Wallabies vs England, Sydney

[Nusadan]

And Sri Lanka has 50% more registered players than Australia...go figure...

http://www.irb.com/unions/union=11000018/index.html

 

[MrMouse]

Looking through the Round window, the word of the day is "inconsistent"

I must say RH, approach with much caution any statement that begins

as Growden notes today

I also feel a touch sorry for you in "platinum" 411, I find the 400s not to be the best seats around... Why not just head to Suncorp for the Ireland game? I did predict a smaller crowd, even allowing for "inflation" it was ~half full, I had feared under 35k. But nary a peep from us for most of the game, and to hear Swing Low reverberate around the stadium was...cringeworthy.

Wow, this naza bloke knows his stuff!! Did anyone other than myself or Blue tip an England win?

Couldn't have agreed more, before or after the game. I was fearing England by ~7 but forgot to put in any tips. I agree that the incapability of the whole XV to build phase play, and want to go all rambo off back foot ball was undisciplined, and besides the scuffles we had no aggression on the ball. I think they were lazy and complacent, and if Giteau had kicked straight it would really just have papered over more cracks.

 

[RedsHappy]

I must say RH, approach with much caution any statement that begins 'as Growden notes today'

Maybe. But I'm not of the school that concludes every single word of his is dustbin stuff. Every now and then he makes sense. The problem with most mainstream rugby writers (and mainstream sports writers in general) is that that they often and over time have to a***lick the rugby establishment to keep all their observer privileges flowing, and the gossip sources flowing. This tends to materially compromise what they can say and how hard-hitting they chose to be. Not right in many senses, but it's the way it is.

 

[RedsHappy]

I also feel a touch sorry for you in "platinum" 411, I find the 400s not to be the best seats around... Why not just head to Suncorp for the Ireland game? I did predict a smaller crowd, even allowing for "inflation" it was ~half full, I had feared under 35k. But nary a peep from us for most of the game, and to hear Swing Low reverberate around the stadium was...cringeworthy.

The 400s at ANZ Stadium were a shocking waste of money. Apart from the ludicrous not-clearly-audible commentary, the visual distance involved from the 'platinum' 400s makes the game appear like watching little anonymous soldiers running about on a huge billiard table.

I will be at Suncorp Saturday! It's honestly not a 'state bias' type comment, but, from most seats, the positive difference between Suncorp and ANZ for rugby watching is just enormous.

Agree re Swing Low. As a rugby patriot, it was chilling, wasn't it? You have perhaps seen elsewhere my comments that disgraceful, crowd-insulting spectacles like those just completed 'experiments for the pleasure of the selectors' BaaBaas games, and the Wallabies declining w-l ratio and frightening inconsistency (over 4+ years now) are slowly but surely leeching the passion and everyday fan motivation out of the game (with material economic consequences for the RUs, btw). Not many posters to GAGR seem too worried about this, but I am, big time.

 

[TheRiddler]

2 tix to watch Randwick v Gordon on Saturday afternoon + a Rugby News, 3 tinnies, a water and a couple of steak sandwiches all for about $50 - and some may say a better spectacle of rugby. I would much rather watch and fiscally support club rugby in person and watch the internationals on HDTV.

 

[daz]

I'll say it loud and long until proven wrong; The Wobs should fucking destroy England on Saturday.

I have been proven wrong. The only thing that got destroyed was my optimism and belief. I must accept the fact that I clearly do not have a clue about anything to do with this team...!

 

[RedsHappy]

I have been proven wrong. The only thing that got destroyed was my optimism and belief. I must accept the fact that I clearly do not have a clue about anything to do with this team...!

Don't be too hard on yourself Daz. Most of the mainstream rugby commentariat in Oz and Eng and quite a lot of posters here said the same thing! I have found many of your passionate posts both enjoyable and motivating!

 

[chief]

Daz don't be too hard on yourself, I'm just as wrong as you are. Probably a lot more wrong.

Final prediction for tonight.

Poite is refereeing, he knows his shit, he will pin the Aussies off the park and Australia will be reduced to 14 man on two occasions. Predicting another penalty try, but England's backs relying on the scrum and ruck infringements to win them games (no wonder why they hated free kick sanctions). However they will not win them the game, as Australia actually provide some attacking playw. Genia will be the difference from the halves showing up the young English half back. Wrong by a mile


Crowd prediction will be 39,348. SFS anyone. Lower ticket costs, for fucks sake. Wrong @ the crowd predictionDespite the attendance, I still think SFS should have been the way to go

When the English once again get beaten tonight, Martin Johnson will hopefully be sacked from the England job which he was probably out of his depth from the beginning. I think a English selector should have been the furthest he'd have gotten to the English team again. Wrong, they are all praising a man who still remains out of his depth

Come Monday Maul with Greg Growden, he will brutalise the Australian scrum like he actually has a clue what he's talking about, and the debate will continue for a 2nd week in a row whether Baxter and Dunning should be bought back for the Tri-Nations. Wrong

Deans will stick with his guns and the front rowers will remain the front rowers.

