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EOYT 2014

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qwerty51

Stirling Mortlock (74)
I'd be happy with beating Wales and one of Ireland/France. Expected to lose to England and will do so heavily.
 

I like to watch

David Codey (61)
3/5 is a low pass.. like a C-

I'd be happy with 4
Most people considered 3/5 would be satisfactory last year given Link had only had them for 6 months prior to touring.
You must think Cheika is a much better coach,given he would have only 2 days to improve this motley crew.
 

vidiot

John Solomon (38)
I'm bullish on their chances. Wallabies are on the way up and despite everything were 20 minutes away from wins against SA and NZ.

They'll tour undefeated. Though the poms in particular will go hard at the set piece.

Our new Messiah will underpromise and overdeliver which is exactly what McKenzie should have done.
 
P

Paradox

Guest
Our scrum is still a major concern. We got smashed by Argentina and England will be talking about it to officials. Lineout has also struggled especially when the reserve hookers get on. Mann rae is not up to it.
 

formerflanker

Ken Catchpole (46)
It will be very interesting to watch our game plans adapt to the European pitches. I assume we will face slower tracks than we've seen in the Bled and RC.
 

BDA

Peter Johnson (47)
I usually have low expectations for the NH tour, but even with all of our injuries I think we could do a clean sweep this year. Missing guys like Fardy and TPN will effect our chances but provided the scrum holds up and Cheika has a good effect on the team I could see us scoring plenty of points with the likes of Cooper and Spieght coming into the side. I'll happily lose to Wales and France if we can beat England...hate those c*nts
 

Wilson

David Codey (61)
Given everything that's happened recently, would winning 3/5 be considered a pass or a fail? Or is it more about rebuilding confidence as a playing group & winning back the fans (or at least starting the process(es))?


Depends on who we beat, if we get up over both England and Wales then we're well set for the RWC, if we lose to one or both then things are more troubling.
 

BDA

Peter Johnson (47)
Scrum is a major issue. If you looks at the difference between the Argentina away and home games, we were dominant on the Gold Coast and then dominated over there. The big difference was TPN. Without him (or Moore) we will be under pressure. Plus we have had Fardy packing down behind the TH which I think assist us in that area. Our backs wll easily have the upper hand against most of the NH teams tho
 

BDA

Peter Johnson (47)
In terms of looking at players for next year:
Prop: too late to blood new talent. We need experienced props for next year. Shame Sio couldnt go on tour and play TH. might be too late to consider converting him to TH/LH for the WC. Need to find a way to get Alexander out of the 23.
2nd row: keen to see Skelton get more game time, maybe him or Jones in place of Carter. I actually think Carter has played well for his first test season, but he needs to make more of an impact if he's pairing with Simo.
Backrow: Interested to seeing what Jones and McMahon offer.
To'omua v Lilo: Lilo probably deserves to start at 12 after last week, but against Wales and England I would prefer To'omua
 

Tahspark

Ted Thorn (20)
I'd be happy with beating Wales and one of Ireland/France. Expected to lose to England and will do so heavily.


Whilst I can foresee us losing to the Poms I don't see the basis for such pessimism. If ever a heavy loss was on the cards it was last Saturday and we were pleasantly surprised by the display.

There'll be no miracles under Cheika but plenty of hard yakka. Culturally I expect to see a happier, more united playing group. As the national coach I hope to see Cheika influencing the provinces to place a greater emphasis on pre-season fitness. The Tahs were wilting badly at the back end of matches in 2012 due to a lack of it & statistically they were the strongest finishers in 2014.

I like the squad and the inclusion of the uncapped players. By the end of this EOYT based on our performances I want to see all of the media/GAGR forum talk strongly & justifiably focused on our realistic prospects at the RWC.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
Three out of five would be a bare pass mark for mine. We really need to target those games against England and Wales, because they're in our group and they'll be our last opportunities to play them before the RWC. We really need to win both games.
 

something

Jim Clark (26)
Most people considered 3/5 would be satisfactory last year given Link had only had them for 6 months prior to touring.
You must think Cheika is a much better coach,given he would have only 2 days to improve this motley crew.


I don't know who the better coach is, i just think the wallabies just had their best game of the season playing a style of footy chieka is very comfortable with. I think 4/5 is very achievable
 

Muglair

Alfred Walker (16)
I think artificially picking numbers is a waste of time. In the first instance I can't see why winning all games is out of reach. We were unfortunate to lose to England I thought with the referee again becoming the 9th forward in the scrum. How we play and the manner of defeat, if any, will be factors for discussion.

A bit of pain over the last fortnight but quite possibly that has removed a lot of negativity overhanging the squad. Cheika will provide a lot of clarity over how we will play the game. The Waratahs obviously have enjoyed the last two seasons and I think the Wallabies will be keen too.

The biggest risk is Cheika's stated intent to lay down a style of play and stick to it. It might be a bit scratchy a la the Waratahs at the start. On the other hand they looked comfortable on Saturday night and I am sure the other players have spent a lot of time analysing the Waratahs.

The really interesting thing for mine is that the Wallabies have never had a coach with so much experience of playing and coaching in Europe. Claims that the Waratahs way will not work on slow European pitches have to be less informed than Cheika's own experience. I hope I am as excited at the end of November.
 

Biffo

Ken Catchpole (46)
i don't care what are the numbers put up by the scorer after the opposed training while counting on 1 Nov.

the Wallabies play only one team ranked above them.
anything less than 3/4 would be, IMO, very poor.

one win from the last 11 against higher ranked teams was extremely poor and must be redressed.

one bad defeat would be serious.
two bad defeats would be much worse.

poor skills on display would be a big worry.
the absence of signs of cohesion and coherence would be a major worry.
 

ChargerWA

Mark Loane (55)
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