wallabies week one

Written Friday 09/02/2007

My Wallaby Side From Week One of Super 14.

1.Loosehead Prop, Greg Holmes Qld, 110 kgs. Thought Greg ran a bit high during the game but he offers some good options as a runner/distributor. Also offers some real starch in the middle, this young fellow from Allora on the Darling Downs.

2. Hooker, Jeremy Paul, ACT Brumbies. This was a toss up with Hardman’s very accurate lineout throw almost getting him the nod, and McIsaac’s poor lineout throw costing him the job, as I thought McIsaac was the most dynamic of the hookers with ball in hand.

3. Tighthead Prop, Rodney Blake, Qld, 130 kgs. Rodney is still bending at the hip come scrum time and going to ground, but he looks fitter and stronger in 2007, as he should.

4. Left Lock, Mark Chisholm, ACT Brumbies, had a strong game, and can play, as effective as a loose forward, strong lineout, and good ball carrier.

5. Right Lock, Nathan Sharp, Western Force. Wasn’t too bad in a beaten side, does possess a strong lineout when coupled with an accurate thrower.

6. Blind Flanker, Hugh McMeniman, Qld. The guy is big, abrasive and is an effective defender and ball carrier. Standout for the back 5 across all provinces on the weekend.

7. Open Side Flanker, George Smith, but this one is a definite three way, and you could toss a coin between Phil Waugh, David Croft and Smith. Smith just coming back into form a little bit at the moment.

8.Number 8, John Roe, Qld Reds. The premier number 8 in Australia with plenty of effective carries and a big defensive game. If I was a selector and we had to have a lineout jumper there, I would punt for Mcmeniman to move to number 8 and Mitchell Chapman on to the blind side of the scrum, giving four monsters at 4, 5, 6 and 8.

9. HalfBack, George Gregan, ACT Brumbies. Plenty hate him, plenty write ugly stuff about him, but last weekend he was composed, and played very well. I defy anyone to find me a better short passing game in Australia, his accuracy in hitting the close, flat runners is obviously lost on some of our esteemed and more noted rugby writers and critics, but there are none better.

10. Flyhalf, Julian Huxley, ACT Brumbies. Again there are plenty of critics of this guy, and he had a particularly sad time in Qld, but out of all the fly halves on the weekend he was the most accurate in the pass/kick stakes, finding plenty of correct runners and kicking to space well. My error count was only 2 up until half time for Hux.

11. Left Winger, Clyde Rathbone, ACT Brumbies, made some strong runs and is a powerful ball carrier.

12. Inside Centre, Mat Giteau, Western force. Showed enough razzle dazzle in his time at 12 to be selected there. Didn’t think he was that effective at 10, but he may have been receiving some fractured ball from a wilting forward pack.

13.Outside Centre, Stirling Mortlock, ACT Brumbies. I have to admit, I have not been a fan of his play over the years, but he delivered a powerful performance on Saturday against the Chiefs, and certainly his challengers for mine are Rathbone and Staniforth.

14.Right Wing, Scott Staniforth, Western Force. Surely the best outside back/winger in the country, and I believe can also fill 13 and 12. He is skilled, big, strong and passionate.

15. Fullback, Peter Hewatt, NSW Waratahs. With the injury to Chris Latham, is surely in the sights if Latham doesn’t make it back. He has performed almost each and every time he takes the field.

16. Reserve Hooker, Sean Hardman, Qld Reds. Again, have not been a fan over the years, but he delivered a very accurate throwing game and an adequate general play game. McIsaac nearly got the slot, but his poor lineout throwing cost him the slot. Didn’t see enough of Freier and Moore or Faangia to make any assessments.

17. Reserve Prop, Benn Robinson, NSW Waratahs. Toss up between he and Gareth Hardy from the Force, but I like this guy, nice and mobile, nice body shape at all contacts, maybe a bit small. Hopefully between Robinson, Holmes and Blake someone can play both sides of the scrum.

18. Reserve Lock, James Horwill, Qld Reds. I like this bloke, he is big, and abrasive, and we are after all playing a contact sport, and he plays it like that. Could be pushing for a starting berth by the end of the year if some of the other guys don’t muscle up physically.

19. Reserve Back Rower, again toss up between Waugh and Croft, I like them both and it is too hard to call. I would probably just pump for Waugh by a very tiny fraction.

20. Reserve Halfback, Josh Valentine, NSW Waratahs. Again Josh is not my cup of tea, best of the remainder but closely tagged by Nick Berry. Looking forward to seeing the return of Sam Cordingley, and the introduction of Josh Holmes.

21. Reserve Flyhalf, Berrick Barnes, Qld Reds, Plenty to learn but clearly the best of the remainder. Didn’t see enough of Beale in pressure situations, and Halangahu made far too many mistakes.

22. Reserve Outside Back, Cameron Shepherd, again a very talented rugby player that has a big future, showed glimpses of his touch for the Force on Friday night.

The first omission that everyone will see is no doubt Tuqiri, he is a great athlete, but for mine not a good rugby player, he gives up too much pill, gives away too many disciplinary penalties, is a back bought for his running skills and tries to kick, often not that well, more than he runs. 999 out of the next 1000 people you talk to will disagree with me, but that is my view, I just get to go public with it.

The second and third will be Elsom and Palu. For mine they do not have high enough work rates in general play and go missing from time to time.

Of course Caleb Brown (I believe this kid could make the grade in 2007), Digby Ioane, Vickerman and Larkham could not be considered because they didn’t play, and I didn’t see enough of Beale, Freier and some others to make judgement calls.

I believe that Eddie Jones used to pick a Wallaby side (to play) each week of the Super 14 and see what it all looked like at the end of that season.

Others deserving mention are:

	Shifcoske, a solid debut, and he could well put some pressure on those outside back positions given his goal kicking as the season wears on and he finds his feet in the game.
	Ryan Cross certainly did not do enough to lean one way or the other in his Super 14 debut.

Things to watch:

The Reds back five, they will either continue to build and become a dominant and feared unit, or they will falter. I hope they become known as an abrasive and feared unit, back to the days of Scott Young and McCall, Shaw and Loane, guys that belted everything in a different colour to them, and enjoyed doing it.

Kurtley Beale, I stand by my comments that he will finish the year as the number two flyhalf in the Country.

Quade Cooper, it was a shame we didn’t get to see him on Saturday night but he will be in the top grouping of inside backs in the country by the end of the year too.

Dave Pocock, not likely to be thrown to the wolves at such a young age but looks to have the goods to be the Wallaby openside flanker at the 2011 World Cup.

Berrick Barnes, when I watched him as a 15 year old in the open schoolboy stuff, I thought he was the best I had ever seen, and still believe he has the goods to wow the rugby world, he just needs to be allowed to play.

The Man at the Top of the Mountain Didn't Fall There!