And then to the Ireland game..

 

[daz]

Daz don't be too hard on yourself, I'm just as wrong as you are. Probably a lot more wrong.

Thanks Chief/RH. Just so you know, I have been in the foetal position since Saturday night and am expecting to remain there for an undisclosed period of time.

 

[Reddy!]

You trying to get banned, Reddy!?

Are you kidding me? naza was clearly gloating about his correct tip with tongue in cheek and I was merely agreeing with him.

Anyway, back on topic: Why doesn't Quade take all place kicks from the left hand side of the field and Giteau take place kicks from only the right hand side? Giteau has shown over the past few season that he really struggles kicking the ball from left to right, being a left footer, and this has hurt us alot in tight test matches.

 

[TheTruth]

Are you kidding me? naza was clearly gloating about his correct tip with tongue in cheek and I was merely agreeing with him.

Anyway, back on topic: Why doesn't Quade take all place kicks from the left hand side of the field and Giteau take place kicks from only the right hand side? Giteau has shown over the past few season that he really struggles kicking the ball from left to right, being a left footer, and this has hurt us alot in tight test matches.

Agree and give the ones in front to anybody other than Gits

 

[topo]

2 tix to watch Randwick v Gordon on Saturday afternoon + a Rugby News, 3 tinnies, a water and a couple of steak sandwiches all for about $50 - and some may say a better spectacle of rugby. I would much rather watch and fiscally support club rugby in person and watch the internationals on HDTV.

Couldn't agree more, Riddler. Except a Uni win against Easts would have been nice. The other thing about club rugby is you can go back to whatever clubhouse and invariably have a few cold ones with S14 players and current and past Wallabies who are also there.

Having said that, the corporate box at ANZ was pretty good on Sat night.

 

[PaarlBok]

Try like 9 times

Dunno how many schoolboy players Aus have but the Pom school laaities are all registrer at clubs.

 

[Nusadan]

Sprio saying 'harden the f*ck up....*

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...-up-right-across-the-board-20100622-yvsq.html

 

[rugbywhisperer]

Why doesn't Quade take all place kicks from the left hand side of the field and Giteau take place kicks from only the right hand side? Giteau has shown over the past few season that he really struggles kicking the ball from left to right, being a left footer, and this has hurt us alot in tight test matches.

I think you will find that taking the ball from Giteau is harder than getting it from Dennis Lillee.

 

[fatprop]

Sprio saying 'harden the f*ck up....*

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...-up-right-across-the-board-20100622-yvsq.html

It is scary to agree with the leader of the fling it wide brigade, I feel dirty.

 

[RedsHappy]

Sprio saying 'harden the f*ck up....*

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...-up-right-across-the-board-20100622-yvsq.html

Thanks for posting this. It's just encouraging to see the apologists wilting and some really hard, fact-based questions being asked; in my view, Spiro asks a lot of the right ones, especially: what we can usefully learn from NZ, and a clear need to do something radical with deep forwards development in Australia in both short and long term contexts.

 

[RedsHappy]

I think you will find that taking the ball from Giteau is harder than getting it from Dennis Lillee.

Lillee would never mind giving up the ball if he was starting to lose the Australian team high-pressure games. He only ever expected it if he knew he was performing for the team.

 

[Scarfman]

Lillee > Giteau

 

[RedsHappy]

Lillee > Giteau

Scarf, umm, probably yes. I hope G's mother is not on the thread.

Actually, the topic of G deserves a fresh thread I think. Not to tear the man down in any sense, but rather to explore what is really going on with/within G.

In a sense, the case of G over the last say 12 months is a problematic chapter in the Deans apologists handbook. I think we'd all agree on the hard facts: in many close-to-the-wire, high pressure Tests (not the easy-beats ones) in this period, G has shown serious lapses or inexplicable inconsistencies in performance, either in play or off the tee.

If we were consistently pursuing the 'youth and development policy' with a firm hand, why has Deans not either 'rested' G more, or, say, sent him on a bit of a sabbatical or such like? And thus opening the way for temporary or permanent replacement strategies in this crucial backline slot(s). For my money, (for example) the ABs would not have allowed the equivalent problem to go on this long, they would have found a non-humiliating way to help G back up, or out for a while for a serious refresh with the decent promise of potential return.

And it's in this 'not dealing with G's issues' zone that I find the Deans approach (or non-approach) so utterly baffling. And, being blunter, so utterly likely to add reckless risk of loss in the big games.

G himself seems not at one with the world. It's as if he's losing confidence, or hates the coaches, or hates the national expectation, or.........?

What are yours or others thoughts? Am I being too harsh?