Kane Douglas

[Blue]

I am not going to say "told you so" but the fact that it has taken so long to give this guy a shot has been perplexing to me for a couple of years.

Did all the stuff you want your 4 to do and did them properly against a tough bunch.

There is a big difference between people who relish the physical contest and those who have to be reminded that it's their job.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

He seems to relish the tough stuff and I like that in a tight forward. Hopefully he'll keep developing.

 

[#1 Tah]

We are privileged to have both him and Sitaleki, both Southern Districts boys, to carry on in the post-Sharpe era. ou could really tell that there was some Vickerman influence on them both this year.

 

[barbarian]

The issue is we have three good TH locks (Horwill, Timani, Douglas) but no-one on the LH side (after Sharpe retires). As much as I'd love to see a Horwill/Douglas pairing (possibly with Timani at 6/8/18) I wonder who would be taking charge of the lineout. Pyle? Simmons?
.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Wykes?

 

[cyclopath]

Pyle seems the slightly more likely, given that Simmons has not really taken the Test opportunities by the horns yet. He might, though. I wouldn't write Simmons off though - he has the skills, but perhaps not the discipline and application all the time yet.

 

[mjw]

Where do Pyle, Wykes and Neville fit into the LH/TH lock question?

 

[en_force_er]

Forward packs are about holistic balance, it's not as simple as a tight and loose playing 2nd rower.

A balanced pack could have 2 locks that play tight and 3 looseys who play loose, for example.

 

[fatprop]

Where do Pyle, Wykes and Neville fit into the LH/TH lock question?

all three are LHs, mobile, athletic, running, lineout units.

Douglas does the "Brad Thorn" type stuff all day. Thirdish to rucks all day moving those bodies

 

[Braveheart81]

They have exaggerated the height difference by getting Kane to stand slightly in front of Luke, but the size difference is quite amazing.

Considering Luke is listed at 6'3 109kg and plays prop in the NRL, Kane is a big unit!

 

[Jiggles]

A very good debut. I just hope he continues to improve in the test arena and doesn't regress. If he does improve I think a pairing of him and Horwill plus Higgers at 6 creates 3 very good line out options. Horwill can call and has called in the past.

 

[Braveheart81]

Douglas has turned into a consistent performer in my opinion.

He was superb for the Tahs in 2010 but then had a much quieter second year in 2011. In 2012 he was consistently one of our best in just about every game. It would seem he's really worked his game out and knows what to do.

Obviously he needs to translate that to the test arena now.

 

[Jiggles]

He seems to be fit too, which is a bit of a shock. Maybe he is one of those guys who loves doing the little bit extra after training or on off days. I appreciate those guys and have far more time for them then greater talents who don't necessarily put in as much work.

 

[What2040]

like him as well

 

[No4918]

You know you've made it when you have your own GAGR thread. Nice work Kane.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

It was one of the better Wallaby debuts we've seen for a while. I too worry a bit about balance in the pack, but I'll take what we've got at the moment with the improvement in general hardness around the paddock. We're at least breaking even and often winning the collisions and that's a huge step forward.

Could this be down in part to McGahan's influence?

 

[Scotty]

I reckon there is no issue pairing horwill with douglas, but probably couldn't go horwill and timani.

 

[AngrySeahorse]

I was impressed & happy for Kane but I'm trying to contain my excitement a bit cause I'd like to see how he goes against SA & NZ plus whether he can be a consistent performer at test level. If he is consistently good with only the odd bad/quiet game (which all players have) then I say he's a keeper.

 

[JJJ]

I remember when Sharpe was out of the side and our lock pairing was Horwill and Chisolm our scrum was awesome but our lineout was shocking. That was 2009 I think, so I'm not sure how Horwill has developed since then. Maybe that's why Deans keeps putting Dennis in the side -- to have someone to call lineouts when Sharpe is gone and Horwill and Timani/Douglas are our locks. Especially given that he seems to favour Timani over Douglas and Timani is apparently too heavy to lift.

Still I'd rather have a secure scrum and a lot of grunt at the breakdown and a lineout no more than adequate. It's worked for the ABs for a few years now.

 

[Blue]

Forward packs are about holistic balance, it's not as simple as a tight and loose playing 2nd rower.

A balanced pack could have 2 locks that play tight and 3 looseys who play loose, for example.

Hmmm although that's true it's pretty rare.