The Roar
The Roar

The Roar

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Joined August 2014

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A tragic rugby, cricket and boxing fan. I am not an alcoholic I just have a drink every time an old bloke tells me how good Arthur Beetson, Gary Abblett's dad, Mark Ella, Mike Tyson or Ian Chappell were. To be fair Arthur Beetson was awesome. The others... meh...

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The incumbent fair enough but he had a shocker against england last november… just watched it again and i’d forgotten how bad he played… he let in the first try… lost the ball several times after contact… kicked the ball away aimlessly when we had a greta opportunity…. he is a. decent player but we have much better options at 13 with perese and or petaia or paisami even

'How much will Valetini be the focus?': The Roar experts' predicted Wallabies 23 for the first Test against England

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1d

can you ask him why tom robertson isn’t even in the squad considering he looked good in his 10min against england last year… he can play both sides of the scrum as well

WALLABIES TEAM: JOC, Tate left OUT of 23 in Rennie's Reds purge, Neville and Porecki to debut as Brumbies dominate

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Today

wow…. didn’t expect that if it proves to be true… i for one like neville as a selection though

WALLABIES TEAM: JOC, Tate left OUT of 23 in Rennie's Reds purge, Neville and Porecki to debut as Brumbies dominate

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Today

yes i like the stats you have… thought provoking… one thing i will say is it will be interesting to see if England do choose Will Stuart at tight-head over sinckler…. i expect they will.
Stuart is their incumbent starting tight-head from memory in the 6 nations and is their best tight-head IMHO.
It was a shame we didn’t get to see Bell v Stuart go head to head in a scrum in 2021… Bell struggled against Sinckler all game at scrum time……both Stuart and Tom Robertson came on late in the game last November and it was interesting that Robertson held his own in the two or three scrums they had…. I don’t think Bell will be able to handle him.

It's time for the Wallabies to front up against ancient foes, and this is how they should do it

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1d

i don’t think you understand the point… or have skim read and lost the gist of my point???
John Eales was a great player, probably the best rugby forward we’ve ever produced.
thats my point. We’ve lost the ability at the schoolboy level in identifying players like him. i’ve been on selection panels full of people that just want to discover the next gordon tallis..not the next john eales. I’ve seen very good young players that do all the fundamentals so well they should be the first players picked only to see them struck off the list because they didn’t score a bullocking try…. everyone invovled in pathways should be forced to watch highlights of John eales .. i’m with you…he was a genius
understand?

It's time for the Wallabies to front up against ancient foes, and this is how they should do it

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1d

i beg to differ.. we are about to get towelled up at scrum time…

It's time for the Wallabies to front up against ancient foes, and this is how they should do it

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1d

A great article and I am so glad to have read it. Thankyou Nicholas. I have a question and a comment… what do u mean by interval in regards to the stats… is that minutes between involvements?
I’ve been lamenting aussie rugby’s fixation on who will be in our backline, (to a lesser extent our backrow) which has never been our issues, (except for fly-half which has been an issue since larkham retired.. but lets park that for now because eventually we’ll see quality come through i’m sure).
We haven’t had a decent tight five for almost a quarter of a century due to a lack of depth of talent and part of the reason is a lack of empathetic journalism toward the tight-five from most (todays article is exactly what we need as a rugby fan base to up our knowledge) because fan praise toward solid set-piece and fundamentals is almost non-existent.
I know from first hand that this filters down and is a huge issue at grass roots because young players that display such attributes are not being selected in rep teams nor advocated for by coaches/selectors. The result is they are not getting through to development pathways. I have had many heated discussions, as one of the only advocates for talent identification of fundamental tight five play, with people that would rather a player that can’t hold up a scrum, nor have a decent work-rate because he/she scored a fabulous bullocking try at one point. The kid with the greater potential that will end up a much better all-round rugby player is almost always cast aside. (many of the people responsible for talent identification at grass roots level talk only about the latest NRL game which is a huge concern as well…. most have no idea frankly)
Recently an ammendment was made to a schoolboy rep structure (i won’t mention which for confidentiality) but the change was via by-laws that allowed an extra player to be selected into squads to replicate the 23 aside structure whereby 6 front-rowers can be in a squad.
What did they do? Did they add an extra tight-head prop? No they selected an extra hybrid utility to cover outside back/backrower instead… meaning a kid that is crucially important to being identified as potential talent, as a much needed front rower, was left out.
So that is a perfect example of what is wrong with our rugby culture.
And it is not just the front-row….If John Eales came through the system today at a schoolboy carnival he would be cast aside because he isn’t Gordon Tallis like. It is a huge problem.

It's time for the Wallabies to front up against ancient foes, and this is how they should do it

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1d

I agree Frost is the best lock prospect coming through… Swain… wow you really don’t like him… perhaps you’ve seen in him something others aren’t seeing. I’m going to keep a closer eye on him. good comment

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

‘Angus Bell, Taniela Tupou, Allan Alaalatoa, Scott Sio, James Slipper, and Pone Fa’amausili can do the job.’
wow you listed their names and said ‘can do the job’… that is reassuring.. thank you.
Problem is Bell struggles to keep his bind up, Tupou bludges in defence, Alaalatoa is really a loose-head converted to a tight-head without the necessary power or technique, Sio has always been just not quite good enough, Slipper is a work-horse around the park but a weak scrummager at test level and Fa’amausili couldn’t hold up a cardboard placard let alone an international scrum.

