formerflanker
Ken Catchpole (46)
Thank you.
Waratahs 2018
- Thread starter Micheal
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Thank you.
Blackadder
Desmond Connor (43)
Mack Mason staying signed to end of 2020
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Really?
That’s bizarre.
Blackadder
Desmond Connor (43)
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
Good for the Tahs but I still reckon Mason easily could be the starting flyhalf for any other Australian team right now. Whether or not it’s good for him and Australian Rugby for him to be playing another two years of Club Rugby when he could be playing Super is another matter.
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
They sent him back to grade with a fairly strong indication he would not be required again this year. I can’t make up my mind about him.
Not sure they’ve given him enough of a go at the Tahs.
So conflicting signs from them - but that’s probably a good day for the Tahs.
Not sure they’ve given him enough of a go at the Tahs.
So conflicting signs from them - but that’s probably a good day for the Tahs.
Aurelius
Ted Thorn (20)
Yep. I just showed that article to my dad and we both had the same initial reaction - that it just had to be a parody. I wonder how excited the Waratahs were after their last game at the prospect of scoring points in their next one?
There was one useful gem in there, though. There's no room in sports for psychologists. Those people have degrees, dammit, and they're competing for that guy's business!
Playing grade does not mean he isn't training with the team\squad all week; it means he is getting game time in grade while training all week with the squad
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
They should be grooming him.
He hasn’t toured with them.
and maybe it was decided game time right now is more important than holding tackling bags
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
at 22 he needs game time at the level they are looking at playing him.
I don't really understand this. They have a squad of 37 players according to the website and no current injuries in the position Mason plays.
He is not in their matchday 23 currently but I don't think that is any indication they have gone cold on him etc.
He'll get more Super Rugby experience when he is needed due to injury or because he pushes a current player out of the 23.
I don't really see how a team can give fringe players more experience without compromising their ability to win games.
Silverado
Dick Tooth (41)
That's true to a point, but leading into our NZ games, and still leading the conference, now doesn't seem the right time to see how they cope
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At this point you're really asking whether you want to play Mason ahead of Bryce Hegarty in the 23 whose form has been very good this season.
I don't think Hegarty will ever be a fantastic player but he's also only 25. It's not like we're treading water with a 30 year old when Mason should be playing.
I don't think Hegarty will ever be a fantastic player but he's also only 25. It's not like we're treading water with a 30 year old when Mason should be playing.
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
How much are we risking if we sub Hegarty off in the 60th for a game that's already done and dusted to give Mason some game time from 10/15?
The season is fucked anyway. I guess we'll probably somehow make the finals by being the least terrible and get promptly belted. At least if we developed some players some good would come out of the season.
Probably not a lot by having Mason in the 23 jersey instead of Newsome. The versatility of the backline would cover the options (Foketi to 13, Rona to 14 in the event of an injury to a winger).
I think Newsome has lots of upside too so we're sacrificing something by not playing him as well.
We're on top of the conference. Clearly we are very unlikely to win the competition given the gap to the NZ teams but realistically that would be suggesting that we call every season a lost cause and for development purposes only unless we look like we are likely to win the comp.
We would have written off the 2014 season on the same basis at this stage with that mentality.
I'm not really sure why there is the sudden need to give Mason more opportunity. It's not like he is dominating Shute Shield to such an extent that the competition offers him nothing further.
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
My memory may be faulty but the 2014 season didn't involve being kept scoreless for the first time in history and we were definitely one of the form teams by this point in the season.
That comparison is a bit of a stretch.
And we need to give Mason time because we don't have many 10s banging about.
That comparison is a bit of a stretch.
And we need to give Mason time because we don't have many 10s banging about.
There's no doubt that was a dismal performance against the Lions. It's one game though. How they bounce back against the Blues this weekend will be telling in terms of the overall season.
After 8 games in 2014 we had the same number of wins with one more loss.
It seems clear that as this point the preferred backup 10 is Beale or Hegarty. Presumably Mason comes into the frame if one of Foley, Beale and Hegarty gets injured. I don't really understand the desperation to bring him in now. I think it would be different if the thought was that Mason is the starting 10 if Foley goes down but that is not the current thinking.
After 8 games in 2014 we had the same number of wins with one more loss.
It seems clear that as this point the preferred backup 10 is Beale or Hegarty. Presumably Mason comes into the frame if one of Foley, Beale and Hegarty gets injured. I don't really understand the desperation to bring him in now. I think it would be different if the thought was that Mason is the starting 10 if Foley goes down but that is not the current thinking.
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