Roar Guru
Joined April 2011
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The Reds host the Waratahs in Roma this weekend for their final trial before Super Rugby Pacific kicks off. Team lists have been announced.…
Rugby Australia are living well beyond their means. RA lost $27.1 million in 2020 and $9.5 million in 2019. We have to go back…
All right, Australian rugby, grab a jersey, bring it in close, get tight. Heads up, look each other in the eyes. There is no…
Darren Coleman should be back in Sydney by now. His Los Angeles Giltinis won their title last weekend and it was reported he’d be…
What should Australia’s rugby structure look like? Rugby Australia is at the crossroads, incurring record losses on the field and in the financial statements.…
I’ve been very vocal in my comments on this site that I want Roger Davis, the chairman of the New South Wales Rugby Union,…
Super AU kicks off on February 19, meaning it is less than a month away. The Reds, Brumbies and Waratahs have announced their full…
The New Zealand Rugby Union is open to us having between two to four teams in their new competition. This is a letter to…
With Super Rugby AU fast approaching, I was drawn to ponder how the various teams will approach the competition. For the Brumbies it looks…
Raelene Castle has fallen on her sword and resigned as CEO of Rugby Australia. Personally, I think everything that led up to this from…
Many Wallabies fans allowed ourselves to dream of Bledisloe glory, right up until – in the shadows of halftime – Aaron Smith crossed for…
The Australian Conference leaders the Waratahs have crashed back to earth with a thud. Defeated by the Lions from Johannesburg, 0-29, a great big…
The plan to use Super Rugby to develop Australian pro rugby players without having a national comp beneath it in hindsight was always doomed…
Dear Waratahs, could you please learn how to spot and develop talent? Why on earth are the likes of the Alaalatoa brothers, Allan and…
Brett Papworth and his supporters want to take the NRC head on by having the four top teams in each of the Sydney and…
I want to counter some of the gloom surrounding Aussie rugby with a look at who the bright up and coming players are around…
We've got the final that most Aussies wanted - and I suspect quite a few Kiwis are rather keen on this battle as well.…
The last weekend in March meant that the IRB Sevens carnival rolled into Hong Kong. Excitement filled the air as ‘Sevens Week' got into…
Australian rugby is re-implementing a third tier, as ARU CEO Bill Pulver announced from Edinburgh this week that a new national competition of between eight…
Those Reds are at it again - stealing New South Welshmen to bolster their teams. Lachlan Turner is the latest signing taken over the…
NFI – bio says he’s worked for Oceania Rugby as well as local comps but am not sure what qualifies someone as a rugby man.
Do they have to have played?
'Definition of madness': Rugby reform must start with total cleanout of RA board - and this should happen next
The four named members of SOARR are:
Russ Tulloch
Dick Marks
Geoff Stooke
Paul Jonson
Paul Jonson is Associate Professor and Industry Fellow of UTS – he’s the Sports Governance/Sports Law expert in the group
'Definition of madness': Rugby reform must start with total cleanout of RA board - and this should happen next
Can we choose which games to consider? Then I’d probably restrict the sample to just games between NZ sides and the Tahs! 😂
Brumbies 'systematically taken apart by the Blues' in 'non-contest' as Larkham's men cop huge reality check
measured across a range of metrics
This is actually it Cec. For me picking 8 starters, 5 bench, I’m not really clear at this stage who the bench loosehead or the bench backrower should be.
Outside of those to two positions (and assuming everyone fit), then I could easily see 3 Reds, 2 Brumbies, 2 from France, 2 Rebels, 1 Force and 1 Tah
Looseheads – Bell / another (maybe Hodgeman?)
Hoopers – Paenga-Amosa / Faessler
Tightheads – Tupou / Alaalatoa
Locks – Rodda / Skelton / Salakaia-Loto
Openside – McReight (Although I’m a big Tizzano fan and hope he keeps improving, would love to see Reimer starting and getting more of a chance to push as well)
6/8/bench backrower – Valetini / Leota / another (probably 9 guys all worthy of consideration for that last spot)
Brumbies 'systematically taken apart by the Blues' in 'non-contest' as Larkham's men cop huge reality check
Cec, maybe we need to look at which SRAU forwards have stood up against the stronger NZ packs.
Obviously the Wallabies won’t be facing Aussie packs so performance against NZ sides might be the better benchmark?
Brumbies 'systematically taken apart by the Blues' in 'non-contest' as Larkham's men cop huge reality check
Great to hear Rodda back and a good first up performance.
Well done Force!
Beale, Rodda shine on Super Rugby return as Force smash Crusaders to keep finals hopes alive
Don’t forget the poor old Reds, only able to “rout” the Highlanders.
When will this criminal under celebration end?
