Waratahs 2021

[WorkingClassRugger]

Something that's really standing out to me at least from the first two games for the Tahs is the utter lack of leadership on the field. And I'm not talking about the bloke with the big C next to his name. Though neither have wowed me in the role in any way. But the utter lack of anyone willing to take charge and lift those around them to be better.

And it's not just down to there being a lack of older heads on the pitch either. Leadership isn't an age based thing. Experience helps mature it, absolutely. But it isn't the defining factor of it. The Tahs play like a team of individually very talented footballers lacking the concept of playing as a collective to actually achieve anything. And it's showing up big time in the defensive effort. Many people often derided Hooper ref/game management but something that's be glaringly obvious to me is that it's clear that he set the standards for the playing group and forced them to push harder to meet them.

Unless someone is willing to take the reins. Set the standards and demand they are met by the group the Tahs are in for a horrifically dire season this year.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I'm certainly no Penney fan, but this disaster pre-dates him and has been a couple of years in the making. Gibson and Hore take a bow.

I can actually see what Penney is trying to do here. And that's a complete rebuild of the squad. Essentially similar to what we saw with the Reds but probably to a greater degree. It's tough to endure as a fan. And may not work out. But that's how I see it.

 

[The Grey Man]

Glad you all think there is no problem with the three current contracted Tah's hookers.

There are 4. You forgot Robbie Abel.

According to Stats on Rugby.com.au, Robbie Abel must be very close to breaking into the Match day 23, as must be Cotton. Their stats (from 80 minutes in the grandstand) are a cigarette paper thickness behind the current starter:

Cotton and Abel each made 0 metres, 0 carries, 0 offloads, 0 passes, 0 tackles, 0 missed tackles, 0 turnovers conceded from 0 minutes played.

Pretty good stats considering that from 51 less minutes than the starting hooker, their stats were nearly identical apart from 1 less pass, 5 less tackles and 2 less turnovers conceded.

Against the same opposition, from only 29 minutes, Porecki managed 23 metres, 9 carries, 1 offload, 1 passes, 4 tackles, 1 missed tackles, 0 turnovers conceded.

In all the gloom of last nights performance, those with long memories will not forget HSBC* Waratahs in 2002. 19-96 remains the record.

* Highest Score By Crusaders

 

[The Grey Man]

Imagine being the fourth best hooker for this rabble.

Imagine being the fourth best any position in this rabble.

Most of them appear to be starting. <sarcasm>

To be fair though, from those not already contracted to the other 4 SRAU teams, who would you choose instead of the current squad?

Very slim pickings indeed.

 

[The Grey Man]

Have you just infringed on the Intellectual Property of the NSW Waratah Supporter Club.

That is what we have had for the last 20 or so years. 2014 being the exception that proves the rule.

I sense an element of knowledge transfer from the Auckland Bluse experience.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

I sense an element of knowledge transfer from the Auckland Bluse experience.

 

[Blackadder]

According to Stats on Rugby.com.au, Robbie Abel must be very close to breaking into the Match day 23, as must be Cotton. Their stats (from 80 minutes in the grandstand) are a cigarette paper thickness behind the current starter:

Cotton and Abel each made 0 metres, 0 carries, 0 offloads, 0 passes, 0 tackles, 0 missed tackles, 0 turnovers conceded from 0 minutes played.

Pretty good stats considering that from 51 less minutes than the starting hooker, their stats were nearly identical apart from 1 less pass, 5 less tackles and 2 less turnovers conceded.

Against the same opposition, from only 29 minutes, Porecki managed 23 metres, 9 carries, 1 offload, 1 passes, 4 tackles, 1 missed tackles, 0 turnovers conceded.

In all the gloom of last nights performance, those with long memories will not forget HSBC* Waratahs in 2002. 19-96 remains the record.

* Highest Score By Crusaders

Abel is injured

 

[Rugby Mum 2]

According to Stats on Rugby.com.au, Robbie Abel must be very close to breaking into the Match day 23, as must be Cotton. Their stats (from 80 minutes in the grandstand) are a cigarette paper thickness behind the current starter:

Cotton and Abel each made 0 metres, 0 carries, 0 offloads, 0 passes, 0 tackles, 0 missed tackles, 0 turnovers conceded from 0 minutes played.

Pretty good stats considering that from 51 less minutes than the starting hooker, their stats were nearly identical apart from 1 less pass, 5 less tackles and 2 less turnovers conceded.

Against the same opposition, from only 29 minutes, Porecki managed 23 metres, 9 carries, 1 offload, 1 passes, 4 tackles, 1 missed tackles, 0 turnovers conceded.

In all the gloom of last nights performance, those with long memories will not forget HSBC* Waratahs in 2002. 19-96 remains the record.

* Highest Score By Crusaders

You are getting on my goat Greying and Tiresome Old Man. You are Ed Craig’s grandfather aren’t you?

Why do you feel the need to run others down and pump up the tyres of another? They are all young blokes trying their hearts out. I support all young players irrespective of the school they went to, the club they played for or their Super Rugby club. Just cut the negativity.

 

[The Grey Man]

I let facts do the talking. You can make your own judgement and comparisons.

This is professional sport, not Subbies rugby where young blokes trying their heart out should be.

Am I not allowed to quote David Porecki's stats, just because he is not a young fellow trying his heart out?

Would you be happy to pay a Tradie, or an accountant/lawyer/hairdressor etc for the equivalent of 1 metres, 1 carry, 0 offloads, 1 passes, 11 tackles, 4 missed tackles, 2 turnovers conceded from 102 minutes played across 2 games?

Why do you continually accuse me of being a relative of a young bloke from Eastwood who is trying his heart out?

