Bledisloe 2 - Wallabies vs All Blacks, Wellington, 27 August 2016
- Thread starter Brumby Runner
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Viking
Mark Ella (57)
That's probably likely. Cooper on the bench to cover 10,12,15.
Which unfortunately mean Foley starting. Not surprising but surely Foley's last chance - again.
huge amount. really?
This is Cheika setting Quade up to fail. Either by ignorance or by desperation. Probably a little of both.
Well the other options at 12 either have played 2 tests there or zero. 13 tests is a huge amount more experience than that.
I don't think he is setting Quade up to fail. There will still be less expectation on him than Foley.
Look at the alternative situation where Cooper plays 10 and Kerevi 12 giving us no viable first receiver aside from Cooper. We're coming off a record defeat and playing the All Blacks in NZ. The All Blacks will target the 10 knowing that the ball will always go to him. If he then fails do you bring Foley back for a much easier test of playing the Springboks in Brisbane and probably also having To'omua back at 12?
This way, Foley gets one more chance to prove he can turn his form around and if not Cooper hopefully gets a decent run at 10 beginning with a home test.
KOB1987
John Eales (66)
The Oz, Harris
Viking
Mark Ella (57)
But if Foley continues his lack of form and Cooper has an absolute shocker at 12 - which is more likely then him having a shocker at 10, then how do you justify Cooper for the next game at 10? His confidence would be even worse then before.
I think the likely outcome will be Cooper on the bench. That will be the less risky option for Quade.
Gillys_ghost
Dave Cowper (27)
What time is the team announced? The All Blacks named theirs hours ago
The torpedo
Peter Fenwicke (45)
The key though is to have BALANCE. You can't play a team of old heads because they will be too slow, nor a team of less than 35-cap players as they won't be very experienced. Look what North did yesterday (as disgraceful as the treatment of Boomer Harvey was)
It would only be fair to judge each on their merits.
The expectation on Foley at 10 should be much higher than Cooper at 12 in his first game back.
If you pick Cooper at 10 and drop Foley and Cooper does no better this week (in what is probably a tougher encounter), Cheika could quite reasonably go straight back to Foley with the thought that neither are setting the world on fire and he may as well stick with the player he has worked with for longer.
It was only a year ago that Cheika picked Cooper at 10 in New Zealand and everyone said that Cheika was setting Quade up to fail.
If this plays out with Cooper at 12 it seems like the expectations on him will be lower.
The torpedo
Peter Fenwicke (45)
Interestingly, Deans actually did put QC (Quade Cooper) @ 12
Scrubber2050
Mark Ella (57)
If Chek doesn't remove Foley from 10 it is a reflection (IMHO) of Chek and his favoured players selection policy.
The team needs some change. The biggest one (and I am not hugely confident about it at all) is Cooper at 10 and Foley at 12.
I am confident that we will have better effort this week but if Foley remains at 10 I expect another absolute massacre
The team needs some change. The biggest one (and I am not hugely confident about it at all) is Cooper at 10 and Foley at 12.
I am confident that we will have better effort this week but if Foley remains at 10 I expect another absolute massacre
I am genuinely confused by the premise that selecting Cooper at 12 would be a crazy coaching decision despite him playing a number of tests there whilst selecting Foley at 12 who to my mind has never played there (except possibly at Shute Shield level) would be a good idea.
The backs aren't the reason for the losses, it is the pigs, Cooper playing last week (or this week) isn't going to fix lineouts, defense, ruck work and scrummaging.
Gillys_ghost
Dave Cowper (27)
Reasonable people such as your self will have fair expectations for Quade if he plays 12. Most people wont. He is so unfairly hated by so many people in NSW and NZ that i expect Quade to be completely scapegoated when we lose this match. I got more faith in cheika though that he wouldnt be stupid enough to throw cooper in out of position, after playing very little rugby all year, in new Zealand. I expect Quade on the bench and hopefully he gets a good 25-30 mins at 10.
Viking
Mark Ella (57)
I'm not sure Cheika has the same logical thinking you do.
I'm afraid Cheika will base his opinion on Cooper no matter if he is at 10 or 12. So might as well start him at 10.
I think he did this on the EOYT 2014, where QC (Quade Cooper) played terribly on the wing and was given barely any game time from the bench in the following games.
The torpedo
Peter Fenwicke (45)
The problem is that he has played 1 @ 12 since 2009
They probably turned it from a 10-20 point loss to a 34 point thumping though.
I think either Quade at 12 or coming off the bench gives him a better chance of then starting at 10 for at least a couple of games after that.
Unless our forwards go substantially better, no player is going to look good at 10 for us against the All Blacks.
jollyswagman
Ron Walden (29)
That must have been many moons ago BH.......was that when Gits was starting at 10 back in the early RD days?
Scrubber2050
Mark Ella (57)
Of course not, they NEVER are.
ALL the points came through the middle !!! Suppose you cannot remember a shitty Foley kick, culminating in a try that was obviously the sole fault of the piggies. Bastards I say.
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