BH, I think that is one of our problems. It's a stupid idea that Eddie Jones came up with in the early 2000's and look where it has taken us. Sure we have a cattle shortage and it ain't gonna get better in the next 10 years unless something changes.
I'm of the opinion that a return to specialist positions would reap rewards, but who knows as it hasn't been tried in the last 20 years!
What makes you think this is an Australian thing?
I'm talking about how the game has changed globally.
Go back 20 years and you'll barely see backs getting their head over the ball competing at the ruck but now it's pretty common because they're also the sort of players likely to get a good shot against an isolated player.
Go back 20 years and you'll barely see tight forwards involved in passing movements drawing their man etc.
The game has changed substantially.
This kind of thinking is how Rodney Blake ended up playing more games for the Wallabies than Dan Palmer
Not a great example. Blake played a handful of tests in a single season a long time apart from when Dan Palmer played. Palmer would have clearly played a lot more if his career hasn't been cut short by injury.