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Selection politics and bias, Gold Squads unfairness etc.

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Tahspark

Ted Thorn (20)
I agree that he's probably not a true 13 but presently, IMO he is well suited at outside centre for both Riverview and for Australian Schools given the make up of those sides and the other options available.

There's no doubt that he can play fullback as he has done for View and Gordon and wing, as he did, for eg, against the NZ Schoolboys, both with aplomb.

Appreciate that you said eventually, 10 to 12. However, I think that he has the skill set that would see him excel at 12 in the years to come.

Starting to stray off topic & happy to discuss further on the GPS thread.
 

SonnyDillWilliams

Nev Cottrell (35)
Anyone going along to the Battle of Bellevue Hill on Saturday that is prepared to do a match report for the blog?
I'll pull something together and submit to LG ..hopefully both teams are close to full strength ... Will have to take another look at scots massive winger hendrie (facing cranbrook's pocket rocket edelstein)... As based on my one viewing, I thought he might have featured in rep trials ... However i got that very wrong
 

Inside Shoulder

Nathan Sharpe (72)
He played wing last year against NZ schools, which was probably not a fair initiation as he was lost at times positionally, without any damage being done.
Has the raw speed to play there for sure.
Some have suggested 10.
 

Brian Westlake

Arch Winning (36)
This weekend scots play cranbrook . And going by Aussie schoolboys selections you might think scots is a 1 star team (Crichton)

This scots team played the joeys and Aussie schoolboy duo of Duffy/oshea and put a cricket score on them (thru the backs)

Either way,i hope guy porter scores another bag of tries, and reminds the no doubt absent selectors that they are at best dopey

7 tries . And that was not enough .if I was him I'd be dirty , don't care about all this 'suck it up . No entitlement' .

Selectors stuffed that up, no 2 ways about it

Scots to win in another demolition
I agree with you regarding the demolition of cranbrook.
Whilst I feel for the young man who has been so terribly wronged by the selectors, if he shows his true calibre, we shall see him appear NEXT year in the Aus 20's.


A lot of good players have had these sob stories and come through and shone. A lot let it fester, please don't be the second
 

Jasdec

Ted Fahey (11)
I agree with you regarding the demolition of cranbrook.
Whilst I feel for the young man who has been so terribly wronged by the selectors, if he shows his true calibre, we shall see him appear NEXT year in the Aus 20's.


A lot of good players have had these sob stories and come through and shone. A lot let it fester, please don't be the second

Spot on BW. He is apparently a very bright young man so hopefully he (and others who have been disappointed) will move on from this.

They might have some exams coming up however one test that will be ongoing is that of character.
 

SonnyDillWilliams

Nev Cottrell (35)
The 3 to be advised spots are to be announced by August 19 ... Not sure what significance of that date is?

Either way will be quite a few more fixtures before that final date ...
 

Brainstrust

Watty Friend (18)
The 3 to be advised spots are to be announced by August 19 . Not sure what significance of that date is?

Either way will be quite a few more fixtures before that final date .
Don't have any idea about the teams training schedule, but it is about 1 month before they leave and will probably be amping up training around then? It's still very strange to me. Maybe they could gave announced an extended squad of 30-32 but then again if you were committed to the training in an hsc year and then missed the cut, you wouldn't be happy.
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Staff member
What do you think is HH's position?

For Aus Schools? I would play him at outside centre: his normal position.

The Oz Schools backline connection of 9 Goddard, 10 Jackson-Hope, 12 Tuipulotu and 13 Hutchison will be hard for the Kiwis or their B team, the Barbarians, to counter, though they will likely not play together against NZ B.

Add in Joey Fittock, the best winger of the week, I reckon, and it should be a formidable backline if they get decent ball.

There was a game earlier in the week when the NSW I team became dysfunctional and HH became almost ropable at what he saw as shortcomings in his half backs (and sometimes the forwards, just quietly).

He made himself heard for the good of the team. I don't want an organiser like that playing on the wing and I don't care how fast he is or where he played for Oz Schools last year as an U/16 qualified player.

And he is the smartest guy on the field just about every time he plays.

I was trying to think of something to write about him in the NSW I section of Best players of the week and I wrote this:

plays like a schoolboy Brian O’Driscoll. What he does before he gets the ball could be instructive even to senior players. His supports must love playing with him. There’s not much of him but he can drop opposing ball runners because of his peerless technique.

I saw teenager BOD in Australia in 1999 (though alas there was no Ireland test match in Sydney that year) and I can't imagine that he was a lot different in his style of play and level of rugby intelligence at Blackrock College a couple of years before that, from what HH is showing now.

(Don't get excited: read my words carefully).

Therefore as a senior player I think HH should play in the same position: outside centre; though like most zippy school leavers he will be plonked on the wing for a while.
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Tahspark

Ted Thorn (20)
Two observations in relation to LG's astute comments above:

  • I have witnessed a few occasions where HH has "bawled out" his rugby and athletics team mates & it was not undeserved. He has very high expectations of himself and prepares accordingly & doesn't suffer fools gladly. IMHO these are excellent leadership traits and the recipients of his tirade have responded positively;
  • his supports do love playing with him, and unlike some other rep players who have a tendency to ball hog, his supports are rewarded for backing up.
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Staff member
I think Porter was the unluckiest boy at the tournament

I think so too: I thought his omission was unaccountable but i'm sure the selectors had reason for it.

I asked Steve Phillpotts a couple of years ago how they selected the team—did they have fellows assigned to the back three and/or the front row e.g. and he said that they did but that the findings of the unit selectors would be put before all the selectors regularly for review.

As part of the assessment of the units there were many criteria the boys were judged on for their position, including generalities—and there were a few non-rugby matters also.

We, the spectators, see a lot of things that are easy to see - the break, the pilfer, the perfect pass, the crunching tackle, the ball being thrown and caught at the lineout, and the flashy player etc.

We are not so skilled at spotting good play that helps those things find their mark.

Also - any implication that because three of the four selectors (who are teachers) teach at Qld Schools, they must have bias to Qld boys is disgraceful. Likewise the idea that there has to be a quota for each team is plain silly.

And if anybody thinks that the (non-voting) Chairman from the ARU (Adrian Thompson) or the ARU selector (Manu Sutherland), both of whom I count as friends, would be party to anything like those matters, they have another thing coming.

And no, I didn't study which team each Aus Schools player came from, because I don't give a rat's arse; so long as the best ones are picked.

Sure, I have a few question about some selections of lads that didn't take my eye but I am more likely to blame my eye than the selectors' eye

We have been well-served by the Aus Schools selectors in recent years; so I think we should put away conspiracies if ever such were entertained.

They should be judged by their results and if Aus Schools doesn't do so well this year it may not be their fault anyway but because of the cattle—especially a shortage of dominant forwards.
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Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
I reckon that you would be lucky to get a park within 1.5 km of Scots without parking across someones driveway.
 
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