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Wallabies 2023

TSR

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
Eddie's Eyebrows said:
Reece Hodge vs Donaldson is hardly an inspiring choice is it?
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No - but those sort of decisions are all part of the mix.

My understanding is most Kiwi’s hated the thought of Stephen Donald taking the field in the 2011 World Cup. Even after the fact I was amazed how many of the Kiwis I know would only begrudgingly give him credit.

He wasn’t a World Beater over the course of his career but he was on the day it counted.
 
BDA

BDA

Peter Johnson (47)
I think if M Hooper is fit you have to have him in your squad. That said, part of me secretly hopes he miss out due to injury. I strongly believe McReight is a better player than him at this point and i worry that Hooper will continue to get the nod over mcreight in the big games.
 
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dusk

dusk

Cyril Towers (30)
BDA said:
I think if M Hooper is fit you have to have him in your squad. That said, part of me secretly hopes he miss out due to injury. I strongly believe McReight is a better player than him at this point and i worry that Hooper will continue to get the nod over mcreight in the big games.
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But if he isn't starting is Slipper forced to start??
 
BDA

BDA

Peter Johnson (47)
IMO neither Slipper nor Hooper should be starting and neither should have been named captain. It was a dumb idea and honestly I got the impression that Eddie has moved on. I'm assuming Tate is the starting Captain for here on out.
 
Mr Pilfer

Mr Pilfer

Bob Loudon (25)
TSR said:
It’s worth noting that the key players who miss selection will be in Europe for the Australia A & Barbarian games. Won’t help covering an injury on the day of the game so I think they’ll take 3 hookers and 3 9s - but if there are any injuries there should be a replacement close at hand. You can’t cover every eventuality or dumb luck but they just need enough squad cover for any immediate/short term issues.
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I agree with this, the more I have thought about it, with these new concussion protocols I don't think you can afford to take the gamble with 2 hookers or 2 halfbacks.

Is Josh Kemeny completely out of the picture now? Assuming it was a straight out battle for a spot between him and Tom Hooper and Hooper won with flying colours? I am happy with that, hopefully Eddie doesn't still pick Kemeny because he can "cover" wing
 
Mr Pilfer

Mr Pilfer

Bob Loudon (25)
BDA said:
IMO neither Slipper nor Hooper should be starting and neither should have been named captain. It was a dumb idea and honestly I got the impression that Eddie has moved on. I'm assuming Tate is the starting Captain for here on out.
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He could just name Tate as captain with White and Slipper as VC's. That way you are guaranteed to have one on the field at all times.
 
Wilson

Wilson

David Codey (61)
dusk said:
What are you asking that about, Slipper being forced to start or Hooper not starting?
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Slipper being forced to start. Hooper's not there now and he's not forced to start, I don't see why that would change going forward.
 
wamberal

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
barbarian said:
We should 100% take two specialist opensides. 33 is more than enough to be able to carry both of them (again, assuming Hooper is fit).

I am old enough to remember Ben McCalman packing down at 7 in a game against Ireland in 2011. I still wake up in a cold sweat sometimes thinking about it. I have it tattooed, Memento style, on my ribs - 'take two 7s to a World Cup'.
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Times have changed a bit since then. I don't necessarily disagree about taking Hooper, but I note that England will only take one specialist #8 (Billy Vunipola). Playing the other Hooper at 7 seemed to work okay?
 
dusk

dusk

Cyril Towers (30)
Wilson said:
Slipper being forced to start. Hooper's not there now and he's not forced to start, I don't see why that would change going forward.
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I'm just a bit confused about how the whole captaincy is going to work. Did Eddie name Slipper and Hooper co-captain for the World Cup? and if so it would be a bit strange for them both to not start but it would also be a bit of an inconvenience if they did start as they both have younger players like bell and mcreight who (based on current form) should probably be starting over them.
 
dillyboy

dillyboy

Nev Cottrell (35)
dusk said:
I'm just a bit confused about how the whole captaincy is going to work. Did Eddie name Slipper and Hooper co-captain for the World Cup? and if so it would be a bit strange for them both to not start but it would also be a bit of an inconvenience if they did start as they both have younger players like bell and mcreight who (based on current form) should probably be starting over them.
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Pretty sure they were just selected as co captains for the initial squad.

It appears that Eddie has no qualms moving on from someone if not performing nor picking them just because previously they were the captain (and rightly so).

I don't think Hooper or Slipper being prior captains will have any impact on their selection and Tate will likely have the C next to his name for the foreseeable future....
 
Slim 293

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
The look on Valetini’s face…

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