The G&GR Wallaby Player of the Year – Domestic Rugby Series – THE Aussie Rugby Blog and Forum for fans of Australia and the Wallabies

Nov 30

The G&GR Wallaby Player of the Year – Domestic Rugby Series

Posted by Noddy
3 Comments

The Wallabies started their 2009 test campaign against Italy in Canberra all the way back in June. Fourteen tests and about six months later the Wallabies won less than 50% of their games. As a whole the season was… disappointing. Bordering on disastrous. The continued failing in the Tri-Nations is a significant cause for concern. Our inability to back up good wins, such as against the Springboks in Brisbane, with another good performance is also worrying. The loss to Scotland, when you look at the rankings at least, was just unacceptable.

On the plus side, gees we looked good against the Boks in Brisbane. And the Welsh win was a cracker. And what about our young guns? Will Genia, David Pocock, Quade Cooper, Lachlan Turner, James O’Connor and Ben Alexander all proved their abilities at certain times this year.

Overall though, which player would come out on top? Who would win the coveted Green & Gold Rugby Wallaby Player of the Year award? Well stay tuned over the next few days and all will be revealed.

Oct 7

Melbourne Rebels Super 15: Recruitment

Posted by Lance Free
57 Comments

Brent Cockbain Melbourne's John Wellborn?

The good news for the proposed Melbourne Rebels Super 15 franchise is that the two main parties, VicSuper15 and the VRU Rebels, have formed a partnership and the third is now sniffing around looking for an opportunity to participate.

This is now happening under the auspices of the ARU’s co-opted financial guru, John Wylie. That might mean we now have a viable option or indeed, a going concern.

Once it comes to pass and we’re potentially handed the baton by SANZAR, they’ll be establishing the structure that will deliver the stuff that we’re really interested in like who’ll be the coach; which players will they recruit; how competitive will they be; what will they be called and what will their playing strip look like? Read more »

Jul 6

Gold

Posted by Gagger
9 Comments

Straight to the Pool Room

Below are the very best bits of Green and Gold Rugby
(I didn’t say they were good, just the best we could do).

Any other nominations (from this site!) are welcome in the comments.

Video Mashups

Ask Bakkies

My week

But seriously,

Not so seriously

Wallabies of the decade

In the lead up to New Years Eve 2009, we published a series of articles looking back at some of the highlights of Australian Rugby throughout the decade. You can download them all in one easy ebook below, and send it to all your mates!

Click to Download the eBook

Jul 2

After Lote Tuqiri, should rugby be interested in Karmichael Hunt?

Posted by Juan Cote
19 Comments

Lost in the noise of Lote getting punted from the ARU, was the news this morning that Brisbane Bronco’s wonder boy, Karmichael Hunt is looking to move to rugby. In a delicious irony, as one former Bronco leaves rugby, a current Bronco is looking to join it.

After a fairly turbulent off field career, Hunt will not play rugby in Australia as the ARU’s High-Performance Unit Manger, David Nucifora stated earlier this year. Read more »

Jun 18

Wallabies vs Italy preview

Posted by Juan Cote
9 Comments

How to make Hynes look fast

Obviously, after last week’s test, both Robbie Deans and Nick Mallet came to a gentlemen’s agreement that both would field their second XV’s for this week’s tests.

The Italians have made plenty of changes to their team which makes them even harder to comment on, such is the unknown nature of the players. The only real interest will be if Gowie can make a better fist of his second start after a less than convincing performance in Canberra.

For the Wallabies, the changes made to the team provoke plenty of interest. Key among them Read more »

Jun 16

Video lowlights: Craig Gower’s 1st test

Posted by Gagger
5 Comments

Like SBW the week before, he was the mungo media bait for this game.

So how’d he do?

In a word: ’shit’. But it’s hardly surprising. Read more »

Jun 15

Player ratings & stats: 1st Italy test

Posted by Gagger
12 Comments

Lakky leaves em for dead

Here’s my bash at the player ratings from Australia vs Italy in frozen Canberra on the weekend. Tally with what you saw?

Rating scale & stats at bottom.

15 James O’Connor Looks completely at home already on the international stage. May have been gifted his first two tries, but finished his third brilliantly. Not bad for his first starting cap. 8

14 Lakky Turner - Still managed to take high balls and make half breaks after getting his block knocked off. Looking more than solid 7

13 Stirling Mortlock (c) – In bullocking good form. A trademark bulldozer run for his solo try. 8

Jun 14

What the coaches said: Wallabies vs Italy

Posted by Juan Cote
8 Comments

Below is some of the comments from each coach from last nights after match press conference.

Robbie Deans

“It was a great work out for us, essentially, very physical which we always anticipated. Off the back of a game where we got a lot of latitude in (the Baa-Baas), that was a really good physical workout. We were a little bit inaccurate around the contact but in a contest where we struggled to get any momentum, we were still able to score 5 tries, so you can’t fault that” Read more »

Jun 13

Live score Wallabies vs Italy

Posted by Gagger

Final Scores

Wallabies 31 – Italy 8

New Zealand 22 – France 27!!!

Jun 11

Italy vs Wallabies; first test preview

Posted by Gagger
11 Comments

Some guy who played League

Guess what – Craig Gower’s back in town to play against the Wallabies! And oh yeah – there are some other Italian blokes with him as well…

While that’s been Aussie media spin on the Italian selection (how are we going to get bums on seats when there aren’t any ex-mungos in the oppo?) it definitely doesn’t do the Azzuri justice. While it sounds like Craig’s been doing a more than a solid job for French club Bayonne over the last couple of seasons (albeit at 12, not 10) there are much better union players in that team.

And you need go no further than Sergio Parisse, the number 8 and captain, in that respect. He regularly makes the Six Nations team of the season, despite playing with the perennial wooden spooners. A straight out quality athlete. Read more »

Apr 22

The Leaguies take Paris! Video highlights

Posted by Epidemic
36 Comments

Looke Roonay: "C'est une boule, mate"

I’ve been following the French Top 14 rugby this season because, let’s face it, its far more interesting than the Super 14. Hell – over there they’ve got Australian players who actually make line breaks and score tries!

Anyways, what has become apparent as the season has gone on is how well the NRL exports have taken to the game.

1) Luke Rooney has been a surprise package. He still has speed (he’s only 26) and power and he is proving a great finisher from full-back. He teamed up with Sonny Bill to score the only try for Toulon in there underdog victory over Toulouse on the weekend which looks like it has sealed Toulons future in the top division.

Check out the weekends try here – It starts with a great (and legal) hit by SBW: Read more »

Dec 22

Want to be a Barbarian….anyone?

Posted by Gagger
7 Comments

Belt up blondie

WALLABIES TEAM VS BAABAAS HERE

BAABAAS TEAM HERE

MATCH PREVIEW HERE

SURPRISING FACTS ON BAABAAS PLAYERS HERE

Free next June 6th? Got a pair of footy boots? Well John O’Neill wants to hear from you!

The Wallabies are the playing the BaaBaas at the SFS that day, and while any rugby at the SFS is good rugby, you gotta ask; who the fµck of note is going to be available for the corinthians? Read more »

Nov 28

$10m worth of croissants

Posted by Gagger
4 Comments

show me THE MONEY

The story gets legs

“The Daily Telegraph can today reveal that Bayonne, the club that snatched rugby league halfback Craig Gower from Penrith last season, has made the approach to Giteau.

Giteau met with billionaire club powerbroker Alain Afflelou before his side’s thrilling victory over France at Stade Francais in Paris last weekend.

Sources in France report that a four-year deal worth almost a staggering $10 million is on the table. Read more »

Jul 18

Leaguies bleat as Rome burns

Posted by Gagger
4 Comments

Enjoyed this so much, had to share it.

By fitzy

AND yea, verily, it was written. In the future the poor will be rich, the weak will be strong, the meek shall inherit the earth and rugby league will scream like stuck pigs as the forces of rugby union, with cheque books in hand, merrily pluck their best and brightest to join union’s swelling ranks. Fascinating, isn’t it?

Of course the likes of Craig Gower and Mark Gasnier are only the first of league’s guns who will go, and there is little league can do to stop it, apart from go into a blathering lather about the importance of, wait for it, “loyalty”. (Hello?

Didn’t the whole game of rugby league start when enough blokes got together and decided to go after the money instead? And isn’t that really the greatest rugby league tradition of all, the key plank on which the game was built?
And in the centenary year, shouldn’t Gasnier be hailed for so upholding it?)

For in the fight to carry away elite football talent, how can rugby league’s parish pump possibly hold its own against rugby union’s real tide of serious global money? I don’t write that as parochial breast-beating, much, but as a mere statement of fact, mostly.

Last week, the International Rugby Board said that contenders to hold the next rugby World Cup would have to offer them £120 million ($248m) before they could even begin to bid. Meanwhile, the value of rugby league’s World Cup and a few dollars will get you a cup of coffee. Oh, do stop all that tedious carry-on and simply look at the numbers.

While the NRL continues to conduct an illegal cartel – a collusion of employers to enforce a salary cap and therefore pay players well below their true market value – you cannot blame those players who choose to go and get what they are really worth. A bare first step to league fighting back will be to abandon that salary cap.