverage being above $30. The venue would also need excellent media facilities and services for international broadcast, and would need to be used for other purposes such as major entertainment events like touring concerts. The venue would need LED signage for commercial investment and corporate facilities to attract commercial match day activations. The operational costs for staging events in such facilities are significant, particularly how you get 25,000 people in and out of the venue, let alone how you manage them safely once inside and then provide them with services such as food & beverage. There so many layers involved and any investment needs a return and I can’t see the unions of SANZAAR or World Rugby being willing to take such a risk. Not unless they find a way to print money….

On the recent form of Pete Samu, coupled with the return of Sean McMahon, can you have a traditional reserves bench split (5 forwards and 3 backs) with 2 of those forwards being Pete Samu and Sean McMahon? If so, what does this mean for our selection at 6 in order to have some form of 2nd row back-up coverage?

Backrow, inside backs and centre depth has jumped significantly in the past 12 months. Terrific to see! The likes Wilson, Naisarani, McMahon, McReight, Wright, Leota, JOC, Paisami, Toomua, Lolesio not in the Match Day 23. Brilliant sign for the future.

Definitely could, but I would like to see the Swinton / Valetini starting combination given a bit more time. Tidy up their clean-out work and they could be really, really good for us. I like McMahon as the odd starter, horse-for-courses selections potentially and when someone needs less minutes to freshen up – but I ‘love’ him as a player who can bring 20 to 40 minutes of extreme high level energy and grunt in the 2nd half and had a whole new dimension as players tire. McMahon can definitely be used in the lineout but I really liked what I saw last weekend with Swinton as the quick 2-ball option. Not saying that McMahon can’t be used in the same way but I feel Swinton as the 3rd option keeps all opposing jumpers truly accountable and therefore helps 2nd row selections.

Pressure on Pete Samu. McMahon off the bench is a scary prospect. Can’t wait to see how he goes against he combative Argie backrow.

Wouldn’t mind seeing JOC at 13 with Hodge at 15. By having a more ball playing 13 I believe you need a larger body in the back three. Koriobete gives us power but Kellaway is a fast, skilfull, slicing winger. A larger body 15 who can kick long and high, and is prepared to contest in the air is crucial for a wing combo of Kellaway and Koriobete I feel.

Or even stay to the ground and let the chasing players jump beyond them and the landing area of the ball.

@Maximus, sorry will never agree with you when saying that Rugby is ‘niche at best’ in the Pacific Islander nations. Rugby is the game of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga – no doubt at all. They have a huge number of players all over the world – literally in every professional competition, and in some of those comps they have out-n-out stars, and I don’t mean those players who used to play for the All Blacks but are of Pacific Island heritage.

@Maximus – whilst I consider myself a student of rugby, I definitely am not that of cricket but I do follow the game relatively closely, particularly around World Cups and when the Top Tier Nations play each other (mainly in test matches however). Based on this and from what I see at Cricket WC’s, I feel the gap in standard of team performances is greater from Team 1 to Team 10 as compared to rugby. Rugby also has players from teams 6 to 10 who would absolutely be good enough to play in the starting teams of teams 1 to 5 and personally I don’t see that comparison in cricket – not in the overall number of players at least. Argentinian and Pacific Islander players immediately come to mind as they have players who are stars of the French Top 14, Pro 14, The Premiership and Japanese Top League.

I take your point regarding World Cup Finalists, with the difference here being the sub-continent countries which you reference, but it should be noted that there has been 4 more Cricket WC’s than Rugby WC’s.

For me I am questionable on where T20 cricket sits and whether our ranking in this format should be compared to where the Wallabies are ranked. For me, I would draw more comparisons to the Wallabies and 50 Over or Test Cricket teams, leaving T20 successes to be compared to that of Rugby 7’s.

Again there could be some bias here and I am interested in your thoughts.

