Wallaby 31 players for 2015 RWC

[Dumbledore]

The only halfback we have without obvious faults (apart from his inexperience) is Stirzaker.

His defence to be honest. Not for lack of effort, he's just really small. A few times he's been isolated against loose forwards and he's just been bumped. Would have to be protected to an extent. Kicking game is pretty awful as well.

That said, he's comfortably the best passing scrumhalf we have and has a very good running game as well.

 

[wamberal]

His defence to be honest. Not for lack of effort, he's just really small. A few times he's been isolated against loose forwards and he's just been bumped. Would have to be protected to an extent. Kicking game is pretty awful as well.

That said, he's comfortably the best passing scrumhalf we have and has a very good running game as well.

Anybody - absolutely anybody - can learn how to tackle.

 

[KOB1987]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Groucho]

Anybody - absolutely anybody - can learn how to tackle.

Anyone with a soul.

 

[Dctarget]

Anyone with a soul.

So not Stirzaker then.

 

[Bronzewhaler]

His defence to be honest. Not for lack of effort, he's just really small. A few times he's been isolated against loose forwards and he's just been bumped. Would have to be protected to an extent. Kicking game is pretty awful as well.

That said, he's comfortably the best passing scrumhalf we have and has a very good running game as well.

 

[liquor box]

Anybody - absolutely anybody - can learn how to tackle.

and if they can't then the main goal is for them to at east hang on and slow the opponent down until help arrives.

I don't mind if a small guy can't take down a guy who weighs 40kg more than the small guy, but at least try, and above all else don't let go, make the big guy drag you along

 

[Viking]

Anyone with a soul.

Jessie Mogg has red hair so that explains that. But what about Beale?

 

[Viking]

His defence to be honest. Not for lack of effort, he's just really small. A few times he's been isolated against loose forwards and he's just been bumped. Would have to be protected to an extent. Kicking game is pretty awful as well.

That said, he's comfortably the best passing scrumhalf we have and has a very good running game as well.

To be fair, I don't really expect a half-back to bring down a rampaging loose forward anyway, I expect them to have a go and maybe slow them down and if they get bumped of trying well that's expected.

 

[wamberal]

and if they can't then the main goal is for them to at east hang on and slow the opponent down until help arrives.

I don't mind if a small guy can't take down a guy who weighs 40kg more than the small guy, but at least try, and above all else don't let go, make the big guy drag you along

Attitude counts when it comes to defence, for sure. Rugby is a physical game, anybody who does not accept that needs to go play something else. Maybe tiddlywinks.

 

[fatprop]

Anybody - absolutely anybody - can learn how to tackle.

Yep, I reckon defence is 90% attitude

 

[Viking]

Yep, I reckon defence is 90% attitude

Not exactly. I think it's 50% attitude 50% technique.

For example - what about Bernard Foley? It seems to me that he has the right attitude but poor technique - which makes him a poor defender. Compared to say Beale or Mogg who simply have poor attitude (maybe poor technique too but mostly attitude).

Technique matters at this level of the game.

 

[Marcelo]

Yep, I reckon defence is 90% attitude

I disagree. You can have the attitude but discipline is more important.

It's an unpleasant job for many, it's like be a cleaner. Anyone can clean up, but to clean for hours, you must be very disciplined.

All players have attitude, no one reaches that level without attitude but discipline is different.

Conrad Smith is the perfect example. He isn't the faster or the stronger player but he's very disciplined so he can tackle better than stronger and faster players than him.

Not exactly. I think it's 50% attitude 50% technique.

For example - what about Bernard Foley? It seems to me that he has the right attitude but poor technique - which makes him a poor defender. Compared to say Beale or Mogg who simply have poor attitude (maybe poor technique too but mostly attitude).

Technique matters at this level of the game.

I agree. For me is technique and discipline. All the professional players have the attitude, most of them know the technique but not all are so disciplined to do it for 80 minutes.

Something like:

98% of professional players have attitude
90% of professional players know the technique
But only 70-80% of professional players have the discipline to do it in every game, in every minute

 

[Groucho]

Not exactly. I think it's 50% attitude 50% technique.

For example - what about Bernard Foley? It seems to me that he has the right attitude but poor technique - which makes him a poor defender. Compared to say Beale or Mogg who simply have poor attitude (maybe poor technique too but mostly attitude).

Technique matters at this level of the game.

I just don't see how Foley's a poor defender.

 

[Braveheart81]

I just don't see how Foley's a poor defender.

He misses a lot of tackles. From a purely statistical point he's been bad this year.

You'd need to review the tackles made/missed more closely to provide a more subjective view on his defence but from an objective position, he needs to improve.

Cooper meanwhile still gets accused regularly of being a poor defender and his defensive stats are way better over the last couple of years.

 

[Viking]

I just don't see how Foley's a poor defender.

Seriously? He misses a shit load of tackles.

 

[I like to watch]

He misses a lot of tackles. From a purely statistical point he's been bad this year.

You'd need to review the tackles made/missed more closely to provide a more subjective view on his defence but from an objective position, he needs to improve.

Cooper meanwhile still gets accused regularly of being a poor defender and his defensive stats are way better over the last couple of years.

You could make a case against every 10's defensive capabilities.
To'omua,who i rate as one of the better defenders at 10,still misses his share.
To my mind,there are missed tackles,which are still acceptable due to the circumstances,and then there are the turnstiles.
IMO,none of the wallaby contenders are turnstiles any more.
We should be looking at other points of difference to determine who is most deserving of the job.

 

[Braveheart81]

You could make a case against every 10's defensive capabilities.
To'omua,who i rate as one of the better defenders at 10,still misses his share.
To my mind,there are missed tackles,which are still acceptable due to the circumstances,and then there are the turnstiles.
IMO,none of the wallaby contenders are turnstiles any more.
We should be looking at other points of difference to determine who is most deserving of the job.

I agree with you on the missed tackles that are acceptable bit. That's why I said you'd need to review them in more detail to make a better informed judgement.

I don't think defensive statistics are really going to come into play for our choice of 10 because I think they are all viewed as being good enough. Certainly Foley's stats are the worst in the last year or so and he seems most likely to get the job.

 

[fatprop]

Actually I think Foley is about the same standard of defender as Larkham was, both ate\eat grass at times but aren't bad

 

[hammertimethere]

Dunno

I think Larkham was better than Foley is, and Giteau is now better than both are/were and To'omua is better than all of them are/were