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The Roar

Jack Quigley

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Joined June 2017

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A long time sports writer, broadcaster and award winning podcaster, Jack has spent the majority of his media career covering football and rugby.

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Cheers Bigbaz

Are the Rebels good or bad? We're genuinely not sure

Whisper it quietly – very quietly – but next weekend the Reds host the Chiefs in Brisbane.

Could they scrap their way to a win there? They beat the Bulls at home who then really should have beaten the Chiefs the following week but blew a big lead.

Are the Rebels good or bad? We're genuinely not sure

Agree with that mate. Wessels is a good coach and will get them right in time, it’s just odd that 8 weeks in you don’t know for sure if they’re going to be the team that thumped the Reds, or the team that got thumped by the Hurricanes, or the team that dominated the Waratahs for half a game before giving up 50 points.

Are the Rebels good or bad? We're genuinely not sure

Hey Patrick, sort of an iffy one this. I’m all for free speech but you have to be careful. If you’ve got time, have a read of this piece https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/04/06/purgatory-looms-unrepentant-israel/ it explains why Izzy’s views aren’t just contrasting with public opinion – they’re potentially dangerous when you’re in an influential position like he is.

Are the Rebels good or bad? We're genuinely not sure

Good article. Enjoyable read and, in my opinion, bang on the cash.

Purgatory looms for unrepentant Israel

Hey Bamboo, you’ve got a few points in that comment so I’ll try address each of them.

Firstly, aren’t all journo’s fans deep down? Why else would you commit so much time and effort to a cause if you weren’t a fan? I get what you’re saying – I can’t stand the way the Ch. 9 cricket commentators have just become cheerleaders for the home team – but I’m not a complete separation from fandom to journalism is required to create content worthy of discussion – and after all that’s what sites like this are about.
I’m never going to be published in Time Magazine, but does that mean I and everyone else out there who also aren’t up to that standard should just quit having an opinion altogether? Or is there perhaps a community out there for people who like slightly less formal levels of discussion.

Secondly re: the Cheika discussion, it was probably a bit of both. With a ‘journo’ hat on, I pushed him about some of the issues I raised in the Facebook post but at the same time we also shared a nice chat about the state of the game as fans – both of us (and still do from time to time, to his credit – he doesn’t owe me that).

Lastly re. the jealous line – I’m very fortunate to have a platform like The Roar to air my opinions. In the past I – like many others – have blogged to the ears of nobody but the crickets, and I tweet to the few who choose to follow me and engage in discussion. I’m in a privileged position here where these guys invite me to share my onions with their audience. For some reason that really irks some people to the point that they feel the need to read and comment on articles purely to say that they don’t like me. So be it. Comes with the territory, I suppose. Like the Wallabies, I just have to suck it up and try to do better next time.

Are the Rebels good or bad? We're genuinely not sure

Also, for what it’s worth, I stand by my insistence that a hooker at international level should probably be able to throw the ball into a lineout straight.

Are the Rebels good or bad? We're genuinely not sure

It seems like your issue is with the public, then. I may have written the words for the Facebook post but they’re the ones who engaged with it and made it what it was as a story.

The ‘no qualifications’ jab is slightly harsh, too. I’m a journo grad who’s freelanced covering rugby, soccer, cricket and golf for almost a decade. It’s just that nobody recognised my name until the Cheika thing blew up.

I’m not saying that makes my pieces any better or adds any credibility to them, but whilst the Roar are happy to have me file articles and I’m enjoying writing them, I’ll continue to do so. Again, nobody is forcing you to read them.

If you’re some sort of pro-journalism crusader intent of protecting the sanctity of the industry, I gotta say it seems masochistic to be trawling the web reading freelanced opinion pieces.

Are the Rebels good or bad? We're genuinely not sure

Don’t be jealous, TK. Nobody’s forcing you to read these articles if you don’t like them.

Are the Rebels good or bad? We're genuinely not sure

First quote – clearly a joke. Sorry you missed it.

Second quote, disagree. Press conference was called for midday. What time do you sleep in til?