Pretty much agree with the above @Maximus, and we can’t forget the improvement in Italian rugby since their inclusion in the 6 Nations, as well as the current rapid growth of rugby in North America which sounds like it could involve Canada in the future which will be great for Canadian rugby. In the 90’s & early 00’s Canadian Rugby produced a few true international standard players and had a team which qualified for RWC’s. With regards to the comparison to cricket, I don’t share peoples thoughts when it comes to comparing the two sports due to the different seasons they are played in. When it comes to team sports, there is more competition for international status with the winter codes, particularly soccer and in the case of Aus, NZ and the UK, varying level of competition from Rugby League. I don’t see that same level of competition faced by cricket (in terms of ‘team’ sports), and I find that the level of team performance, combined with individual talent, that is displayed by the Top 10 teams in World Rugby, this is not matched by Cricket. Look at the Quarter finalists of the RWC 19 – Aus, NZ, SA, England, France, Ireland, Wales and Japan. No Scotland and no Italy who compete each year in the 6 Nations. No Argentina who compete each year in TRC. Fiji is the current best of the Pacific Island teams and we saw how well they performed against NZ earlier this year prior to the TRC, but not good enough to be QFinalist in Japan nor reach the heights they did in France 07. I just don’t see this same level of competition within international Cricket….but maybe I am a little biased. Interested to know your thoughts.

@James – what do you mean by only a half dozen countries have serious rugby? Be great if you can elaborate on this so I can understand as a statement ending with ‘so it is not very international’.

Sucking away a nice bit of optimism here @sheek. You make valid points but positive thinking to harness new ideas and concepts for our great game which could turn a new chapter for Rugby in Aus. is absolutely needed. In regards the 2nd part of Quick Fact #1 – The overarching quality of the Rugby World Cup, British & Irish Lions Tours, and the ability for the Southern Hemisphere nations to consistently take strong squads to the Northern Hemisphere for annual, or at very least bi-annual, tours is absolutely saving us and will continue to do so in the future. When the Northern Hemisphere teams tour with near full-strength squads the outcomes of those tours are brilliant. The England and Ireland tours of Aus. in ’16 & ’18 were hugley successful even with the Wallaby team on the decline. Looking to the future and particularly the revised format of next years SR competition, there comes an opportunity for the re-birth of the Pacific Islands Team to compete in the TRC from a few years time. This would would likely result in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga really only competing as standalone test teams during RWC campaigns, but I don’t think is a bad thing. And if the Southern Hemisphere Unions can find a way to incorporate Japan into TRC each year, with Argentinian players incorporated into the JTL and SR teams, by the British & Irish Lions tour of 2025, TRC could comprise of The Wallabies, All Blacks, Springboks, Argentina, Japan & The Pacific Islands and really go head-to-head with the 6N’s for annual prestige. Harnessing the international footprint will be absolutely key for the future of Aus. Rugby because the ability to see the world and compete at a true international standard, even outside of what is a ‘proper’ World Cup event, is something the NRL and AFL will never be able to provide their current or future players.

Agree with your thinking re. #12 but he isn’t going to nudge ahead of Kerevi and Paisami for this position. You make good points for what is required with a fullback and for me I go back to my point where Hodge is falling victim to being asked to be an international standard Mr Fix-it from 10 to 15. Give him confidence and clarity in one role and he will prosper. He was caught in 3 minds when he executed the bomb poorly – he was thinking a bomb for contest, a kick for the corner, or to run it, and accurate decision making with execution in moments like this is something which comes from in-game experience as much as it comes from the training paddock. There is so much pressure on bench players to make an impact, but generally the expectation of that impact is quite specific to 1 or 2 positions. Hodge quite literally could come on the field at any position from 10 to 15, dependent on injuries, and I feel this partly sets him up to fail as he can’t zero his focus.

