Wallabies 2020

[Cancelled Account]

Would be our best attacking backrow in a long time.

Doesn’t get much better. Can you imagine that combo with 2-3years playing together.

 

[Cancelled Account]

You're a muppet - I have first hand experience of Rennie benching his stripe players, letting the more consistent players roll with the first 60mins, and then winning at the death with a strong bench impact. Bastard, I really thought 2013 was the year, then he emptied the Chiefs bench against a jetlagged team and overran them.

If you didn't notice NZ's extraordinary finishing ability over the last 15 years, it had a lot to do with who they could finish games with. It IS a 23 these days, no 15 and a few injury covers.

That’s smart coaching. Australian fans need to get with the times, and understand that your all 23 serve a purpose and you bench is the key to winning games.

 

[young gun]

Hooper is on the next level of talent, reputation and most importantly output than either of those players. If you quizzed 100 fans from 10 other countries who the best player in Australia was, Hooper would be close to the most mentioned name. It’s only in Australia we seem to have these discussions

100% correct. I have it on good authority that there is a global database of the data from the GPS devices players wear during games. Every time any player, anywhere in the world, wears one it updates the database. Apparently Hooper's work rate is usually 10% higher than ANY OTHER PLAYER IN THE WORLD. Maybe that's why he's so highly rated by other Nations. Our issue is our own pathetic parochialism, it blinds our view as to who deserves what. I just support the Wallabies.

 

[Dctarget]

Doesn’t get much better. Can you imagine that combo with 2-3years playing together.

I can get around that. Hooper is incredible but apart from an out of place Pocock, he's never had much of consistent backrow with him. I expect him to have a great international season this year without having to carry the Wallabies.

 

[Silverado]

Hooper will be close to the first name on the sheet. The other two members of the backrow will be selected around him. He does so many things so well, he also had a pretty decent SRAU season. The little things he does around the park like elite kick chase, etc. won’t be ignored by the players around him and any coaching staff.

The captaincy situation is basically his on default because there is no obvious choice per position to be there long term.

But he's a Waratah

 

[LearningCurve]

Wasnt Dmac before after his time?

No, Rennie was Chiefs coach when McKenzie joined them at 19
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby...s-young-star-damian-mckenzie-to-stay-grounded

 

[Brumby Runner]

Wayne Smith suggest McReight over Hooper in two separate articles this morning (1 suggesting he could even be captain). Is it just a 'push a Reds strategy' or do we reckon he knows something and is being used to soften the shock once it happens?

An interesting call. I'd hazard a guess that had Poey been used at No 7 in the past four years (when available), as he should have been, there would be no debate currently about McReight replacing Hooper this year.

 

[Adam84]

100% correct. I have it on good authority that there is a global database of the data from the GPS devices players wear during games. Every time any player, anywhere in the world, wears one it updates the database. Apparently Hooper's work rate is usually 10% higher than ANY OTHER PLAYER IN THE WORLD. Maybe that's why he's so highly rated by other Nations. Our issue is our own pathetic parochialism, it blinds our view as to who deserves what. I just support the Wallabies.

Yeh I’m calling bullshit on this statement.

In what world do professional teams publicly release their own players performance data into a global database, for what purpose, and where is this database?

Players GPS data is an extremely valuable commodity in professional sports, clubs don’t just submit this into some worldwide database for other teams to analyse. Shit, super rugby clubs kicked up a stink when RA asked for the players performance data so the Wallabies S&C staff could analyse.

 

[Adam84]

I love Valetini's involvements, he can really hit and dominate in carries, tackles and cleanouts. Having watched him a bit though, he really needs to be more involved. He could be a seriously dominant player. This is a bad example because I know Wilson must have played more minutes than him, but just as an example, Wilson is listed as having over twice as many carries and made 50 more tackles than him throughout the year. Unfortunately I don't have ruck stats but from watching, I would not call his work rate there high either, very effective for sure but not high.

Valetini is awesome in what he does but he would be so much better if he lifted his involvements a bit. Still, wouldn't be unhappy with him at 6.

Edit: Having said all that I'd love to see
6 Valetini
7 Hooper
8 Wilson

I’ve said it a number of times, I just don’t see what other people see in Valentini, he puts on a couple of big hits or a couple of runs a game but then goes missing. His work rate is pretty low compared to all the other back row candidates including the unfit Naisarani. The only role I see for Valentini is off the bench when he has been given a rocket up his ass and told to play as hard as he can for 20mins. He just doesn’t maintain the workrate or consistency required of a test player for 80mins.

 

[Highkicks]

I’ve said it a number of times, I just don’t see what other people see in Valentini, he puts on a couple of big hits or a couple of runs a game but then goes missing. His work rate is pretty low compared to all the other back row candidates including the unfit Naisarani. The only role I see for Valentini is off the bench when he has been given a rocket up his ass and told to play as hard as he can for 20mins. He just doesn’t maintain the workrate or consistency required of a test player for 80mins.

Seems like people have been talking him up in a few recent games where he hasn’t actually played that well. I can’t recall exactly which games but at the start of the year he was in some better form. Agree that he really needs to lift his involvements but I think he has an edge over the other guys in contact. So far he does not strike me as a particularly enthusiastic player to finish a game with either.

