Their big lock (whose name escapes me) would fit perfectly I reckon. Big ball-runner who could take some of the carrying load off Holloway, Wells and Dempsey. .
Waratahs 2018
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Their big lock (whose name escapes me) would fit perfectly I reckon. Big ball-runner who could take some of the carrying load off Holloway, Wells and Dempsey. .
I definitely see Cam Clark retaining one of the wing spots. I thought he had a really good first year and defends very well.
Taqele should wear the 23 jersey. He is a liability over 60+ minutes but in 20 minutes he is hard to exploit in defence and is a huge chance of scoring a barnstorming try.
Taqele should wear the 23 jersey. He is a liability over 60+ minutes but in 20 minutes he is hard to exploit in defence and is a huge chance of scoring a barnstorming try.
I don't agree with the idea that the Tahs are a 'mid-table team'.
Of Australia's eight most valuable players, the Tahs have five of them (Hooper, Foley, Folau, Beale, Kepu).
They also have experienced, capped options in other key positions.
Super Rugby shows year after year that you don't need a team of razzle-dazzle all-stars to win the title. What you need is a solid XV with plenty of depth and a great team culture.
I'm not saying the Tahs will have all of those things in 2018, but they have no excuses not to. They could win the competition, and they certainly have the firepower on paper to do so.
But as the Tahs have shown us year after year(with one or two exceptions), they rarely measure up to their potential.
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Of Australia's eight most valuable players, the Tahs have five of them (Hooper, Foley, Folau, Beale, Kepu).
They also have experienced, capped options in other key positions.
Super Rugby shows year after year that you don't need a team of razzle-dazzle all-stars to win the title. What you need is a solid XV with plenty of depth and a great team culture.
I'm not saying the Tahs will have all of those things in 2018, but they have no excuses not to. They could win the competition, and they certainly have the firepower on paper to do so.
But as the Tahs have shown us year after year(with one or two exceptions), they rarely measure up to their potential.
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I think you need a few players to have breakout years and that is something we will need next year.
Dempsey, Holloway and Hanigan all need to starting being dominant players at Super Rugby level. Someone in the outside backs will really need to emerge as a star as well.
In 2014 we had Jacques Potgieter, Alofa Alofa and Bernard Foley really step up and become outstanding performers.
Jagman
Trevor Allan (34)
Newsome, Clarke and Kelleway are all very similar players although Newsome looks to be the best of the three can the Tahs afford three players so similar? I'd like to see a winger with serious toe personally, I recall seeing Clarke easily chased and run down after making a line break in shute shield. Admittedly there are some fast wingers in SS who would not make Super Rugby.
Also why can't TN be "hidden" in the front line defence? Surely he could defend well at 10 or 12 switching with either Foley or Beale.
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Also why can't TN be "hidden" in the front line defence? Surely he could defend well at 10 or 12 switching with either Foley or Beale.
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I don't think Taqele is a good defender anywhere. With his frame he's never going to have the fitness to play 80 minutes well and realistically I don't think we want to change that. His upside is his bulk and the burst of speed he can produce with that sort of size.
Jagman
Trevor Allan (34)
I don't remember too well but the Tahs came 2nd in the 2015 season with TN as a starting winger didn't we? How did we manage him then?
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I feel like teams have worked out how to exploit him better now.
He certainly wasn't playing 80 minutes as a matter of course then. He did start more games but was often the outside back that was replaced. Maybe that is a reasonable proposition for 2018 but I tend to think he'd go better as an impact sub.
Dctarget
John Eales (66)
But they are all apparently deeply flawed, if not rubbish
(if you read the test threads)
kiap
Steve Williams (59)
How bout those tahs, eh.
Best players on the most money, biggest ARU top ups. And yet they're 16th out of 18.
What's it all down to, fatprop? The coaching or perhaps the fans?
I'd go with the rest of the team seeing as those 4 (excluding Beale who wasn't a Tah in 2017) were the Tahs best four players.
kiap
Steve Williams (59)
So having the best star players doesn't make you a 'mid-table team'.
You can still be a bottom-table team.
I'm not really sure what point you're trying to prove.
The Tahs were awful in 2017 and blame rests with everyone involved.
Those four guys were comfortably the Tahs best. The season would have been even worse without them.
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
Were there any Shute Shield/NRC wingers that really put their names forward? I saw a few highlights of the Gordon 14 and he seemed to go ok but not sure there's anyone really knocking down the door. If not we probably will have Clark and Kellaway on either wing. Both are solid but aren't match winners. TN will likely come off the bench.
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