Headless Chickens / Disgrace to Australia

[Scarfman]

If this is the PANIC thread then I've nothing to say. We are still very close to winning our first TriNations in a few years, and should be playing for the Bledisloe except the ARU needed the money and put up the silverware as bait. So, things are fairly OK.

However, I do think that the first few wallabies on naza's list might need to be culled. For me, I would be particularly looking to find replacements for Polota-Nau and Waugh. Neither was anywhere near satisfactory. It's a pity about Waugh because I think he is our best captain. But he's fallen too far off the pace.

I hope Mortlock plays just one more game for us. Then it's time for Ashley-Cooper. My scepticism about Tahu was confirmed. He shouldn't be in the squad after playing just about 6 games of rugby. He has great potential, but has no idea what he's supposed to be doing.

Didn't think Giteau was that bad. Pretty difficult position to be in - surrounded by blokes not trying.

Now - Elsom. Just like when the Luke Burgess question went around and around, I reckon a couple of independent observers should take a slow look at the game with 2 eyes on him. I'll give it a go sometime in the next fortnight. Maybe it's worth doing a little compare and contrast with McMenimem while we're at it. Leave your provincialism at the door.

 

[Sully]

Well as a Qlder I like Elsom and can't understand why people have a problem. I also like MMM but playing him the second row doesn't seem to work. and if it's blindside we're talking about then I would take Elsom until he goes then find his replacement unless someone stands up and says pick me in the next few weeks.

 

[Donsteppa]

Another one: Mortlock - too old, too fucking slow, has always been a defensive liability because he either rushes out or stops watching his opponent.

I was thinking that about his defense after watching the first few tries on the highlights package this morning. He was either out of position, missed the tackle, or was too busy jogging rather than sprinting to actually stop the Boks. :nta:

 

[rustycruiser]

Broers I know its hard to swallow but get over it quick & move forward! The 3 Nations is sooooo close and if you dont pitch on the day you'll get hammered!

PB, there must be a ritualistic self-immolation, or it just wouldn't be a rugby forum.

:lmao: True, true.

And we're hard on our team..but we know the real problem is those pesky ELVs !

Well, you shouldn't have invented them and pushed them on the rest of the world! (So I heard somewhere) :fishing

 

[Scotty]

Any news on Robinson's injury. That could be a big blow for us.

 

[formeropenside]

No one can hold their head up high after that: I only saw the last 10 mins of the first half and the first 20 mins of the second half.

Then I tried to go back to sleep.

Agree that Waugh went missing, and we took a bath at lineout time.

 

[Pfitzy]

Any news on Robinson's injury. That could be a big blow for us.

I doubt very much whether it was in fact an injury - the old swap-the-prop routine.

 

[Scotty]

I hope so. Are we definately without Vickerman, Barnes and Burgess for Brisbane? If there is no Barnes, then I guess we have to put up with Mortlock at 12 and Cross at 13, unless Robbie goes crazy and throws AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) in the mix. Cross and Smith are probably the only ones that could hold their heads up from saturday though.

If Vickerman is not available, I think Robbie might bring Sharpe back into the side, and pick between Mumm and MMM for the bench.

 

[Scotty]

PS Did anyone else think that in both games the ref had an absolute shocker at ruck time, and tended to let the Boks get away with a lot of coming in from the side and playing the ball off their feet. Last week they probably had come in from the side around 4-5 times in the first 15 minutes, and I was thinking 'great the ref is going to kill us'. This week, during the second half you had the almost comical moment of Burger actually sitting on the ground at the side of the ruck and trying to bat it back to the SA side. Unbelievably in was not picked up by the ref.

 

[cyclopath]

PS Did anyone else think that in both games the ref had an absolute shocker at ruck time, and tended to let the Boks get away with a lot of coming in from the side and playing the ball off their feet. Last week they probably had come in from the side around 4-5 times in the first 15 minutes, and I was thinking 'great the ref is going to kill us'. This week, during the second half you had the almost comical moment of Burger actually sitting on the ground at the side of the ruck and trying to bat it back to the SA side. Unbelievably in was not picked up by the ref.

