No.15 Wallabies race heats up for Cameron Shepherd

[robyn <3]

Gerrard 15, Shepherd 14, problem solved.

that wud kick a perfectly good winger off the starting XV. shep is a fullback, its a great thing he can play winger too, but hes naturally a number 15... we have guys like drew and lote who can cover the wings, we need cam at fullback! watch friday night, it will be cam's best game this season coz he really has something to prove out there!

[James]

If nothing else at least the competition is a good thing. Nothing worse than players becoming too 'comfortable' in their positions.

[BLR]

that wud kick a perfectly good winger off the starting XV. shep is a fullback, its a great thing he can play winger too, but hes naturally a number 15... we have guys like drew and lote who can cover the wings, we need cam at fullback! watch friday night, it will be cam's best game this season coz he really has something to prove out there!

A natural fullback whos best season came playing on the wing.

[TOCC]

there is no way gerrard is a winger, he is way to slow, he will get burnt for speed on the outisde or he will get run down, his not as fast as he used to be and he is probably one of the slowest outside backs in Australia at the moment.

I would personally go for Gerrard at 15, only because he has a longer kick on him and will be able to use it to get the wallabies out of trouble.

15. Gerrard
14. Tuqiri
13. Mortlock
12. Barnes
11. Mitchell
10. Giteau

[greenandgoldrugby]

I reckon this is a classic case of
'temperamental flair'
vs
'does what it says on the tin'.

Shepherd has the ability to make sh1t happen with pace and change of direction. However he seems to have the odd 'tune out' if the ball isn't bouncing his way. (By memory he's also an all or nothing place kicker?)

As has been mentioned Gerrard is too slow, especially for the wing (what game was it last year for the Wallabies when he had an open line but couldn't outrun the trailing defence - the saffas?). But has a great boot and work ethic. You know what you'll get.

I reckon Robbie will want to choose Shepherd for talent (as per the vote on the blog, just) but will be watching closely for how he does mentally (my second TWF post today mentioning mental attitude). So, rotate the 2 vs the Irish and French before the 3N.

[tic]

Tough call. The Wallabies are a bit weak atm at 9 and 15.

[BLR]

I would personally go for Gerrard at 15, only because he has a longer kick on him and will be able to use it to get the wallabies out of trouble.

I don't think his kick is an adequate reason, have you seen some of the monsters by Sheps this year? There is no advantage to Gerrard in the length of his kicks....

[The InnFORCEr]

Shepherd has the ability to make sh1t happen with pace and change of direction. However he seems to have the odd 'tune out' if the ball isn't bouncing his way. (By memory he's also an all or nothing place kicker?)

Ball wasn't bouncing our/his way last weekend but did that stop him from creating a well executed personal try in the dying moments of the game??

Gits is by far a better place kicker is most cases, except those long distance kicks. Gits has handed a few of them to Shep throughout the season. Two that come to mind (glad I watched replays) was in Queenstown to win the game!

[greenandgoldrugby]

Nope, you're right, he is perfect.......

[BLR]

The thing about Sheps this season is that he has been out of form for most of it, I suspect maybe carrying an injury as he had the pace of a forward for the first half of the season. However the last few weeks he has really turned it on and has shown a little of the spark he showed last season, and the thing is he is no where near what he can actually do in my opinion...hence why he is better then Gerrard, as he is just the same week in week out but will never reach the peak of play that Shepherd can reach. I suspect this is the reason Latham annointed Shepherd the best to succeed him, when you play a position so outstanding for so many years like Latham did then you get to know what it take to make a good player.

Anyway, Sheps is number one, Gerrard not so much...

[gustafsl]

Gerrard 15, Shepherd 14, problem solved.

But then Tuqiri would be on the bench or not in the 22 at all. Would be too much media hype over Tuqiri being left out. Better to just play him and not let him touch the ball.

[Jehna]

In addition to that BLR, we're not pitching a world cup team this year. There is no need to field a team which has the best of the best playing. It is the perfect opportunity to field those with talent who can and will improve. Hence Sheps should be considered first and foremost.

[The InnFORCEr]

In addition to that BLR, we're not pitching a world cup team this year. There is no need to field a team which has the best of the best playing. It is the perfect opportunity to field those with talent who can and will improve. Hence Sheps should be considered first and foremost.

Absolute rubbish I'm sorry Jehna, a Wallabies Cap (or any countries for that matter)should always go to the player most worthy of it. It is for this exact reason we continue to bag the weak teams sent over to play test matches. It has to stop. A cap is cap, the best of the best. A cap is not for developing players, Australia A is.

[gustafsl]

Absolute rubbish I'm sorry Jehna, a Wallabies Cap (or any countries for that matter)should always go to the player most worthy of it. It is for this exact reason we continue to bag the weak teams sent over to play test matches. It has to stop. A cap is cap, the best of the best. A cap is not for developing players, Australia A is.

I agree with you about using Australia A better. And they probably will now that they have the Pacific Nations thing going.

But look at the beat up they took last test season because of all the different combos they were trying ahead of the World Cup. The message everyone was saying was that they should have been trying new combinations and experiments before last year. And then in the build up to the World Cup the team would be set and could get time as a whole unit. After the useless experiment with Giteau at 9 when they finally decided to put Gregan back in they only had one or two tests with the full team.

As a fan I would like to see them pick the best team possible to win every match. But at the same time part of player development is to give them a go at the top level. So I wouldn't be too disapointed if for one or two tests this year, Tom Carter got a go at inside centre and Mortlock took a game or two off.

[The InnFORCEr]

We'll agree to disagree then