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Waratahs 2013

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It is what it is

It is what it is

John Solomon (38)
thierry dusautoir said:
Albacete,Horwill, Sharpe, AW Jones easily.

Retalick, whitelock and etzebeth are definitely good but arent the best ...yet
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You're sawing sawdust TD but let's go with your thoughts.
Albacete 6'7" and 115kg, Sharpe 6'7" and 115kg and Horwill 6'7" and 116kgs
The purpose was to challenge an earlier assumption that anyone 6'8" and not weighing over 120kgs was wasting their time playing rugby.
So we violently agree that anyone around 6'8" and 120kgs is on weights and measures, ideal for rugby.
Thank you for your help.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
I should have just said 110kg and my point would have been fine and we wouldn't be having a silly conversation about the weight of locks.
 
thierry dusautoir

thierry dusautoir

Alan Cameron (40)
It is what it is said:
You're sawing sawdust TD but let's go with your thoughts.
Albacete 6'7" and 115kg, Sharpe 6'7" and 115kg and Horwill 6'7" and 116kgs
The purpose was to challenge an earlier assumption that anyone 6'8" and not weighing over 120kgs was wasting their time playing rugby.
So we violently agree that anyone around 6'8" and 120kgs is on weights and measures, ideal for rugby.
Thank you for your help.
Click to expand...

The only thing i disagreed with was the cavalier use of world leading.

I also think it is very naive to say that a Eztebeth and Retalick are on the same level as a fully fit Horwill. I can stomach being on par with these other (only just considering sharpes form this year) but not Horwill he makes the reds and wallabies forward packs.
 
Lee Grant

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Staff member
Yeah at least a few players get a chance but there's no way that it can be entirely inclusive; but I talked about that in an earlier post.

By the way, Quick Hands, you would be useful at the Tahs; their passing and therefore their catching was execrable sometimes last season.
 
Quick Hands

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
Lee Grant said:
Yeah at least a few players get a chance but there's no way that it can be entirely inclusive; but I talked about that in an earlier post.

By the way, Quick Hands, you would be useful at the Tahs; their passing and therefore their catching was execrable sometimes last season.
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Yeah, I'm sure there would be another 10 or more players he'd like to have a look at, but I don't think the greater numbers would be manageable.

The fact that he has a positive relationship with the Shute Shield coaches is another positive coming out of the article.

Lamentably most aspects of Waratah play last year (and the year before) were poor, including the seemingly fundamental skill of passing the ball in front of your team mate and to his hands, thus allowing him to do the same or break the line. How players who train 4-5 times a week can't do this is a mystery. Likewise being unable to throw the ball straight into the lineout with what should be ample time to practice.
 
p.Tah

p.Tah

John Thornett (49)
Quick Hands said:
Lamentably most aspects of Waratah play last year (and the year before) were poor, including the seemingly fundamental skill of passing the ball in front of your team mate and to his hands, thus allowing him to do the same or break the line. How players who train 4-5 times a week can't do this is a mystery. Likewise being unable to throw the ball straight into the lineout with what should be ample time to practice.
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I don't pretend to be an expert, but as a casual observer perhaps they need to practice these skills when fatigued. When you can't breath and struggle to think it may closer resemble the back end of a game.
 
barbarian

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
p.Tah said:
I don't pretend to be an expert, but as a casual observer perhaps they need to practice these skills when fatigued. When you can't breath and struggle to think it may closer resemble the back end of a game.
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They certainly do practice this stuff while fatigued, their training sessions can be pretty grueling.

As for lineout throws, the fact of the matter is that every hooker in world rugby occasionally throws a wobbly one, so to speak. It's like swinging a golf club- the top golfers practice a million times, and theoretically it is a skill you should be able to master, but once you get on the course with the crowd and the pressure you occasionally mess one up.

TPN's lineout throwing has improved drastically over the last five or six seasons.I hope it continues to improve in 2013.
.
 
Quick Hands

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
barbarian said:
They certainly do practice this stuff while fatigued, their training sessions can be pretty grueling.

.
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I have absolutely no doubt that their training sessions over the past few years have been physically demanding. However, based on their on-field performances over the past 2 years at least, the players haven't been able to perform. The effort has been there in terms of trying their hardest, but for whatever reason they have not been able to play a high skill, attractive, entertaining brand of rugby. The results and the alarming drop in crowds provide evidence of this.

Since Michael Cheika has arrived, there seems to be a complete change in the whole Waratahs set-up. We'll have to wait for the season to start before making definitive judgements, but he seems to be doing things right. My gut feeling is that the team will be fit and will be able to execute the fundamental catch, pass, run, tackle and kick skills at speed which should lead to improved option taking/decision making on the field. Nothing in his history would suggest that Cheika will ignore the set pieces either, as he would know from his Randwick days that an expansive game can only be successful on the back of dominant forwards.

Bring on 2013.
 
rugbysmartarse

rugbysmartarse

Alan Cameron (40)
On the skills comments, one thing I found very interesting was that Chieka was trying to break player habits of catching a ball that was not in front of them. He said players had to trust the passer who may be throwing a long ball to someone else. If it was just a poor pass they would have to scramble back and secure possession. This also put pressure on the passing player to be more accurate.

This came off the comment that too often last year overlaps were ruined by forwards out of position in the backline getting in the way.
 
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