Wallabies 2019 Thread

[cyclopath]

If you were playing Banks and DHP together, I would leave Banks at fullback where he seems most comfortable and play DHP on the wing...

I've generally been a fan of DHP, but his meltdown in the last test match against the Poms, and his season in general is concerning.

I'm not advocating, just stating what I think might happen.

 

[cyclopath]

Just on Banks, what should come into his favour is that if the Wallabies persist with Foley, and have a centre partnership of Kerevi/Kuridrani, whoever plays at fullback needs to have a decent boot or we'll never exit our 22m...

Foley actually was kicking better from hand this year. No comment on other aspects but it certainly looked like he had worked on that.
If they really want another boot they might find a way to start Hodge. DHP kicks it OK too. And don't forget they might use the box-kick exit a lot too, which is pretty popular now, so the kicking stats of the 9 might be worth scrutinising, as much as anything else.

 

[Viking]

If you were playing Banks and DHP together, I would leave Banks at fullback where he seems most comfortable and play DHP on the wing...

I've generally been a fan of DHP, but his meltdown in the last test match against the Poms, and his season in general is concerning.

Plus I really don't like DHP as a winger, he's had some defensive woes and he's just too damn slow.

 

[Tomikin]

I'm not advocating, just stating what I think might happen.

Im guessing Beale to fullback and DHP to the wing will be what happens

 

[TSR]

I’m a bit unsure of the logic where a bad game means a couple of the contenders have blown their chance against other options who have played no better than average for most of the season. You retain players for 3 reasons IMO - form, they are demonstrated winners or they have established combinations/know the game plan. There are a number of incumbents who are relying very heavily on the last one IMO.

I think Cheika could do far worse then leave Genia out of the initial 23 all together for example. He certainly hasn’t been playing like a guy driven to win. Personally I’d start Powell, but I’d be okay with them start long Phipps too to give Genia a kick up the arse.

Similarly DHP & Hodge haven’t been demanding selection.

 

[Viking]

Foley actually was kicking better from hand this year. No comment on other aspects but it certainly looked like he had worked on that.
If they really want another boot they might find a way to start Hodge. DHP kicks it OK too. And don't forget they might use the box-kick exit a lot too, which is pretty popular now, so the kicking stats of the 9 might be worth scrutinising, as much as anything else.

Does that kicking include exiting his 22 or primarily attacking or other general play kicks?
I think Foley in the past can kick in general play pretty well but struggles to exit his own 22 or get any solid distance doing this.

 

[cyclopath]

Does that kicking include exiting his 22 or primarily attacking or other general play kicks?
I think Foley in the past can kick in general play pretty well but struggles to exit his own 22 or get any solid distance doing this.

Certainly looked better in general play, in the limited games I watched fully, a little better from 22m. Beale, on the other hand, was not great from the 22m. I don't think any of the likely 10 candidates have looked great from the 22m. I think the best exiting from the 22m is likely to be a decent box-kicker, in many situations. Witness Cubelli today.

 

[cyclopath]

I’m a bit unsure of the logic where a bad game means a couple of the contenders have blown their chance against other options who have played no better than average for most of the season. You retain players for 3 reasons IMO - form, they are demonstrated winners or they have established combinations/know the game plan. There are a number of incumbents who are relying very heavily on the last one IMO.

I think Cheika could do far worse then leave Genia out of the initial 23 all together for example. He certainly hasn’t been playing like a guy driven to win. Personally I’d start Powell, but I’d be okay with them start long Phipps too to give Genia a kick up the arse.

Similarly DHP & Hodge haven’t been demanding selection.

I agree with all that, but I think Genia, Hodge and DHP have been good in gold and are likely to rise somewhat to the occasion.
I cannot see how Powell, Leali'ifano etc would be suddenly out of the reckoning after today, although if there was any discussion at selection level about who might start, their stocks might have declined slightly. I think both will get Test minutes over the RC and be in Japan. I really cannot see Genia not starting, although he may get relegated to the bench if his Super form carries over.

 

[TSR]

I do agree Cyclo that Genia will most likely start. And look, in honesty what do I know about his work ethic or attitude. But there is just something about the way he conducts himself at times that (IMO) screams complacency.

I don’t see that in DHP or Hodge mind you - that is more a straight form thing for me, but I agree generally they’ve performed for the Wallabies.

I don’t expect any of them to be discarded, and I definitely expect Genia & DHP to feature in most/all games that count in the WC. But I wouldn’t mind seeing a few others getting first crack for different rrasons.

 

[Up the Guts]

I’m a bit unsure of the logic where a bad game means a couple of the contenders have blown their chance against other options who have played no better than average for most of the season. You retain players for 3 reasons IMO - form, they are demonstrated winners or they have established combinations/know the game plan. There are a number of incumbents who are relying very heavily on the last one IMO.

I think Cheika could do far worse then leave Genia out of the initial 23 all together for example. He certainly hasn’t been playing like a guy driven to win. Personally I’d start Powell, but I’d be okay with them start long Phipps too to give Genia a kick up the arse.