I feel that JOC does not have the pace to be a 15 at international level, however I expect that he will get the opportunity to play 10 and 15 coming off the bench in the next 3 games which will be a good way to prove my thinking wrong… or right. I agree with other opinions that Banks has not made the most of his opportunities. He seems to me to be an athlete first, rugby player second, and his top-end pace with line breaking skills makes him a real threat at SR level but it’s not translating to top-class international rugby. I am not sure why Hodge has never been given a run of tests at fullback like Banks is currently experiencing. IMO, the slight issues in Hodge’s game all stem from the fact he is required to be a Jack-of-all-Trades and Master-of-None. Given a full season at 15 in SR where he can actually settle into the role and have the responsibility of the kicker for touch, penalties and conversions, I believe he would mold into a great fullback who compliments fast and abrasive wingers, line punching centers, ball-playing 10’s and sniping #9’s. Based on what we are starting to see from our center combinations, the emergency of McDermott and Kellaway, JOC and QC to steer the ship at 10, fullback is the next piece of the puzzle and the answer, IMO, is the bloke who is being asked to be proficient at international level at all backline positions except halfback.

This is the key point. What is a he actually worth paying per year..? He is a #12 in the union game, does not have the pace (off the mark or top-end) to play any wider. And then the question becomes, is he better than Kerevi? Is he better than Paisami? Is he better than Toomua? These being the current 3 players at the top of the list for the gold #12 jersey without looking at the young talent coming through like Bayley Kuenzle & Joey Walton, as well as other established players starting to come back on the radar like Kyle Godwin & Izaia Perese. I would love to see Chrichton come to ‘professional’ rugby but I am not convinced he will be worth $$$ to drag him across.

Give us your matchday 23 PeterK. I agree with your thoughts but interested to see your proposed starting team changes and make-up of the bench.

Not sure but I think it should be investigated in a game. He likes to operate in the tighter channels with Wilson a little more prominent out wide as compared to Isi. Wilson has the ability to play tight or around the midfield in attack, but he has a better ball playing ability in the wider channels than Isi, and therefore playing them together gives some great attacking options. Defensively I can’t see any real concerns either, and with both of them being 195cm tall they provide great 3rd and 4th lineout options.

Good to see high standards being set by the squad are being upheld. Hopefully this culture starts to be reflected in upcoming performances. Good chance for Wilson to put to bed any notion that he is not our best #8, although a match day 23 with Isi in it is a stronger team. Is anyone else interested in seeing Wilson at 8 and Isi at 6 in a game? I would be really interested to see if this would work.

I think its more a battle for the 13 jersey between Ioane and ALB – not Ioane v Havili. I believe Sotutu will be used for some impact off the bench and there is no way the Kiwis won’t name Retallick to partner Whitelock for the 1st Bledisloe Test. I do believe Mo’unga will get the nod at 10, Jordie B at fullback with Bauden and D Mack named on the bench due to the versatility they provide in both inside and outside back positions.

And the fact that test match payments were still on top of the reduced base wage. I do believe that Rodda, who is an Aus. & QLD Rugby contracted player, would have the ability to absorb a 30% reduction for 12 months, particularly when so many people were losing their jobs altogether.

You make a good point @ScottD – principle needs to be applied in all circumstances. Personally, I still feel there is room for earning selection through the manner in which players conduct themselves off the field and I strongly believe the 3 QLD players (all of whom have the same player agent) conducted themselves poorly in respect to the spirit of Australian rugby and the situation caused by no person, but a global pandemic. IMO, they should all give back to Aus. rugby through SR performances and subsequent form before having the privilege of being in the Wallaby squad. Just my opinion but maybe I need to be more rational.

Does anyone else feel that Rodda should ‘not’ have been picked for a Wallabies squad again until he had actually represented the Force..? The manner in which he and the 2 other players left, bearing in mind it was good enough for all other players to take the pay-cuts on the chin (not forgetting Aus. professional athletes of other codes codes / sports), and then to have him selected straight after his arrival from France does not sit well with me. A young player with an ability to become a truly world-class lock leaves in those circumstances, particularly that he actually still gets paid rather well considering the cuts, disregarding his role in the rebuild of Aus. rugby (albeit for a short time) and then is welcomed straight back into the Wallaby environment….Personally, my message to him would be ‘you will be picked based upon your performances for the Force in next years SR competition so have a good off-season’.