Viking
Mark Ella (57)
I wonder how he is going in Europe.
General consensus on these forums seem to be Lopeti is the good one and Sitaleki is bit soft and lazy most of the time.
Bledisloe 2 - Wallabies vs All Blacks, Wellington, 27 August 2016
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I wonder how he is going in Europe.
General consensus on these forums seem to be Lopeti is the good one and Sitaleki is bit soft and lazy most of the time.
emuarse
Desmond Connor (43)
Lopeti has looked very solid playing lock with a limited, simple (but effective) role
He isn't a back rower, his work there is too error prone
Joe Blow
Peter Sullivan (51)
I see McMahon training with them over there. Is his nose still the problem?
dru
Tim Horan (67)
I'll go with that, though personally I would rate Lea as second choice 10 with QC (Quade Cooper) (for now) number three.
Viking
Mark Ella (57)
Maybe Bryne can work his magic on him in the next 12 months. Certainly the "style" of 8 we are looking for.
KOB1987
John Eales (66)
allegedly, yes
Sure it's realistic but is it a good idea?
If you publicly state that as your thoughts on the game and then get absolutely flogged you get all manner of criticism about not being mentally prepared for the match etc.
I think the sports psychology side of things would say that confidence is crucially important in this sort of thing otherwise you're even more likely to get smashed or injured etc.
Surely it's important for our players to believe they can compete with the opposition.
I find it kind of baffling how upset fans get about our players making confident statements to the media. Our players have to believe that their preparation and ability allows them to compete. The delusional bit to me is the fans taking it completely at face value and thinking our players are being arrogant and overconfident.
Viking
Mark Ella (57)
Absolutely, I think Rathbone's statement was a step too far. You should never hear an international player say "we have almost no chance of winning".
They should say things like:
"The opposition are playing well above our current level so we have a lot of work to do".
"We are under no allusions how big of a challenge it is going to be"
etc.
Never admit your going to lose, just acknowledge it is going to be a huge challenge.
KOB1987
John Eales (66)
From what I can tell, the most objection to the team selected isn't the players that were picked, but rather the positions they were selected in, primarily in the backs. Bearing in mind that Mitchell looks like he's eaten a whole steer, we don't really have a specialist winger to call on (hopefully Naivalu and/or Speight will rectify that shortly).
It seems to me the following starting backline if selected would have silenced most of these critics:
9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. Hodge/Foley/Kuridrani
12. Kerevi
13. Folau
14. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
15. DHP
I'm only using players from within the 23, obviously the query in that formation is who to put at 11. Excluding Mitchell, from the available players it therefore made sense to play DHP there as he now has 4 tests experience there and work on his defence.
I think we will see the above 12/13/15 combination in action at some point on Saturday.
It seems to me the following starting backline if selected would have silenced most of these critics:
9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. Hodge/Foley/Kuridrani
12. Kerevi
13. Folau
14. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
15. DHP
I'm only using players from within the 23, obviously the query in that formation is who to put at 11. Excluding Mitchell, from the available players it therefore made sense to play DHP there as he now has 4 tests experience there and work on his defence.
I think we will see the above 12/13/15 combination in action at some point on Saturday.
Pedrolicus
Dick Tooth (41)
If Rathbone was part of the squad/support team or even playing still I might think he should've been more guarded. As a private citizen it's probably in his interest to just be honest.
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emuarse
Desmond Connor (43)
BH81, can only give you 5/10 for that answer, even though it might be right. But he also might have changed it by deed pole, like the celebrities do.
Surely a Force fan would have the answer.
Pedrolicus
Dick Tooth (41)
Watch where you're swinging that deed pole!
Lots of kids who grow up in a single parent family with their mother as that parent share their mother's name rather than their father's.
Hands Off Seven!
Bob McCowan (2)
Well apart from the last 15 years, our record in Windy W is first class!
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