Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
No one expects charity but we do have a slightly more civilised approach on here than most forums.
Will Genia's injury
- Thread starter Brumby Jack
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No one expects charity but we do have a slightly more civilised approach on here than most forums.
Forcefield
Ken Catchpole (46)
That recruitment is due to lack of experienced Australian talent. There are plenty of promising young 9s but none are ready for a full time gig.
Scotty
David Codey (61)
We need selections that are based on form.
BDA
Peter Johnson (47)
I thought Phipps looked okay in the limited time he had last night. The silver lining to Genia's injury is that its a chance for Phipps to get some experience at test level against top quality opposition.
We've already lost the Championship. Its a good chance for Phipps to show what he's got. By next year we'll know whether Phipps is a viable back-up or not. Would be good to see people get behind him in the meantime. He's no Genia, but no one is. Burgess was no Genia, but he brought a specific skill set to the table that made him a respectable backup. Hopefully Phipps can show something similar.
Would have been great if White was available, but ts a dead issue in my mind.
From here on out I've got one eye on the Lions Tour. Its all about beating the Lions. Winning that tour will provide the springboard we need to take on NZ for top spot. Next year we are going to need a reliable back up for every position in the team (even halfback) to cover for injuries. Im glad Phipps will get some big match experience. Pocock's injury has had a major silver lining as we've unearthed Hooper as a great Test player. The injury to Horwill has given timani the chance to prove himself an enforcer at test level. Injuries in our back have given us the chance to try out some backline players, one looked the goods at test level (Shipperley), one was out of his depth (Vuna).
We've already lost the Championship. Its a good chance for Phipps to show what he's got. By next year we'll know whether Phipps is a viable back-up or not. Would be good to see people get behind him in the meantime. He's no Genia, but no one is. Burgess was no Genia, but he brought a specific skill set to the table that made him a respectable backup. Hopefully Phipps can show something similar.
Would have been great if White was available, but ts a dead issue in my mind.
From here on out I've got one eye on the Lions Tour. Its all about beating the Lions. Winning that tour will provide the springboard we need to take on NZ for top spot. Next year we are going to need a reliable back up for every position in the team (even halfback) to cover for injuries. Im glad Phipps will get some big match experience. Pocock's injury has had a major silver lining as we've unearthed Hooper as a great Test player. The injury to Horwill has given timani the chance to prove himself an enforcer at test level. Injuries in our back have given us the chance to try out some backline players, one looked the goods at test level (Shipperley), one was out of his depth (Vuna).
Hawko
Tony Shaw (54)
Trouble is we all saw just how poor Phipps was for the Rebels. I think that if Kingi had had an uninjured run then Phipps would not have been starting by the end of the season. Certainly Stirzacker was playing better than him at the end.
White was playing fantastic football, but due to Deans' blindness he went off to have a shoulder operation (a month late) so he would be ready for next year. He could have played and indeed played club rugby before his op.
Based on Super rugby form White, Sheehan, Lucas and McKibben at least were playing better rugby than Phipps, now he's our number one halfback. Absolutely incredible and entirely avoidable.
Any comparison between Burgess's form over the years and Phipps is odious.
At one point I heard him described as the greatest Wallaby who never played.
Was rewarded with Captaincy in One Game for Long Service and Good Conduct.
The Galah
Darby Loudon (17)
Agree with your ranking and views on Burgess. You'd pick Sheehan over the show pony Phipps anytime, he's not even Sydney Uni's best 9 but he certainly seems to have the inside run in with the selectors for whatever reason . Others can speculate for me.
Tragedy for Genia and White's timing for surgery most unfortunate for him and the Wallabies also . I suspect you'd do better with Waratah's number 3 Grayson Hart who showed his class for Souths on Saturday but he's a kiwi!
For some reason Phipps is now in the class of Horne, Giteau etc that he is widely hated despite being quite a good player.
His defence needs a bit of work but his passing is quick and accurate. He was a revelation for the Rebels in 2011 and was good in the back half of 2012.
I think he deserves the 9 spot in the absence of White and Genia. He is hardly head and shoulders above the rest though- Lucas, Sheehan, Kingi etc.
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His defence needs a bit of work but his passing is quick and accurate. He was a revelation for the Rebels in 2011 and was good in the back half of 2012.
I think he deserves the 9 spot in the absence of White and Genia. He is hardly head and shoulders above the rest though- Lucas, Sheehan, Kingi etc.
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Imagine how much everyone would hate Phipps if he played for the Waratahs 
Bullrush
John Hipwell (52)
I'd move to O'Conner to 11, Tomane to 15 and put Leliafano at 10. Turner would be lucky to be on the bench in the WRT (Wallaby Rehab Team).
he is a half back, they all have short-mans syndrome and all want to be refs. [sweeping generalisation mode/]
BDA
Peter Johnson (47)
This team would probably beat our current team. I think it is a good demonstration of the 'reasonable' depth we are building.
Dumbledore
Dick Tooth (41)
Can't agree with that. His passing is quickish, but is wildly inconsistent. He covers a lot of ground and has a decent running game. He's not a terrible player, but at the end of the season Stirzaker was showing more than him, as Kingi was at the start. He's gone from being typical scrumhalf levels of angry to petulant as well, lots of silly off the ball niggle that's going to get him penalised sooner rather than later. Have to agree with Hawko that he's third best at the Rebels.
Ignoto
Greg Davis (50)
For the amount of stick the fans have given Quade for his defence or lack thereof, surely Phipps (who's topped the most missed tackles award for 2011 and 2012) deserves to be scrutinized.
I can understand one season for a young lad to be on top of that ladder, but twice in a row? Doesn't really bode well for the improving his game argument does it.
Scotty
David Codey (61)
Not a sweeping generalisation at all. More like the norm!
Imagine how much everyone would hate Phipps if he played for the Waratahs
He would then have to walk around the streets ringing a bell calling out "unclean"
Hawko
Tony Shaw (54)
This is not hate, he's probably a nice young man though I have no personal knowledge thereof. He's doing the best he can. My post is about two things - his performance, which in 2012 has been very poor and my anger at Deans for not seeing that there is daylight between White and Phipps and keeping White as the back-up in case Genia was injured. Phipps may turn in a blinder on Saturday and become our number one halfback by the end of the Championship. I hope he does, but that does not change the fact that he has been very poor all season and that Deans has a blindspot over his performance.Imagine how much everyone would hate Phipps if he played for the Waratahs
Describing Phipps as "quite a good player" is like describing the 2011 version of Cooper as quite a good tackler. As Ignoto pointed out his missed tackle count in Super Rugby was almost off the chart for two straight years. Describing this as "needs a bit of work" is akin to describing the Wallaby backs kicking as "needing a bit of work". In the second half of the Super season, Stirzacker's performance was clearly better than his. And no one is suggesting that Stirzacker should be starting next Saturday.
Performance should be everything when it comes to selection for higher honours. Given our horrible injury toll (Genia, White, Lucas) our next best performer at halfback is Sheehan and behind him probably McKibben or Frisby. Only after those players went down would you pick Phipps if you were picking on form.
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