Has Hansen gone stale?
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@mokey uncontested lineouts...
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@taniwharugby 3 man scrums
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@mokey said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
George Gregan leaning down to murmur sweetly: Four more years...
Fuck you George, how does 20 years sound? And as they won't win next year either, add four fucking more to that.
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@mariner4life Can you imagine trying to explain those years to kids nowadays.
Well, poppets, we had some rough times. The Wallabies were on top of the world. Locks kicked. Richie cried. Anton couldn't count. The French routed us. John was on a journey... -
Regardless of strategy and game plan you still have to do the basics first, these don't change. The stupid penalties is just poor discipline. The Irish forwards were just better as a unit, they were simply better than us. Even if Shag rolled out this super secret RWC winning game plan I doubt it would work behind a pack that was dominated.
I often wonder if changing game plans frequently messes with the players minds. Ireland appear to have a game plan that they have drilled into the players whereby they don't think too much, they just act. They lost a few front line players yet the replacements appeared well drilled and it didn't appear to cause any major disruptions.
I think this result has been good for the game and builds a genuine rivalry with Ireland. The RWC really is going to be a competitive tournament.
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@canefan said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@nepia said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@mariner4life said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@nepia said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@mariner4life said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
That's a decent amount of evidence that things aren't going perfect, yet i see very little evidence of any changes in thinking.
Due to his record, I'm willing to give Hansen enough rope and believe his comments to think that 'changes in thinking' may actually be contributing to this years results.
I'll be there waiting with the rope if it all goes pear shaped next year though.
2014/15 is giving Stevo a heap of rope isn't it? So lets hope behind closed doors he does know what he's doing.
I still fucking hate playing shit rugby in pursuit of some future goal. A 3rd World Cup means less to me than putting teams back in their box.
I guess for me, living through that late 90s early 00s era I've never got back to we should win every match by right so the losses don't hurt as much as they use to, I didn't even break anything at the final whistle. Don't get me wrong, as good as Hansen has been he's still the guy who let Ireland bust through the door and get their first wins so he's at least looking at 5 years hard labour when he steps down.
It depends what stage of life you are at I think. Like you, the early 00s era, the longer we went not winning the RWC, there was a time when I lived and died on each game. That culminated with our shock loss in 2007 and led me to the Fern (thank goodness!!). Once we won in 2011, it felt like that moment the character from Fever Pitch (Nick Hornby) experienced, when Arsenal finally won a title all of his angst flew away. 2015 was an even bigger hit, we have truly been spoiled over the last 7 years. There are some fans out there who have no idea what it was like losing in cruel and excruciating ways to Gregan/Larkham/Eales, and choking like dogs at RWCs 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007
Any AB fan who suffered through that period should read Fever Pitch. I even had a moment like Hornby did where I wanted to just stop being a supporter. Give it up. That was after 2007 which hurt so farking much. But I was of course back when 2008 kicked off. Thank God we actually won in 2011. 2015 restored the world order. I'm very happy for that world order to continue.
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@mn5 said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@canefan said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
Owen Finnegan
Melon was a great player
I hated losing to the lot of them. The Gregan try saving tackle on Goldie was typical
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I think the coaches were keeping the powder dry. Then it fucking rained in Ireland. Every knows it rains in Ireland. What we needed was a better quality tarpaulin.
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@canefan said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@nepia said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@mariner4life said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@nepia said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@mariner4life said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
That's a decent amount of evidence that things aren't going perfect, yet i see very little evidence of any changes in thinking.
Due to his record, I'm willing to give Hansen enough rope and believe his comments to think that 'changes in thinking' may actually be contributing to this years results.
I'll be there waiting with the rope if it all goes pear shaped next year though.
2014/15 is giving Stevo a heap of rope isn't it? So lets hope behind closed doors he does know what he's doing.
I still fucking hate playing shit rugby in pursuit of some future goal. A 3rd World Cup means less to me than putting teams back in their box.
I guess for me, living through that late 90s early 00s era I've never got back to we should win every match by right so the losses don't hurt as much as they use to, I didn't even break anything at the final whistle. Don't get me wrong, as good as Hansen has been he's still the guy who let Ireland bust through the door and get their first wins so he's at least looking at 5 years hard labour when he steps down.
It depends what stage of life you are at I think. Like you, the early 00s era, the longer we went not winning the RWC, there was a time when I lived and died on each game. That culminated with our shock loss in 2007 and led me to the Fern (thank goodness!!). Once we won in 2011, it felt like that moment the character from Fever Pitch (Nick Hornby) experienced, when Arsenal finally won a title all of his angst flew away. 2015 was an even bigger hit, we have truly been spoiled over the last 7 years. There are some fans out there who have no idea what it was like losing in cruel and excruciating ways to Gregan/Larkham/Eales, and choking like dogs at RWCs 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007
At least you fuckers got to challenge for the title every four years!
Six fucking years and counting, I say, Six!!!
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@mokey said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@mariner4life Can you imagine trying to explain those years to kids nowadays.
Well, poppets, we had some rough times. The Wallabies were on top of the world. Locks kicked. Richie cried. Anton couldn't count. The French routed us. John was on a journey...Has someone still got that Gorgeous Grogan post as he rode into the sunset...?
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@dogmeat said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
3 man scrums
Classic example of smart thinking - something seemingly lacking in the last 4-5 AB games
Used with great effect to nullify opposing teams scrum power and give quick ball to the backline. Helped us win against the '77 BIL Lions
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@mokey said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
@mariner4life Can you imagine trying to explain those years to kids nowadays.
Well, poppets, we had some rough times. The Wallabies were on top of the world. Locks kicked. Richie cried. Anton couldn't count. The French routed us. John was on a journey...You missed out Wayne Barnes and forward passes. Other than that, great post.
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@canefan said in Has Hansen gone stale?:
There are some fans out there who have no idea what it was like losing in cruel and excruciating ways to Gregan/Larkham/Eales, and choking like dogs at RWCs 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007The RWC losses were tolerable if only because in the preceeding cycle the focus wasn't solely on the RWC. The cycles before '99 and '07 had two of the best AB teams I have seen - Lions series, Grand Slams, the Bok tour. The cycle between '99 and '03 possibly had more memorable games and drama than any other.
2011 would have been gutting because it felt as though it was 'RWC or bust' from the moment Henry was reappointed. Aside from some glimmers in 2010 the entire cycle was pretty uninspired IMO.