ANALYSIS: Key match ups and strategy, plus who will win and why, for July's three massive rugby Test series

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6d

what comments…he made no comment to me about saia. Now he has below…blaming the editor huh.. yeah right…nice form. if i had a time machine i could go back and read that comment first… but i am all out of flux capacitors…. so i’ll have to be as cringe as someone i don’t know as i don’t know why you are commenting… are you his dad?

'Work ethic, aggression and aerial battles': Using Dave Rennie's statements to predict his first Test team selection

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5d

what personal attack?

you selected a player that hasn’t played professional rugby for years….

'Work ethic, aggression and aerial battles': Using Dave Rennie's statements to predict his first Test team selection

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5d

hollaway injured..ned hanigan brought into the squad… rennie may know what he’s doing after all

'Work ethic, aggression and aerial battles': Using Dave Rennie's statements to predict his first Test team selection

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5d

An interesting read and kudos to you for your churchillian references.

The only problem with your team is that Saia Faingaa no longer plays professional rugby…. and you forgot the flyhalf altogether… based on your want to select players from yester-year that are way, way, way past there best I think we can assume you’ll probably want to select a no 10 that last played well in 2011… which would be ridiculous… wait… what.. Quade Cooper is in the squad? May aswell pick Saia Faingaa actually. While we’re at let’s bring in Rocky Elsom.

‘Matt Philip of the locks has the best work rate, is a lineout caller, a good ball carrier.’.. you got his name right… the rest of the sentence though…. no.

and as for your call on Jordan Uelese… he is the best scrummaging no2 in the country. His work-rate is fine… it is hard to fathom that you believe it is not considering the injuries he has had during his short career.. how does anyone know that? there just hasn’t been enough evidence to rule him out on how work rate… from what i’ve seen he has avery good work rate….all we do know is that since he destroyed the baby all blacks as a junior wallaby he has been a player we’ve all been waiting for to stay injury free… if he is fit… and he finally seems to be… he should be one of the first players picked.

'Work ethic, aggression and aerial battles': Using Dave Rennie's statements to predict his first Test team selection

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5d

Thank goodness Hanigan was selected.

World class player should be in the starting tight-five.

I was starting to worry that the selectors were no better than the average ill informed parochial fan with an anti NSW agenda… there i said it… i feel better

Holloway debut hopes hobbled, May also in doubt as Jones gets ready for verbal warfare

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5d

I recall Hanigan getting rag dolled perhaps once or twice in his first couple of season… a long time ago now…. he is world class and we can’t afford world class locks playing in the b team. The problem he has is he is not tall for a lock and that is why he gets put at no6 at the expense of a ball carrier… he is not a ball carrier and thats why he is unpopular, inAustralia. we expect our backrowers to all be gordon tallis. Itoje is roughly the same height and size as Hanigan, (bothare 6ft5 112-115kgs) yet plays at no4 where he belongs. So should Hanigan. The no4 doesn’t have to be 6ft6-10. That has been proven time and time again. Brad Thorn another perfect example of a 6ft5 lock that did all the ugly stuff.

I like Nick Frost and to a lesser extent Phillip but I question their work rates off the ball… in fact i’ve been to games and watched them closely and they do too much walking during the phases frankly. it is the phase after they’v been walking that costs us and it goes unnoticed. Hanigan and Swain are simply a lot better because if their extra efforts.

Valianu is a bit more experienced than this season he has been overseas as a professional so he could be brought in. I’d have him before porecki who i just don’t rate. Nasser is another potential.. good call

we are about to be destroyed at set-piece.. there is no doubt

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

if you google tom robertson highlights for waratahs and wallabies on youtube you will see that is far from the truth… no one noticed is all… all we care about is the no 6 to 15.. that is the problem

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

no way.. he carries more… team tactics.. but thats about it

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

Ellis Genge the starting english prop is roughly the same size, perhaps only slightly bigger. What say you?

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

he should be

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

Yes Slipper started his test career as the no 3 ie able o play both sides…and played there last year due to necessity from memory.
he just isn’t very good at it. ie no3.
Robertson is.

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

Slipper has been tried at tight-head before… he is not a good tight-head. This scares me.

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

your starting tight-five would be the popular choice.. when it fails… and it will.. will you blame every other selection or will you consider that tight-five is the problem?
When they are piggy backed up the field because we can’t get parity at set-piece or when they make half breaks because that tight-five are a half a second too sluggish it will not get noticed by many.
Robertson-hanigan, uelese make the extra efforts to stop the half break…to solidify the attacking breakdown.. they hold up the scrum.. hanigan secures his lineout etc etc
The only player in your tight-five that should start is Swain.

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

Phillip’s work rate is not even close to Hanigans or Itojes

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

Tom robertson has played plenty of test rugby and against the english and was awesome… no one bothered to notice because all they do is watch what happens everywhere else

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d

ps the sidelining of Tom Robertson is the biggest failure of the current wallaby selectors…. the second is not selecting a fit Jordan Uelese and if they do not bring in Ned Hanigan that will be just as crucially incompetent

The Wallabies tight five that could possibly beat England... just

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6d
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