I think McReight needs to prove himself in the Test matches in the lead up to the RWC and then at the RWC before he becomes a captain option post RWC. There are a lot of ifs for sure, but if he does secure his spot, I see leadership in him.

Harry Wilson in attack is a platform player. By that I mean, he is a 1st phase player who lays a platform for fast 2nd phase ball. Valetini is a different player who makes metres post contact but doesn’t produce fast 2nd phase ball. Gleesan is the same. So it comes down to what style of play you want. Multiple phase possession style of game or short duration possession where you attack or give the ball up. Both styles have their merits but you need to consider the broader squad. Do we have players who can play free flow attack and are always there for the offload or support or are we better off playing structured play and building pressure and opportunities. I think we are weak in both directions to be honest. Last test season we constantly got turned over at the breakdown because there was no support. Will be interesting to see how Eddie wants to play and if he picks the right team for the game plan.

There is no way based on current form or his previous history of leading successful teams that Hooper deserves selection in the squad or the co-captaincy. I think this is a RA decision rather than an Eddie decision. Hooper’s recent mental health issues and the Tah’s disastrous end to their season and Hoopers final game in Blue has probably led to RA making a decision to give Hooper a more fitting send off. I am fine with that as long as it doesn’t stand in the way of the Wallabies success at the RWC. He can be a figure head and get some game time but not be played in clutch games.
The other part of the captaincy issue is there is simply no one else who is ready for the role. For all the talk of Cheika and Rennie being good man managers they certainly have not brought leaders through the organisation. I believe that McReight is likely to be the next Wallaby captain if he can prove he is an automatic pick at 7.

Incumbents are our problem. We keep selecting players that keep losing.

Helps to update your perceptions of a player. Petaia has not had a single concussion this season and has also had minimal mistakes. Less than the others. He has significantly turned his game around and is very reliable tackler.

Previous seasons, absolutely. This season he has been very solid. All players make mistakes some pay the penalty for them and others don’t. That is the history of Australian rugby.

Why no Petaia in the discussion? Rennie is gone because his selections were so bad yet you only discuss people he selected. Petaia is potentially in first place for the spot.

If I had a choice, I would prefer my 10 not kick for goal or the line. The halfway chat after a try/penalty and organising the next phase of play after a set piece are way more important for your playmaker than converting a goal or kicking for the line..

100% Mike. Lolesio finished 2 tries, didn’t create any. Your comment about “put in above his station and now feels aggrieved” is the best phrase I have read to explain his situation. He is a classic example of what has happen over the past 10 years. Players getting selected, not being good enough but continuiong to get selected so think they are entitled to the spot so don’t work on themselves to improve their game. I could name so many of these players.
Gordon is showing everything a 10 needs to display. Has had to fight to get a shot and has worked on himself and his game. No show boating like Lolesio who’s an embarrassment when he does the odd good thing. Gordon definitely has the nerve for Test Match rugby.

When you keep selecting players who are really not that good but play for the right team then you set an expectation that average performance is ok. Take Jake Gordon’s continued selection last test season despite almost single handily loosing test matches. If he was a Red’s, Rebels or Force player he would have been sent home after the first debacle. This constantly happens to players from those 3 teams. Harry Wilson, who I would argue is one of the top 3 forwards in Australia got a game at 6 (he is an 8) and then sent packing. If he was a Tah he would have been given plenty of games to earn his spot.

Agree with this. Tahs in my view always perform to my expectation. The general expectation though is that they should do better because they always have high representation in the Wallabies. The Wallabies also perform to my expectation which is poorly, due to the fact they constantly have way to many Tah players wearing gold jersey’s. 2-3 Tahs in the wallabies would be about right.

Take a look at the size of the 2 for the number 1 team in World Rugby rankings. 2’s play as loose forwards and have done so for years now. We just never got the memo.

In rugby you get the ball all the time. You get the ball more from turnover or kicking in general play then any other component of the game. A focus on lineout possession is short sighted. Sure it is important but I would select a team that can do something with the ball they receive in general play then one who can’t, but is good at lineouts.

Wilson not being able to jump is just pure fantasy anyway. Someone said it once and it stuck. There is no evidence at all that it is true.

Reds are in 2nd position out of Aus teams and 6th of 12 overall. Are we just running the Brumbies out in gold because based on your comment that is what you are suggesting?

If you think Wilson is just ok at SR level then no point in having a discussion as you either don’t watch or don’t understand.

Yes they tried Wilson at 6 and Valentini at 8. Why play both players out of position? There hasn’t been a combination that works in Australian rugby when Hooper is at 7. I would not select Hooper at 7 and I would select Valentini and Wilson in their correct positions.

Also not much works in rugby without a clear game plan that is understood and suits the team you select and the opposition you are playing. Can’t remember when the Wallabies last put that together successfully.

I honestly hope Eddie doesn’t go with the Brumbies with a few Tahs thrown in like Rennie/McKeller did. If you read the excellent article by Harry Jones regarding the template that Ireland sets out for us then picking Brumby players as the core of your team is a sure way to loose the WC.

With this in mind there is absolutely no way Eddie will pick Lolesio. Not only is he terrible at all aspects of controlling a game he only knows the Brumbies game plan and to be honest even struggles with that. Foley would be a waste of a O/S selection and no way will Eddie do that. What our key criteria should be is a 10 who can control a game. Great teams have great 10’s. Lolesio and Foley have never been and will never be ‘great’ 10’s.

Valentini will definitely get picked at 6. There is no way he should have played at 8 last test season. He is a 6. No one else owned 6 and yet we have one of the best 8’s going around in Harry Wilson who gets left out because we pick a 6 at 8. So dumb. A key component of modern rugby is about speed of recycling the ball whilst maintaining possession. See the article about Ireland and just watch Ireland play. No ball carrier in Australia creates faster ball than Harry Wilson. No forward does more work. He is absolutely critical to the success of the Wallabies. Getting our back 3 right is critical to our success as is the mobility of the rest of the pack. Our inability to secure our ball last test season MUST be fixed. The players who played couldn’t do it for the duration of the test season so forget about lineouts jumpers as the key criteria for selection as there is no point in winning ball if you can’t keep it. Find a pack that can retain ball and then think about the other stuff next.

It is amazing how this “Wilson can’t jump in a lineout” thing gets perpetuated. It has zero basis in fact yet people just regurgitate it over and over again until it becomes the accepted opinion despite zero evidence. How many people making these claims actually study the game which is different to just watching rugby?

The 10 battle is probably one of the most interesting. By the sounds of it, and Eddie is a media expert so you can only read so much, Lolesio is not on the radar at all and there is really going to be a battle between Donalson, Edmed and O’Connor. I think we will all be surprised with Pasitoa as well this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is in the mix come selection time.

Cheika was reportedly a fantastic man manager. Rennie is reportedly well liked by the playing group. Both failed as coaches of the Wallabies. These players need to stop being babied. They are playing for their nation. Perform or move aside. For too long we have been carrying players based on potential rather than performance. Individual performance rather than contribution to a team. I am hoping that Eddie comes in and kicks their arses. There should be no more repeats of the Gordon situation where he firstly was not good enough to be there and then had brain fart after brain fart costing us matches and still gets selected. That stuff tears at the fabric of a team.

😂 😂 😂

Firstly Rennie failed by every measure. Coaching a national sport team is a high performance exercise. So I don’t agree that he was knifed. Rennie made clear mistakes so he had to go. I also don’t think it was a political move based on Rennie’s failure. If they hadn’t of sacked him it would have been because of politics.

Excellent news. Lets hope McKeller leaves as he surely thought post RWC he was next in line.

Now we can have some proper selections, a game plan specifically for the game ahead and start to build a winning culture. Eddie has no SR skin in the game so lets hope he selects on form rather than SR allegiance.

Surely the numpties at RA HQ can now see that their politics is not good for the game and stay out of the selection process and let the coach get on with putting the best team on the park for every test.

I disagree Olly. Hooper picks his defensive efforts better than McReight and stays clear of contests that will see him caught out unless he absolutely has to get involved. The same in attack where Hooper more often is picking hit ups wider where he can use his speed and agility to produce better outcomes. Nothing wrong with that but you have to compare apples.

I will have to respectfully disagree Numpty. We have not consistently dominated either side of the forward tackle contest in any game this season. Skelton is probably the only player who has consistently. Each player has made dominate tackles or hit ups but no one has done it consistently.

Hooper gets physically dominated quite often and doesn’t seem to render him unable to play test match rugby. In fact, almost our whole forward pack has been physically dominated in every test match. We constantly get bent backwards in attack, the opposition forwards stream across the gain line at will and we have completely failed to secure our ball consistently on attacking breakdowns. Physically dominant is not a feature of our forward pack what ever its configuration may be in a given test.