Wallabies 2023

[stillmissit]

Fitness is such a cop-out. Do we ever actually get run over by teams backend of games? We usually lose from the start.

Fitness didn't appear to be an issue in the England series, England were generally ahead all the matches. We came back strongly Test 1. Eng scored 2 late tries but that was more due to the lead and cards.
Argentina loss, dominated from the start, same as SA and the 2nd Bledisloe. In fact, if we had poor fitness we'd wouldn't have come back in Bled #1 or held on against SA first Test.

Qwerty, if fitness is a cop out then what the hell are we doing being late at the breakdown, slow to realine, poor support of the runner and the rest of it?
I think that late comebacks are our speciality and it comes from desperation, having not done the work during the rest of the game. There have been many games where the Wallabies look like an excellent team BUT with only 15 to go and a long way behind on the scoreboard.

 

[Braveheart81]

Qwerty, if fitness is a cop out then what the hell are we doing being late at the breakdown, slow to realine, poor support of the runner and the rest of it?
I think that late comebacks are our speciality and it comes from desperation, having not done the work during the rest of the game. There have been many games where the Wallabies look like an excellent team BUT with only 15 to go and a long way behind on the scoreboard.

Sustained effort and accuracy aren't just about fitness. If fitness was the primary issue you'd expect us to tail off badly at the end of games but generally that isn't happening.

 

[stillmissit]

Sustained effort and accuracy aren't just about fitness. If fitness was the primary issue you'd expect us to tail off badly at the end of games but generally that isn't happening.

OK BH, then what is it? Nobody in the Wallabies setup has a clue or they would have done it. If you can't get the 'sustained effort' out of them an improvement in fitness to match let's say the AB's Ireland and France may well produce an effort that would be worthwhile.

Re tailing off - how can you tail off when you replace most of the team with 20mins to go?

 

[Doritos Day]

Fitness is more than just endurance; that's too narrow a view.

Maybe the players aren't strong enough, so get bullied at the breakdown.

Or haven't been conditioned well enough for repeat efforts

etc.

 

[Braveheart81]

OK BH, then what is it?

We're not particularly good. We can't play consistently well from week to week and we make too many critical mistakes gifting the opposition tries which at test level is pretty hard to recover from.

There is no magic answer to how we can suddenly become a good team.

My main point is that Laurie Fisher hasn't uncovered some great secret that no one else has been able to see and likewise, so far he hasn't been able to correct it. Clearly he's been involved for a very short length of time so maybe he will have some answers but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

 

[PhilClinton]

We're not particularly good. We can't play consistently well from week to week and we make too many critical mistakes gifting the opposition tries which at test level is pretty hard to recover from.

There is no magic answer to how we can suddenly become a good team.

And it doesn't help when some of our better players - Hooper and Kerevi to name a few, haven't been available, it's made an average team look worse.

 

[stillmissit]

Fitness is more than just endurance; that's too narrow a view.

Maybe the players aren't strong enough, so get bullied at the breakdown.

Or haven't been conditioned well enough for repeat efforts

etc.

I met a dutch guy on a plane years ago who was conditioning the dutch hockey team and he was talking about core strength and the impact it makes particularly to assist in reducing fatigue. He gave me a few exercises that I took back to the team I was coaching, they only did 10 mins of them and refused to do anymore as they were far too hard.

 

[stillmissit]

We're not particularly good. We can't play consistently well from week to week and we make too many critical mistakes gifting the opposition tries which at test level is pretty hard to recover from.

There is no magic answer to how we can suddenly become a good team.

My main point is that Laurie Fisher hasn't uncovered some great secret that no one else has been able to see and likewise, so far he hasn't been able to correct it. Clearly he's been involved for a very short length of time so maybe he will have some answers but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

OK BH, then in the absence of anything else look to the basics. This is what I would suggest, become one of the fittest teams in the top 10. Then return the team to basic tackling drills, passing and catching, getting up and getting back in training, and simplify the game plan until everyone can do it with their eyes closed. I'm sure there are other things we could do but that would do me for a start.
Once they can do this then focus solely on the D and after this has become second nature open the game up a bit but still with the maximum focus on defence. No team can beat you if they can't get through you. That might solve your issue in "we make too many critical mistakes gifting the opposition tries"
Individual players with weaknesses should be coached one or one after training is over.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Qwerty, if fitness is a cop out then what the hell are we doing being late at the breakdown, slow to realine, poor support of the runner and the rest of it?
I think that late comebacks are our speciality and it comes from desperation, having not done the work during the rest of the game. There have been many games where the Wallabies look like an excellent team BUT with only 15 to go and a long way behind on the scoreboard.

So true, but I always put that down to actually playing some rugby in those dying minutes when chasing points, rather than the kickathon (aka play for territory) that our game plan seems to embrace for the first 50 - 60 minutes.