Brumbies 'systematically taken apart by the Blues' in 'non-contest' as Larkham's men cop huge reality check
Wasn’t pretty Doc.
For the Wallabies sake, hopefully an aberration and they bounce back against the Canes.
Brumbies 'systematically taken apart by the Blues' in 'non-contest' as Larkham's men cop huge reality check
Thanks. Dean, obviously given the bye we need the heat taken off.
–
Force smash Crusaders not positive enough for you?
Brumbies 'systematically taken apart by the Blues' in 'non-contest' as Larkham's men cop huge reality check
It’s great that we had a Brumbies (and briefly Reds) coach to finish the job.
'Like a Scud missile': World Cup reject leads rout, but Reds suffer fresh blow with Petaia's season in jeopardy
C’mon Fezza. It’s a new era! Tahs are a struggling side trying to find their way.
Let’s save that attitude for the Brumbies!
Nice win for your lads.
'Like a Scud missile': World Cup reject leads rout, but Reds suffer fresh blow with Petaia's season in jeopardy
100% we should have more of our better players off shore, earning what they are worth without bankrupting ourselves.
We just disagree there aren’t any already o/s demanding selection.
Take Quade Cooper vs Ben Donaldson last year.
Whether it’s financial metrics of cost – RA spent more on Donaldson last year than QC
Revenue – more people will turn in to watch QC than Donaldson
Or rugby – last year, QC was more ready to play a leading role in tests (pop quiz , who was the 10 in the only game the Wallabies backs scored 4 tries against top 10 opposition?)
Would I pick QC this year? No. But last year, for the World Cup, absolutely. Him basically being dropped after the Argentina game was ridiculous, he didn’t lose us that match.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
Yeah, I’m not buying that os players are the cause of last year’s woes.
Leave the team in Rennie’s hands and give him the same open selection (which he asked for) and I bet we would have gotten better results
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
Gee letting him go was a good decision.
Bealham story is the one that is most similar, although for me even worse.
Oz schools and a Canberra born and bred player. Didn’t get a look in at the Brumbies while they signed Sio, Alaalatoa and the Smith brothers.
40 tests for Ireland and hasn’t looked back.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
How is allowing between 2-5 players from offshore – picking the best wherever they are? The only coach that has had carte blanche is EJ.
“oh we aren’t good picking domestic so let’s pick overseas and that will solve everything”. That’s a lovely strawman.
OS players have seldom performed as they are built up to. A huge factor is time with the team which cannot be overcome. making absolute statements doesn’t make them true.
Weird how the Boks keep winning world cups, apparently it can’t be done with the squads they are picking.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
Weird comment Jed.
Slipper was injured at the WC, I think a fit Sio might have given us better value. He played good rugby in his last season in Wallaby colours and since.
You comment on a number of guys that are offshore, or have been offshore and say they were good – yeah, that’s basically my point.
I agree Nela can and should still be picked – that’s not what the domestic only crew want though.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
Looking at guys like Finlay Bealham and Mack Hansen, pretty telling for the Brumbies too.
Sione Tuipulotu/ Rebels and the likes of Jack Cornelsen/Reds.
Maybe it’s a message for all Australian rugby.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Hours, with a single glass? C’mon Mo! You can do better than that.
RIP, David Lord: Australian sports journalism icon was 'always thoughtful and thought-provoking'
Lordy leaves a legacy that modern journalists will find nigh impossible to match.
Always enjoyed sparring with him on these pages. Very much appreciated his contributions even if we seldom agreed.
Condolences to his family and friends. Vale David.
RIP, David Lord: Australian sports journalism icon was 'always thoughtful and thought-provoking'
My position is pick our best wherever they are.
If we need to get better at integrating overseas players to get the best out of our best, let’s do that.
For me it’s very wrong to say, we’ve not done well dipping our toe so let’s stop there. It’s a false argument.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
Nice. Some good depth growing at the Force.
Have they finally been allowed to spend a bit of money? Fantastic if they have.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
RA are going broke trying to keep players good enough to win onshore.
Going broke and failing to win.
Despite selecting the majority of the team from the domestic pool you want them to focus on.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
Yes. Agree the stats of counting win/losses where os played or didn’t is pointless without context.
Don’t think you captured both sides of the argument.
One side of the argument says pick our best players, wherever they may play.
The other says, no, pick domestic only.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
But still relatively small numbers. I’m guessing the average is two per twenty three.
Maybe we need to try a larger number of offshore players.
We’ve seen what 100% domestic and 90%+ looks like.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
My concern is the possible voting structure put forward has voting from a Super side.
Seems to assume keeping that comp which is a core problem IMO
'Definition of madness': Rugby reform must start with total cleanout of RA board - and this should happen next