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Joined February 2023
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Joe Schmidt achieved much of his success by making Eddie Jones look like a Pomeranian, with his coaching methods reported as tough, unpleasant and even brutal.
The pressure on Darren Coleman over the last few months was both foreseeable and unsurprising. Much has been written about Coleman not having enough…
Les Kiss identified the most significant change made since his arrival at the Reds to being his diverse and highly qualified assistants.
The Reds performances against Kiwi opposition over the past two weeks are the most impressive back to back by an Australian side since 2014.…
The saddest thing about Australian Rugby right now is that it hasn’t learnt its lesson. In a month when Tom Brady was throwing darts…
It has been interesting to see the reaction to Hamish McLennan’s purge this week. It was unanimously agreed on these threads that Hammer McLennan…
"I’m not a fan of changing the rules because one team is dominating,” commented one Roarer last week. It is a disappointing interpretation of…
"Winning is winning. We don’t care how we do it.” That was the common refrain from South African supporters before the World Cup and…
Rugby has become 'cynical' on the back of bigger players, confusing laws and game stoppages.
As a proud Queenslander, I was saddened by the QRU’s ‘centralisation position' - but not surprised. It is a stark reminder of the parochialism…
Geoff Parkes’ article last week suggesting the game was entering ‘Chinese Water Torture Territory’ was one of the best-written pieces of 2023 regarding the…
In case you missed it, Eddie Jones is currently public enemy number one. It may be cathartic for Australian Rugby fans to make Jones…
The historical revisionism and wishful thinking floating around this site now is tantamount to denial. “Should never have got rid of Rennie”. “Eddie is…
A missed opportunity. One that slipped through the net. Sad. None of that is strong enough. It is a tragedy for Rugby Union that…
Eddie isn’t crazy. He hasn’t lost the plot. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s channeling his inner Jose Mourinho. First up, let’s get…
Ripping the bandaid off. Shock and raw. Call it what you like but Eddie doesn’t mess about does he? Some may see it as…
"Don’t you do it!" How many of us were thinking that, no screaming it, as Nic White went to box kick the ball away…
Let’s leave his cringeworthy warning to the All Blacks to one side for now. Eddie Jones’ early press conferences border on alarming. Rambling in…
"Leaguies know nothing about playing Union. Never have, never will." I was astounded to read the above post on an article following the Springbok’s…
Nine times out of ten, Australian sides go to New Zealand and get beaten, belted even, by a better team. A much better team.…
They were running at a 6 or 7 figure deficit from 2018?
And before that were sold for $1 by a private investor who concluded they were unprofitable?
UPDATE: RA say they were blindsided over Rebels' finances, reject private consortium claim as administrator backs club's survival
Don’t think it’s a long bow at all.
These pages were flooded with vitriol and relentless focus on McLennan at a time when there should have been equal scrutiny of state unions as well as other key issues.
The discussion was polarized. McLennan bad. States good. Over simplified to assuage and comfort instead of grappling with a more complex set of issues.
UPDATE: RA say they were blindsided over Rebels' finances, reject private consortium claim as administrator backs club's survival
It is an absolutely outrageous read.
I said a while ago that the whole situation stinks of incompetency at the Rebels as well as an attempt by the directors to reach an agreement with creditors which reduces or mitigates their personal liability.
It’s an example of an unhealthy obsession with kicking McLennan and Eddie causing the Rugby public to ignore other major issues. Both of those guys deserved a kicking but not at the expense of proper scrutiny elsewhere.
UPDATE: RA say they were blindsided over Rebels' finances, reject private consortium claim as administrator backs club's survival
Biased but a fit, full strength Reds in my opinion are closest behind the top 2. They took the Canes to Golden Point and beat the Chiefs playing a style of Rugby which is hard to combat/ unpredictable.
They’ve had their blip hopefully but need to scrape a couple more wins while McDermott, McReight, Uru and Flook are out. Petaia prob gone for the season.
Beale, Rodda shine on Super Rugby return as Force smash Crusaders to keep finals hopes alive
Exactly. Private Equity. But that has been spurned and in order to build the system you describe, you need complete reform not just as national level but also state.
Until that happens, the rest is a pipe dream.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
The flaw there is that the game can’t afford to keep those players who attract offers in excess of $1million a season in Europe. Yes you can keep 3 or 4 but not 13 or 14.
So you allow certain ones to go to Europe at their peak, allow them to remain eligible for the Wallabies but only after 6 or 7 seasons in Australia.
