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Waratahs 2022

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member

Members Section

John Thornett (49)
Swinton and Hanigan are already on contract and two of our better players and both would say that their preferred position is 6.

We're already going to be playing one of them at lock for significant periods of time.


Can Hanigan play lock? 1.94 is not ideal but not much else out there
 

Sheepie

Sydney Middleton (9)
He has played lock for both Waratahs & Wallabies, I'm sure of it. Whether he's played lock well at these levels is a question for someone else.
 

Pass it to Dunning!

Bob Loudon (25)
He has played lock for both Waratahs & Wallabies, I'm sure of it. Whether he's played lock well at these levels is a question for someone else.

He's short for a lock but he has a great vertical leap and he's a good lineout thief. As a lock he's better than anyone else the Tahs have. Fingers crossed one of the young ones pans out as well.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Apparently our backrow is too strong and it would have been a waste.

Better to spend our money on all these non-existent test quality Australia qualified locks and tightheads.


These things are never either/or, it's not like there's a menu of free agent players we pick from where choosing one means ignoring others.

The article doesn't mention the most critical detail - the asking price. And I'm betting as an international class player he isn't coming cheap.

So the question is then do we spend the bulk of our remaining salary cap on one player in a position where we already have depth, or look to bolster our lock/prop depth with either one big money or two-four smaller money players.

And to me I'm taking the latter option every time.
 

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
Can Hanigan play lock? 1.94 is not ideal but not much else out there


He is the closest we see to a "Ben Mowan" type unit at 2 @ lineout time, gets up fast and accurately to catch his ball and poach the bad guys

He is likely to be budgeted to play 80 minutes most weeks between lock & 6
 

Dctarget

John Eales (66)
These things are never either/or, it's not like there's a menu of free agent players we pick from where choosing one means ignoring others.

The article doesn't mention the most critical detail - the asking price. And I'm betting as an international class player he isn't coming cheap.

So the question is then do we spend the bulk of our remaining salary cap on one player in a position where we already have depth, or look to bolster our lock/prop depth with either one big money or two-four smaller money players.

And to me I'm taking the latter option every time.

I actually suspect he's not on that much money. I can't imagine the Crusaders breaking the bank for anyone with their depth.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
But who? Arnold maybe? who is out there?


I don't know. They don't have to be a star at all to improve things for the Tahs. If they can't find the right lock then the money can be spent elsewhere. There are lots of positions where upgrades would help.

There's also no point blowing the budget on a position of strength. Given the finances and the underspending this year there's a reasonable expectation that money saved in 2022 (by not signing Matera) could be used in 2023 if they can't find a better place to spend it in 2022.
 

rugboy

Bob Loudon (25)
Should have a crack at bringing Nick Frost home, he was good in the final, stuck behind Neville and Swain at the Brumbies and off contract.
 

Members Section

John Thornett (49)
Should have a crack at bringing Nick Frost home, he was good in the final, stuck behind Neville and Swain at the Brumbies and off contract.


Not a bad play, a bit cheaper that bringing blokes back from France currently on $750k usd when the cap goes down next yr
 

hifflepiff

Charlie Fox (21)
Hockings would also be a great get. He's young and you could likely get him cheaper than any of the other overseas locks with the enticement of future Wallabies caps.

Between him, Williams, Douglas and potentially Frost, the Tahs could quickly get a great stable of young up and coming locks.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
Arnold has alreayd rumoured to have rejected the Australian offer returning after the Euro season in 2022 and opted to extend with Toulouse.

Skelton is who the Tahs really need.

Wayne Smith again described him as a 'non jumping lock', dismissing him as a foolish option.

I think Skelton will be happy playing in yet another final in Europe, in the form of his career and earning bank.
 
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