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“…it was clear the Brumbies needed to match the physicality of New Zealand’s sides to quickly get back on the horse.”
In other news, the sun came up today. FFS, is this wasn’t already known you have to wonder. Of course it was, but perhaps other messages crowded it out in the week leading up. Perhaps the message this week should be about one thing and one things only: bash ’em.
Brumbies to welcome back Wallabies duo for 'Canes clash after week of soul-searching, Tahs to tweak side for Chiefs
Stan deserves a lot of credit for their coverage. The difficulties come from trying to produce entertainment while balancing some serious analysis to keep the folks on this site happy enough. They would know more about the audience make up and what people tune in to watch. And Stan must have a goal to grow their viewer numbers and that must obviously come from people who are not rugby diehards.
The Wrap: Crusaders' shot clock fiasco and shhh, don’t put the moz on Darby
Have to agree. White/IFL – Donaldson – Stewart – Spink is a respectable backline. Burey, Tiatia and Potter are solid. It’s the pack (and especially the front row I think) where they are struggling. But the Blues defeat revealed an mental attitude problem and that is not simply a “reset” issue.
Beale's back! Wallabies star joins Western Force after injury opens the door for veteran's return
Very true. There are some more broken fundamentals to be addressed in the side. Julian Heaven at 2 looked good around the paddock and Gamble had his best game for quite a while. But in general the Tahs pack lacks punch. Guys like HJH and Sinclair have never really produced the goods.
Brumbies make it 12 straight against Tahs as Bell hobbles off in worrying sign for Wallabies
Agree that Will Harrison and Teddy Wilson definitely add some speed to the Tahs backline.
Brumbies make it 12 straight against Tahs as Bell hobbles off in worrying sign for Wallabies
That would be contingency. Pro bono means for the good and is usual for charity and sometimes cause célèbre, such as this case.
Maybe it is contingency, but we don’t have any evidence of that.
Rebels set to sue Rugby Australia as civil war erupts, Rugby Victoria President barred from summit
Well played Harry. “an unbearable sense of lightness in tackle” is a delicious line of which Marquez himself would be proud.
Ned is a much improved player. Jed has skills in the LO for sure, but seems to go missing sometimes. Let’s see Tane repeat the performance, but it was the best performance by an AU 10 for a long time.
Jed, Ned and Tane Edmed: The direction Joe Schmidt should head to put Eddie era to bed
Good luck to him. Everyone needs a goal.
The reality is that Australian rugby at all levels does not have a good record of (a) talent identification; and (b) talent development. The reasons have been deliberated ad nauseum within this forum and others, so there is no reason to revisit.
Players who have been discarded here and flourished and grown into seasoned internationals are several. Exhibit:
(i) Tyrell Lomax
(ii) Mack Hansen
(iii) Will Skelton
More examples exist at European club level.
Now RA has a new high performance management unit (Horne, with Nucifora to join IIRC), and a new Wallabies coach in Schmidt. I welcome their fresh perspectives and I am happy for all the players to start clean under the new management and let their rugby do the talking.
For all his faults, Eddie did always have one pearl of wisdom which was that “players select themselves”.
'I want to be a Wallaby great': The World Cup heartache driving one of Eddie's bolters forward
Skelton had great games on the northern tour esp vs Ireland. And he was strong in the RWC until he got injured. This analysis is old and tired.
Super Rugby teams: Reds name young gun for Tahs clash in front of Schmidt, Test halves to start against Wallaby-laden Brumbies
I think the working dog team could do the whole pantomime justice.
Leaked document says RA out to 'destroy Super Rugby' and 'turn members against each other' as Rebels' pain comes to light
Well that is hardly up for debate unless we want to wallow in the room of mirrors. The article’s key point is to dispel a core myth which is that “there is not enough cattle” which could be translated to players posessing sufficient athletic and performance standard, uncut diamonds if you like.
On a first principles basis this is clear. In any global sporting contest played throughout the world, whether it be swimming to tennis to football (soccer), league, and even now NFL, there are Australians playing and winning.
In rugby it is clear that our pathways are lacking from club to provincial to SR to tests. Uncut diamonds remain uncut. Take Tyrell Lomax as an example. He was merely promising when he played in Australia, but the Kiwis turned him into an AB. Hoping the new RA management finally bring some professionalism to the pathways. So far seem to be making right moves with Horne and Schmidt and Nucifora. Fingers crossed.
Wallabies depth chart: The list that dispels the myth Aussie rugby doesn’t have enough players
Yeah, but not even a cycle as that implies some kind of “just wait it out” dynamic. I reckon it is more of a descent for rugby and other sports. Across society we are becoming more concentrated and narrow in opinion and interest, and I’m presuming that social media and other technologies which purport to measure interest or attention are part of the cause.
My favourite characterization of the current circumstance is “weaponized ignorance” which is evident in politics and the rise of populist politicians with simple but wrong solutions to complex problems, entertainment with endless MCU sequels, each more terrible than the last, music with auto-tune banalities, and now sports. And now AI is standing by to hyper-accelerate the race to the bottom. Sigh.