 

[Brumby Runner]

We're not particularly good. We can't play consistently well from week to week and we make too many critical mistakes gifting the opposition tries which at test level is pretty hard to recover from.

There is no magic answer to how we can suddenly become a good team.

My main point is that Laurie Fisher hasn't uncovered some great secret that no one else has been able to see and likewise, so far he hasn't been able to correct it. Clearly he's been involved for a very short length of time so maybe he will have some answers but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

BH I reckon stop giving away a plethora of penalties and hence gifting territory, possession and points, in the first 20 - 30 minutes might be a good start.

 

[dru]

So true, but I always put that down to actually playing some rugby in those dying minutes when chasing points, rather than the kickathon (aka play for territory) that our game plan seems to embrace for the first 50 - 60 minutes.

There is nothing wrong with a territory game plan. There is something wrong with implementing it poorly.

 

[stillmissit]

There is nothing wrong with a territory game plan. There is something wrong with implementing it poorly.

Dru: Kicking for territory is poor if the chase is almost non-existent and our kicking accuracy is average. Correction if Koro is the only chaser.

 

[Proud Pig]

I don't think the issue with our game is fitness. We appear as fit as other sides but we do appear to have periods where we switch off.
It also appears to me that we play dumb rugby with no feel for how the ref is running the game. We always give away a heap of penalties early because we take longer than other teams to get a feel for the ref.
Hooper as captain didn't help as I felt he was always quite abrasive with the ref and wasn't demonstrative enough to his own players to make sure they stayed in line. This is particularly important when you have mouthy gits like White in the side who every now and again needs the captain to come over and tell him to pull his neck in.
I think Slipper has been better but again doesn't really pull the troops into line.
We need a skipper like Richie who every player respects (Hooper is respected as well) but also are a little afraid to get on the bad side of.
I also liked how he worked with the ref on the field it always seemed to mean the ABs got a bit of leeway.
Now I don't expect a captain to try the Richie Ref Reach Around, it is the only way I can explain how he was completely impervious to penalization, but a better working relationship is needed.

 

[dru]

Dru: Kicking for territory is poor if the chase is almost non-existent and our kicking accuracy is average. Correction if Koro is the only chaser.

I love tautology.

 

[gel]

BH I reckon stop giving away a plethora of penalties and hence gifting territory, possession and points, in the first 20 - 30 minutes might be a good start.

Urge
To
Respond
Rising

 

[The Nomad]

For all the comments about fitness and lack of urgency in alignment both sides of the ball, the thing that gets me most about the way the Wallabies play is lack of bodies in motion.

We have one out runners off one pass, no deception feigned, often off slow ball from the breakdown.

Look at the way Ireland, France , NZ and even Argentina play and it’s multiple bodies in motion with options for the ball player at speed. It doesn’t just happen in moments of a game, but seems to be the mindset for the whole game. There seems to always be options and support there. Not sure if we don’t play that way because we aren’t fit enough or because we don’t have the skill set to, either way not a great endictment on out preparation.

We look pedestrian by comparison to the top teams in attack. For me it comes down to bodies in motion and as a result options that the defence needs to be concerned with. Our one out runners off slow ball are easy pickings, the resulting breakdown off that is where we lose. Every ball runner should have options , we just don’t seem to nail that when it matters. Is that a fitness issue or an ability issue?

I don’t know, but it shits me to tears.

 

[stillmissit]

For all the comments about fitness and lack of urgency in alignment both sides of the ball, the thing that gets me most about the way the Wallabies play is lack of bodies in motion.

We have one out runners off one pass, no deception feigned, often off slow ball from the breakdown.

Look at the way Ireland, France , NZ and even Argentina play and it’s multiple bodies in motion with options for the ball player at speed. It doesn’t just happen in moments of a game, but seems to be the mindset for the whole game. There seems to always be options and support there. Not sure if we don’t play that way because we aren’t fit enough or because we don’t have the skill set to, either way not a great endictment on out preparation.

We look pedestrian by comparison to the top teams in attack. For me it comes down to bodies in motion and as a result options that the defence needs to be concerned with. Our one out runners off slow ball are easy pickings, the resulting breakdown off that is where we lose. Every ball runner should have options , we just don’t seem to nail that when it matters. Is that a fitness issue or an ability issue?

I don’t know, but it shits me to tears.

great post Nomad. Summed up well how many of us are feeling.

 

[Mr Pilfer]

Not sure if anyone saw Sio’s game for Exeter but pretty impressive from the highlights I saw.

Wonder if they will try get him in the squad or make do with what they have got?

 

[qwerty51]

Not unless there’s a prop injury.

 

[Dctarget]

Not sure if anyone saw Sio’s game for Exeter but pretty impressive from the highlights I saw.

Wonder if they will try get him in the squad or make do with what they have got?

Yeah he continued his good form from Australia. Maybe for the RWC, we'll see.