New Zealand vs Australia - Bledisloe 2, 24th August 2013

[Ignoto]

If Link brings Shatz in then getting rid of RD has achieved nothing..hopefully it's just speculation by the journo (which it implicitly is) and nothing more.

So, if you were Link, who would you bring in. As a refresher the following backrowers are now injured; Palu, Higgers, Kimlin and Madness. That now leaves you with; Brown, McCallman, Dennis and Shatz and Quirk (but I believe he's injured?) who can play 6 or 8.

The three of them that have caps have all been ineffectual at an international level and those that have played against the Darkness haven't matched their intensity or speed. Shatz is the unknown, while I don't think he's anywhere ready for this level (or capable just yet), he's basically the last man standing.

 

[FrankLind]

Who are the AB brutes?

Brute and effective are two different things.

Retallick is a brute. That is about it.

 

[Pfitzy]

The line about brutes is simply to get some mongrel into the team. We need guys to tear in and get physical to at least get some respect back. Perpetual motion is much easier to achieve in rugby going forward.

Essentially the only change being Fardy coming in for MMM and Douglas to the bench.....

Philosophically, I'm cool with that. It indicates Link has put faith in these guys to execute the game plan, and wholesale change was never really an option. Plus, now we're one down there is nothing to lose, as we ain't gunna win two matches on Kiwi soil.

So, if you were Link, who would you bring in. As a refresher the following backrowers are now injured; Palu, Higgers, Kimlin and Madness. That now leaves you with; Brown, McCallman, Dennis and Shatz and Quirk (but I believe he's injured?) who can play 6 or 8.

Luke muthafuckin Jones. That guy is a right c*** and that's what I like about him.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

The newspaper report was that the injury occurred during the Super season and that he is now going for surgery. If true, it says that our medical staff somehow think that seriously injured players who really need a shoulder reconstruction are a good pick for a game against NZ.

If the newspaper report is correct, then the first cleanout needs to be those who made that decision.

It certainly was a risk. Let this be a lesson to all: you don't take half fit blokes into a test match, but I suspect most of us knew that already.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Likely Wallaby team according to the Oz:



Essentially the only change being Fardy coming in for MMM and Douglas to the bench.....

And swapping the props if they've got the numbers right.

 

[Pfitzy]

It certainly was a risk. Let this be a lesson to all: you don't take half fit blokes into a test match, but I suspect most of us knew that already.

But Link said from the get-go he wasn't going to pick injured players.

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I hate autocorrect ...

 

[Rob42]

I'm happy for Mogg to get one more chance, especially if he's given the opportunity to kick for the corners a bit more. Our line-out was the one area where we were clearly better than NZ last weekend - let's use it.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

With Wellington famous for its wind, we will certainly need a bloke that is skillful kicking from the hand.

The wind in the Cake Tin seems to be more of a swirly kind regardless of where it is blowing from out on Wellington Harbour, unlike Athletic Park where it would either be funneled in from the North or South, significantly favouring the team with the wind behind them.

Kicking from the tee, and the hand in the Cake Tins swirling wind will pose significant challenges to our kickers.

 

[KOB1987]

So, if you were Link, who would you bring in. As a refresher the following backrowers are now injured; Palu, Higgers, Kimlin and Madness. That now leaves you with; Brown, McCallman, Dennis and Shatz and Quirk (but I believe he's injured?) who can play 6 or 8.

The three of them that have caps have all been ineffectual at an international level and those that have played against the Darkness haven't matched their intensity or speed. Shatz is the unknown, while I don't think he's anywhere ready for this level (or capable just yet), he's basically the last man standing.

1. McCalman 2. Dennis 3. Shatz
Seems the correct answer is Douglas though!

Bearing in mind the injuries, I was probably being a bit harsh on him but I thought it would a wrong call to overlook experienced players and debut Shatz in a game like this. Against the Pumas, different story.

 

[Bullrush]

But Link said from the get-go he wasn't going to pick injured players.

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I hate autocorrect .

One of the criticisms of Deans on this thread was that he picked players who weren't perceived to be 100% eg. Mitchell, Palu, McCabe etc.

No matter how many times it was pointed out that these players would have had to have been passed as 'fit' by medical practitioners, physios etc he took a bit of flak here for it still.

First game and Link seems to have picked someone who was carrying an injury, a guy with a huge history of injuries as well.

The silence from those critics is bewildering......

 

[No4918]

One of the criticisms of Deans on this thread was that he picked players who weren't perceived to be 100% eg. Mitchell, Palu, McCabe etc.

No matter how many times it was pointed out that these players would have had to have been passed as 'fit' by medical practitioners, physios etc he took a bit of flak here for it still.

First game and Link seems to have picked someone who was carrying an injury, a guy with a huge history of injuries as well.

The silence from those critics is bewildering..

Come on. Sir McCaw was picked right throughout the RWC with a massive injury. That could easily have blown up within a few minutes of the final starting and France would have won.

We are all just quessting and the article is hardly confident. It seems like the injury referred to could quite easily have been the one he missed 6-7 weeks for and then came back from.

 

[Braveheart81]

Picking a player under an injury cloud is always a risk and one that coaches often take a punt on. If the decision backfires then the coach should rightfully be criticised.

I don't think you can compare picking McCaw and MMM injured. One is the GOAT and one is both injury prone and injured and is certainly nowhere near McCaw's league in terms of quality.

It would be different if the next player down was a huge step down from the player under an injury cloud but in the case of MMM you really couldn't say it was. Fardy has had a fantastic season. Based on MMM's lacklustre game and the fact that he is now out for six months for a shoulder reconstruction suggests to me that it was a punt that wasn't worth taking.

 

[I like to watch]

One of the criticisms of Deans on this thread was that he picked players who weren't perceived to be 100% eg. Mitchell, Palu, McCabe etc.

No matter how many times it was pointed out that these players would have had to have been passed as 'fit' by medical practitioners, physios etc he took a bit of flak here for it still.

First game and Link seems to have picked someone who was carrying an injury, a guy with a huge history of injuries as well.

The silence from those critics is bewildering..

There is a lot of goodwill being extended to Link in his honeymoon period.
If they are still doing the same things,with the same results by the end of the RC,you will be hearing a lot more.
On balance that seems fair to me.

 

[Bullrush]

Come on. Sir McCaw was picked right throughout the RWC with a massive injury. That could easily have blown up within a few minutes of the final starting and France would have won.

We are all just quessting and the article is hardly confident. It seems like the injury referred to could quite easily have been the one he missed 6-7 weeks for and then came back from.

I don't care that he picked MMM or Deans picked Mitchell or Henry picked McCaw - my point is that whether a player is 'fit' or not is not, a coach can only select from who is available.

Link has done exactly what Deans did in his time at HC.

 

[Gurz]

Expediting big Will Skilton maybe on the cards -

Aussie pack needs mongrel... Hoopers got the ticker but not the size - I think 120kg + mongrel is required... who else we got?

Wait till wobs face saffa pack if we cant compete with kiwis...

 

[biggsy]

I think it was huge that bought up To'omua's form over the weekend on this weeks podcast. He came to his defense on how he played"mentioning we don't know what links game planed was. Which is a fair point. But it got me thinking when quade came on the game speed changed, inside ball and the forwards were a lot tighter. I can't see link having 2 game plans for each To'omua and quade. My view To'omua was rattled and was scared to take the ball to line. He is far better then how he played,
I think link will give To'omua another crack but if he fails cooper will be on a lot sooner. I would much rather start and finish cooper, he will get falou ino the game as well
Like to see cummins in and JOC (James O'Connor) in Japan.

 

[Dan54]

As I fly over to Wellington tomorrow night, and I believe Merrow is going on friday, anyone interested in having a beer on frday night?? I believe there is a good Welsh themed bar in old Taj mahal building in or around kent terrace, might try and get there about 8pm on friday if anyong looking for beer. Warning we are going as a group, 3 Kiwis and 3 Aussies!!

 

[Hugh Jarse]

There is a lot of goodwill being extended to Link in his honeymoon period.
If they are still doing the same things,with the same results by the end of the RC,you will be hearing a lot more.
On balance that seems fair to me.

It is like the bride has found out on the honeymoon that the bridegroom is a chronic snorer.

I think that Link was keen to be seen to be doing something different from Dingo, by selecting form players, by taking a punt here or there on others, by advocating a running style of game plan. Maybe even against his better judgement.

Unfortunately he can only select from what is in front of him, and consequently he is getting the same results as the previous bloke who spoke in tongues.

It is a little disappointing, enough to make you cry even (hence the new avatar) but I say give Link until then end of TRC to start showing a real difference.

If we have to suffer this sort of performance on Spring Tour, then the Gaggerland Blowtorch should be figuratively applied to his gentleman's bits.

 

[Parse]

Th scary thing for me is that there seems to be an air of "we didn't do too bad, we just need to tighten up the defence, fix the errors and do better at the breakdown" and we could have been good enough last weekend. So the feeling is to stick with the cattle and game plan and we should have a good chance this weekend after the fixes.

Problem is, the AB's didn't really play to their best. What happens if they fix their lineout, restarts and get their scrum working better - which I assume are some of the things they will be working on this week. Plus they have the added advantage of now seeing Link's type of game plan.

So it's a bit of a worry to me, Wallabies improve AND AB's improve - could end up the same result again this weekend.

I'd certainly like to see some commentary that is looking at extra things the Wallabies will adopt this week, now that they have seen their opposition last weekend.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Shit if wwe tighten up the defence, fix the errors and do better at the breakdown we will shit in the next game and every game for the next 20 friggin' years.
The reality is that players.teams make mistakes and the team that makes the most of the other teams mistakes generally wins the game
simple really