Bad news

[Bruce Ross]

There are other rugby clubs apart from Sydney Uni, Bruce. You'd be well advised to remember that.

Fair enough, Lindommer. One thing I always remember is not to bag players with blanket statements like "can't pass" or "can't tackle".

 

[Cutter]

There are other rugby clubs apart from Sydney Uni, Bruce. You'd be well advised to remember that.

Fair enough, Lindommer. One thing I always remember is not to bag players with blanket statements like "can't pass" or "can't tackle".

Its a good creed to live by Bruce.

Here are some stats for each of them for the full season:

1. Smith - http://www.sarugby.com/news/Stats_Centre_2009/pid=1729.html
2. Carter - http://www.sarugby.com/news/Stats_Centre_2009/pid=393.html

I couldnt post them as a table. I'm surprised by Smith's missed tackle percentage. These stats contradict yours with regard to line breaks in that they are far more flattering to Smith. Carter would probably do well in a John Connolly coached environment with Barnes at 10.

 

[Spook]

T Smith's defense did get better missing no tackles against the Chiefs in the final game. He was still coming to grips with union defensive alignment this year. He can't be fit though at the moment, just been taken away from his honey moon. I would have gone with Lealiifano over Smith if it came down to those two. T Smith is a good stepper but doesn't have great pace.

 

[waratahjesus]

gee, couldnt wait for me!

i think we are still short of outside centres. JOC (James O'Connor) should be sitting out. i dont buy cross as a starting player or bench player for that matter. we needed a genuine fullback option so AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) could stay at 13 plus with mortlock still out, who is stepping into 13 if we need another?

 

[Scarfman]

Carter for the Wallabies ...

Tom Carter?

I thought WJ was joking. But Bruce?

I've been a Carter apologist in the past - I mean, he did everything Link asked of him, which wasn't much. But to suggest that he has a place in Deans's Wallabies is pure fantasy.

Tell him he's dreamin'.

 

[fatprop]

T Smith's defense did get better missing no tackles against the Chiefs in the final game. He was still coming to grips with union defensive alignment this year. He can't be fit though at the moment, just been taken away from his honey moon. I would have gone with Lealiifano over Smith if it came down to those two. T Smith is a good stepper but doesn't have great pace.

Smith was the right choice as replacement, but I disagree that he deserves any excuse for "coming to grips with union defensive alignment", that is bullocks, he has played enough rugby now.

The Brumbies were rushing in defence a lot and to me, that leads to more misses at times, as well as the big plays (and Mortlock & AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) missed more)

Horne needs to find the best specialist he can find and take whatever time he needs to get himself right.

 

[Scarfman]

I reckon hammies are often associated with too much bulking up in the gym. Make your training a bit more natural.

 

[louie]

Carter for the Wallabies ...

Tom Carter?

I thought WJ was joking. But Bruce?

I've been a Carter apologist in the past - I mean, he did everything Link asked of him, which wasn't much. But to suggest that he has a place in Deans's Wallabies is pure fantasy.

Tell him he's dreamin'.

i've never seen bruce and WJ in the same room

 

[Cutter]

T Smith's defense did get better missing no tackles against the Chiefs in the final game. He was still coming to grips with union defensive alignment this year. He can't be fit though at the moment, just been taken away from his honey moon. I would have gone with Lealiifano over Smith if it came down to those two. T Smith is a good stepper but doesn't have great pace.

Smith was the right choice as replacement, but I disagree that he deserves any excuse for "coming to grips with union defensive alignment", that is bullocks, he has played enough rugby now.

The Brumbies were rushing in defence a lot and to me, that leads to more misses at times, as well as the big plays (and Mortlock & AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) missed more)

Horne needs to find the best specialist he can find and take whatever time he needs to get himself right.

Good point about the rush defence and I agree completely that he has had time to adjust. Another thing I noticed early in the season was that he was standing closer to Lealifano to help in that defensive channel (ie he thought Lealifano would miss the tackle and stood close to help). This meant he had to cover more space on the outside.

I'm sure he will do well.

 

[Ash]

i've never seen bruce and WJ in the same room

Bruce Ross is the president of Syd Uni sport and fitness. A real Sydney Uni tragic. I might be cheeky enough to suggest that he can push Lee Grant for oldest poster on the board.

Been waiting for Lindommer (West Harbour), Lee (Warringah) and Bruce Ross to have some lively discussions on club rugby in Sydney and Sydney Uni's dominance. Build it, and they will come...

I would also be cheeky enough to suggest that Bruce Ross and WJ like Carter for different reasons. The former because he's a Sydney Uni player. The latter because he's nuts.

I've seen the odd Sydney Uni game to realise that Carter is an exceptional club rugby player. I don't hold the belief that he's anything more than a journeyman at the S14 level though, especially at 12. You can argue (probably quite correctly) that the Tahs limited width game plan didn't help, and to be fair Carter played around 2/3rd of the minutes than Smith did in those stats. However, the vision of Carter constantly and ineffectually crashing balling is burnt into my mind. You can't deny that this year that Carter looked like a more limited, less efficient version of Nathan Grey for the Tahs. The difference Beale brought at 12 later in the season was like chalk and cheese.

I think that Carter might make a good defensive 13 with a high work rate. He can pass, but he lacked the ability to set up his outside (or inside) man in the S14. That being said, if there is a Melbourne side then they could do worse than having a go with Carter at 13. Who knows, with Horne being perenially injured and Tahu gone then Carter might get a chance at 13 for the Tahs next season ahead of Sidey(?).

At the S14 level I believe that your 12 needs to have some ball playing ability for when he is forced into first receiver, perhaps with a ball playing fullback you can get away with a more direct 12. With no SNK at fullback, I can't see Carter successfully getting another run at 12 for the Tahs next season unless his distribution skills and vision improve significantly.

 

[Lee Grant]

i think we are still short of outside centres.

we needed a genuine fullback option so AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) could stay at 13 plus with mortlock still out, who is stepping into 13 if we need another?

Exactly right. I have to eat some humble pie here because it was only 18 months ago, or so, that I was whingeing about why AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was playing fullback for Oz. Anybody could see that 13 was his natural position though he wasn't a bad winger - but he wasn't even a good fullback when he played there for the Brumbies.

Maybe my original opinion was bunk or maybe we should all realise that we shouldn't get locked into a fixed position about players.

"Digby Ioane is a limited player because he can't act as a de facto fullback when the 15 chases his own kick upfield" is another of my gems, as were sarcastic remarks about Chisholm before the 2008 EOYT.

But I digress. It's unfortunate in a way that AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is the best fullback that we have because it emphasises the lack of depth we have at 13. Horne and Mortlock crocked (and Horne not match fit or experienced enough anyway), and Ioane parked on the wing until he gets his legs back, means that Cross is the only choice to play outside centre.

Tyrone Smith played 13 for Manly this year so that Sefania could play at 12, and whilst he was OK in the slower paced game of the Shute Shield, you'd never want to see him play there in a test match. If Cross got crocked I'd rather see Mitchell go to fullback and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to 13.

Talk about T. Smith and Tom Carter makes me go back to not locking into an opinion of players. It has been my experience over watching more decades of rugby than I want to remind myself of, that players are neither as good as we insist they are, nor as bad.

Carter's good play for Sydney Uni at the Shute Shield level is undeniable as is that of his team mate Daniel Halangahu, but one cannot deny either that he hasn't seized his chances to help the players outside him even taking into account any forensic mitigation that could be argued. This is not a scientific statistical criticism of Carter: it is a "if it walks like a duck and quacks, it is a duck" analysis.

Next year I hope to be able to admit that Carter is another player I have been wrong about, but until then, he is a duck.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

More bad news: Byron Kelleher is on the front page of the NZ herald and, this just in, he's still a drongo.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11505020

trundled off to google image search for the inevitable "facepalm" pic but man, front page of NZ Herald, that deserves a screenshot of the whole lot

 

[Pfitzy]

That picture of him says it all - like he's confused about why he can't do HakaPubInc and thinking hard (really hard) about what might be wrong. As for a more appropriate picture - altogether now!

If I only had a brain!

 

[I like to watch]

You guys just don't understand .....

"Byron Kelleher is helping children from all over the world to give them a chance in life," the spokesperson said. "It's a challenge for people from all over the world to show their dance [haka]."

 

[pjm]

Do they write letters to every kiwi backpacker who does it drunk.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

Hold on - he escaped the Pitcairns?

 

[cyclopath]

Hold on - he escaped the Pitcairns?

I think he built an El Nino raft and drifted on the warm currents, with his gruds stashed full of breadfruit and coconut moonshine. How he got to France is beyond me though.

 

[BarneySF]

"...and there will be locker rooms where people can settle down for a drink." WTF?


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