It’s trying to thread a needle between renewal, experience and being bankrupted by the euro or pound.
The other option is going the NZ route which seems to encourage 6-12 month sabbaticals.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
Modifying the Giteau Law, yes. Scrapping it or the principles behind it no.
To me the major flaw was the requirement for 60 tests not the requirement for a number of seasons under contract to Super Rugby sides.
If you keep youngsters between say 20-25 on the books, you maintain some quality in provincial sides and you only lose your best players when their major / expensive contract is offered at 26-28.
It really is a question of whether we want to go down a route like European football or stick to a provincial set up in Australia. Look at South Africa’s provinces in Europe this year- I believe only the Bulls made the final 8 and they were knocked out at that stage.
Scrap the Giteau Law: Rugby Australia should look to Rassie's 'Boks RWC recipe if it wants to re-join the big boys' table
So it’s right and proper that those incidents have been treated the same way as the elbow and head butt in the Drua game and will probably get similar suspensions?
I can possibly see the McDermott incident being a Red and maybe 2 weeks max but the McReight shot … man if that’s a Red and 2-4 week suspension the game has lost the plot.
'Brain explosion': Wallaby stars sent off as Queensland left red-faced in Moana Pasifika shocker
McDermott was a brain explosion but was the soft part of his forearm not an elbow or fist.
McReight stood his ground, braced himself, dropped his shoulder slightly.
Neither was a Red Card, both will get probably a 6 week suspension combined, same as forceful elbows to the back of heads and Glasgow kisses to the noggin.
Killing Rugby this stuff. Elephant in the room, people switch off.
'Brain explosion': Wallaby stars sent off as Queensland left red-faced in Moana Pasifika shocker
Miles better. Kerevi is a shadow of his former self and Paisami, Foketi and Stewart are good provincial players but not of international class at 12.
The only player in Australian Rugby right now who has the potential to be a long term solution at 12 is Isaac Henry and he’s in the middle of an awful injury run.
Rooster must remodel: Angus Crichton says he'd want to 'dominate' in rugby union - this is what he'd have to change
Except that it’s fundamentally flawed – it assumes that he wouldn’t make any attempt to alter his body characteristics or training.
For me, Australian Rugby is looking up and well stocked in every position except for 12 where Kerevi is fading fast and neither Foketi or Stewart is really an international centre.
And Crichton has a clear potential to excel in that position between say two youngsters like Lynagh and Flook.
It’s unfortunate that so much of the commentary on this is polarizing and at the extremes. Recruiting guys from League doesn’t have to be a horrible move if it is beneficial to all involved.
Rooster must remodel: Angus Crichton says he'd want to 'dominate' in rugby union - this is what he'd have to change
Isn’t that the point though Jacko- They may well have a business case to be a community rugby team but they don’t have the business case to be a super rugby team?
I can see that a smaller stadium and shared cost bases focused on a smaller community model will keep them afloat as a sporting club, but that’s different to being a Super Rugby franchise.
What the Rebels players should be demanding to know, as Twiggy's ex-rival throws a familiar hail Mary
Nobody wants to see the Rebels collapse. But the fact is that they have never ever been able to break even, to be a going concern.
People talk about building, attracting private equity, engaging more with grass roots / Rugby Victoria. All of those things have been tried and failed.
This didn’t start with Covid, although Dan Andrews has plenty to answer for. And it didn’t start with the annual grants being removed either, although RA is far from perfect.
The sad fact is that the Rebels have failed to attract crowds, failed to sell merchandise and failed to be a responsible corporate entity at any time over the last 10-15 years. I mean they weren’t even filing their company accounts- how on earth did they run up 22mil of debt? It didn’t happen over night. Where was Mr Rio Tinto then?
It is unsustainable and unfortunately that is a fact people don’t want to grapple with. All of this flailing around is in my opionion an attempt by the directors to try and avoid being on the hook to creditors.
What the Rebels players should be demanding to know, as Twiggy's ex-rival throws a familiar hail Mary
Exactly – this hardly done by stuff from Tupou doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
It’s actually the worst thing for him, not taking ownership, making it someone else’s fault.
'He'd been flogged to death': Rebels GM's scathing Tupou claim as Wallaby battles to reignite his fire
Nothing good happens at Maccas after 1am… especially during a Lions Tour! 😉
More 'Scary Schmidt' than 'Sleepy Joe': Ireland tales that show the new Wallabies coach could be a polarising figure
Don’t know much about Antonio but each of the other guys you mention are known for their professionalism and preparation.