I am not, as I have repeated several times. Just a simple Eastwood supporter, and long term NSW Rugby supporter.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

Why do you feel the need to run others down and pump up the tyres of another? They are all young blokes trying their hearts out.

Rugby Mum 2, meet "parochialism". The foundation upon which this whole GAGR internet enterprise is founded upon.

"As long as you try your hardest, that's all that matters. We support ALL of you! There are no winners or losers. That's not the impooooooooooooooooooooooortant thing. As ling as you tryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hard....."

OMFG since when did pro rugby become The Mummys Little Boys Snowflake Participation Olympics?

 

[Eyes and Ears]

Maybe Hooper, Hanigan and Simmons are a lot better than we reaslied. Hopefully we have hit the bottom as it is going to be hard to watch each week if it doesn't get any better.

 

[Rugby Mum 2]

Rugby Mum 2, meet "parochialism". The foundation upon which this whole GAGR internet enterprise is founded upon.

"As long as you try your hardest, that's all that matters. We support ALL of you! There are no winners or losers. That's not the impooooooooooooooooooooooortant thing. As ling as you tryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hard..."

OMFG since when did pro rugby become The Mummys Little Boys Snowflake Participation Olympics?

What bullshit - I didn't say that at all. The Waratahs were thumped - everyone knows that but why kick them when they are down?

 

[Jimmyjam]

Individually most/all of the tahs squad are super rugby standard players, and can hold their own. However as a collective group they are all way too green, with all of the relatively older players still incredibly inexperienced at the top level.

It's like having a team of 3rd and 4th year apprentices trying to do a difficult job without any of the 20yr+ experienced tradies in the crew. It's always going to end up a disaster, but not their fault as they shouldn't be in that position.

We have an entire squad of inexperienced players with zero test veterans to steer the ship. The few test players left have single digit numbers in the appearances column. We've lost 14 Wallabies in the last 2 yrs with over 800 test caps of which 5 or 6 were either over or close to 100 caps.

There are only 2 people responsible for this clusterf@#k..... Hore and Gibson.

 

[Sully]

Who's coaching defence at the Tahs? Gilmore?

 

[Blackadder]

Who's coaching defence at the Tahs? Gilmore?

No one

 

[Blackadder]

I let facts do the talking. You can make your own judgement and comparisons.

This is professional sport, not Subbies rugby where young blokes trying their heart out should be.

Am I not allowed to quote David Porecki's stats, just because he is not a young fellow trying his heart out?

Would you be happy to pay a Tradie, or an accountant/lawyer/hairdressor etc for the equivalent of 1 metres, 1 carry, 0 offloads, 1 passes, 11 tackles, 4 missed tackles, 2 turnovers conceded from 102 minutes played across 2 games?

Why do you continually accuse me of being a relative of a young bloke from Eastwood who is trying his heart out?

I am not, as I have repeated several times. Just a simple Eastwood supporter, and long term NSW Rugby supporter.

Ed Craig is 25 later this year and so far has played in 3 games in Super Rugby. Not a young guy. He was average against the reds. Some of his line out calls were average and several of his throws looked crooked.

If he is so good as you keep arguing then why hasn't he nailed down a regular spot either at one of the Super sides or overseas?

On the other hand Porecki is 29 this year. Has played 3 super rugby games BUT has played overseas and has done well there a Scott Johnson stated that he wanted him back in Australia. I don't see Johnson stating the same for Craig.

David Porecki (Waratahs): “We’re interested in him, the hooker that we brought back from London Irish. I got involved because we have a dearth of hookers. In the end we had a couple of clubs interested but he went to the Waratahs because he is from there. He captained London Irish. He left the system young, went to Saracens, did really well and then finished up captaining a Premiership team. They loved him at London Irish. He’s got to 108kg. Petrus (Wallabies scrum coach Petrus du Plessis) says his set piece is great.

I get you love Craig and want him to do well but if you want to attack the other hookers at the Tahs then expect people to point out the problems with Craig

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Individually most/all of the tahs squad are super rugby standard players, and can hold their own. However as a collective group they are all way too green, with all of the relatively older players still incredibly inexperienced at the top level.

It's like having a team of 3rd and 4th year apprentices trying to do a difficult job without any of the 20yr+ experienced tradies in the crew. It's always going to end up a disaster, but not their fault as they shouldn't be in that position.

We have an entire squad of inexperienced players with zero test veterans to steer the ship. The few test players left have single digit numbers in the appearances column. We've lost 14 Wallabies in the last 2 yrs with over 800 test caps of which 5 or 6 were either over or close to 100 caps.

There are only 2 people responsible for this clusterf@#k... Hore and Gibson.

We're in a complete rebuild of the squad. And it's going to be a painful process.

 

[Blackadder]

Individually most/all of the tahs squad are super rugby standard players, and can hold their own. However as a collective group they are all way too green, with all of the relatively older players still incredibly inexperienced at the top level.

It's like having a team of 3rd and 4th year apprentices trying to do a difficult job without any of the 20yr+ experienced tradies in the crew. It's always going to end up a disaster, but not their fault as they shouldn't be in that position.

We have an entire squad of inexperienced players with zero test veterans to steer the ship. The few test players left have single digit numbers in the appearances column. We've lost 14 Wallabies in the last 2 yrs with over 800 test caps of which 5 or 6 were either over or close to 100 caps.

There are only 2 people responsible for this clusterf@#k... Hore and Gibson.

Hore and Gibson destroyed the Tahs

 

[Forcefield]

I don't know what you Tahs fans are worried about. You get destroyed by the Crusaders in 2002. Twelve years later you are Super Rugby champions! You'll be killing it again in 2033.

 

[molman]

No one

Are you being sarcastic Blackadder or has there been a change? because Whitaker & Gilmore were recontracted for this year I thought and Cockbain already had a contract going till 2022?