Aussie super 14 team of the week Round 2 2009

[Ash]

I you believe that G and G have REAL bias against non-Tah players, then you believe that Aussie Robbie has stronger bias against them.

How does that work?

I seem to recall G and G columns calling for the entire Tahs pack and most of their backline being inserted straight into the Wallabies 1st XV last year...

 

[fatprop]

I you believe that G and G have REAL bias against non-Tah players, then you believe that Aussie Robbie has stronger bias against them.

How does that work?

I seem to recall G and G columns calling for the entire Tahs pack and most of their backline being inserted straight into the Wallabies 1st XV last year...

well that is just common sense :thumb (well the pack last year was, plus a few reserves)

 

[formeropenside]

Bias? If you're referring to NSW players, apart from Caldwell I'd say it's pretty good. I'd have Humphries instead. Not sure about Cross either.

Everytime I cut and paste their teams I'm going to say bias, no matter how much it is or isn't Their selections of Phibbs and Sharpe, in particular, puzzle me.

So you're saying they're biased against form players!;D

Pedallist, Naza's saying Growden and Guinness are biassed against Reds players. G&G, writing for the SMH for primarily a New South Wales market, pick players from winning teams in preference to a team yet to bother the scorers with 4 points and coming stone motherless last. That's what he's saying.

I wonder how the Tahs will do away to the Bulls and Stormers.

 

[Lindommer]

Bias? If you're referring to NSW players, apart from Caldwell I'd say it's pretty good. I'd have Humphries instead. Not sure about Cross either.

Everytime I cut and paste their teams I'm going to say bias, no matter how much it is or isn't Their selections of Phibbs and Sharpe, in particular, puzzle me.

So you're saying they're biased against form players!;D

Pedallist, Naza's saying Growden and Guinness are biassed against Reds players. G&G, writing in the SMH for primarily a New South Wales market, pick players from winning teams in preference to a team yet to bother the scorers with 4 points and coming stone motherless last. That's what he's saying.

Do you mean Naza as in me or Naza as in Naza?...Personally, the way the teams have been playing have excited me. It looks like the Reds are on an upwards spiral and Tahs on a downwards one. Don't you agree, Lindommer?

My apologies, Naza, it was Ash of course. The Tahs on a downward spiral? Never! :angryfire: :angryfire: :angryfire:

 

[Lindommer]

If you believe that G and G have REAL bias against non-Tah players, then you believe that Aussie Robbie has stronger bias against them.

How does that work? I seem to recall G and G columns calling for the entire Tahs pack and most of their backline being inserted straight into the Wallabies 1st XV last year...

And what was wrong with that? I fail to see why Deans didn't pick the rest of the Tahs' backline. :fishing :fishing :fishing

 

[naza]

Bias? If you're referring to NSW players, apart from Caldwell I'd say it's pretty good. I'd have Humphries instead. Not sure about Cross either.

Everytime I cut and paste their teams I'm going to say bias, no matter how much it is or isn't Their selections of Phibbs and Sharpe, in particular, puzzle me.

So you're saying they're biased against form players!;D

Pedallist, Naza's saying Growden and Guinness are biassed against Reds players. G&G, writing in the SMH for primarily a New South Wales market, pick players from winning teams in preference to a team yet to bother the scorers with 4 points and coming stone motherless last. That's what he's saying.

Do you mean Naza as in me or Naza as in Naza?...Personally, the way the teams have been playing have excited me. It looks like the Reds are on an upwards spiral and Tahs on a downwards one. Don't you agree, Lindommer?

My apologies, Naza, it was Ash of course. The Tahs on a downward spiral? Never! :angryfire: :angryfire: :angryfire:

All is forgiven.

Ash may need to consult the S14 ladder. There are no spirals in a ladder. NSW are on top. Reds on the bottom.

 

[the gambler]

WILL CALDWELL didn't blink before declaring on the eve of the Super 14 season that he was ready to provide the "hard-nosed" edge the Waratahs pack would need in the absence of Dan Vickerman.

"With 'Vicks' leaving, it opens up a spot for that hard-nosed player, [that] aggressive player doing the tighter, harder stuff ? I feel I can fulfil that role," Caldwell boldly said.

It was a big call from someone who doesn't chase the headlines, nor deliberately concocts statements to take up column space. Caldwell is a quiet achiever, a real toiler.

But there was something in the way he said it that was noticed by his teammates. "We were talking about that between some of the players the other day," Caldwell's fellow Waratahs second-rower Dean Mumm said yesterday. "We were saying 'Ducker' seemed to have stepped up to that mantle [of Vickerman] and is doing a great job with it."

Their judgment was based on performances up to an including the Waratahs' 26-22 round-one win over the Hurricanes in Wellington. He had yet to reinforce it as he did in the Waratahs' 11-7 win over the Chiefs at the SFS on Friday.

NSW's forward pack, powered by Caldwell and prop Benn Robinson, was largely credited with the victory.

"Ducker and 'Robo' were probably the two best [players] for us," Mumm said.

Both stood out - from their work in the pick-and-drive barrage the Waratahs unleashed early, to their scrum, defensive line-out and tackling efforts.

Caldwell, who played until the 73rd minute, left an early mark on the match with a memorable 12th-minute hit with the score at 0-0. The 114kg Caldwell produced a try-saving tackle on the Chiefs's 120kg tight-head prop Ben May five metres from NSW's line. "He absolutely nailed the bloke," Mumm said. "That is what Ducker is known for. That was critical for us as a team."

Mumm, now lineout general for NSW in Vickerman's absence, also applauded No.6 Ben Mowen in his second Super 14 start for the Waratahs, especially for his defensive line-out work. "Ben did a great job at the front there, which cut down their options," he said.

The Waratahs, meanwhile, are wary about the Highlanders who have lost their first two games to the Brumbies and Hurricanes, but only narrowly and after point-scoring starts.

They are unlikely to run prop Jamie Mackintosh (knee), while captain and halfback Jimmy Cowan (elbow) is in doubt.

NSW coach Chris Hickey warned: "There is no easy game. You can't afford to drop a game. You drop a couple and all of a sudden you are down the bottom half of the table. That's what makes [the Super 14] such a good competition."

Mumm would have to be the most quoted player so far this year. The Tahs are obviously using him as their go to man for post training interviews. Personally I agree about Caldwell though. Think he is extremely valuable to the Tahs and some of his defensive work on Friday was excellent.

 

[Ash]

If you believe that G and G have REAL bias against non-Tah players, then you believe that Aussie Robbie has stronger bias against them.

How does that work? I seem to recall G and G columns calling for the entire Tahs pack and most of their backline being inserted straight into the Wallabies 1st XV last year...

And what was wrong with that? I fail to see why Deans didn't pick the rest of the Tahs' backline. :fishing :fishing :fishing

Yup...if only we had put Tom Carter into 12 for the second, third and fourth Bledisloe then we would've won them all! :huxley

 

[fatprop]

If you believe that G and G have REAL bias against non-Tah players, then you believe that Aussie Robbie has stronger bias against them.

How does that work? I seem to recall G and G columns calling for the entire Tahs pack and most of their backline being inserted straight into the Wallabies 1st XV last year...

And what was wrong with that? I fail to see why Deans didn't pick the rest of the Tahs' backline. :fishing :fishing :fishing

The rest were injured :fishing