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Wallabies 2023

The Ghost of Raelene

The Ghost of Raelene

Andrew Slack (58)
I’m not so sure it will hurt growth.

How many games do Tier 1 nations currently play v Tier 2/3 nations?

The proposed set up will allow for their participation and with the corresponding tournament of the next lot of countries there will be some in that who will get more exposure than ever like Portugal, Spain, Germany potentially.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
stillmissit said:
I understand your argument, but not sure why they couldn't get anything out of a guy who has serious headroom and played NRC. I stand by my original statement, we cannot ID talent, all he was asking for was the ability to train with the Tahs. - No money involved.
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Of course it came down to money. This is a player who had been identified. He was given opportunities in the NRC that exceeded what his play warranted. He got a go there purely because people did see that potential.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
KOB1987 said:
I know like those in the list above he didn’t get selected from overseas, but the bloke who has come back as a far better player compared to when he left is Lalakai Foketi.
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I'm not sure Foketi is a good example here. He was a clear talent early on but then had many injuries that curtailed his development. He's been back with the Tahs for 5 years now so it's not like his ascension to being a Wallaby has happened quickly after a stint overseas.
 
stillmissit

stillmissit

Chilla Wilson (44)
Braveheart81 said:
Of course it came down to money. This is a player who had been identified. He was given opportunities in the NRC that exceeded what his play warranted. He got a go there purely because people did see that potential.
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No it didn't, he wanted to train with the Tahs and that is all. It is in Nick's article but if you don't believe it - well we all have opinions!
 
KOB1987

KOB1987

Rod McCall (65)
Braveheart81 said:
I'm not sure Foketi is a good example here. He was a clear talent early on but then had many injuries that curtailed his development. He's been back with the Tahs for 5 years now so it's not like his ascension to being a Wallaby has happened quickly after a stint overseas.
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Yeah I was going to re-reply to Wilson, I think his (and your) recollection of events may have been more accurate than my own. I had him as a Kellaway type of improver but having scoured the wiki universe it seems he was back a good while longer than I had recalled.
 
barbarian

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
qwerty51 said:
Meafou wasn’t poorly managed, the fact is he wasn’t ready to play Super and we can’t afford to pay guys that don’t play or potentially will never. France can. It’s as simple as that.
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Few parallels with Nemani Nadolo, another who supposedly 'got away'.
 
eastman

eastman

Arch Winning (36)
Everyone who knows anything about this story/ player would be aware that he received plenty of opportunity. He might have had potential but was hardly a world beater in Shute Shield/ NRC.
 
swingpass

swingpass

Peter Sullivan (51)
i remember Meafou training at the Rebels (they nicknamed him "John Coffee" if i recall). from what i saw they put a fair bit of one on one time with him. i dont think we necessarily miss id'ing the talent, some deveolop later, some are not the right fit for the organisation and sometimes teams have to make a choice between who they want to keep. Clearly more money and bigger squads would allow more room to keep a player "on spec" allowing time to develop. currently neither the super sides nor RA have that luxury. which is a pity.
 
TSR

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
Overall Meafou seems a good news story to me. He couldn’t cut it originally and was prepared to go an alternate route to follow his dream. Whatever his work ethic here, he has clearly put in OS. Now he looks like reaping the benefits and he is keen to repay those who put faith in him.

I get that it may raise questions around our whole pathways system. I don’t think anyone thinks our system is perfect - but on the flip side there will always be ones that we miss.

I certainly don’t want too many others to follow this path - either by choice or necessity but we have a pretty strong crop of locks currently available so I am not sure missing Meafou is catastrophic.
 
Drew

Drew

Bob Davidson (42)
We need to adopt whatever fitness and game strategies to incorporate these massive blokes. Pick Skeltons brain on how playing/training in France is different to here. We should be scouring league carnivals and junior rep games to find players that are too big for that game and bring them over. Kind of like (and totally opposite to) Maurice Longbottom in the 7s; never played rugby, was never going to make it in league because of his size, someone recognised his potential and he’s awesome. There was also that guy who was too big for league, playing juniors for South’s and ended up in the superbowl
 
eastman

eastman

Arch Winning (36)
I don’t think it’s that complicated- dedicate a whole lot of time and effort, with some nutritional supervision, and wait the 2-3 years required to get them appropriately fit. Again- money.
 
Drew

Drew

Bob Davidson (42)
Nutrition/fitness are one thing, but the non lineout option is where coaches here are at a loss. These French clubs seem to utilize the big guys better. Our coaches should adopt their tactics and there’s a better chance the big guys will see opportunities here.
 
stillmissit

stillmissit

Chilla Wilson (44)
eastman said:
Everyone who knows anything about this story/ player would be aware that he received plenty of opportunity. He might have had potential but was hardly a world beater in Shute Shield/ NRC.
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Eastman, there ain't a pile of strong potential in 17 or 20 year old forwards, yet you can condemn them to 'not good enough'. You are part of the problem and don't seem to know a solution.
 
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stillmissit

stillmissit

Chilla Wilson (44)
TSR said:
Overall Meafou seems a good news story to me. He couldn’t cut it originally and was prepared to go an alternate route to follow his dream. Whatever his work ethic here, he has clearly put in OS. Now he looks like reaping the benefits and he is keen to repay those who put faith in him.

I get that it may raise questions around our whole pathways system. I don’t think anyone thinks our system is perfect - but on the flip side there will always be ones that we miss.

I certainly don’t want too many others to follow this path - either by choice or necessity but we have a pretty strong crop of locks currently available so I am not sure missing Meafou is catastrophic.
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TSR, very true but we did the same with Skelton and I thought he was OK at the Tahs but not a world-beater. Who did we bring in who was better than him? Rob Simmons came in, I presume on more money than Skelton, I have never valued Simmons as a world beater.
 
TSR

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
stillmissit said:
TSR, very true but we did the same with Skelton and I thought he was OK at the Tahs but not a world-beater. Who did we bring in who was better than him? Rob Simmons came in, I presume on more money than Skelton, I have never valued Simmons as a world beater.
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Skelton got an opportunity. I just feel like we expected too much from him too soon. He needed time to develop. I seem to recall to pressure of unrealistic expectations caused mental health issues and he sought a change of environment.

I must admit I was a doubter if Skelton’s value at test level until EOYT but I am very happy to be proven wrong as, to my understanding, he is a guy who has stared down a few personal demons.
 
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