Rebels 2016

[Mr Wobbly]

See anything at training that we can read far too much into and draw season-defining conclusions from?


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Absolutely.

Jonah Placid to start at fullback this year. He was training in a bib with a big number 15 on the back. Mikey Mike didn't even have a number on his shirt.

Bip Meehan will never get a start. (Well he wouldn't if I was coach, not with that ridiculous little man-bun he's trying to get started.)

The 2016 game plan will be all running - no kicking. I saw not a single kick practised.

Scott Fuglistaller said the players have been working really hard and are ready to go. You know what that means? Finals!

 

[Scooter]

Maybe Tony has learnt from lack of x factor in backline last year. Only Sefa seemed to be able to take advantage of half a chance. Plus the lack of his opportunities saw us lose Telusa Veainu.

 

[Dumbledore]

Absolutely.

Jonah Placid to start at fullback this year. He was training in a bib with a big number 15 on the back. Mikey Mike didn't even have a number on his shirt.

Bip Meehan will never get a start. (Well he wouldn't if I was coach, not with that ridiculous little man-bun he's trying to get started.)

The 2016 game plan will be all running - no kicking. I saw not a single kick practised.

Scott Fuglistaller said the players have been working really hard and are ready to go. You know what that means? Finals!

Damnit. You've gone and raised my hopes. When Mikey Mike first enters the line to throw a cutout straight over the sideline I'm going to hold you personally responsible.

 

[Mr Wobbly]

Damnit. You've gone and raised my hopes. When Mikey Mike first enters the line to throw a cutout straight over the sideline I'm going to hold you personally responsible.

Hmmm - I knew I should have added a disclaimer to that post

 

[KevinO]

Who was running at 12?

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[oztimmay]

Who do we want to run at 12 this year? Name your dream 12 guys, and give context (e.g game plan, style etc...)

 

[KevinO]

Not Inman, want a player who has the ability to create something.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Who do we want to run at 12 this year? Name your dream 12 guys, and give context (e.g game plan, style etc.)

More importantly, it looks like the Brumbies are pretty much a shoo-in to win the Strayan conference so the question becomes are your lot up to knocking the 'tahs off for second spot? And will that be enough to finish in the Australasian top five (I have this sneaky feeling it's possible four NZ sides could qualify this year)?

 

[Highlander35]

I think we'll start off with what loomed as our best 23 last year, with a small handful of changes.

I.e. Harris, Shippers, Ellison, Inman, Sefa, Jack, little red, Toby, Hanson, Weeks, Timani, Jones, McMahon, Colby, Thomson, Siliva/Pat, Ah-Nau, Hagan/Metcher, Retallick, Reid, Bip, Hawkins/Hodge, Engo/Crawf/Placid

I think if we fall out of contention, I hope Tony will look beyond this year, and consider that a few, in particular Harris, Ellison and Thomson, could be gone. Ideally too, Stade Francais don't make the Top14 finals, and we bring Pyle home. Resulting in a team something like:

Placid, Shipperley, Inman, Hodge, Sefa, Jack, Little Red, Toby, Hanson, Weeks, Timani, Pyle, Jones, McMahon, Colby, Siliva, Ah-Nau, Hagan/Metcher, Cummins/Jeffries, Reid, Bip, Hawkins, Engo/Crawf

 

[KevinO]

We have a decent draw against the other Aussie teams. With the Tahs and Brumbies only once we really should be able sneak through.

Have not done a complete fixture research but as long as the Rebels pick up 3 wins in the first 4 they can compete at the Business end.

 

[KevinO]

Pyle signed a 2 year extension. French quota system might change things but not likely.

 

[Highlander35]

Bastard. Not sure how the Frenchies work, but with no international allegiance and three years in the country (as he will have come September 2017) he'd be french qualified by then anyway.

 

[Highlander35]

Anyway, we probably do need to be looking at getting another lock in. Either Jones will leave, or I think we'll dump the lesser performer of Cummins and Jeffries. I'd like to see Murray Douglas train in and around the squad this year, looked pretty good in the NRC, and Edinburgh rated him quite highly, he was supposedly on the verge of signing a professional contract before moving to Melbourne for lifestyle reasons.

But that's just me regurgitating the rubbish that floats in and around my brain.

 

[Dumbledore]

Who do we want to run at 12 this year? Name your dream 12 guys, and give context (e.g game plan, style etc.)

Daz will probably ban me, but Ellison. Paired with Sefa or English. We need a second ball player in there. I think Debreczeni is a bit like Foley in that he's going to need to be paired with a playmaker outside him. His passing game works at NRC level, but he hasn't been able to get enough width in the Soup so far. Need more pop in the midfield, Inman-Ellison is solid enough but we won't play finals with it.


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[KevinO]

Harris is the best 12 we got, with Ellison or Inman at 13. Sefa and Ships on the wings and placid at full back.

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[Dumbledore]

I don't think he's the best 12, I do think he's hands down the best utility we've got though. Put him on the bench and we can play a 6-2 split. I'd like to see

Stirzaker
Debreczeni
Crawford
Ellison
Sefa
Shipperly
Placid

Give that a less than 1% chance of happening though.


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[Lindommer]

H35, a small aside to your post #689. The common British way of listing a team, 15 to 9 followed by 1 to 8 and then 16 to 23, seems most unusual. The traditional SH practice, 15 to 1 followed by 16 to 23, is bad enough but the British way is positively weird. Is there an historical reason why the numbering's listed that way?

If only the rugby world adopted G&GR's 1 to 23 standard. So simple, so logical.....

 

[Highlander35]

Upon light investigation, prior to the 50s, the 3 British sides numbered its players 1-15 from fullback to 8thman, in the listed order. When the Playing numbers changed (15-9 from Fullback to Scrummie and 1 through 8 for loosehead through 8thman as standard) the ordering of players in the teamsheets didn't.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union_numbering_schemes

As for my own preferences, that's how my youth coaches announced the teams, and what I remember reading in match day programs. It's what I'm used to mentally and while I can move to 1-23, 15-1 puts me off slightly.

 

[dru]

More importantly, it looks like the Brumbies are pretty much a shoo-in to win the Strayan conference so the question becomes are your lot up to knocking the 'tahs off for second spot? And will that be enough to finish in the Australasian top five (I have this sneaky feeling it's possible four NZ sides could qualify this year)?

I think your your hypothetical is pretty solid. At this point in pre-season (have to hold on to hope that things could change). Brumbies look likely, to the point that not falling lower is kind of up to them.

But you just never know. My early prediction is Brumby v Jaguares final.

 

[elementfreak]

I was down at the JGC trials yesterday and Tuipolotu was there in a knee brace. Was chatting to one of the guys who looks after the 20s and he hinted that a few of those boys are dropping like flies at the moment.