At my signal, unleash hell!

Mar 8

Posted by Noddy
14 Comments

So were the inspirational words spoken by Russel Crowe as Maximus, one of cinema’s greatest ‘Rebels’, in the Oscar winning moving “Gladiator”. Rod McQueen could hardly be confused for Crowe, nor a Gladiator, and it would be unfair to suggest that he had ever planned to ‘unleash hell’ on anything. However, in one week’s time, on Monday 15 March 2010, the Melbourne Rebels are free to do just that. For that is the date the ARU have decreed is ‘Go Time’ for Rebels recruitment. And the Australian Rugby world is holding their collective breath as to what goes down.

As it stands English fly half Danny Cipriani is currently the only player to have actually signed with the franchise. But you get the impression that come next Monday there will be a number of signings announced. Read more »

Feb 12

Reds v Tahs: ‘impartial’ head to head analysis

Posted by Noddy
26 Comments

Faster!

Messers Hickey and McKenzie have done their part, the teams are named. Now it is time for the real analysis. So let’s have a look through the teams, on a head-to-head basis and see who will come out on top on Saturday night.

Fullback: Sosene Anesi v Peter Hynes - Let’s face it. Anesi is an All Black cast off. And a one match All Black cast off at that. Injury prone, to put it mildly, the fact he has now played three games in a row means he WILL BE injured this game. It’s just a matter of what stage of the match. Tah fans should be hoping it happens earlier rather than later. Hynes just oozes class and has taken to fullback play like a duck to water, which was never in doubt considering his immense skills. A real danger player for the Tahs.

Wing: Lachie Turner v Digby Ioane - Ioane is now acclaimed as one of the most dangerous back line players in the world and had a remarkable 2009 Super season. Lachie Turner is still getting by because he once scored a decent try against the Crusaders. Hasn’t done a thing since. Read more »

Feb 11

Brumbies: the Real Force.

Posted by Brumby Jack
6 Comments

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 8

Oz Super 14 coaches: a force multiplier?

Posted by Lance Free
3 Comments

Not much to laugh about now Mitch

In military parlance, a force multiplier is an asset that increases your ability to succeed in the violence of the battlefield.

Transposed to rugby it is the people, strategies, innovation and organisation that you can bring to your franchise to enhance success.

And one of the major force multipliers in any season will be the Australian Super 14 coaching crew.

This year it’s a relatively stable bunch with only one head coaching position changing hands over the summer and a tweaking of a few support roles. Read more »

Jan 21

Trials: Trick or Treat?

Posted by Lance Free
10 Comments

Coming soon, watch this space

It only seems like yesterday that we were wiping the sleep from our eyes, cranking up the laptops and watching the G&GR live blog from Kingsholme as the Dirties took on Glos?

And isn’t it still summer? Didn’t Punter and the boys clean up the Pakis earlier this week?

Well bugger me, its footy time again! A special version of footy that is, Trial time.

You know, Trials are a very interesting animal. They’re usually boring as batshit; as organised as an ARU board meeting and are full of people you’ve never heard of and are unlikely to hear of again. 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 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 »

Jan 6

Force Have Real Firepower in 2010

Posted by Lance Free
18 Comments

Falstaff or Mercutio?

If ever there was a time for the Western Force to fulfill their real potential it’s now.

They’ve essentially been a journeyman outfit since entering the Super 14 competition in 2006.

I don’t mean that in a negative way because they’ve achieved more in the last four years than many of the more established Super 14 sides in particular the Reds, Lions and Highlanders.

What I mean is that they’ve been the ‘blue collar’ team of Australian rugby. The fibros to the Brumbies silvertails? Perhaps self-fulfilling an expectation about Western Australia? Read more »

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 24

G&GR Wallaby Tries of the Decade #4

Posted by Noddy
10 Comments

Ahhh memories.

I am a bit of a believer in the Recency Factor when it comes to many things, but particularly when it comes to sporting memories. The Recency Factor is basically that you (or is it just I?) tend to overlook events or players that have happened more recently than others. So players that are long retired are remembered more favourably than current players. Maybe it is because that we tend to forget the retired player’s bad games, and the current player is under constant watch.

Which brings us to our next try in the list. I will cop to the fact that I had Andrew Walker’s try against the British Lions at the Gabba at number 4 in the list. Read more »

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 11

Wallaby Scrumhalf of the Decade

Posted by Noddy
19 Comments

"Please be me, please be me"

Unsurprisingly in a decade in which the Wallabies most capped player played scrumhalf, there were only six men who played at the base of the scrum for the Wallabies from 2000-2009. These players were:

George Gregan (81 starts), Luke Burgess (18), Sam Cordingly (8), Will Genia (7), Matt Giteau (6), Chris Whitaker (3)

Picking a top three scrumhalves of the decade has proven quite difficult.

Obviously the options are limited, but with one player starting in basically two thirds of the tests, the rest shared out amongst the remaining four players, there is limited opportunities to weigh up the challengers. We went to and fro with the final selections a bit, and it is fair to say it was somewhat influenced by the recent tour, but the top three scrumhalves of the decade are:

Dec 9

Wallaby Inside Centre of the Decade

Posted by Noddy
25 Comments

Timana - NOT the next Timmy!

In trying to find the ‘next Tim Horan’, seventeen different men have worn the Wallaby Number Twelve jersey in a test match from 2000-2009. They are:

Matt Giteau (29),Berrick Barnes (14),Nathan Grey (11), Elton Flatley (11), Stirling Mortlock (9),Daniel Herbert (9), Morgan Turinui (9), ), Adam Ashley-Cooper (5), Quade Cooper (5), Jason Little (4), Steve Kefu (4), Matt Rogers (4) Rod Kafer (2), Steve Larkham (2), Scott Staniforth (2), Timana Tahu (2), Tim Horan (1).

We lounge room experts from G&GR fought long and hard about this one, with a number of names considered. In the end, I am the one who ended up writing this piece, so I get final say. So, the top three inside centres of the decade are:

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: