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Sorry, but if it's good enough for the SMH Sub Editors...
Hurting star still has a Lote to give
June 18, 2009
A FRUSTRATED Lote Tuqiri is doing it tough wondering when and where his next Test may come, but the Wallabies have nothing but praise for the dumped star's attitude.
An out-of-favour Tuqiri is the only fully fit member of Australia's 30-man squad not to have been selected for action in the three opening internationals of the season.
Teammates say the 67-Test stalwart, the highest-paid player in the code with Matt Giteau, is hurting after a mediocre Super 14 season with NSW left him rated no better than the team's fourth-best winger.
It's a far cry from the last time the Wallabies ventured to Melbourne to play Italy in 2005. Tuqiri carved up the Azzurri to score four tries.
This week his Test involvement, before receiving an early leave pass to play club rugby, is limited to the training paddock. To that end, Australia's coaches and players have been impressed by Tuqiri's work ethic, input and leadership.
"Lote is one of the senior players and obviously one of the best wingers in the world, and still is," said rookie Quade Cooper.
"The way he's training is world class and that's the benchmark for the rest of the guys. That (intensity) is where everyone else has to be."
Cooper's centre partner for Saturday night's second Test, Ryan Cross, admitted his fellow league convert had proven he was as hungry as ever to regain the No. 11 jersey.
"I think he's finding it pretty tough, but … he's handled it well," Cross said.
"He's trained hard and competed very hard. You can't take much away from him, he's doing all he can, but it's tough for him, no doubt."
With coach Robbie Deans expected next week to name his strongest possible team to play a confident France, which last weekend upset the All Blacks 27-22, Tuqiri has a massive challenge to play in the Tri Nations, which starts next month.
But despite the form of Lachie Turner and Drew Mitchell and the return of Peter Hynes, assistant coach Richard Graham has no doubt the door remains open for the 29-year-old to force his way back in through training and club performances.
"Definitely. I've been really impressed by his attitude at training," Graham said.
"He's certainly well respected and when he says something the players have listened to him, and he's working hard at the moment to do what Robbie's asked of him."
Deans has kept his conversations with Tuqiri private, but is believed to be looking for better finishing from his wingers, and the speed of Turner, Mitchell and Hynes trumps the former Brisbane Bronco.
"I think as an outside back the one thing you can't coach is speed," former Queensland full-back Graham said.
"You look at Lachie Turner, he has genuine speed and his ability to beat a man is there for people to see.
"If you're going to perform as an outside back and score tries, pace is a factor and all those boys are working on that.
"You can say whatever you want about deficiencies in every person's game, and the ripple becomes a tidal wave, but from his point of view, he's played 70 Tests and he's still very well respected in world rugby and has a lot to offer us as a team."
AAP
Pirates change tack for Tuqiri and Tahu
Rupert Guinness | June 18, 2009
LOTE TUQIRI'S fight to regain his spot in the Wallabies side is being helped by his West Harbour club styling its game around him, rather than forcing him to adapt.
Coach Stu Woodhouse and backs coach Stephen James even attended a Wallabies training session to select a number of their moves to incorporate into the Pirates' game plan. The belief is that this will help Tuqiri and fellow Wallaby Timana Tahu play at their best in the Shute Shield, rather than having to play without knowing the club's moves.
Tuqiri and Tahu have been named on the wing and No.13 respectively in West Harbour's side to play Randwick at Coogee on Saturday, a match in which the Wicks also field some stars. The Galloping Greens' starting side includes Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell and Waratahs prop Sekope Kepu, as well as Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles at No.8 and halfback Patrick Phibbs.
Woodhouse said he believed it was the duty of the Pirates to lay the best pathway possible for Tuqiri and Tahu to get the best opportunity to impress Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.
"Is it our role? Well, I think so ... Club rugby's role is to find the next Wallabies or whatever ... We are a conduit," Woodhouse told clubrugby.com.au in a podcast.
Woodhouse agreed West Harbour might have been better served last Saturday in their 25-21 loss to Northern Suburbs had Tuqiri run at outside-centre rather than on the wing, especially as Tahu did not play.
But his conviction to help Tuqiri's bid for a return to the Wallabies side is rock solid.
"I'm trying to do the best I can for Lote," he said. "I would like to put him at outside-centre, but is that going to see him get back in? Does Robbie Deans want to see him at outside-centre? I want Lote to turn up thinking that he is a chance to get back in the Wallabies because that is what he is being told ... you have to play well at club rugby to get back in the Wallabies."
So strong is his belief, Woodhouse revealed that the help he was putting on the table for Tuqiri was not just forthcoming with preferential positional selection, but also with match tactics
"We went to the Wallabies, watched some of their moves and picked two or three ... and said, 'OK, well, let's bring those moves so Lote knows instinctively what they are,"' Woodhouse said.
Having played at the Pirates with Tuqiri before, Woodhouse knows first-hand what suits him. "I know enough about Lote: how he likes to play the game, how he likes to receive the ball," he said. "At different times, he likes to receive it sliding out to get that palm and one on one. They were just some moves that actually suit Lote and Timana."
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