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Joined November 2012
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Week after week the pages of this wonderful sports website are filled with the concussion discussion and its most dreaded embodiment, the red card.…
With all the doom and gloom hovering over around Australian rugby at the moment, I thought I’d lighten things up with everyone’s favourite amateur…
Rugby has strengths and weaknesses. We hear about the weaknesses all the time. So I would like to lay out a strengths-based analysis of…
We lost the first Bledisloe Cup Test badly and so as usual we see the opportunist axe grinders doing their thing online. I do…
As passionate fans, we know that at times we're all that 'bloke in the pub'. It's you and me, your mates, my mates, and…
In one of The Roar's comment threads the other day, I referred to the 'main' rugby states as being Queensland and New South Wales…
I have played plenty of cricket and understand the appeal, and dare I say the value, of sledging, but this will be a critical…
According to many pundits and Roarers, Michael Hooper is manifestly unfit for the Wallaby captaincy. One half the argument goes to his leadership abilities,…
Brett McKay's article this week reminded me of a First World War general rallying the troops to make one final charge up the hill.…
I have lived in the United States for three years and have not tired of explaining cricket to Americans. Cricket is an exotic and…
Based upon talent alone, the 2016 class of All Blacks may one day be rated among of the best rugby teams of all time.…
Personality. The best Australian rugby teams throughout history have had a personality. The Brumbies of yesteryear, the Reds of 2011 and the Waratahs of…
It is a do or die match and coach Michael Cheika decides to throw all caution to the wind. This is that backline. It…
I will make a prediction straight off the bat. The USA Eagles will emerge from the pool stage of the 2023 World Cup and…
With the Brumbies, Waratahs and Force all in the Super Rugby finals mix, many a rugby pundit has lauded the growing depth in Australian…
Maybe it reveals more about me in a Freudian sense than I'd care to investigate, but I'm just going to come right out and…
Rudderless. A brilliant way to sum up the Waratahs in 2013. What is a rugby rudder? A bloke that gives direction in key moments…
The Wallabies need a more prescriptive and structured game plan because we simply don't have the team for the Deans 'play what's in front…
Bevan just had the misfortune of there being such an abundance of talent around they weren’t forced to persevere when he struggled in tests. We had such an embarrassment of riches back then…
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
Perhaps he’s more of an in the moment type guy? Wants to keep playing but wants a new challenge?
Having opened and batted 3 and 4 I’ll say this, for anyone experiencing any kind of nervous issues, 3 and 4 are the worst, and the worst of all worlds. Sometimes you’re in early under the pump and sometimes you wait. With opening you always knew the equation before you started….hard new rock, fired up opposition. One can’t discount the possibility this will be good for Smith…
The two factors that’ll decide whether Smith’s opening gambit is a surprising success or ill-conceived failure
For sure. And throw in Martin Love, and for that matter Michael Bevan.
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
White ball up the order is not the same, and not the point. Gilly was an opener in ODI and batted 7 in tests. I realise that Watto played most of his cricket up the order, but I’m questioning why he was never looked at as an ideal 6 or 7.
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
I just cheated. Cox, Bevan, Love. All of these and above are from more or less the same era. Crazy time for batsman.
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
I think if Smith is a reliable 40-45 average at opener in all conditions that’s worth quite a lot. Hard to argue he’s not a chance of achieving that.
The two factors that’ll decide whether Smith’s opening gambit is a surprising success or ill-conceived failure
I’m all good with Smudge having a crack. No doubt he’ll apply himself to the max. And frankly, his recent knack for getting starts and then getting out seems like it’d be relatively more valuable at opener…happy to see Green come in at 2/80 or something.
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
I never understood why they persisted with Watto at opener or top of the order. He was no Kallis and was never going to be. Yet we know from his short form play how destructive a lower order bat he could have been….
Not sure about Green yet. Knicking off seems to be an easier thing to fix than an inability to play around your front pad. That was certainly my experience as a batsman. Knicking just meant I needed to focus on my leaves, where as the front pad issue was a perennial weakness…
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
Bancroft and Harris ain’t no Siddons, Lehman, Law, Meagher, Hodge etc…. And Hussey, and Haydos before they actually got picked. Throw in Elliot and Blewett as guys who got a chance and didn’t take it but were just absolute plunderers at Shield level.
Am I missing anyone?
What an era that was….
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
I feel like they give MM a crack to rest the other bowlers, yes, but if it’s swinging he’s definitely a “buy a wicket bowler”….I used to open back in the day and get out to MM style change bowlers all the time. Just couldn’t resist that bit of air outside the off stump and the prospect of a booming cover drive.
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
Isn’t Green from WA?
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga
Hopefully Horne and Nucifora get along. You’d think this is laying the groundwork for Schmidt right?
CONFIRMED: 'I doubt it' - Nucifora returns to the fold after backflip, as new head of HP locked in
Almost certainly yes. Quantity stats aren’t the most useful for comparing eras. Certainly with today runs scored it’s similar. So average is very useful in batting and bowling. Strike rate for a test bowler as well. So somewhere out there in stats land bowlings quartet have a strike rate, and that’d be very interesting indeed.
Harder to calculate are stats on impact…but certainly wickets or runs against the top teams is good shorthand. So too in hard conditions.
Australia’s quartet of quality will soon be most prolific in Test history - but never the greatest
I think given they’ve gone down the route of a true administrative director of rugby, we need a true coaches coach in the main chair. This could be Schmidt or White on face value, but it gets me to thinking of questions such as, who will be the best at aligning selections and game plan? Who will balance realism with ambition? Who will attract the best quality team of assistants?
The latter in particular is critical….
'He's up for it': Why ex-Boks World Cup-winner Jake White should be on the Wallabies coaching hit list
But to answer the question posed by the article, it absolute diminishes the spectacle from my perspective….other than keep pushing to ICC to invest in test cricket, not sure what can be done.
Obviously with places like Pakistan it’s about more than just cricket….they’ll hopefully be back. The next Wasim or Waqar is hopefully around the corner and they’ll surely “bring the crowds back”. Watching Wasim was exhilarating.
Do Australians love Test cricket or just watching the baggy green side win at home pretty much all the time?
“Only six have ended in defeat – three to South Africa in 2008-09, ‘12-13 and ‘16-17, India in 2018-19 and ‘20-21, and England’s 2010-11 anomaly.”
In fairness, all of these defeats have come post the Aussie golden era, so we’re not invincible by any means, it just takes a great team to do it, and specifically a great bowling line up. The likes of Broad, Anderson, Steyne, Morkel, Ashwin, Bumra etc.
I think, too, the pitches need to offer something to the bowlers to even things up. India aside, most teams cannot match our batting on flat, bouncy pitches. It says so much about the talent of Kohli, Pujara, etc that they could do so well in Australia…
Do Australians love Test cricket or just watching the baggy green side win at home pretty much all the time?
Can we get passed the “thug” epithet please?
In being aggressive, he’s doing exactly what coaches want of him. His issue is one of accuracy and control. Skill even. But you make him sound like Richard Lowe or Mike Tyson…And at the end of the day, you don’t know the bloke.
Exclusive: Rising Wallabies hardman set to leave Australian rugby in warning sign for RA
100%. 50 over cricket needs to be distinct to T20 rather than T20 over 50 overs! ha ha.
Ace of Chase: Cummins, Starc steer Aussies into World Cup decider after classic semi as Proteas' knockout curse continues
To me, if there’s going to be a TMO, they just had to intervene for that knock on.
The two phases thing is a silly technicality. A better idea would to think in terms of “sequence”. To me, it was clearly in the very next sequence of play. Certainly Boks fans would be clamouring for that rule change if the try had stood and they lost the game.
What I have a even less sympathy for is complaints about the Ardie Savea penalty. Under no circumstances should referees be second guessed by technology in those instances. The breakdown must remain a space for feel to play the dominant role in how they’re refereed.