Why ex-All Blacks prop is open to Wallabies switch - and the 'mental toughness' he's found in Australia
Exactly. We all know there are flaws in the pathways, and that these will take years to fix. At the the same time, the Wallabies and the SR teams are the primary sources of all external funding into the game. If they continue on current trajectory, and fail against the Lions and in the next RWC, we will see rugby in Australia sink to the same profile as lacrosse. All the talent will sign for the mungos, AFL, or (gasp) soccer.
So RA have to address the top with pragmatic solutions that probably will involve non-local talent, either coaching or playing. EJ was not a pragmatic choice, that was a “bet it all on red 16” choice. It’s too early to say, RA seems to have some adults back in control. Schmidt is a good appointment as in my opinion, no local coach is ready to lead Wallabies. In the mid-long term, hopefully the pathways will develop stronger local players and coaches.
Which is the greater sin: continually losing, or having a few players not born in Australia but willing and able to play for the Wallabies? I reckon first and foremost fans just want some wins so we can look at ourselves in the mirror, and stop wasting all our time banging on the pages of the Roar with all our coulda, shoulda, woulda opinions. A winning culture will quiet lots of that noise.
Why ex-All Blacks prop is open to Wallabies switch - and the 'mental toughness' he's found in Australia
Proctor is a very useful player who could slot into 12. Daugunu looked very good at 13 for the Reds in the second half of the season. Kellaway at 15 and some useful options at wing. But the backs do not look as strong as the forwards.
'Not here to come second': Why Tupou's arrival at the Rebels shapes as most important moment in club's history
Fair point Nick. Players can and do change. James Horwill springs to mind. Quite undisciplined when he first started, but was given the Reds captaincy and really matured from there.
Comeback kids: 10 players who can explode back into the Wallabies reckoning in 2024
Since you ask KFTD, what I ask for is some out and out mongrel. Not out and out thugs since that wouldn’t last in the modern game but players like say Owen Finnegan who were thuggish.
We have a lot of blokes who, if you’ll forgive the expression, “look like Tarzan and play like Jane”. By this I mean they have the evident physical attributes, but lack the evident desire to hit other blokes very, very hard. Harry Wilson, Will Harris, Rob Leota to name a few. And we have a few “look like Tarzan play like Chita” types like Swinton. By this I mean those physical specimens who just see the red mist.
The enforcer role seems to have disappeared. Yet look at the Boks, they have them aplenty, and legal hitters too as they have a very low card rate as a team. The last real hard man I can remember in Australian rugby was Jackpot in the 2014 Tahs, who wasn’t Australian. Barely controlled mongrel, in a nutshell.
Predicted Wallabies team in 2024: Eddie's outcasts back as halves, back-row battles heat up
Mrs Howell? Well perhaps after a sufficiently long period of mature deliberation (and sunstroke)…
But Ginger at 6 and Mary Ann at 7 has a certain attraction.
Predicted Wallabies team in 2024: Eddie's outcasts back as halves, back-row battles heat up
I want to like Wilson, but he just never seems to fire when he got his opportunities in the past. He would invariably go to ground too quickly and make little impact in attack. But maybe he will come back fresh in 24 with some new mongrel.
Predicted Wallabies team in 2024: Eddie's outcasts back as halves, back-row battles heat up
Agreed. Kellaway bought calmness and consistency to 15 whenever he got the chance. Ikitau is the same at 13. Petaia still needs to mature in a position. It will be interesting to see if Les K continues the Vuni experiment. He was starting to play better.
Predicted Wallabies team in 2024: Eddie's outcasts back as halves, back-row battles heat up
I like Lonergan but for me Isaac FL is much faster and has the better pass of the two. As defenders I think they are roughly the same.
Predicted Wallabies team in 2024: Eddie's outcasts back as halves, back-row battles heat up
How is Josh Nasser coming along after his injuries?
Predicted Wallabies team in 2024: Eddie's outcasts back as halves, back-row battles heat up
The real selection dilemma is Ginger or Mary Ann
Predicted Wallabies team in 2024: Eddie's outcasts back as halves, back-row battles heat up
I reckon Ewen McKenzie is the nest Australian coach of the last 20 years and suffered a terrible ending. He seemed like a very pragmatic and innovator operator with the way he changed team tactics depending on who he was playing. A loss for Australian rugby.
Ange Postecoglu seems like much the same kind of character. He also fell out with the local game administrators and quit as national coach. After more success with Yokohama and Celtic, he is now doing great things with Spurs in the EPL. Its also a shame he has been lost to Australian football.
'Be Australian': How the RWC QF classics showed we must urgently define and deliver our own style
If you look at the replay which is showing in the small window to the left, Kolbe clearly seems to have left the line early. It looks like Ramos shift his balance but had not moved forward in his kicking motion.
'Heartbroken': Springboks knock France out of RWC in dramatic, controversial QF as 'key moment' highlighted
Last year’s Marky N, yes. This year’s model just hasn’t looked very interested. He’s already thinking about league. Pietsch needs more ball.
Brumbies to welcome back Wallabies duo for 'Canes clash after week of soul-searching, Tahs to tweak side for Chiefs