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Sir Clive's Views on Wallaby Kicking

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RedsHappy

RedsHappy

Tony Shaw (54)
Cassius88 said:
Haha took the words out of my mouth.

This is definitely not another Wallaby failing that can be palmed off on NH vs SH rugby style. The Springboks have had consistently great kickers for years. I would say that NZ have, but they've had Carter for years, so I don't know if that shows that their grassroots coaching is working, or simply that Carter is a freak.
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The ABs had for many recent years retained the services of a full-time kicking and catching skills coach in one Mick Byrne..........the Aussie ex-AFL player. He worked very closely with DC and all the ABs on these disciplines.
 
RedsHappy

RedsHappy

Tony Shaw (54)
Btw, I cannot help but note this reference from an article by Bret Harris in today's The Australian (my emphasis):

"The normally reliable O'Connor took over the goalkicking, but he was successful with only two of five attempts. It is understood a hamstring twinge had prevented him practising his goalkicking in camp."

Harris is closely coupled with ARU sources and I suspect he'd not write the above if it wasn't relayed to him authoritatively.

If true, it's extraordinary that JO'C - with no recent kicking practice from a hammy twinge - had been designated No 2 kicker after Lilo when Barnes was there at start and who's been a better kicker this year than JO'C in S15.

There are Wallaby mysteries that no party will ever decode.
 
Penguin

Penguin

John Solomon (38)
Have you all forgotten that Beale, JOC (James O'Connor), Harris & Barnes have all kicked difficult pressure kicks in the last minutes to win test matches in the past three years? Saturday was not good but it's not like they haven't done it before and aren't capable.
 
Gnostic

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
Can I ask how we "know" that Lilo was the starting kicker. Was this stated somewhere by somebody from the Wallabies that I have missed.
?
 
Zander

Zander

Ron Walden (29)
Gnostic said:
Can I ask how we "know" that Lilo was the starting kicker. Was this stated somewhere by somebody from the Wallabies that I have missed.
?
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Leali’ifano made a quick recovery and watched the rest of the match from the sidelines. An Australian Rugby Union spokesman said the ACT Brumbies centre wanted to go back on but was kept off as a precaution.
Leali’ifano had been due to kick penalties and conversions for the Wallabies.
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Hell West & Crooked

Hell West & Crooked

Alex Ross (28)
Ever since Johnny Wilkinson - and that is getting to be a long time ago - Australia has demonstrated an obvious shortfall in the TRULY QUALITY Goal Kicking stakes... Wilkinson was later challenged by Mertens, then eclipsed by Dan Carter, and during that entire time, we have had a selection of kickers who were good - Burke, Larkham, Mortlock, Barnes, Beal and even JOC (James O'Connor) - but not... great.

Harris shows real potential - but there is an argument that he does not have the all-around game to secure his place in the team. I found myself thinking during Saturday first-half, 'if we only had Mogg on the bench' - but perhaps it is in reality, still too soon for him...

We dont have a Halfpenny, We don't have a Sexton, and we don't have a system where the ARU selects 4 or 5 young backs at 17, and appoints them to a kicking coach for 2, 3 or even 4 years in order to perfect their kicking, should one opf them finally go on to higher honours.

Whatever our system DOES do well, it is STILL BEING OUTSHONE in most other top-six nations....
 
Hell West & Crooked

Hell West & Crooked

Alex Ross (28)
It would be interesting to see his stats - I think he was a sublime fb - arguably the best we have ever had - and a very reliable kicker, but I would not have thought his percentages were in the high eighties such as Carters and Johnnys often are...
 
Gnostic

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
That is just a Journo "quote". Is there any cited mention of a Wallabies player or manager stating outright that Lilo was the kicker?
 
RedsHappy

RedsHappy

Tony Shaw (54)
Gnostic said:
That is just a Journo "quote". Is there any cited mention of a Wallabies player or manager stating outright that Lilo was the kicker?
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Good question. I can recall no pre-game designation of a Wallaby kicker, but can recall that a point was made that Deans would not reveal pre-game whom that kicker was to be.

Then after Lilo went down, it was fed to the Fox comms that in fact Lilo was to be the designated kicker - which btw would have represented an interesting risk call as Lilio was a Test debutant starting in a very high pressure Test. While Lilo's a fine kicker in S15, I'm not sure it's a great call to have him as starting Test kicker even before he's settled into a real Test environment.

I was thinking Barnes would be starting kicker for sure.
 
Hell West & Crooked

Hell West & Crooked

Alex Ross (28)
Scotty said:
Larkham? I think your memory fails you.

And have to disagree on Burke not being great - he was the last great kicker we had.
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It does... I stand corrected - Not sure who I was thinking of when I typed that, but it certainly was not the enigmatic Mr. Larkham... (he could kick (a) field-goal, though)!
 
Ruggo

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
NZ have some awsome kickers and always have. Before DC was Mertens and before Fox.

They must have a fair program for up and comming talent also. We got Harris but his craft was learnt over there. Anscome and Tom Taylor also very accurate.
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
Larkham's kicking from hand was overshadowed by his other ball skills. He was OK at it but rarely needed it.

Burke was really in the class of Wilkinson in place kicking when both were at their prime. Burke was probably a better all around player, but his kicking from hand was mostly clearance and touch finders, not tactical line kicking at which Wilkinson had few equals - a massive dominant forward pack helps.

Unlike a lot of nations we don't necessarily need to tick "goal kicker"when selecting our flyhalf. And I like it that way.

-----------------------
I hate autocorrect ...
 
Craig Riddington

Craig Riddington

Sydney Middleton (9)
Hell West & Crooked said:
Fox was good - but Wilkinson took accuracy and reliabilty to new heights when he came along - its a different class entirely.
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When Burke came to England to play alongside Wilkinson he was shocked how much he would practice his kicking. The guy is obsessive. It's rumoured that he knew how to switch the stadia lights out cos he was so often the last man there. He works out what each of the six numbered test match balls will do before a match and he will have a preferred ball to kick with. It's what you do for that 1% advantage. It's not a cultural thing, it's just about the best possible preparation. Woodward is pretty hard to stomach at times but he made English rugby more professional and he would pull out all the stops to gain an advantage, no matter how small.
For one thing, Australia has a fantastic technical resource in AFL - when you look at those guys kick out-of-hand or catching a high ball. Folau is a natural but even so, how much has he improved from his time with AFL? When you think back to a year ago and Barnes and Beale couldn't catch a cold let alone a high ball, it is mystifying why resources like this aren't being utilised. Maybe they are and I just haven't heard about it?
 
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