Bledisloe II
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Krustys furious apparently . I reckon what he needs to kickstart the wallabies is a catchy slogan for the boys , something like "Make Australia Great Again" or abbreviate it to " MAGA" when they put it on hats for supporters. That should help their profile over there.
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I remember when these annual tournaments started ,the theory was , it was supposed to be good for the wallabies to be playing us so regularly ,
Right now , im not so convinced playing us so often is good for them ,
Its demoralising
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@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe II:
I remember when these annual tournaments started ,the theory was , it was supposed to be good for the wallabies to be playing us so regularly ,
Right now , im not so convinced playing us so often is good for them ,
Its demoralising
You say that like its a bad thing.
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@jegga said in Bledisloe II:
@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe II:
I remember when these annual tournaments started ,the theory was , it was supposed to be good for the wallabies to be playing us so regularly ,
Right now , im not so convinced playing us so often is good for them ,
Its demoralising
You say that like its a bad thing.
@jegga said in Bledisloe II:
@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe II:
I remember when these annual tournaments started ,the theory was , it was supposed to be good for the wallabies to be playing us so regularly ,
Right now , im not so convinced playing us so often is good for them ,
Its demoralising
You say that like its a bad thing.
Yup anyone who feels the slightest pang of guilt or pity should be made to watch all games from 1998 - 2002... multiple times
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@virgil said in Bledisloe II:
@jegga said in Bledisloe II:
@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe II:
I remember when these annual tournaments started ,the theory was , it was supposed to be good for the wallabies to be playing us so regularly ,
Right now , im not so convinced playing us so often is good for them ,
Its demoralising
You say that like its a bad thing.
@jegga said in Bledisloe II:
@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe II:
I remember when these annual tournaments started ,the theory was , it was supposed to be good for the wallabies to be playing us so regularly ,
Right now , im not so convinced playing us so often is good for them ,
Its demoralising
You say that like its a bad thing.
Yup anyone who feels the slightest pang of guilt or pity should be made to watch all games from 1998 - 2002... multiple times
A photo of John O'Neill holding the Bledisloe is all I need .
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righto, quick match report after seeing the two press conferences.
Firstly, the weather was not good for open rugby. Post-Haka there was a quick rain shower that dropped the temp a few degrees, and made everything as slippery as @Crucial's Amsterdam experience. Greasy ball, cold conditions and it showed in a very average first half.
Plenty of Aus supporters around, which was great to see. They are proper die hards - if you're supporting your team away, then bloody well done.
Having said that, the whole experience was really flat. Maybe the sense that there wasn't much on the line, the lack of the game reaching any great heights (barring the odd individual flash) ... it was all just a bit 'meh'. Even the players seemed lethargic - physical individually, but generally there wasn't the intensity of last week (for instance).
Players who played well
Brodie. Fark me, what a player
Aaron - as usual
Beauden - 'nuff said. Definitely not a classical 10, but broken field play is his element
Bender - how the fark does he keep doing that - just so amazingly good at decision making, and wrings every ounce of talent out of his accounting pedigree.The whole first half we just seemed to be indecisive. Really didn't carry hard, or commit to decisions. Seemed to shovel passes to other players without real engagement. Very frustrating to watch.
Wayne Barnes. Well, I just don't enjoy watching games where he referees. Seems to blow 'ticky tack' penalties, and the game never seems to flow with him. If the Wobs complain about the ref, they need their heads read - there sure has hell wasn't a lot of favour for the ABs. Also, rubbing out two tries was pretty frustrating - the first one particualrly seemed to be coming back a long way for a marginal knock on. Really not convinced it's good for Rugby, but that's for another thread.
Naholo - weirdly cult hero status for a winger that's got real limitations. I don't trust him on the field, and seems to have ongoing brain farts. Didn't always run hard.
Ngani - built as the game went on. Didn't run hard at first, and very upright. I want to see a hard runner at 12, and as they say in NFL, you have to establish the run to allow the pass. Came on as the game went on, but you can see why Dubya is the no 1 by some margin.
