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Reds 2023

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
Do we think they’ll play Campbell or Petaia at fullback this year?

Also - will we see Lynagh in the match day squad this year?
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
Do we think they’ll play Campbell or Petaia at fullback this year?

Also - will we see Lynagh in the match day squad this year?

Surely Jock has to be the first choice fullback, I think Grealy will get an opportunity at fullback at some stage as well. Not sure where that leaves the Petaia fullback experiment though.

I think we will see plenty of Lynagh and Grealy off the bench.
 
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TSR

Mark Ella (57)
I suspect your right about Campbell
Adam.

But I will say I still find Petaia at fullback an intriguing prospect. I thought he was excellent when he played there last year, and that is despite still having some very obvious issues with positioning and making a couple of glaring errors.

From what I’ve seen (which isn’t a lot to be fair) Grealy still has some way to go. But then he is at an age where you expect significant improvement year by year. I wonder where Aubrey fits into all this though.
 

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
Media day.

Louis Werchom and Ben Navosailagi were also included in getting mug shots. And as Reg mentioned earlier, Ethan Dobbins training with squad also:

View attachment 15158
Great to see another guy rewarded for form in the Hospital Cup.

I am a bit concerned though that we are just training up the Melbourne Rebels depth at hooker. :)
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
I suspect your right about Campbell
Adam.

But I will say I still find Petaia at fullback an intriguing prospect. I thought he was excellent when he played there last year, and that is despite still having some very obvious issues with positioning and making a couple of glaring errors.

From what I’ve seen (which isn’t a lot to be fair) Grealy still has some way to go. But then he is at an age where you expect significant improvement year by year. I wonder where Aubrey fits into all this though.

Different sort of players. Petaia seems a little like Folau, flamboyant (I think a good thing), can be great on the high ball, can be great running it back, can kick a little. What he can't/doesn't do is offer a playmaking opportunity. To be fair, Campbell has to develop that ability but the opportunity is there. More than simply Campbell being better positionally, he also good at organisation and talk from the back.

I still can't help think that Petaia is better suited to 13, or better perhaps at 11 (mostly) tight side wing where he might look a little Digbe-esque.

I'm not sure how either will ultimately go at international level, and while it is annoying, hopefully they are played in Super in the roles they may challenge for in the Wallabies.
 

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
I’ll be interested how Henry fits into things this year.

His selection for Australia A with very little super rugby seems a pretty fair endorsement.

Injuries have a habit of clearing up selection headaches but it will be interesting how they configure Henry, Paisami, Flook, Petaia, Daugunu, Vunivalu and Campbell into a backline.
 

LeCheese

Ken Catchpole (46)
I’ll be interested how Henry fits into things this year.

His selection for Australia A with very little super rugby seems a pretty fair endorsement.

Injuries have a habit of clearing up selection headaches but it will be interesting how they configure Henry, Paisami, Flook, Petaia, Daugunu, Vunivalu and Campbell into a backline.
Most balanced / versatile for me would be:
11 Vunivalu/Daugunu
12 Paisami
13 Flook
14 Petaia
15 Campbell
22 Henry

Also, not trying to be a grouch, I’ve just noticed it a few times across your posts - it’s Vunivalu not Vunivalu. It’s a small thing, but important imo.
 

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
Most balanced / versatile for me would be:
11 Vunivalu/Daugunu
12 Paisami
13 Flook
14 Petaia
15 Campbell
22 Henry

Also, not trying to be a grouch, I’ve just noticed it a few times across your posts - it’s Vunivalu not Vunivalu. It’s a small thing, but important imo.
No worries. Don’t mind you correcting me.

But I admit I am staring at it and also googled it I can’t see what I’ve done wrong.
 

LeCheese

Ken Catchpole (46)
No worries. Don’t mind you correcting me.

But I admit I am staring at it and also googled it I can’t see what I’ve done wrong.
Looks like one of the mods has put in a rule to change what you were typing (V-a-nivalu) to the correct spelling (V-u-nivalu) since I made the post, so they've all been updated retrospectively.

No biggie, we're all guilty of butchering names every now and then - just see it as a small sign of respect to get them right if we can.
 
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The Ghost of Raelene

Mark Ella (57)
An issue I feel Petaia has at 13 is his tendency to alway try and beat his man on the outside shoulder. Would love to see him step inside every now and then.
This is common in a lot of young players who are use to being able to get around their defender at younger ages. Love him or hate him Tom Wright tends to jag inside pretty well and the other I think of is Rob Horne when he shifted to the Wing and was very effective. I'd like to see Petaia play 90% of the season on the Wing and do a few things really well instead of looking a little bit lost and trying to do it all in the Centers at this stage.
 

Sully

Tim Horan (67)
Staff member
Looks like one of the mods has put in a rule to change what you were typing (V-a-nivalu) to the correct spelling (V-u-nivalu) since I made the post, so they've all been updated retrospectively.

No biggie, we're all guilty of butchering names every now and then - just see it as a small sign of respect to get them right if we can.
That's my thoughts as well.
 

PhilClinton

John Hipwell (52)
An issue I feel Petaia has at 13 is his tendency to alway try and beat his man on the outside shoulder. Would love to see him step inside every now and then.

I think that mindset also comes from being thrust into a Super Rugby environment too early. He seems like the sort of player who would have benefited from a couple of years of club rugby and understanding his limitations of not being able to keep doing what he was doing to schoolboy players.
 
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