Roar Guru
Joined September 2014
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A rugby game isn't a matter of life or death. It's much more important than that.
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As recently discussed in Spiro Zavos' recent article on The Roar, one of the pillars of Bill Pulver's strategic plan is not directly funding…
There's been hysteria regarding players signing overseas after the 2015 Rugby World Cup. There is the perception that Australia is losing more players than…
Frequent readers will know that I have generally been pushing a strong anti-club line recently in regards to Australian rugby. Many people's strong support…
With the cricket season well under way I have been primarily looking at our batsmen, their results and how the challengers are performing. When…
What they will do after the role is irrelevant.
They’re not employed for that.
CONFIRMED: Wallabies land final piece of coaching puzzle as ex-Lion signs on ahead of showpiece event
You made zero argument for competence. Only nationality.
CONFIRMED: Wallabies land final piece of coaching puzzle as ex-Lion signs on ahead of showpiece event
At the line out they’d rather be against Skelton.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Probably playing club teams vs test teams for a start.
And getting dropped in a week out doesn’t help.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Has there been anything stopping them spending money other than their own desire?
Their coaching and management staff spending doesn’t seem like they’ve spent more than any other Aus team, and this is somewhere nothing could possibly stop them right now.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Arnold (either) hasn’t played a good test since 2019. Neither have been the best wallaby lock in any test they’ve played 2021-2023
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
I have an old team mate who was capped for Croatia. He may be the 0.01%
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Not in July 2017 a month after his 18th birthday.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
If we were talking about work rate wouldn’t we combine number of runs and tackles?
The NRL stat that isn't one, but should be: Working out which forwards really pull their weight
But there rarely are for 18 year old front rowers.
And even then he didn’t sign and go over. He went to play amatuer rugby and was picked up.
This isn’t a case of a guy killing it back here and overlooked due to lack of spots.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Meafou was in programs. Rebels 20s, Rising, Country Eagles NRC.
He was just slow to progress in professionalism. He was a bench player for the Rats in the Shute Shield for example. He probably got looked at more than performances actually warranted because of potential.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Unlikely.
The reality is that he wasn’t nearly as good when he was younger.
He played Colts 2 before he left, was released by Sale in 2020 and had to play Championship to get a Prem contract. He then had a meteoric rise with Leicester.
But not top tier pro team saw his potentially when Sale released him in 2020 either.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
There’s just very few cases of front rowers signed at 18. He would have even been unlikely to player senior NRC within a year or two.
The reality is he almost fell into it in the UK, he didn’t initially go over looking for a pro contract.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Surely its better to have Nic Dolly than Ben Funnell.
I’d be more concerned with them not rating and then releasing local WA boy Jackson Pugh while they are recruiting NZ locks on short term contracts due to injuries.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
I reckon for the Eels’ performances over a decade under him, Arthur has been given a free pass. They made a GF but it seemed to be an aberration that couldn’t be repeated, not something they built towards.
Brad and Bennett: Why Friday's clash with the Dolphins might be a tipping point for Arthur and the Eels
I feel like David Nucifora’s hands are all over this one
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Yeah it’s a shame they didn’t sign him for GRR.
In their defence he probably wasn’t really ready yet.
No Aus team signed him in 2020 either for that matter. But neither did a Prem team. He had to work his way back from the 2nd tier in England.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
I don’t think the Force were going to sign a player out of Colts 2 mate.
And, rightly so, the Force have not made a habit of signing 18 year old front rowers.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
The Rebels did sign and play Sione.
But yes, hardly a blight on the Tahs they didn’t sign a barely 18 year old front rower in 2017.
And let’s not act like it was all smooth sailing. He was released by Sale in 2020, not even sure he’d made his Prem debut with them. Then had to prove himself in the Championship with Coventry to earn a Leicester contract.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Is it really that telling?
Dolly signed a contract with Sale 1 month after his 18th birthday. He never played grade rugby in Australia. I am not sure he even played colts 1 before he left.
People constantly bemoaning players signed out of school and then there’s teeth gnashing because the Tahs didn’t sign an 18 year old front rower.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
My position is pick our best wherever they are.
That’s what we have been doing now, but finding what we think are the best doesn’t necessarily translate
If we need to get better at integrating overseas players to get the best out of our best, let’s do that.
I don’t know how we expect to be getting better at that. Integrating players is about time together. The biggest negative about picking OS players is the lack of time they can be available for.
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.
It’s just as wrong as saying “oh we aren’t good picking domestic so let’s pick overseas and that will solve everything”.
What I think is not wrong to say though, is OS players have seldom performed as they are built up to. A huge factor is time with the team which cannot be overcome.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
Dolly was in the NSW 7s.
He went to England as an Under 18 though.
He also was in 2nd grade colts the year before that.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
It’s a 5 year stand down now though isn’t it? So it’s really more anomaly cases where a player made it early career but fell out of favour and is still in their prime 5 years later.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
This has been happening for a while already. It’s really the changing nature.
Once upon a time it was only top players at the end of their careers, or good players who were deemed not good enough to excel in Aus (e.g. Blair Connor) that went OS in their prime or early career. Now its more frequent, there is more that can come back too.
Aussie-born England capped rake Nic Dolly signs with Force ... and he'll soon be eligible for the Wallabies
Yes he’d be the first proven origin performer to be picked not in peak form wouldn’t he…
'Complete performance' sees Dragons stun Warriors - and Lomax rocket into Origin contention