I spluttered my drink (really) when that happened - it was right in front of Laurence and he just ignored it. He was crap. His crappiness did nothing to make us lose it, but he missed so many things. Knock-ons, offsides, players diving off their feet all over the shop, players diving on players on the ground. From both sides. Truly inept. It was amusing how he kept telling the SA front row to crouch when he asked, but did nothing about it when they didn't. May as well have just said - "Do what you like guys".

 

[Scotty]

And didn't bother warning our guys for the slowness of their crouch.

 

[liquor box]

Palu did reasonably well I thought. But again, the game plan and options taken were dumb. Palu made yards - nobody at the ruck. Palu has arms free to offload - nobody there. He's a major weapon and we still don't utilise him properly. Incidently, he makes a better flanker than Waugh or Elsom with his physical defence and work at the ruck. A gem.

Have to disagree, Palu was an average pass at best, he has gone soft IMO and does not play to his size and strength often enough. We need a number 8 who is on his game more than 50% of the time





fixed

 

[liquor box]

I hope Mortlock plays just one more game for us. Then it's time for Ashley-Cooper.

Is he big enough? If he is playing beside Barnes then we will be trampled in the centres.

Who do we have available with some size?

 

[Spook]

~Tahu was worse than SHIT. Take back all I said about Barnes. Still think Tahu could be ok.

 

[PaarlBok]

Another one: Mortlock - too old, too fucking slow, has always been a defensive liability because he either rushes out or stops watching his opponent.

I was thinking that about his defense after watching the first few tries on the highlights package this morning. He was either out of position, missed the tackle, or was too busy jogging rather than sprinting to actually stop the Boks. :nta:

He was pretty busy trying to block runners after the grupper through when Nokwe scored the 4th try. 8)

 

[Thomond78]

PS Did anyone else think that in both games the ref had an absolute shocker at ruck time, and tended to let the Boks get away with a lot of coming in from the side and playing the ball off their feet. Last week they probably had come in from the side around 4-5 times in the first 15 minutes, and I was thinking 'great the ref is going to kill us'. This week, during the second half you had the almost comical moment of Burger actually sitting on the ground at the side of the ruck and trying to bat it back to the SA side. Unbelievably in was not picked up by the ref.

Both sides were at it. He was bloody awful, though, you're correct.

 

[Blue]

PS Did anyone else think that in both games the ref had an absolute shocker at ruck time, and tended to let the Boks get away with a lot of coming in from the side and playing the ball off their feet. Last week they probably had come in from the side around 4-5 times in the first 15 minutes, and I was thinking 'great the ref is going to kill us'. This week, during the second half you had the almost comical moment of Burger actually sitting on the ground at the side of the ruck and trying to bat it back to the SA side. Unbelievably in was not picked up by the ref.

In the first game the Wallabies pushed the boundaries by sealing off the ruck with bodies. It was easy as our tight five were standing on the wings, ready to play the Puppet's expansive game. In the second the Boks committed more bodies to the breakdown and made that hard (note in 1st tst Waalabies hardly ever got pinged for holding on. In second they got hammered by the ref for that).

I think both sides were equally guilty at the breakdown and the ref equally incompetent both ways.

SA are still going off their feet too much but to suggest they infringed more that Aus is looking for excuses.

Conclusion: breakdowns are still a disaster and in any match it will always appear like on team comes off better than another.

 

[naza]

Conclusion: breakdowns are still a disaster and in any match it will always appear like on team comes off better than another.

Where are the ELV lovers now ?

 

[Rugby Rat]

Palu did reasonably well I thought. But again, the game plan and options taken were dumb. Palu made yards - nobody at the ruck. Palu has arms free to offload - nobody there. He's a major weapon and we still don't utilise him properly. Incidently, he makes a better flanker than Waugh or Elsom with his physical defence and work at the ruck. A gem.

Have to disagree, Palu was an average pass at best, he has gone soft IMO and does not play to his size and strength often enough. We need a number 8 who is on his game more than 50% of the time





fixed

Palu is still only reasonably new. He will be a solid 8.

 

[Rugby Rat]

Houston on the way....Sure he is only young yet.