The Tahs 2009

[Scotty]

I've got strongish arms and chicken legs. Good physique for a boxer, except I have a glass brain.

I started my new exercise regime the other day. With the impending arrival of lil' Scotty I decided to set up a exercise area under the house - swiss ball, dumbells, spin exercise bike. I use the exposed steel bearers for chin ups. 4 seems to be about my limit as well, although I think I can squeeze out a few more with palms facing me (ie using more biceps) than facing away. Probably isn't ideal hanging onto the flange of a beam - it will probably work my fingers as much as anything!

But I probably have a bit of an advantage on most of you in that I am only 80kgs. Back when I was 70kgs I could do the odd one-arm chin-up. But that was a long time ago.

 

[Scarfman]

I reckon I could do 0 chinups hanging from a beam. I'm using biceps and stupidity.

Ever done boxing? I love it. I've got a nice bogan heavy bag hanging from my balcony.

 

[Lee Grant]

I see that the Tahs have their player roster up - I was trying the old link.

http://www.nswrugby.com.au/HSBCWaratahs/PlayerProfiles/NSWPlayerProfiles.aspx

Interesting - that's not 33. Don't have time to see who's missing. Any thoughts?



As Noddy posted before on another thread: here is the Junior Waratahs list:

http://www.nswrugby.com.au/Juniors/JuniorsHomePage/Juniors.aspx

I'm a bit surprised there's not a prop in there. Just one in case the other 4 are crocked.

Hooker Fitzy's at 104kgs and will probably be playing closer to 110kgs in a couple of years time. That's OK.

Am looking forward to seeing Kane Douglas tonight. He's somebody who didn't go through the schools pathway.

I'm glad that they signed up Ed Jenkins. I reckon that he's a terrific winger and has toe to go with ability.

I'm glad that Siviteni Mafi is up to 110kgs, as one doubted that he would get there with his skinny frame and legs. He's a bit like his look alike Sam Wykes at the Force except he's just had a haircut. I wonder if they weighed him with or without hair?

McCallman and McCutcheon were both fine schools no.8s but they won't be big enough to play there as seniors. Pity.


Will talk about the amateurs later. Geez there's some good talent in that group.

Off to Newcastle to see the trial.

Cheers.

 

[RugbyReg]

Interesting - that's not 33. Don't have time to see who's missing. Any thoughts?

Ok. So here we are, what, 2 weeks away from the start of the S14? And, going by each state web page which all look up to date, Reds only have 32; NSW only 30?; The Brums 31; Force 31.

So it seems the Reds still have one spot left, the Tahs have 3, the Brums have 2 and the Force have 31.

Whats going on?

 

[Ash]

Tahs are missing Peter Playford, off the top off my head. So they're up to 31, along with the Brumbies and Force; Reds 32.

Force are understandable - they've desperately been after 2 props.

Not sure who the others were / are waiting for. Playford was signed by the Tahs to cover the losses of Ratu and Batger, I think. The other provinces may have been holding back for similar reasons - to cover any early injuries.

 

[RugbyReg]

Tahs leading 55 nil with 4 to go

 

[Gagger]

Moses is at the Waratahs vs Fiji trial in Newcastle texting me live updates. Here?s the transcript as it happened.

Moses: Tahu just scored, Turner misses the conversion. 5-0

GAGR: Beer status?

Moses: Fucking awesome, blue tongue schooners, got 4, need a piss. Seems we?re playing 4 quarters

Moses: Corporate seating rocks, dunnies right behind seats. Good crowd, say 15 thou. Tahu looked dangerous, broke 3 tackles earlier to almost score, offload was intercepted. Back on now.

Moses: 3 mins into second quarter, penalty try, 12-0 mighty Tahs

Moses: Another break by Tahu, put Lote into space and Tuqiri couldn?t bomb this one. Turner hits post form 25m off centre, he?s 1/3

Moses: Piggies just bombed a try, Carter I think scored from restart. Fiji look ordinary. Turner converts 24 zip

Moses: Fiji strung some phases together, looked OK. Then we got it back, attack, grubber kick cos we?re in Newcastle, they run it back in goal, drop it, try Tahs white Mumba 29-0

Moses: Lote just stuffed up 3 times. Collided with Turner off the ball. Dropped bomb under no pressure, is it club or country?

Moses: Kurtley is on for Hangers, looks good, though I dont know about Fava at 8, only 12kg on Kurts! Turner good, clearance and turnover. He just scored too, Kurts not kicking, 36-0

GAGR: Time?

