Wallabies 31 Man Squad

[Scott Allen]

ARU press release just in:

Higginbotham, Timani and Ioane have been replaced in the preliminary squad by Kane Douglas, Ben McCalman and Nick Phipps.

Ioane will still be in camp as he recuperates from his surgery. Higginbotham and Timani's involvement in the squad will be determined after scans on their injuries.

 

[TOCC]

ARU press release just in:

Higginbotham, Timani and Ioane have been replaced in the preliminary squad by Kane Douglas, Ben McCalman and Nick Phipps.

Ioane will still be in camp as he recuperates from his surgery. Higginbotham and Timani's involvement in the squad will be determined after scans on their injuries.

Bloody hell, Deans is a useless twat... Anyone can tell that Nic White is in much better form then Phipps

McCalman makes sense given Higgers injury, but highlights the lack of depth we have at 8... Douglas could shit on Robbies dinner plate and still get selected.

 

[Scotty]

Bloody hell, Deans is a useless twat. Anyone can tell that Nic White is in much better form then Phipps

McCalman makes sense given Higgers injury, but highlights the lack of depth we have at 8. Douglas could shit on Robbies dinner plate and still get selected.

Did you mean Dennis?

 

[Scotty]

But the stranger thing:

Wing was replace by a half.

I think we still might see White in the 6.

 

[USARugger]

Talked to Digby for a moment last night and he said the knee is feeling much better than it did a week ago - who knows how true that is though.

Phipps did absolutely nothing of note last night except for getting incredibly chatty with the referee. He completely over indulged Phipps/Higgers/Delve and really lost control of the match during the first round of scrum resets.

White has been playing superbly the past two weeks and I wouldn't fault him if he goes overseas after this rubbish.

 

[Dumbledore]

Wibble.

I've defended pretty much every single one of Deans' selections - because there's been an obvious logic behind them. Phipps and McCalman are just weird though.

 

[The Red Baron]

ARU press release just in:

Higginbotham, Timani and Ioane have been replaced in the preliminary squad by Kane Douglas, Ben McCalman and Nick Phipps.

Ioane will still be in camp as he recuperates from his surgery. Higginbotham and Timani's involvement in the squad will be determined after scans on their injuries.

It is this single selection that annoys me the most. At least with some of Robbie's other selections there is a case for and against the player being selected or not selected - for example, Quade Cooper, Dave Dennis and so on. I'm sorry, but I cannot see a case for Phipps' selection here. Not when it is clear that Nic White is far and away the better scrumhalf.

Even though the backup scrumhalf shouldn't expect many minutes against the Lions, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't select the person who is the most deserving of the spot. In my eyes that is Nic White. What does he have to do to get selected?

 

[USARugger]

The only possible logic I can see behind the Phipps selection would be Deans wanting a sniping scrum half to put on against tired legs. Even this doesn't make sense to me though. Why not put on a scrumhalf who can kick the fucking skin off the ball and make their tired piggies run all over town in the last bit of the game or just plain pin them in their own 22?

I'm getting a bit tired of Deans selecting players in positions for which they cannot even perform the core duties well. 9s with a shit pass, hookers that can't throw, locks who can't jump well/at all..maybe that is just me though.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

It is this single selection that annoys me the most. At least with some of Robbie's other selections there is a case for and against the player being selected or not selected - for example, Quade Cooper, Dave Dennis and so on. I'm sorry, but I cannot see a case for Phipps' selection here. Not when it is clear that Nic White is far and away the better scrumhalf.

Even though the backup scrumhalf shouldn't expect many minutes against the Lions, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't select the person who is the most deserving of the spot. In my eyes that is Nic White. What does he have to do to get selected?

I think youre overlooking the fact that Deans obviously thinks Phipps can cover for Ioane on the wing.
This just shows what a farce the "26 man expandable 31 man squad with 1 half" was in the first place.
Deans had doen it again - maybe he saw something in the Lions game last night that caused him to realise "shit - i only picked one 9 in the 26 man squad"

 

[Dumbledore]

What I find strange is that Deans did pick White for the June tests last year, at least before he got injured. So something, somewhere down the line, has convinced him that Phipps is better. Phipps had a good game against the English on the EOYT I guess? Really struggling with it, I don't rate Phipps at the Rebels so I'm always going to have doubts on him for the Wallabies.

 

[Paradox]

Does this mean Phipps won't play on Friday? Deans certainly has his favorites.

 

[Paradox]

So Deans will have to work with JOC (James O'Connor) or Barnes - if it were me and I had to choose between those two I'd go Barnes as he has at least performed reasonably (no better than that) under pressure at #10 in test matches before.

The #10 jersey is a major worry for the Wallabies.

Scott, I'm more and more convinced it'll be Beale.

 

[Scotty]

Easy everyone. Phipps is a replacement for Ioane. There are still the 6 others to come. White may well be in those.

I do wonder if it points to Barnes at fullback and Folau considered a wing or reserve, since Ioane has not been covered by another wing.

Barnes can't play a full game and would, IMO be a massive mistake as a starter.

 

[gold heart]

According to Foxsports Deans has invited Beale to train with the squad this week - with Pulver and the rest going to the game yesterday to watch him play - not surprising I guess

 

[convenient wisdom]

Why did a squad of 25 have to be picked in the first place, if they were not going to get together until they played another 2 games.? Why aren't we just picking them today - 30 / 31 who cares.. With some of the original 25 people now out injured, some others maybe out / maybe in with recovering injuries, etc, no captain picked, still 6 more to add, it is getting pretty confusing. For example, if Ioane and Timani both recover next week, and go back in, do Douglas and Phipps get booted, or do they just pick an extra 4 instead of 6. Worse again, if Ioane and Timani recover after the next 6 are added, do Douglas and Phipps automatically get booted, even if say White and Pyle are in the next 6 ???? My head is starting to hurt.!!

My theory is that with the naming of the Lions team, the ARU was under pressure to feed the hype machine that passes for media these days in order to keep them happy and get some rugby news on the back page. The whole exercise, makes no sense to me.

 

[Ruggo]

ARU press release just in:

Higginbotham, Timani and Ioane have been replaced in the preliminary squad by Kane Douglas, Ben McCalman and Nick Phipps.

Ioane will still be in camp as he recuperates from his surgery. Higginbotham and Timani's involvement in the squad will be determined after scans on their injuries.

Feel sorry for Higgers and Digby still has hope but frankly the rest is kind of tough justice for stuffed up selections in the first place.

 

[Slim 293]

McCalman?

.........

 

[Sully]

According to Foxsports Deans has invited Beale to train with the squad this week - with Pulver and the rest going to the game yesterday to watch him play - not surprising I guess

This ridiculous. The man until yesterday hadn't had played a few minutes in 3 months and now after one losing Shute Shield match he's invites to wallaby training. Australian Rugby is becoming a farce.

 

[Ruggo]

According to Foxsports Deans has invited Beale to train with the squad this week - with Pulver and the rest going to the game yesterday to watch him play - not surprising I guess

I hope these people know what they are doing. There are things far more important than rugby at stake here.

 

[gold heart]

why not Schatz instead of journeyman McCalman?