Brumbies v Reds, Bruce Stadium, 7/4/2018 @7:45pm

[Zero_Cool]

This is Case Study A: "Trolling"

I bait and then hope a Brumbies fan takes the hook, line and sinker.

Although i did predict earlier in the week the Reds would win by 3 tries.

Nah, it's somewhat average trolling, you've gotta say things that are almost or kind of true, but will also force people to reply. Check out the Wallabies Squad thread for some A+ examples.

 

[Ulrich]

Watched the Australian Cavaliers (combined school team) play here in SA 2 days ago (mostly ACT & NSW make up) that #3 was huge, I think 140Kg. The team did pretty well considering they were made up of 17 schools and only met at the airport according to their Saffa coach. Wore letters on the jerseys as a result instead of numbers.

If you can get that lad fit and into your system you will have a good bloke there in the front row. He will have to lose some weight though. At least his base stats weight wise is good.

The team is playing another school in Boland Landbou tomorrow 19:00 local time if you wanna have a look at your future stocks.

 

[Ruggo]

Bloody hell. Leave Timu at 8 and Higgers to 6.

 

[emuarse]

Bloody hell. Leave Timu at 8 and Higgers to 6.

Maybe the idea is that Higgers has to out-perform Timu in the No 8 position.

 

[Braveheart81]

Thorn loves passing out those jerseys to as many as he can.. J Petaia, to young for Super Rugby.. plenty of well deserved club guys would love a run & a Reds cap.

Presumably Thorn thinks Petaia is a future star and the guys who are good club players but nothing more are closer to their peak already and not overly worthwhile investing in.

 

[TOCC]

Jordan Petaia, isn’t exactly small for an 18yr old, has a big enough frame but still a little bit light on. Has a decent step on him, still has a bit of work to do on the technical aspects of his game. Reminds me a bit of Jack Maddocks.

 

[neilc]

Tuttle on the bench seems odd, I would have thought he was our first choice 9 and has seemed to have performed well. DP out of the 23 also...not sure what Thorn sees in Nabuli that he expects to happen that hasn't already.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Purely from a Reds psective, prefer Timu at 6 long term. Higgers is much better at the base of the scrum, and offers that really nice offload/passing game from there. Timu is a very good ball running 8 but I think Higgers has the edge at this point. Playing at 6 will teach Timu to play in that blind side channel, something he's struggling with at the moment, that long term will make him a better player.
Another thing to consider is we have St George likely coming back next week, who could probably play any position from 1 to 15, Timu being able to cover multiple positions in the back row will be very valuable to the Reds -- even just knowing what positions Timu can and cannot cover is going to be of value.

Ultimately Higginbotham is a very dynamic player, he's capable of playing anywhere in the back row, if something isn't working or there is some important advantage to re-configuring that back row he will put Timu wherever he needs to go, accordingly I expect on red zone defencive scrums to see Timu at 8 (as he'll be less of a defencive liability there and likely give more go forward).

In attack I'm almost creaming myself thinking about that nice little blind side run we'll see from Higgers picking up from the base of the scrum with Timu running that inside line to receive the offload and stomping on some poor fullback on his way to dotting the ball down under the posts!

 

[TOCC]

Is it possible that Timu is been played at 6 to benefit the wallabies?

Agree Tuttle on the bench is strange, his game certainly needs some work, but his passing from the ground is much better then Lucas’s.

 

[Wilson]

Surprised to see both Lucas' start over Tuttle and Powell but always good to see a couple of brothers face off.

With them both playing 9 the worry is they'll get too vocal, might have to get their mum in as ref to keep them in check.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Is it possible that Timu is been played at 6 to benefit the wallabies?

Agree Tuttle on the bench is strange, his game certainly needs some work, but his passing from the ground is much better then Lucas’s.

So why do you think Lucas should be starting over Tuttle?

I doubt Timu would be playing 6 for the Wallabies the QRU wouldn't pander to the ARU like that. It makes total sense to play Higgers at 8 over Timu, he's much better handling the ball at the base of the scrum

 

[TOCC]

So why do you think Lucas should be starting over Tuttle?

I doubt Timu would be playing 6 for the Wallabies the QRU wouldn't pander to the ARU like that. It makes total sense to play Higgers at 8 over Timu, he's much better handling the ball at the base of the scrum

I think the areas that Tuttle needed to work on were the need to run the ball and attack the line more, I also think he lacked a bit of direction and control at times when they were playing to a higher tempo but atuttle was taking a bit long to play the ball..