Don’t buy at all the argument that across 14-16 competitive provincial games in a season we shouldn’t expect a tight head to play 60-70 minutes on average.
'He'd been flogged to death': Rebels GM's scathing Tupou claim as Wallaby battles to reignite his fire
Fair comment but Leinster play in 2 competitions, somewhere between 25-30 games a season not including preseason and before test rugby obviously.
And they are renowned for training like they play, for expecting players to prepare professionally, not lose condition pre-season etc.
* Leinster played 28 games between September 2022 and May 2023 not including warm ups. There are 16 in Super Rugby if you make the final.
'He'd been flogged to death': Rebels GM's scathing Tupou claim as Wallaby battles to reignite his fire
IF it’s true that he played the second most minutes of any player in Super Rugby for the last 2 seasons then that is a problem.
I’d like to see Stiles prove that- he’s made the comment, it’s only fair.
That said, if Taniela thinks he’s going to get it easy at Leinster then he’s in for a very rude surprise. Many of their methods come from Joe Schmidt who is famous for how hard he is – makes Thorn look like cotton wool. Those guys are renowned for being uncompromising with preparation, training and playing. Things Tupou isn’t renowned for.
'He'd been flogged to death': Rebels GM's scathing Tupou claim as Wallaby battles to reignite his fire
Errrmmm… starting Frost, Cale and Lonergan with Wright at 15 is patently biased towards the Reds?
Pity this has all already degenerated into a Brumbies v Reds discussion.
'It was brutal': Clutch Lolesio kicks Brumbies to 'Test match intensity' win over Reds as Wright shines again
Lovely balanced comment from a Brumbies man ????
Swain is an absolute liability and should not be near a Wallaby jumper in much the same way as Swinton. Neville is getting old.
Valetini doesn’t do enough of the stuff you need a 6 to do to start. And I don’t believe he’s an 8.
'It was brutal': Clutch Lolesio kicks Brumbies to 'Test match intensity' win over Reds as Wright shines again
If you were picking a back row on both form and balance right now it would be Liam Wright, McReight and Cale with Valetini coming off the bench.
Brumbies won that game because of outstanding team defence and the Reds missing 3 easy kicks (including one that hit the post).
Wallaby 23 at this point of the season:
1. Angus Bell
2. Matt Faessler
3. ?
4. Ryan Smith
5. Nick Frost
6. Wright (c)
7. McReight
8. Cale
9. Lonergan
10. Lynagh
11. Koroibete
12. Gordon
13. Flook
14. Wright
15. Kellaway (vc)
16. ?
17. ?
18. Tupou
19. Uru
20. Valetini
21. McDermott
22. Kerevi
23. Jorgenson
That bench combination would be absolutely deadly. But not sure how Schmidt will want to play the game.
'It was brutal': Clutch Lolesio kicks Brumbies to 'Test match intensity' win over Reds as Wright shines again
People forget HMP and Lynagh are 20yo with less than a season of professional rugby under their belts.
Kiss has spoken about rotation and spelling them. He also probably thought Creighton had a bigger boot for territory.
Bottom line, the Reds win that game if they kick 1/3 very easy missed kicks.
'It was brutal': Clutch Lolesio kicks Brumbies to 'Test match intensity' win over Reds as Wright shines again
First class game – one of the few Australian derbies in recent memory that matched the quality of Kiwi games.
Reds place kicking lost it and Brumbies defence won it. Thought BOK had a pretty good game. Question mark over some of the scrums very late in the game but not much else to complain about.
80% of the Wallaby 23 should come from these two teams with the exception of only Bell, Tupou and Kellaway. I’d like to see Lonergan picked to start at 9 with McDermott on the bench.
'It was brutal': Clutch Lolesio kicks Brumbies to 'Test match intensity' win over Reds as Wright shines again
At best, Schmidt might emulate 2015 and cause a major resurgence on field between 2025-2027. But again, it is short termism.
Without a complete overhaul, without governance reforms and serious people running the game at board level, all you have is a sugar hit.
'Previous chairman can not be a scapegoat': First salvo fired in bid to spill the Rugby Australia board
There is a distinction though isn’t there. McLennan being bad doesn’t make the Rebels good.
My point, which I’ve made repeatedly since the RWC is that the game wasn’t going to magically repair itself when Hamish and Eddie moved on. Way too much time was spent obsessing over those two when huge other stuff needed ventilation.
UPDATE: RA say they were blindsided over Rebels' finances, reject private consortium claim as administrator backs club's survival