Rugby News: World Rugby warns Kiwis' over 'robbery' whine, Barnes hits back at ABs, damning report into 'toxic' culture
Can’t agree…I’d say it’s our best chance probability wise of getting or chasing a competitive total.
As far as batsman who can safely (or more safetly) nudge it around for 4-5 an over against the likes of Jadeja, they are our best. And we’re going to need to do that for at least 20 middle overs if we want to bat out the 50 in multiple scenarios. Someone like Maxwell can score at 10+ an over quite comfortably if he gets going, and more than make up for 20 overs of a run rate at 4-5.
So sure, as far as the probability outcome “spread”, it will reduce the variance and standard deviation, meaning with Smith and Labs we’re less likely to get 300 plus. But….I would say we’re also a lot less likely to get bowled out sub 250. So in a final I’d take narrower spread with a lower ceiling, hands down.
Put it another way, imagine how we’ll feel if we somehow knock India over for 270 and all of a sudden 5.5 runs and over will get it done, and we don’t have Smith and Labs.
Six-win streak but problems abound: The tactical, selection and form issues Australia must fix before World Cup semis
Maybe not “raging”, but the first match against India turned a lot….Jadeja to Smith…you don’t tend to see that on most ODI wickets…
Six-win streak but problems abound: The tactical, selection and form issues Australia must fix before World Cup semis
Obviously there’s a balance in terms of rewarding form and not suffering ongoing mediocrity from top players, but personally I think it’d be madness to leave out Smith. And they quite simply won’t.
Firstly, yes, he’s not in top form. But nor is he in bad form. This to me is case closed. The effect on morale would be too extreme. You just don’t. No.
Secondly, if we play India and they roll out the expected raging turner and we’re batting first, we just must, absolutely must, accept a 280-300 score and give our bowlers a chance. This means pick Smith. And maybe Labs too. And if chasing, we need the punchers chance with the likes of Maxwell in the last 10. We can’t be getting bowled out early.
This is knock out phase cricket. We need guys who can ensure we bat out the 50 in trying batting conditions.
Six-win streak but problems abound: The tactical, selection and form issues Australia must fix before World Cup semis
Broken strap. Not out. Can’t call that even “dozy” a.k.a. Bairstow. Rule change to create exception for equipment failure.
'Felt like I was at war': Skipper defends appeal as Mathews launches tirade over 'disgraceful' TIMED OUT dismissal
What bothers me most are mishits going for 6. If well timed, middled shots go a bit further than they used to I’m less worried about that.
Edges going for four is part of the game, but to me there’s an issue if mishits are routinely going for six. It literally means a bowler can essentially win the contest and still be hit for six. Not good. This is especially relevant for spinners. There needs to be immense risk reward in trying to loft them over the fence.
It is a similar issue to golf for sure. It encourages a different approach to the game that I personally find less interesting. So if Brysan DeChambeau wants to get himself all jacked up like a driving range champion, good luck to him, but his mishits ought to cost him as a balance.
Bats hit crazy distances: Joy of six diminishes as modern chunks of willow turn average batters into master blasters
Tony, I hope this comment doesn’t sound mean spirited, because I really don’t mean it to be.
But mate, reckon you’ve been a journo too long. What you guys do just doesn’t matter as much as you think.
I get that it’s a drag to have to come up with good content out of boring, clearly media trained, word soup. But mate, at the end of the day, your content, even in a livewire forum like The Roar, is but the parsley on top, or maybe the sauce if I’m being more generous. Games of rugby are the steak.
Sure, IF Eddie had won games of rugby it would have been an awesome combo. I loved Warnie, yunno, interesting off the field. But first and foremost Warnie had to be good.
So no, if Schmidt is the best coach available, he’s no gamble. He’s the wise and prudent choice. He’s our best chance at a juicy steak. And after years of chewy and overcooked meat that’s all any fan could want. If the sauce is not that interesting, we don’t care.
COMMENT: In trading Greatest Showman for 'boring' and 'pragmatic' Sleepy Joe, RA gambling with game's future