Similarly DHP & Hodge haven’t been demanding selection.

I'd still start Genia in the first couple of tests. We need him as a general/play-maker. Powell has done well for the Brumbies but there's no way he can steer the ship in a test match at this stage.

Edit: Agree, Genia hasn't had the best attitude this season, for whatever reason.

 

[TSR]

Serious question UTGs - how do we know that. From my recollection he has never been given that opportunity.

And, whilst I know he doesn’t have extensive test experience nor is he a
Rookie. He’s been part of the squad for 2-3 years now.

As per my post above, I do expect Genia will start, but form wise I think picking Powell may send a better message.

 

[Strewthcobber]

The knock on Powell has always been that he never runs from the base of the ruck. It's just not something that's ever been part of his arsenal.

And we saw today against a test level defense what that means. With no threat in close, the defenders are free to charge up and pressure any forward runners or the 10. There's nothing holding them back. One of the things that killed the Brumbies today.

Good teams know this. Can you play him against a good team with that known issue?

And of course other options have their own issues

 

[cyclopath]

Serious question UTGs - how do we know that. From my recollection he has never been given that opportunity.

And, whilst I know he doesn’t have extensive test experience nor is he a
Rookie. He’s been part of the squad for 2-3 years now.

As per my post above, I do expect Genia will start, but form wise I think picking Powell may send a better message.

I think the Wallabies need to hit the ground running, as best they can. Genia can get a message direct from Cheika or whoever - step up, or sit on the pine. If they are to have any decent chance in the RWC, they need some form, and see if the combinations they feel are their best are going to work, and we're all guessing a bit what those are. I think Genia is, by his ceiling, our best 9. So I expect him to start. I would have no issue, if he is sub-par, with Powell or whoever getting the crack.
Now watch, and I'll be completely wrong and I'm sure the queue will form to tell me so!

 

[Slim 293]

The knock on Powell has always been that he never runs from the base of the ruck. It's just not something that's ever been part of his arsenal.

That's not actually true though, as he displayed last week for his try.........

He does regularly snipe, and likes to attack the blindside, but certainly Genia and Phipps possess better running games.

Powell is quick to the ruck, has a good passing and kicking game, and does like to get stuck into the ruck where some other halfbacks shy away from it.............

 

[Strewthcobber]

That's not actually true though, as he displayed last week for his try...

He does regularly snipe, and likes to attack the blindside, but certainly Genia and Phipps possess better running games.

Powell is quick to the ruck, has a good passing and kicking game, and does like to get stuck into the ruck where some other halfbacks shy away from it.....

That was the literally the first linebreak Powell made all year.

0 over the regular season.

I'm not saying he shouldn't be picked, obvious test level attributes are there.

I'm saying good teams are going to exploit it, a bit like Foley's short kicks, or Beales defense, or any of the other compromises our coaches are going to have to deal with

 

[Gnostic]

I don't think the Wallabies are any real chance unless they dump the "pod system" they have used under Chieka, something I doubt will happen. All the Australian Super sides and the Wallabies have been utterly predictable and easy to defend against. It has nothing to do with "X factor" and everything to do with the paint by numbers game Australian sides play. I was not a fan of the gobble-de-gook of Deans speak, but he was certainly right in his thinking that Australian sides and players were just far too robotic in playing their "structures". Break that pretty thin structure and there is no substance.

 

[Up the Guts]

Serious question UTGs - how do we know that. From my recollection he has never been given that opportunity.

And, whilst I know he doesn’t have extensive test experience nor is he a
Rookie. He’s been part of the squad for 2-3 years now.

As per my post above, I do expect Genia will start, but form wise I think picking Powell may send a better message.

He may well have that sort of game but I’ve never seen him as that sort of 9. He’s very efficient and usually picks his options well but I’ve never seen him dominate a game the way you see Genia, Perenara, Smith etc. do. Unfortunately, I think 9 is too crucial a position in the Wallaby setup to try Powell for a few games and see if he has that game. Definitely there’s more room to experiment with the backrow and the back three.

 

[Slim 293]

0 over the regular season.

It's also the total number of linebreaks Phipps made over the previous two seasons.........

Over those same two seasons Powell did show a tendency to run more from the base, and his linebreak figures were pretty good............ so I don't think it's not necessarily an absent skillset that can be exploited.

For whatever reason he hasn't done that as much this year for the Brumbies, but it doesn't seem to have generally been an issue.

 

[TSR]

I agree Genia is our half the most capable of excelling at test level. He’s just not playing to standard. If Cheika can get him to that before the first game then that’s the best out come.

Player selection aside, the biggest issue with the attack last year was the absurd wide/wide pattern they tried to play which had little to no success. That and our poor kicking. The biggest issue with the defence was the shuffle the deck chairs approach.

Our biggest problem is not whether or not we overhaul the players but whether or not we overhaul our strategy and whether our players can adapt in time if they do.

 

[Up the Guts]

I thought I heard somewhere Cheika overhauled the attacking structure over summer. Not sure what this means in terms of pod structure etc. though.