Roar Rookie
Joined January 2015
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A long time ago I coached a variety of grades (mostly juniors) in Brisbane club rugby
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'Tis truly a terrible thing to grow old and lose touch with the game you followed for so many years. It used to be…
Can anyone offer me an explanation for the present state of rugby in Australia, as I know naught about our current problems and practices?…
What on earth is going on in Australian rugby? With travel and other things, I have missed a lot of rugby news in recent…
Now we are at the end of the year, we have to decide how we are going to beat the All Blacks. I write…
I write this article on picking my pack to play the All Blacks as someone who has long been out of the loop. Here…
I write this article on how to pick the best forward pack as an old grey nomad who has long been out of the…
The problem is not that we have a problem. The problem is that we have had the problem for so long. My group of…
John you certainly had a good look at a number of problem areas, but apart from a reference to Plans A or B, I did not see you look at tactics as a separate heading.
Take a simple case.
I find it hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago we lost 8 of our own throw ins, from memory mostly around the middle of the lineout. (I am pleased to report that these days we do not lose quite that many.) At no stage did I see a significant change in tactics. I know nought of these things in this day and age – but was it impossible to get a message out before half time to the effect that weshould go to the options we practised at training last Wednesday? You remember – short lineouts, shorter lineouts, long lineouts, bunched jumper lineouts, bunched jumpers as a decoy, variation in the speed of the throw, variation in the trajectory of the throw, variations most suitable for different positions on the field, variations to take their top jumper out of the play – and whatever else people can think of. Whatever, challenge how they are thinking about your lineouts.
A quick note on skills – I have doubts Folau was being selfish as has been said so often. Can he in effect step off his left foot or pass off the left hand to right? I would not know but I find it unusual that off his right foot he does not even have to think. He is that good. I hope I am too suspicious – he has now been playing five years for the Wallabies.
An open letter to Michael Cheika: Sir, please step down
Dave, we disagree. I believe forcing the opposition to change its tactics after some hard thought is playing mind games. Their change may work for you (hopefully) or it may not (as in the World Cup final – the changed AB tactics were so well thought out and executed that our Popper threat was diffused.) I think Shane D puts my attempt to bring change to the lineout (even if that issue may not be so high on the Richter scale) as likely to be in the same failed category as the Pooper experiment. That does not mean we have to accept the status quo – that has gone on for far too long. Oh, for the days of the 2003 semi when AB panic prevailed.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Thank you for your kind thoughts. Now I must really say “hooroo” to all.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Shane D, Kaino has always been one to worry me. If indeed we can force them to throw to their secondary, not primary jumpers there might be some bonuses. We now know who they are throwing to (and that often enough can be useful), we have succeeded to some extent in playing with their minds, (our primary objective in playing the ABs) and by definition they are not the best jumpers in the ABs. The WBs themselves have had some success in using Hooper as a secondary part of the lineout. All that said, Kaino does worry me.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Diggercane – no one is going to argue with what you have said – be mad if they did. By the way I hope this post goes through in the right spot. We have had occasions when you hit the correct reply button but the post bobs up somewhere else. The locals are blaming the installation of the new NBN for all their internet problems. I now start every post with the names of the respondents – an alert to all. Finally, I would like to thank all those who responded to my article – I found the posts enjoyable, challenging and informative. Time now for the holiday – Christmas.
Cheers to all.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Sam – you know how to frighten people don’t you.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Puff, I agree – we do not believe that my listed suggestions are all that is needed to challenge the ABs. That is why I said they were just the easier options (that said I still think they are important aspects to our game). It is why I talked of other issues – I concluded my comments on skill with the last line of the article. It is why I wanted to challenge (if possible) their set plays, in particular their lineout supremacy and so on and so on. I have no doubt that many rugby people could work out a more complete range of requirements – not all related to onfield issues, no doubt.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Old Bugger, you have taken my comments to a stage well past what my experience can deliver – great!
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Browney, I would not get into an argument with you over Higgers at 6. I think my comment on him says I am an admirer. I would have Simmons on the bench for sure. Once I heard John Eales give him extravagant praise as a lineout general – and his last game was a good one.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Wag, it would be great to see the outrageous ability of a player like O’Connor harnessed.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Morsie – yes who you pick in the back row determines how you play the game. No Mumm, no Fardy – Cheika will be disappointed in you.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Whoops – this reply belongs to rugby tragic. I take your warning seriously. I would just like to aim at being No 1.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Whoops! replied to the wrong comment.
I take your warning seriously OK. I would just like to aim at being No1.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Point 1 – Totally agree – You have drawn the important distinction. The point of my article was that rugby is played in the mind (target their self-belief) – it is not a mindless exercise. That is why I carried on the way I did about skill, physicality, the set plays (NB lineouts),team structures and so on. Other issues like their incredible depth are beyond our influence or control.
Point 2 -Yes, the likes of McLean, Ella, Lynagh, Flatley and Larkham are sadly behind us.
Point 3 – No one will argue with you on that. Do you think that a bit more tactical nous would also help?
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
I take your warning seriously OK. I would just like to aim at being No1.
This plan to beat the All Blacks is a little old-school but tell me I'm wrong
Could not agree more with you Ralph. Hence my words about beating the ABs and my criticisms of the Wallabies for not adhering to those old core values and principles that still apply today –despite the fact that new processes over time have inevitably let to change. There are many things I do not pretend to understand. I am not quite so sure about the pace and athleticism of the modern Wallaby game. (I turned the Welsh game off at half time because it was so boring and mistake ridden – not really conducive to pace and athleticism). My final comment was more an expression of sheer frustration with the Wallabies of today.
Rugby today