So, that was it really. A final comment - caught most of the Black Ferns game. Skill levels (and they are very controllable) were down on what I expected. Saw multiple overlaps butchered as passes weren't in front of players. Womens rugby is different, but it's slower and there is more space. No excuse for lower skill levels; got to work on that. Still not a bad watch mind.
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@akan004 said in Bledisloe II:
"You look at the match-ups tonight of players and I'm keeping all our players, I'm not swapping anyone," Hooper said
😁😁😁
Yeah, ha bloody ha. Not sure that works on players; they know they are close, but generally not better. And that deosn't matter - remember Fitzy in 03; a good team can beat good players.
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@jegga said in Bledisloe II:
@virgil said in Bledisloe II:
@jegga said in Bledisloe II:
@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe II:
I remember when these annual tournaments started ,the theory was , it was supposed to be good for the wallabies to be playing us so regularly ,
Right now , im not so convinced playing us so often is good for them ,
Its demoralising
You say that like its a bad thing.
@jegga said in Bledisloe II:
@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe II:
I remember when these annual tournaments started ,the theory was , it was supposed to be good for the wallabies to be playing us so regularly ,
Right now , im not so convinced playing us so often is good for them ,
Its demoralising
You say that like its a bad thing.
Yup anyone who feels the slightest pang of guilt or pity should be made to watch all games from 1998 - 2002... multiple times
A photo of John O'Neill holding the Bledisloe is all I need .
The cup would be almost as tall as he is
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@booboo said in Bledisloe II:
@gunner said in Bledisloe II:
Harris has to go, our lineout falls apart when he comes on. Time for Coltman to have a go.
Our lineout had some shakes when Taylor was still on (although according to Horan it was Coles). Seemed to be when we were throwing long. Tough throw to make
But I agree with the general sentiment. Finding the next hooker is a priority.
I've never understood why they didn't give Ash Dixon a go. He's better than Harris & Coltman. Now it's too late, because he's too old to bring into the ABs set-up.
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@stargazer No offence but does it really matter who plays in that 3rd hooker spot as they're all on about the same level anyway? We could pick Greg Pleasants Tate and it wouldn't make a difference.
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@african-monkey Harris is the 2nd hooker as long as Coles isn't back playing.
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@chester-draws said in Bledisloe II:
@wreck-diver said in Bledisloe II:
So are all the people that were bitching about Barrett last week, are you satisfied or do you still want to drop him?
When Marty Holah was playing for the ABs he was a really good openside. A top quality international who never let his side down. Yet he was dropped for a noob. That's how it works at the top.
No-one much thinks Barrett is bad. Some of us aren't so blinded by his brilliant bits that we don't see his weaknesses though.
Some people suspect Mo'unga might be better* We'll never know if we never play him on the basis that Barrett is good enough, will we?
And we'd have missed years of McCaw if we followed your logic.
[* I am not one of them. But I know that Barrett does have weaknesses. To me he is one of those brilliant players who isn't able to use his brilliance in a way that makes others better too.]
I'm sorry that last comment was nuts. Just ask the entire Canes backline.
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@chester-draws said in Bledisloe II:
@bones said in Bledisloe II:
I'm interested in how he doesn't make others better.
An unsympathetic shovel pass mostly.
Also he doesn't stand flat to the line like Carter and Cruden did, so he doesn't pose the same defensive quandaries, which makes it easier to mark the 2nd-five.
Beauden's at his best in space, attacking from the back on counter and when defenses tire. Back lines outside him seem to struggle to penetrate organised back lines, like the Lions or Crusaders. Or not tired Aussies, for that matter.
The ABs seem to be working around this by trying to ensure oppositions always tire enough. I suspect cannier teams than Australia will pace themselves better.
He scored two tries in the first half ffs. Shit, what more does the guy have to do? You reckon Carter was tearing up defences in the first 30? Taking on the line and breaching it in the opening exchanges? This is just knit picking bullshit. Btw anybody who reckons BB can't control a game should be forced to watch that game Clockwork Orange style.
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