 

[Highkicks]

Seems like I’m on my own here but there are lots of great individual options but they all have pretty big deficiencies. Wright at 6 is great for the lineout but is small and lacks impact around the park. Samu is fantastic out wide with the ball in hand but is small and is not a big hitter in close, in either rucks, defence or attack. The missing ingredient for me is a big 6 who is good in the lineout and around the park. The lack of which makes it hard to pick a balanced back row. Of course this is all just speculation. You could pick Hooper, Samu and McReight and maybe it’s a fast game and they dominate. Just not an easy decision for me.

 

[Number 7]

Yeh I’m calling bullshit on this statement.

In what world do professional teams publicly release their own players performance data into a global database, for what purpose, and where is this database?

Players GPS data is an extremely valuable commodity in professional sports, clubs don’t just submit this into some worldwide database for other teams to analyse. Shit, super rugby clubs kicked up a stink when RA asked for the players performance data so the Wallabies S&C staff could analyse.

Actually, there is a local and global database of player workload data which is being shared globally.

The leading global company for sports analytics is Catapult sports (https://www.catapultsports.com/). They supply GPS and "Local Positioning Systems" to all sorts of sports but have a suite of rugby analytics which are used by 200+ clubs including all Super teams and Wallabies. It is ratified by World Rugby as the global standard.

The system was used at the Rugby World Cup in 2019 by all teams as a part of a load management study to help WR (World Rugby) set safety guidelines around how many games players should be playing. https://www.catapultsports.com/blog/catapult-world-rugby-load-passport. The data also goes to universities to study to help with sports research.

Now whilst I doubt that Michael Hoopers personal data is being collected and shared with opposition teams, the information is certainly being collected, stored and shared.

 

[Tex]

A Melbourne perspective on the backrow debate



https://www.instagram.com/p/CFMMWLyH7N5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

[cyclopath]

I like the new Rebels' Arthurian T-shirt option.
Although, it is a silly place.

 

[Dctarget]

Love that they tagged Revs as the location. Probably genuinely the reason that a few Rebels have missed out on higher honours in the past.

 

[Tex]

NAISARANI IS A MAN.

I'm bloody excited about Wallabies matches hey. Must be that tasty point in the year when optimism is yet to meet Kiwi realism.

 

[Dctarget]

NAISARANI IS A MAN.

I'm bloody excited about Wallabies matches hey. Must be that tasty point in the year when optimism is yet to meet Kiwi realism.

Optimism is drawn out even more with a completely domestic competition, I love it. This is how Leinster fans must feel.

 

[Blue]

. You could pick Hooper, Samu and McReight and maybe it’s a fast game and they dominate. Just not an easy decision for me.

Until Australia finds a 6 that fulfils all the critical roles of the modern 6 with distinction, they will not be able to have a consistently competitive pack. Everyone plays a fast game now. There is no such magical gear any longer. A great 6 is a unique animal that can play like 7 at times, link like an 8, or play like a lock forward in contact. He can jump anywhere in the lineout, fulfil a roving role in defense or play wide in attack. He has to be on of your three primary ball carriers or he is not good enough.

That is not Wright or McReight. There are loads of "Wright" type players running around professional comps around the world.I can list 7 or 8 from NZ and up North. Great players who will never play test rugby. Solid, dependable, do their job really well, but test class performers they are not.

I hope that Rennie can get Valentini to suddenly live up to the hype because I have not seen it.

It's a real problem position. Nobody has really held their hand up and shown the all round class. Rennie will be forced to experiment with Wright, Hanigan etc. eek.

I am convinced that you will never see two open sides under Rennie.

 

[Derpus]

NAISARANI IS A MAN.

I'm bloody excited about Wallabies matches hey. Must be that tasty point in the year when optimism is yet to meet Kiwi realism.

Wouldn't it be nice if we only had to play them once or something.

 

[Derpus]

Until Australia finds a 6 that fulfils all the critical roles of the modern 6 with distinction, they will not be able to have a consistently competitive pack. Everyone plays a fast game now. There is no such magical gear any longer. A great 6 is a unique animal that can play like 7 at times, link like an 8, or play like a lock forward in contact. He can jump anywhere in the lineout, fulfil a roving role in defense or play wide in attack. He has to be on of your three primary ball carriers or he is not good enough.

That is not Wright or McReight. There are loads of "Wright" type players running around professional comps around the world.I can list 7 or 8 from NZ and up North. Great players who will never play test rugby. Solid, dependable, do their job really well, but test class performers they are not.

I hope that Rennie can get Valentini to suddenly live up to the hype because I have not seen it.

It's a real problem position. Nobody has really held their hand up and shown the all round class. Rennie will be forced to experiment with Wright, Hanigan etc. eek.

I am convinced that you will never see two open sides under Rennie.

You can count the number of players you have described that exist in the world on one hand.

Infact, you've pretty much just described PSdT - who was world player of the year. Maybe Itoje? but he certainly doesn't have the link play of an 8.

I can't think of any Kiwi's that play like that. Maybe Ioane who doesn't get picked - not sure how his lineout work is.