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Waratahs 2014

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Hell West & Crooked

Hell West & Crooked

Alex Ross (28)
Dumbledore said:
From everything I've heard from people close to the club, sorry if I wasn't more clear. Agree about the off-field stuff, I was mainly talking about his training ethic, injury rehab etc.

Anyway, blues recovery who's normally bang on the money when it comes to all things Rebels reckons he wants to stay in Melbourne - but the club are weighing up whether they want to hang onto him. My gut feeling is that O'Connor will stay at Melbourne for at least one more year, probably on a reduced contract. The rumors about Foley moving down Mexico way are interesting as well - as a Tahs fan would you essentially swap JOC (James O'Connor) for Foley?
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Not at the moment - No... I agree with you entirely on at least one more year - and I am sure the Rebels Management are manouvering to try and recover some of their previous over-investment in Beale and JOC (James O'Connor) - I would be interested to see stats on how many games these two have actually played as opposed to the total number the Rebels have played during their time in Melbourne... I would be too ashamed to leave before I had put in at least one long-hard season with them - but thats just the way I was raised...

I can see a serious team of players slowly being assembled around Higgenbotham, Woodward and a few others in the leadership group in Melbourne, over the coming couple of seasons.
 
Richo

Richo

John Thornett (49)
Beale is a better flyhalf than Foley and could be great playing Cheika's philosophy.

10. Beale
15. Folau
 
Slim 293

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Torn Hammy said:
New coaches change things. Didn't the Brumbies have the Wallaby12?
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Yeah, and he lost his spot to a player that actually plays 12.......

But I don't see any logic in Cheika signing JOC (James O'Connor), who has never worn the 13 jumper, for the intention of playing that position when he currently has the best outside centre in the country who is playing his best Super rugby in about 6 years.........
 
Bowside

Bowside

Peter Johnson (47)
Richo said:
Beale is a better flyhalf than Foley and could be great playing Cheika's philosophy.

10. Beale
15. Folau
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I dont see the point in losing Foley when he has arguably been the most improved Tah this season and has looked like their best flyhalf prospect in many years.

Beale has played his best rugby at the back, in tests at 10 he was nothing special.

Furthermore Folau fits the Winger/Fullback mold perfectly, and with beales injection of pace and foot-work they could do some real damage together as a 14/15 combination.

I'd keep Foley over O'Connor, not because I think Foley is a 'better' player, but because he is a genuine flyhalf and the Tahs need that more than they do another quasi-flyhalf like Barnes or Beale.
 
Richo

Richo

John Thornett (49)
Bowside said:
I dont see the point in losing Foley when he has arguably been the most improved Tah this season and has looked like their best flyhalf prospect in many years.

Beale has played his best rugby at the back, in tests at 10 he was nothing special.

Furthermore Folau fits the Winger/Fullback mold perfectly, and with beales injection of pace and foot-work they could do some real damage together as a 14/15 combination.

I'd keep Foley over O'Connor, not because I think Foley is a 'better' player, but because he is a genuine flyhalf and the Tahs need that more than they do another quasi-flyhalf like Barnes or Beale.
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I don't know that Foley is a genuine flyhalf. He's certainly a great ball runner and is great at making line breaks. But his kicking from hand is erratic and his game management is still pretty lacking. Lee Grant has written about this a few times on the blog. We've already seen the difference Cheika has made on players like Horne. I'd be prepared to bet that he'll done good things with Kurtley too.

Btw, I'm not saying any of this to bag Foley. I think he's great and I posted numerous times last season about wanting to see him play at 10. Maybe Folau will be moved to the wing and Kurtley to 15. That'd be fine too.
 
Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
Gee, it's a nice problem to have though, isn't it? Working out where to fit a star in to the betterment of the team, as opposed to where you can dig up quality players in a position.

If Beale does go back to the Tahs, there's only two options for me: a) Beale at 10, Folau 15, Foley on the bench, or b) Foley 10, Beale 15, Folau at 14 as the second fullback.

I love Folau at 15, and I really like Foley at 10. Foley at 10 offers a good passing game (which can be wide), and a running threat. Hopefully Foley's game management will improve, and because of this and the current make up in the centres I would lean towards b), despite loving Folau at the back.

Beale is a different sort of 10 from Foley, as I think Beale's long passing game isn't as good but Beale will follow the ball more looking for that second touch and space out wide. I currently think that Foley's game is more suited to Horne 12, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) 13 than Beale's style. I would think that maybe a 12 like Lance would fit the structure more than a 12 like Horne.

Additionally, in option a), Crawford would be my pick of the second fullback.

Either way, it's a nice problem to have, and either selection (Foley or Beale at 10) can be perfectly well justified.

Lance is a good signing from Cheika too, with the loss of Barnes the addition of Lance maintains a good depth in the squad. Lance can cover every position in the backline bar wing at a pinch - I'm sure Lance covered 13 in a game for the Reds. (Although that game is better not spoken about.)
 
Athilnaur

Athilnaur

Arch Winning (36)
I'm also a big fan of Foley. It seems to me he has had a stellar year, a combination of coming into his own as an individual who can crack open any defense and getting to grips with being the playmaker for a Super Rugby team. One of the big finds of 2013 with To'omua and for me a big opportunity lost if he doesn't play run on 10 for an Aussie Super Rugby team. If the Tahs are silly enough to bench him that is their lookout but happily I don't think Cheika is that fickle.
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
I don't care if Foley is an all around 10 right now. If we can spark some attack off our forwards we can attack from anywhere. There will be games where the boot comes into play, and he's young enough to work on that.

But boot should be last resort
 
USARugger

USARugger

John Thornett (49)
RoffsChoice said:
All the Skelton supporters are now throwing a party.
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I'd reckon plenty of Wallabies supporters are too.

Pfitzy

To be honest Foleys out of hand kicking has already improved dramatically this season. The fact that he is a threat running is more important to the Tahs gameplan outside of their own 22 anyway.

His only real flaw right now seems to be his game management ability. Not having a particularly strong 9 inside him has done him no favors here. He needs some more time behind the wheel to get the hang of things I'd reckon.
 
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