Written Sunday 25/03/07

SUPER 14 WEEK 8

Another sorry loss to the Waratahs.  I'm glad we have sides like the Blues to watch,  or the game would be all but dead.  The poor old Tahs,  and they were lucky to not have 80 scored against them I thought,  just directionless.  Aussie sides just can't get behind the tackle line,  we just flop to ground,  if ever we do get behind the tackle line,  we can't offload.  We desperately need some methodology and mindset change,  and very soon.  One would have to ask can these Waratahs tackle,  boy they missed some.  Young Kurtley Beale,  as talented as he is in attack,  will see many big forwards (and backs) looking to be direct in his channel in 2007 until he sorts that technicality out,  but he isn't the only one,  in one movement out of his 22,  Pisi beat 5 or 6 and didn't even get knocked off balance.

Sad thing though,  the most successful coach in Australia is a Kiwi,  and three of the most talked about footballers at the moment are Quade Cooper (New Zealand) and Dan Vickerman (South Africa) and Lote Tuqiri (Fiji) not that Tuqiri offers too much to the code.  We aren't even breeding them any more in rugby.

A quick note,  saw the Brumbies won over the leading Sharks on Saturday night/Sunday morning,  somaybe this week is only a disaster on the Eastern Seaboard!

Another disastrous week for Aussie sides,  but I haven't seen the Brumbies results yet.  I actually turned the TV over to the North Queensland rugby league game last night,  the Reds vs Chiefs game was putting me to sleep.  If the Waratahs weren't playing the Blues,  I would have turned it off too.

Young Quade had his worst outing yet,  not sure where his mind was last night,  but that touch he showed to punch Crofty into a hole for a try highlighted his obvious class,  that was and is a tough ball to throw,  and he threw a cracker.  However he has to get his mind around not being the big gun in schoolboy footy,  and concentrate on applying his obvious and copious talents to develop to being one of the guns in the big world of footy,  and he will,  it will come.  He however is just one small cog in the wheel,  there are plenty of others around him that need to perform much better than they are.

The scary thing is,  and I always find this,  there are so many people waiting for him to fail,  him and others,  it's a terrible problem we have in Australia,  and alot of people will pick on anything that goes wrong and write them off.  He is good,  and will get alot better as he learns to play at this level.  Same Kurtley Beale.  You only learn to play at this level by playing at this level.  Personally I think it is a great thing to be bringing these young folks through the ranks.  I understand that a couple of Quade's 1st XV mates from last year were at the game last night and very close to the action.

The Blues for mine are still favourites although these Sharks could be dangerous especially if the final is played in Africa (assuming of course they make it),  then things get a whole lot more even with a tough plane trip.  The Crusaders look like they will be the goods even though a few All Blacks looked a bit rusty last night.  From an Aussie perspective you would hope that the Force can make up the four.

NSW,  I can't figure them out,  they are taking those three massive backrowers into a game,  and then trying to play wide.  The size and speed and breakdown skill levels of those three guys indicates that they would/should play a narrow game with numbers always available to hit the tackle zone and the breakdown zone,  but they are playing wide,  with the backrowers running wide.  McCaw and his mates will murder them breakdown wise.  The game they are playing is very single dimensional,  with Lyons and co predictably running and trying to break the line two to three channels wide,  trying for a quick ball set there and then playing from there.  Just isn't working for them.

Do I see any positives,  naturally I do as I am a positive sort of guy,  from Qld,  James Horwill and Mitch Chapman,  Quade Cooper and Will Genia,  from NSW it's good to see Lachlan Turner get a run and I wish they would throw Josh Holmes into the fray,  and of course Beale.  The Force are coming along nicely and the Brumbies are in a rebuild phase,  but some promise there too,  couple of young props in Ma'afu and Ulugia,  but they will have to come to terms to life without Larkham and Gregan very soon.

Matt To'omua could well be the next teenage debutant in the country next year at the Brumbies.

Now if I were the ARU,  and I'm not,  and if I were buying league players,  and I wouldn't be,  I would be interested in the likes of Sonny Bill Williams,  Frank Pritchard,  guys like that.  Reasons are quite obvious and I won't go into them today,  let you think about them for a while,  but there is one set of stats the TV doesn't show that I would love to see,  and then compare the Kiwi sides to the Aussie sides,  they are so much more effective in one particular area of the game than we are and the question needs to be asked,  why is it so?

From a Super 14 perspective,  back next week I guess,  but if I get time during the week I have a couple of issues burning me up I would like to write about.

I Missed 100% of the Shots I Didn't Take,  Michael Jordan.