Moses: 3 quarter time. Lote is fucking useless. One good hit and 3 bombed tries.

Moses: Dunning working the crowd, kissing babies and limping. He?s got a minder in case someone hands him a pie I guess. Palu signing too

Moses: Crowd behind Fiji now, 41 zip and .11 to go. Carn Fiji, you can have Lote (back)

Moses: 55-0 full time

GAGR: Schooner count?

Moses: 7 beers. We're playing again on Thurs, those poor elite athetes just played 4 20 min quarters in oppressive 22c heat, with frequent extra drink breaks. Now they've got to back up in only 5 days! Seems so unfair

GAGR Footnote; As a testament to the effects of 7 schooies of Blue Tongue, the actual score was

NSW WARATAHS 60 (Lachie Turner 2, Timana Tahu, Lote Tuqiri, Tom Carter, Ben Mowen, Peter Playford, Kurtley Beale, Daniel Halangahu tries, penalty try; Turner 3 cons, Beale 2 cons) bt FIJI WARRIORS 0

 

[RugbyReg]

Who is white mumba?

 

[Gagger]

It's pissed Moses for Dean Mumm

 

[Spook]

A Thumping!

Timana Tahu stars in Waratah whitewashArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print Submit comment: Submit comment January 30, 2009 10:20pm

NSW WARATAHS 60 FIJI WARRIORS 0

CENTRE Timana Tahu made a storming return from injury in the Waratahs' 60-0 thumping of the Fiji Warriors in their rugby trial.

Tahu scored a try and set-up another as the Waratahs outclassed their lesser opponents in a 10-try to nil romp at EnergyAustralia Stadium in Newcastle before a 7,438-strong crowd.

Fullback Lachie Turner scored a double and contributed three from seven with the boot.

Coach Chris Hickey sent his strongest possible starting team on to the field for the opening half, with seven Wallabies enjoying their first run since the spring tour.

It was Tahu's first game back since being sent home from the tour with a hamstring injury and it didn't take long for the star league convert to announce his return.

NSW enjoyed the early possession and spent plenty of time in Fiji's 22 but were unable to turn possession into points until the 15th minute when Tahu broke the deadlock with one of his first touches of the night, crashing over for the first try.

Tahu delighted the Waratahs faithful again when he made a storming 40 metre run, splitting the defence, then drawing in the numbers, before off loading to winger Lote Tuqiri 10m out for another five-pointer.

With a 29-0 halftime lead, Hickey rang in wholesale changes, replacing everyone except lock Ben Mowen, Turner and Tuqiri.

The less-experienced Tahs, with Kurtley Beale replacing Daniel Halangahu at flyhalf, piled on 12 points in third of four 20-minute quarters and finished off their opponents with tries to winger Peter Playford and Halangahu and Beale in the last.

Al Baxter captained the Waratahs in the absence of Phil Waugh, who was ruled out on Thursday after rolling his ankle at training.

The Fiji Warriors performed a traditional cibi war dance proir to the match as the players enjoyed the evening's cool change after temperatures had reached 32 degrees.

Coach Hickey said the 60-0 whitewash still served as a chance for his rep players to get some game time and for him to assess the squad two weeks from the start of the Super 14.

"Look the scoreboard probably wasn't our focus all the time, it was a matter of getting some of our players game time and some of the tourists, it's probably been eight, nine weeks since they've actually played a game, so from that point of view it was a good hit out from them," Hickey said.

He praised local boy, Tahu's return to rugby.

"Tahu showed some really good touches there, with some really good footwork and some offloading, I'm very pleased with his performance," Hickey said.

Tahu said he had no physical complaints and was looking forward to facing off with Stirling Mortlock and the Brumbies on Thursday.

"It was good to be back here, mixed emotions, this is where it all started for me, it was only a trial but for me personally, it's good to be home."



NSW WARATAHS 60 (Lachie Turner 2, Timana Tahu, Lote Tuqiri, Tom Carter, Ben Mowen, Peter Playford, Kurtley Beale, Daniel Halangahu tries, penalty try; Turner 3 cons, Beale 2 cons) bt FIJI WARRIORS 0 in a trial match at Newcastle

 

[RugbyReg]

A crowd of 7500? Moses was obviously seeing double.

