Roar Rookie
Joined September 2018
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Brought up on the game they play in heaven and fan of the world game too. Never played either well. The only disciplines I hold my own in are spectating and surfing waves. What a tangled web we weave.
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“He's got a plan, we're across that plan, we're comfortable with it,” said Rugby Australia chief executive Raylene Castle on Wallabies coach Michael Cheika…
I have few memories playing No.5 as a kid. One was fracturing my foot when the scrum collapsed and a big prop fell on…
The unpredictable nature of our Wallabies these days is strange. Being resigned to losses makes any wins sweeter, but I must admit I didn’t real feel good or bad after this game – just shock and confusion. Especially about what comes next for us. Nice yarn mate!
A game of two halves
Hi Connor,
Really informative piece with great videos, interesting how lightning pace and quick decision-making can be far more effective in creating gaps than passing back and forth forever without a plan, not that any Test team would play like that 😉
Cheers
The All Blacks 10: Why Barrett and McKenzie are the future
Strange isn’t it – I think Cheika is really quick to give up on some players if they have a bad or average game. I’m researching a wider piece on our locks now and it’s quite interesting to see how often the locks get changed after a loss. Anyway, you’ll see it eventually. Cheers!
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
Haha – excellent comment and even better response. It’s so frustrating when commentators confuse players over and over again during a match in any sport – you feel that they are just winging it and it really is disrespectful to both the players involved.
Enough of the unprofessionalism in South Africa's commentary boxes
Excellent piece Banjo, really enjoyed it. Loved the Jake Howard quote too. We suffer due to a strange habit of playing our best players outside their specialist positions.
Everybody’s talking Thor, but should all eyes be on the Wallabies No.17 ?
Cinque – We have plenty of locks but that doesn’t mean we should be moving them into other positions to give them game time. I reckon use the best pair, put the next best guys on the bench and the rest can wait until you need them. For hooker I would personally stick with Fainga’a. He can give exquisite delivery (he is behind Arnold’s lineout dominance at the Brumbies) and with more game time Test level he will overcome his visible nerves. Importantly, he can also score tries and scrum well enough. He’s obviously still a little green, but I think he’ll come good.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
Thanks Zen, I agree that Arnold-Coleman with Simmons-Rodda on the bench is our best bet. With reload speeds I reckon all our second rowers have issues but those things get sorted out with more game time and obviously more training. We need all our players to really own their positions and then train meticulously in the technical aspects of the game. A friend of mine who is an ABs supporter correctly points out that being able to trust players around you will do their jobs well allows you to concentrate on and excel at your own game.
For our team tactics to improve we need to start with stability in player selections, follow that with training focused on specialised roles and then give game time in those roles at Test level. Only once those fundamental areas are sorted can you start thinking about wider team tactics and how to improve them.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
Given our lineouts or lack thereof against NZ I don’t think we even know the best No.4 yet. But even if Carter is calling them Arnold is the one winning them. I think Arnold has all the physical and technical abilities to become a proper No.4 a la Retallick if he is given more agency over the lineout and players around him have permenancy and an understanding.
One thing is certain, Michael Hooper should not be our jumper. It will put an oppositing lineout on the backfoot once or twice, but every No.4 will know to watch him now. It was a great trick but would be an awful tactic longer term.
I would not rule out Simmons on the bench but as you say he gets bullied and can disappear in the scrum and be absent at the breakdown at later points in matches. I would like to see him as an impact sub for Arnold in the last 10 or 20.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
Thanks Cliff, have to agree, but writing about Cheika needing to go is just adding another voice an already deafening chorus and many more eloquent scribes have already done so perfectly. Let’s hope something changes in regards to coaching staff and/or team tactics and/or basic player technical skills before RWC. Putting players are put back into their specialist positions would surely assist the last one.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
The last time they played together was that trial match against the Super Rugby All Stars at Leichhardt Oval in August. The Wallabies won 57-12.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
You make a good point re Simmons but I feel he’s better off the bench than as a starter. Simmons has great experience but he still blows hot and cold (and can even disappear) in a full 80 minutes of Test rugby.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
Sadly, I think Cheika stopped calling a long time ago.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
Even in the “supporting” days before lifting was allowed, which I also remeber, the same subtitle differences in locks’ technical roles existed.
Very true re positions. They really need to choose right now and get them bedded in so they can get vital game time and develop some sort of understanding before the RWC. Without experience we will never be able to try new tactics, and we will be easy to read and beat.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
Interesting Harry, however I still believe Arnold (Rodda) should be No.4 and Coleman No.5. Arnold just needs more time in control of the Wallaby lineout (and better delivery) to show how it’s done. He’s a solid tackler and has shown he has good instinctiveness in support at the breakdown.
Coleman is more of a scrum engine – he is part of the reason why Tupou has scrummaged so well at starting tighthead.
Either way – the Wallabies need to sort out the starters in positions across the paddock before the RWC. At the moment the 182cm Micheal Hooper is marshalling the lineout, which cannot continue.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
That should be Arnold and Coleman combine at 242kg, rather than 142kg. Apologies.
Locking in the best Wallabies set piece
As a Mariners tragic from day one – who has watched my team sink from the heights it once occupied, I agree with many points here.
But I strongly believe that without Bolt no one would be writing about the Yellow Submarine this year.
At times over the years it has seemed like Australian football writers try their best to ignore us or at worst have a vendetta against us.
I’m relishing the publicity Bolt is bringing to the club – we need all we can get to try to return to our former glory.
Also – I think moving back to our true home at North Sydney Oval would go a long way too.
Assessing Bolt is an exercise in avoiding indulgent negativity