Does that mean he should have been dropped? No I don’t think so, nor do I think Lucas is a better trade off. Maybe Thorn thinks he needs more control from halfback then Tuttle is currently offering

 

[wamberal]

Or maybe Thorn is the coach, and his opinion is all that matters. He seems to know what he is about.

 

[dru]

So why do you think Lucas should be starting over Tuttle?

I doubt Timu would be playing 6 for the Wallabies the QRU wouldn't pander to the ARU like that. It makes total sense to play Higgers at 8 over Timu, he's much better handling the ball at the base of the scrum

Timu can play no 8 and still have Higgers pack in the no 8 slot. It's not a polemic.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Hope Higgers has a beauty - so far he hasn't been impressive by a long way. Either minutes or real Higgers quality.

 

[Linebreaker]

Tuttle on the bench seems odd, I would have thought he was our first choice 9 and has seemed to have performed well. DP out of the 23 also.not sure what Thorn sees in Nabuli that he expects to happen that hasn't already.

Very strange about DP... captain etc of Country... heard he had a blowup with Thorn when he almost missed the flight back from Melb..

 

[Ignoto]

Or maybe Thorn is the coach, and his opinion is all that matters. He seems to know what he is about.

Dick Graham was the coach a couple years ago and just because he had an opinion on a selection matter didn't make it right.

Thorn hasn't used all the back substitutes, so it's not that big of a deal to pick a rookie on the bench.

 

[Scoey]

Must win for both teams. I don't think it's going to be pretty but I'm still looking forward to it. I hoping like hell for a Reds win but our record against the Ponies isn't flash and our record in Canberra can only be described as dire.

I'm with the majority that I would've selected Tuttle over Lucas and I wish Perese was fit so we could drop Nabuli. My feeling with him at the moment is that he's likely to lose a game for us and your wingers should be match winners. He's doing it wrong.

I like Higgers at 8. I don't worry about us getting the ball out of the scrum cleanly even if we are going backwards with Higgers at 8. Timu still has plenty to learn at the back of the scrum. He can still do what he's been doing well with a 6 on his back though.

Douglas starting over Tui was always going to happen and is a sound decision.

I feel sorry for Duncan. Would love to know what's happening there. At the start of the season I had him as one of our best and a future Wallaby. Now he's left off the bench for a rookie.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Must win for both teams. I don't think it's going to be pretty but I'm still looking forward to it. I hoping like hell for a Reds win but our record against the Ponies isn't flash and our record in Canberra can only be described as dire.

I'm with the majority that I would've selected Tuttle over Lucas and I wish Perese was fit so we could drop Nabuli. My feeling with him at the moment is that he's likely to lose a game for us and your wingers should be match winners. He's doing it wrong.

I like Higgers at 8. I don't worry about us getting the ball out of the scrum cleanly even if we are going backwards with Higgers at 8. Timu still has plenty to learn at the back of the scrum. He can still do what he's been doing well with a 6 on his back though.

Douglas starting over Tui was always going to happen and is a sound decision.

I feel sorry for Duncan. Would love to know what's happening there. At the start of the season I had him as one of our best and a future Wallaby. Now he's left off the bench for a rookie.

I was listening to the Fox Sports Rugby Podcast and they had ASY (Angus Scott-Young) on for a bit of a chat. Interesting he got talking about St George and let slip that Smith has been giving him some tips for when he's getting over the ball... and (here's the interesting bit) working at the back of the scrum in the Number 8 position; could ASY (Angus Scott-Young) turn into another long term option at 8?!

Also not sure if it's been posted, but no Speight due to knee injury. Daugunu should have a field day given this!

 

[Silverado]

I was listening to the Fox Sports Rugby Podcast and they had ASY (Angus Scott-Young) on for a bit of a chat. Interesting he got talking about St George and let slip that Smith has been giving him some tips for when he's getting over the ball. and (here's the interesting bit) working at the back of the scrum in the Number 8 position; could ASY (Angus Scott-Young) turn into another long term option at 8?!

Also not sure if it's been posted, but no Speight due to knee injury. Daugunu should have a field day given this!

No doubt ASY (Angus Scott-Young) is a promising prospect..
Did you see Speights game last week. Dreadful in defence and invisible in attack


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