 

[Cutter]

Difficult to know what Hickey will be thinking after that. It is odd to play the Warriors rather than a stronger S14 team (good for Fiji though). We know that against weaker opponents Tahu has good footwork, is strong and can offload in traffic. We are yet to see him do it against the big boys and, more importantly, have his reading of defence tested. I hope he continues to improve.

Thanks for the reports Gagger and Moses.

 

[fatprop]

Difficult to know what Hickey will be thinking after that. It is odd to play the Warriors rather than a stronger S14 team (good for Fiji though). We know that against weaker opponents Tahu has good footwork, is strong and can offload in traffic. We are yet to see him do it against the big boys and, more importantly, have his reading of defence tested. I hope he continues to improve.

Thanks for the reports Gagger and Moses.

Tahs have a development agreement with the FRU

They have had a couple of Fijian players in development training with the Tahs via the agreement

 

[Scotty]

Ever done boxing? I love it. I've got a nice bogan heavy bag hanging from my balcony.

I used to have one of those but I gave it away when :

1. I found out that hitting it shook the whole house (thats what you get buying an old workers cottage) - and no I didn't hit it very hard
2. I found out that I wasn't fit enough to hit it for more than about a minute!

 

[fatprop]

Injury-free Timana Tahu says he is ready to make a huge impact


January 31, 2009

NEW South Wales centre Timana Tahu claims his cross-code transition is complete and believes his Australia tour experience will translate into results on the field this season.

Tahu starred in the Waratahs' 60-nil thumping of the Fiji Warriors in Newcastle on Friday night, scoring a try and sending winger Lote Tuqiri over the line for another.

The former Newcastle and Parramatta NRL star, who returned early from the Wallabies spring tour with a hamstring injury, said his 12 months in the 15-man game will be evident on the field this season.

"I feel like I'm a better player, I think after the Italy game (with the Wallabies) I sort of worked things out," Tahu said.

"It probably took a year for me to scratch up my knowledge and know how to play rugby, so this year I'm coming in confident and I'm expecting big things from myself.

"Hopefully I'll have a good season."

A long line of hamstring injuries have limited Tahu's time in rugby but the outside back said after Friday's hit-out he was feeling fit and confident in the work he'd done during his rehab.

"I think our training staff has got everything down pat, you really don't get to rest when you're injured, they find ways to flog you," Tahu said with a smile.

"... I trained through the Christmas break and was expected to come back at the start of training to be fully fit.

"My conditioning is up pretty good I think, it's only going to get better as I get more games in."

The Waratahs will face the Brumbies at the Sydney Football Stadium in their final pre-season trial on Thursday.

Tahu said the Brumbies match-up would give him a better gauge of where he was at.

"I expect they're going to be full strength sides, I'll be probably up against Stirling Mortlock so it'll probably give me a test on how much I've prepared and how much the team has prepared," he said.

"Going into that game is going to be a good challenge for us before the Super 14 starts".

 

[RugbyReg]

TT, don't go judging yourself on a performance against an amateur Fiji team.

 

[fatprop]

I think it was he is beginning work out how to play

 

[ACT Crusader]

Ever done boxing? I love it. I've got a nice bogan heavy bag hanging from my balcony.

I used to have one of those but I gave it away when :

1. I found out that hitting it shook the whole house (thats what you get buying an old workers cottage) - and no I didn't hit it very hard
2. I found out that I wasn't fit enough to hit it for more than about a minute!

Scotty - you don't need to be hitting for more than 1 minute at a time to get a good work out. Try some combinations - 2s, 4s, 6s, 8s etc for 1 minute. Push yourself. Then rest for 30 seconds. Then box for another miinute rest for 30secs. Put some ducks and weaves into the combination after about '3 rounds'.

First concentrate on always keeping your guard up. Then increasing speed, then moving your feet around. Don't worry about the cottage because you don't need to hit the bag that hard.

Start at 5mins, then next time 7 then etc etc. Hell of a workout.

 

[naza]

Seems Tahu has inherited Lote Tuqiri's talent for talking himself up in the media. Wankers, one and all.

 

[Biffo]

Seems Tahu has inherited Lote Tuqiri's talent for talking himself up in the media. Wankers, one and all.

In this case, as in most when a sportsperson is interviewed, the heading is written by a sub editor, NOT by the interviewee.

If you read the article and the quotes, there is little or no "talking up" - the only possibility being "I am expecting big things of myself". I certainly hope he is - I don't want blokes playing for the Tahs who don't expect to play well.

I thought T's self deprecation was very notable - as in most interviews with him.