TSR
Mark Ella (57)
With regards to the games - kudos to the whole Brumbies set up. We often talk about how good their coaching/back office system is and I thought last night was a perfect example. When you strip it out I didn’t actually think that some of the individual Waratah performances were too bad. Encouraging even - but as a collective there is a massive gulf between the teams.
And I do wonder how it is going to impact the longer term prospects of some guys like Harrison, Swinton, Ramm & Maddocks. But then on the flip side it’s great to see the likes of Lolesio, Simone, Valetini & Muirhead just getting better & better. I continue to be impressed by Mack Hansen and I actually think he could be a better fullback than Banks if/when Kata comes back into the starting side. In any case, he is certainly a quality back up at least.
On Maddocks specifically - I thought he was good last night (for a guy in a team getting shredded). And last week too. Which is significant to me because, in the past, he’s been the sort of guy that drops his head too easily. But both this week and last he seemed to be trying his best to lead, and played well. There were a few other individuals. But the Tahs collectively were too porous in defence and gifted possession back too easily. The Brumbies would have been very confident that the just needed to be patient in defence and they’d get the ball back. In attack, it was a contested training run (although by that I don’t mean to diminish how accurate and clinical the Brumbies were).
On a final note - how good is it to see an Aussie kicker nail two kicks from the sideline. Lonergan isn’t getting in front of Nic White anytime soon based on White’s form in the first two games, but across the board the standard of goal kicking seems to be much better this year than it has for years. But I thought that was a high point in itself from a young bloke just starting out.
And I do wonder how it is going to impact the longer term prospects of some guys like Harrison, Swinton, Ramm & Maddocks. But then on the flip side it’s great to see the likes of Lolesio, Simone, Valetini & Muirhead just getting better & better. I continue to be impressed by Mack Hansen and I actually think he could be a better fullback than Banks if/when Kata comes back into the starting side. In any case, he is certainly a quality back up at least.
On Maddocks specifically - I thought he was good last night (for a guy in a team getting shredded). And last week too. Which is significant to me because, in the past, he’s been the sort of guy that drops his head too easily. But both this week and last he seemed to be trying his best to lead, and played well. There were a few other individuals. But the Tahs collectively were too porous in defence and gifted possession back too easily. The Brumbies would have been very confident that the just needed to be patient in defence and they’d get the ball back. In attack, it was a contested training run (although by that I don’t mean to diminish how accurate and clinical the Brumbies were).
On a final note - how good is it to see an Aussie kicker nail two kicks from the sideline. Lonergan isn’t getting in front of Nic White anytime soon based on White’s form in the first two games, but across the board the standard of goal kicking seems to be much better this year than it has for years. But I thought that was a high point in itself from a young bloke just starting out.
