Brumbies: the Real Force.

Feb 11

Posted by Brumby Jack
6 Comments

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Be my Valentine.

The ‘Super Star’ CA Brumbies take on the Western Force on Friday night at the new home ground of the Force, ME Bank Stadium, in what is shaping as an blockbuster match to start their respective 2010 Super 14 seasons. The return of Matt Giteau and Josh Valentine to their former stomping ground has lost some of the excitement due to Giteau’s quadricep injury, which will more than likely rule him out.

The Brumbies off season recruits have been well documented and most experts are tipping them to come close in winning the Super 14 in 2010, which would mean finals action for the first time since the Brumbies won the title in 2004. However, injuries to star recruits Rocky Elsom, Matt Giteau and a hand injury suffered by Ben Alexander have limited the teams time together on the training paddock, so instant success may not occur as easily as most expect. Read more »

Feb 10

Aussie S14 finish predictions

Posted by Gagger
17 Comments

You’ve seen (or at least read about) the trials, the coaches, the players. So where do you reckon the Aussie S14 teams will net out by the end of the season?

To give you something to chew on (or laugh at), a few of the G&GR pundits have put their rocks on the block and the table below is what we came up with. Interestingly, while it was all done independently of one another, Read more »

Feb 5

George Smith says so long to the Wallabies

Posted by Noddy
31 Comments

It's time to say goodbye!

Wallaby Legend George Smith is leaving the building. In this odd metaphor, harking back to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, the King is George Smith and the ‘building’ is the Wallaby team. In a somewhat surprising development, we today learn that we will never get the chance to see George Smith play for the Wallabies again. Effective the end of the Super 14 season this year, Smith will no longer play rugby in Australia, having been granted a release by both the Brumbies and the ARU.

It is a stunning development for someone who has achieved everything in world rugby – except for a World Cup win. Given his retirement will commence a little over 12 months prior to the kick of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, the decision seems even more staggering. Now, Australia are by no means certainties to bring home the Web Ellis Cup, but we’re in with a shot. And regardless of the emergence of David Pocock, Smith is still a valuable and almost indispensable part of this Wallaby team. Read more »

Jan 19

Pre-Season dramas hit the Brumbies

Posted by Noddy
9 Comments

Maso

There are many changes to the sporting landscape that come with the advent of professionalism. One, that the NRL has consistently struggled with, is the impacton their brand of player ‘misadventure’. Sporting bodies such as the ARU can spend millions on marketing showcasing the positives of their sport, their ‘brand’ and all it takes is a couple of dodgy photos, or a 3rd hand news report, for it all to come crushing down.

Take the NRL, please(….boom tish). Yesterday it was revealed that their 2010 marketing campaign would focus on the action and fans rather than their ’star’s in order to avoid the disaster that was last year when faces of the game Greg Inglis and Brett Stewart were caught up in off-field dramas. So what happens? Read more »

Jan 15

G&GR Wallaby Player of the Decade & e-book

Posted by Noddy
13 Comments

Click to Download the eBook

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. This culminated in the selection of the Wallaby Team of the Decade and the nomination of five players as Wallaby Players of the Decade. The Player of the Decade post can be seen here.

The voting and debate was torrid. And in the end very very close, with only two votes splitting first and second place. In the end the winner was….. Read more »

Jan 14

High expectations for Brumbies in 2010!

Posted by Noddy
26 Comments

Alfi Mafi congratulates Adam Ashley-Cooper on another Brumby FC goal!

I have heard the Brumbies of 2010 described as the Chelsea Football Club of Australian Rugby. Now, I don’t follow European football, but can hazard a guess that Chelsea is renowned for purchasing their highly successful team? For creating a winning team from the cheque book up? Personally I think this is damn hard on the Brumbies.

Unless there is something I don’t know about I figure the cheque book has rarely, if ever, been the inducement to get a player to the Brumbies. We all know the story of how they began. How Rod McQueen built a team based on the same principals of the quote that adorns the Statue of Liberty: Read more »

Dec 30

G&GR Wallaby of the Decade

Posted by Noddy
24 Comments

Despite a decade in which we probably didn’t win as many trophies as we would have liked, and have probably had our longest period of disappointment since, ummmm, the 70s, we’ve had some great players feature for the Wallabies in the noughties. The likes of John Eales, Jason Little, Dan Herbert, Matthew Burke, Richard Harry, David Wilson and Tim Horan will go down as legends of our game. However, who can lay claim to being the Wallaby of the Decade?

For mine, Eales and Horan are the best players to have played featured in the green and gold since 2000 until now. However I wouldn’t consider either for this acclaim, due solely to their lack of games. Horan unfortunately featured in less than one game, whereas Eales played for a season and a half. So in discussing the Player of the Decade there are a number of areas that need to be considered. Durability/longevity, international acclaim, consistency of performance, importance to the Wallabies and probably much much more. So let’s get to it, we here at G&GR have come up with a short list of five players we think are the stand outs, and the rest is up to you.

Dec 29

G&GR Wallaby Team of the Decade

Posted by Noddy
22 Comments

What a legend!

Well, the people have spoken. The votes are in and we have our official Green & Gold Rugby Wallaby Team of the Decade!

As many people suggested throughout the series, many of the positions were fairly cut and dried. Scrum Half and Fly Half, for example. There were some tough decisions, however, such as balancing the player’s overall career compared to what he put on there this decade.

This was probably most relevant in the fullback position in which many people were split beteen Matthew Burke and Chris Latham. A special mention to Timmy Horan too who still managed to get 20 odd votes, despite playing less than one whole game of footy this decade. What a player!