Australia left without a team to love after Smith cheats the game

Understand where you’re coming from, Old Bugger, but let’s say that does happen – ratings tank but RA can say “Yeah but that’s because we were up against the soccer, heaps more people watch the soccer if it’s a choice between the two games…”

The advertisers and broadcasters are going to say “Is that so? Well, thanks for your time, we’re off to meet with the soccer people to invest our money with them then…”

Should Rugby Australia make way for the Socceroos? That and other Super Rugby bits

Thanks Wallace, very kind. I totally agree with you, most people on here seem to have missed the parts in the article where I:

– Gave full credit to England for winning

– Pointed out the areas where Australia let themselves down and how they are still behind England in many departments

Appreciate the balanced feedback.

Jack

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

It’s probably reaching a bit to say I’ve sold myself out mate. Also probably a tad unfair to call me a click-bait writer I think – I thought taking an angle focusing on the controversial refereeing decisions would be something different to the usual match reports of which there are already plenty out there.

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

Good line about the eye patch haha. Mate I wrote for an Australian website that thrives off debate and discussion. If I wrote an article from an English standpoint about how everything went fairly well and there was nothing worth talking about do you reckon I’d still have a gig here?

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

To be fair mate, gotta find some sort of angle, figured this would at least kick start a bit of discussion rather than just being the 45th person to file a match report about the game. Totally agree with you re. it being sport, swings & roundabouts etc.

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

Interesting point about the offside line though, just watched it again – keep an eye on Farrell, still offside (retreating) when ball comes out, clearly makes contact with Koroibete just insid ethe 5m line even before Robshaw does. So he’s offside as well.

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

He influences the play whilst still offside. Genia looks up and assesses his options and sees Robshaw in midfield and opts to go for the short ball which leads to Moore and Koroibete colliding. If Robshaw isn’t running back with AUS backline Genia could opt to go wide and score for sure, but had options cut down by a player in an offside position. It used to be called ‘lazy running’, tactically ‘retreating’ whilst also ensuring you get in the way to cut down the options of the attacking team.

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

Mate total credit to England – the history book says they won the game and that’s it. I agree that Foley was poor, so was Genia and when those two are off the whole thing never really gets going – however, thought Australia did incredibly well to stay in the contest as long as they did, especially with the two yellows – just felt like the Koroibete try broke the dam. If it goes 13-13 there it may have knocked the stuffing out of England and it might have been Australia who kicked home like Winx.

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

Pretty much agree with every single word you’ve said here mate. Especially the pulling of Kerevi – he was the only player between McMahon and Koroibete who looked like doing something useful with the ball. Stunned when he got the hook.

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

Not saying Hooper try should have stood, correct call as you say – I was just trying to explain why the Wallabies may have felt hard done by on that one when you see players in front of their fly-half/full back shuffling forward waiting to be run onside after a kick dozens of times every game. That doesn’t make it right, of course, but last night just seemed like every ‘use your judgement’ moment went against Australia.

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

But to apply the laws as directed by the IRB, things like obstruction only become applicable if there is a ‘material effect’ – i.e. a potential tackler being impeded. In this case, the only potential tackler was Robshaw, who was offside, so not really a legal participant in the play. If Robshaw is onside there, we have a discussion about whether this was accidental offside or obstruction, but with Robshaw coming from where he did I’m still staggered as to how that’s not a yellow card and penalty try. That’s just my take, remember!

Blundering referee costs Wallabies at Twickenham

Totally. Far from what some will have you believe, I don’t have an anti-Foley agenda. He’s our best 10 by some distance. However some of his defenders will just refuse to acknowledge that maybe his kicking could be better and go into retaliation mode when you suggest that a skills position player may want to continue to work on his skills.

Forget about the World Cup, enjoy this win for what it is

Totally agree with you guys. I’m tired of the Foley bashing, too. But the reality is that his kicking flaws continue to be a major thorn in the side of this team, we can’t just ignore it because it’s been said before.
If Mitch Marsh continues to not make any runs or take any wickets, people will keep pointing out how something should probably be done about that.

Forget about the World Cup, enjoy this win for what it is

That point was more directed at the line out, which has been picked apart by the All Blacks in recent times but actually worked very well last night. The scrum ‘just about’ held up, meaning that it wasn’t pretty, but more often than not they got the ball out without collapsing and giving away penalties, which should not be understated given our scrum struggles since 2015.

Was that a watershed moment for the Wallabies?

I did think that to myself as I was writing it.

Bledisloe blowout a damning indictment of Australian rugby

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