But we didn’t get it always right. Most notably at inside centre where we opted for Flats, Grey and Jason Little. The voters, however, were more keen on Matt Giteau and we here at G&GR have listened – he’s in the team. That’s how we roll! So, without any further delay, we have our Team of the Decade:

Dec 23

G&GR Wallaby Tries of the Decade #5

Posted by Noddy
5 Comments

Try Time!!!!

Coming up with a list of the top tries of the decade was a tough one. What makes one try stand out from another? Is it individual brilliance we are gauging it on, or is it whole of team involvement? Rehearsed tries from a set piece or instinctive brilliance? Does a try against the All Blacks or in a final count for more than one against a touring nations’ third XV?

Well frankly, for this list there is no hard and fast answer. There is definitely a case of tries in big matches being a big factor. Players standing up to the occasion so to speak. There’s a couple of match winners, that’s for sure. Set piece majesty? Hmmm …there is a couple, as it is something I love to see. All those hours on the training paddock paying off on the actual field. But it doesn’t take from my love of that piece of individual brilliance, brought upon by natural instinctiveness and awareness of the opportunity.

And so to the list which includes, thanks to some of the champions at G&GR, video footage of each try. And awaaaaayyy, we go: Read more »

Dec 18

Wallaby Loose Head Prop of the Decade

Posted by Noddy
17 Comments

"I Dunno"

We finally reach the last position in the team, if only because of its numerical allocation. For mine, this will be one of the most interesting ‘battles’ of the series. Now I expect most people to jump on the current incumbent (tautology?), but I think that is unfair on the other options proposed.

Because, in the end, we’ve come up with three fairly decent candidates who were all highly regarded during their playing days. And actually there is some half decent talent amongst the none loose head props we’ve picked this decade. Promising too that four of them are still playing and young enough to be playing for a few more years yet. The Loose Head Props from 2000-2009 have been:

Bill Young (46), Benn Robinson (28), Matt Dunning (14), Nick Stiles (12), Greg Holmes (10), Richard Harry (7), Al Baxter (3), Ben Alexander (2), Pek Cowan (1).

We here at G&GR have come up with the following three has our top performers for the decade:

Dec 14

Wallaby Blind Side Flanker of the Decade

Posted by Noddy
19 Comments

He was Samo player!

The Blind Side Flanker position has been an interesting one for Australia, not only over the last decade, but in the last few decades. Whereas we’ve usually gone for out and out poachers at Open Side; Strong running Number 8s; Ball playing inside centres, and big kicking fullbacks, we don’t seem to have tied down a ‘typical’ Blind Side Flanker role.

Is it the 3rd (sometimes 4th) lineout option? The work horse? The 2nd flyer? The ball runner? We’ve converted locks, open sides and number 8s. Even a centre. But the pure amount of players used might indicate that we haven’t been entirely successful in filling the role adequately.

From 2000-2009 Australia has used 16 different players in this position, and there are examples of each of these types of players amongst them. They are: Read more »

Dec 13

Wallaby Open Side Flanker of the Decade

Posted by Noddy
23 Comments

Pocock - the future or the now?

Wow. Only five players have worn the Number 7 Wallaby jersey in the last 123 tests. That’s quite a record. It is the same sort of record as scrum half and in both scenarios the position is dominated by a test centurion.

The list of Open Side Flankers for the decade, and their starts, are:

George Smith (70 starts), Phil Waugh (39), David Wilson (7), David Pocock (6), David Croft (1).

What a high quality list. The fact that David Croft only started in one test throughout this period is a fair indication as to the quality that was in front of him. Croft, more because of his lone start, was an obvious player to miss out on our top 3. The other player was more difficult to cut. So let’s go to the G&GR’s selections.

Dec 12

Wallaby Number 8 of the Decade

Posted by Noddy
17 Comments

Match winner!

Finally! On to the REAL men. The pigs. The pack. The piano movers. The forwards! Starting at the back of the scrum we consider the top Number 8 of the decade, and I reckon it is a bit of a battle. There are, realistically, three stand out candidates and each have had moments of superb form. But each have also fallen off the pace and not been as consistent as we would have liked.

But to the list, in the 123 tests since 2000 to 2009 we have had the following ten players wear the Wallaby Number 8 jersey: Read more »

Dec 6

Baa Baas Habana sinks arrogant All Blacks

Posted by Lance Free
33 Comments

Line & length. Gladstone Small?

Barbarians 25 All Blacks 18

You get what you deserve when you treat a game like this as a ‘development’ match and turn up with your 2nd XV expecting to easily roll a scratch Baa Baas side.

It wasn’t always like this. The history of All Blacks v Barbarians end of tour matches goes back to 1954 and there have been many occasions since where prolific running rugby skills, commitment and elan were on display.

The match in 1973 and Gareth Edward’s ‘best ever’ try is the classic example. In the days when front rowers only scrummed, even England hooker John Pullin played his part and actually passed the ball in ‘that try’. Read more »

Dec 4

The winner: G&GR Wallaby Player of the Year

Posted by Noddy
13 Comments

Smith: overcome with emotion

What a tremendous end to the season, both for the Wallabies and for this competition. Those who have been following the points tally may well be aware that the competition came down to the very last test against Wales.

As a reminder, after every test of the season Green and Gold Rugby readers at the forum assigned 3-2-1 points to their top three Wallaby performers per game. These points were then tallied each game with an ultimate top three players, a Man of the Match and two runners up, being decided. This award is the accumulation of those points.

All in all there were fifteen different players who polled points, and we had three different players taking home the series awards. George Smith won the Domestic Test Series award, Benn Robinson claimed the Tri-Nations award whilst David Pocock snagged the Spring Tour award in a count back from Wycliff Palu. But in the end it was the most experienced man in the Wallaby camp, George Smith who took out the ultimate award.

Hear his acceptance speech when Gagger presented him with this prestigious and highly coveted award: