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Thread: Waratahs Starting Lineup

  1. #16
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    HSBC WARATAHS TO PLAY ACT BRUMBIES
    WIN STADIUM WOLLONGONG
    SATURDAY, 21 JANUARY 2005, 5PM (20min quarters)

    1. Benn Robinson, 2. Al Manning, 3. Troy Takiari, 4. Al Kanaar, 5. Will Caldwell, 6. Wycliff Palu, 7. James Campbell, 8. Stephen Hoiles [vc], 9. Josh Holmes, 10. Tim Donnelly, 11. Chris Siale, 12. Shaun Berne [c], 13. Ben Jacobs, 14. Winston Mafi, 15. Sam Norton-Knight, 16. Adam Freier, 17. Matt Skillecorn, 18. Jeremy Tilse, 19. Ben Hand, 20. Rocky Elsom, 21. Leroy Houston, 22. Daniel Halangahu, 23. Tom Carter, 24. Lloyd Jones, 25. Peter Hewat, 26. David Lyons

    It'll be interesting to see Daniel Halangahu and Tom Carter in action following a great '05 from them both in Club Rugby.
    Also important return matches for Stephen Hoiles and David Lyons on the road to France.
    Starting Half and Rookie, Josh Holmes contracted the deadly brain-swelling condition encephalitis in 2004 but, having made a full recovery, will be one to watch for the Tahs post Whitaker.

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  2. #17
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    I read somewhere that Whitiker is "weighing up his options" and hasnt signed a contract with the Tahs yet.

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    Exile
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    "Pain heels. Chicks dig scars and Glory lasts forever." Shane Falco

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    Probably waiting to see if the new Wallabies coach is from NSW or Qld!
    May as well get going and make some superannuation at the end of this season I reckon.
    I doubt he'll go anywhere until after the S14 as the northern season is underway and most of the playing rosters would be full already.

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  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by the.committed.in.exile
    I read somewhere that Whitiker is "weighing up his options" and hasnt signed a contract with the Tahs yet.

    There was a rumor a while back that if he wasn't going to continue with the Wallabies he was going to go play NH rugby.

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  5. #20
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    Waratahs look at the wider picture

    from Rugby Heaven

    Friday, January 20, 2006

    NSW are planning on taking full advantage of new attacking weapons Wendell Sailor and Sam Norton-Knight with a more expansive game plan in the coming Super 14 season.

    The Waratahs recorded their best finish in the Super 12 competition last season before losing the final to the Crusaders 35-25 at Jade Stadium. But they were also criticised for their forward- and territory-oriented approach against the Crusaders and accused of becoming too reliant on their defence to graft out wins.

    Coach Ewen McKenzie yesterday suggested his side would play with more width this year, boosted by the quality back-line signings of former Queensland winger Sailor and ex-ACT utility Norton-Knight.

    "We will be playing the game differently this year because we have different skills, we are a fairly honest team and honest about what we are capable of doing," McKenzie said.

    "I think this year we have different capabilities, we won't throw everything out the window, but I don't expect us to play entirely the same way as we did last year."

    The recruits have made the competition for spots in the NSW back line very competitive and McKenzie felt the Waratahs finally had the necessary depth to cover injuries. "Whereas a couple of years, when we lost Mat Rogers, it made it very hard for us the whole year, we are not in that position now," he said. McKenzie was still weighing up his options for the five-eighth position, with the multi-faceted Rogers and Norton-Knight in contention.

    The Waratahs have named a 26-man squad for their opening trial match this Saturday against the ACT Brumbies in Wollongong. Back-rower Stephen Hoiles returns from a knee injury to captain NSW, with both sides opting to rest the majority of their stars. McKenzie wants to give all his players an opportunity to impress before the side's Super 14 opener against Queensland in Brisbane on February 11.

    The NSW camp remains hopeful that lineout leader Dan Vickerman will be fit in time to play the Reds. "It is tight but he is training well, and this week he has been doing a lot of the contact work and confidence-wise he is in really good shape," McKenzie said.

    The coach was confident that NSW had sufficient depth in the second row despite Justin Harrison's departure. "[I'm] more concerned because Al Kanaar has had a couple of niggling injuries which have been lingering on, he is a guy we have hopes for, Will Caldwell has had a good last six months. We don't have as many names there as in the past," McKenzie said.

    Adam Freier and explosive youngster Tatafu Polota-Nau are set to fight it out for the No.2 jumper, with the more experienced Freier appearing to have the inside running. Rogers is set to return to training next week from bereavement leave following the sudden death of his father, rugby league great Steve Rogers, earlier this month.

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  6. #21
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    Waratahs flex muscles

    Let's hear all about it Sage!!!

    By James MacSmith
    Sunday, January 22, 2006

    Waratahs 21 Brumbies 5

    PREMIERSHIPS are never won in January but the Waratahs have started off their inaugural Super 14 season in promising style with a win over arch-rivals the Brumbies in their first hit-out of the year.

    NSW scored three first-half tries yesterday. The Brumbies' solitary five-pointer came just after half-time.

    Ewen McKenzie's NSW side showed every sign of fulfilling his promise to play attractive football this season and only poor handling, understandable at this time of year, cost them a bigger win.

    Versatility in the back line looks like becoming a key factor in NSW's bid to go one better in 2006 than their first Super 12 final appearance last year. Tim Donnelly played five-eighth and halfback yesterday and landed three out of three conversions, showing he will be another option for McKenzie behind Mat Rogers and Chris Whitaker.

    Sam Norton-Knight played fullback, after slotting in at No.10 on the recent tour of eastern Europe. Peter Hewat spent much of the 40 minutes he was on the field roving around the back line and filling in at No.10 when required.

    "Players can feel uncomfortable about playing out of position but we want a situation where we have a number of players who can play a number of positions," McKenzie said.

    "It's something we have been working on for a period of time now and it is starting to come together."

    Minus their Wallabies stars, both sides played free-flowing football and Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher said that augured well for the season ahead. "If we're dishing that up now and it's only mid-January I think the fans should be in for an entertaining year," he said.

    "It could have been a bit of a dull contest today. Both sides made a lot of errors - which you will always get at this time of year - but I think the crowd will have gone away feeling they have got their money worth." With the game starting in near-30-degree heat before a crowd of 5684, the Waratahs crossed first when Donnelly skirted over out wide after NSW opted to take a quick tap following a penalty in the 18th minute.

    Donnelly converted his own try and then added another conversion after Stephen Hoiles scored in almost the same spot in the 23rd minute.

    Norton-Knight added the Waratahs' third and final try in the 37th minute for a 21-0 half-time lead in the four-quarter contest. NSW ran out their big guns in the second half, including David Lyons and Adam Freier, but despite controlling the better part of the play and dominating the lineout, it was the Brumbies who added points after the main break through Ben Batger in the 41st minute.

    McKenzie praised the work of Hoiles, who played his first game since the 2005 Super 12 final after injuring his knee at Wallabies training. Both coaches agreed little should be read into the result but Fisher said his side was ahead of where it was physically last year.

    All of the Waratahs' Wallabies players, bar Phil Waugh, will return for NSW's game against Auckland on Saturday. Mark Gerrard, Mark Chisholm, George Smith and Jeremy Paul will be on deck for the Brumbies' against the Hurricanes on Friday.

    WARATAHS 21 (T Donnelly, S Hoiles, S Norton-Knight tries; T Donnelly 3 goals) beat BRUMBIES 5 (B Batger try) at WIN Stadium. Crowd: 5684. Referee: M Goddard.

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  7. #22
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    It was a pretty good crowd for a non-wallaby trial game in 30 degree+ heat (my gf and I both have sunburn), WIN stadium isn't very big, I'd say 5684 was more than half capacity.

    I'll start with the man of the moment... Sam NK... His general play was alright however he dropped an awful lot of ball, several passes out wide to him were fumbled and he dropped a few high kicks sent his way.

    Donnelly was supurb at 10 and possibly even better at 9, if he's not included in the team I'll be a bit disappointed. Josh Holmes didn't do too badly either.

    None of the centres played particularly well, alot of the passes from the centres were off and often hit the ground before reaching the intended target. NK might be an option in the centres afterall with Tirinui. Mafi and Siale didn't play well in the centres at all.

    I doubt I'll see the Tahs/Blues game in the central coast but all Wallabies bar Phil Waugh will be in the squad. I'll be at the Pre-Season Tahs/Crusaders game (there was, erm... something in my eye last time they played) which will have the full squad so I'll reserve judgment on what I percieve to be our weak areas until then.

    Bill Young was back to his best for the Brumbies collapsing the scrum time and time again. I can only recall one or two scrums from the first 2 quarters that wasn't colapsed. They looked ordinary at best and can only hope the return of their stars will boost the rest of the team.

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  8. #23
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    Doesn't sound to good for the Brumbies Sage! Hope they improve... after the 10th!!!
    It may be that Donnelly is picked as a spare parts for both 9 and 10 allowing them to pick an extra forward? He would be a starter in many other teams and competitions and rarely gives a bad game for the Woodies.
    Perhaps the jury isn't far from coming in on NK? The Brumbies loss may also be the Tahs loss on that one at the moment!

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  9. #24
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    Hmm I thought I had replied to this already.. Mustn't have gone through.

    Agreed regarding Donnelly, he's a good utility to have on any team, I really was impressed with him at 9. Josh Holmes was good too, very vocal and guided the maul very well. Still waiting to see Whitaker and Rogers to see what cohesion is there, didn't get to see alot of them together on the Wallabies tour. But it appears we have more oprions at 9 and 10 than I first thought.

    I'm sure the tahs will give NK every possible chance at a number of positions. From what I've heard they spent an awful lot of money on him so I'm sure they will try him all over the park before they give up. The centres will be an interesting option for him, I'm warming to that idea more and more although I didn't see him used there in the trial (flyhalf, wing and fullback was where he was tried).

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  10. #25
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    Stars won't escape cut

    By Ben Kimber, Rugby Heaven
    Monday, January 23, 2006

    The Waratahs have assembled such a sound squad this season that not even the leading Wallabies are safe from coach Ewen McKenzie's rotation policy.

    On the surface, with up to 13 Australian internationals contending for starting positions, the team's selection conundrums for the Super 14 campaign appear the same as last year, when a logjam in the back row and an absence of an established No.10 were the major issues.

    But McKenzie said yesterday: "A lot of people probably think you just write all your Wallabies' players names down and then work out [how] to fit them in. That's not necessarily how I work. So I think we have to make sure we're selecting for the right reasons, and form on the field at that point in time is certainly part of it and how they're training. Then, as with last year, we looked at our opponents and made decisions based on them ... whatever we pick the first week might not be what we pick the second."

    With up to nine of the 13 players who did not play in the 21-5 trial victory over the Brumbies likely to return against the Auckland Blues in Gosford on Saturday night, it is clear competition for places has only begun.

    Mat Rogers returns from compassionate leave this week and second-rower Dan Vickerman will resume contact training, although he is unlikely to play at the weekend.

    "[Selection is] definitely a more difficult task this year," McKenzie said. "I think we definitely have more players this year than we did last year who are capable of running out in the starting XV. There's more competition and the versatility aspect has increased, and there's opportunity to play different combinations and not rely on 15 guys to do the job week in, week out."

    As well as the competition at No.10, there will also be a battle for back-row berths, with Wallabies stalwarts David Lyons and Phil Waugh likely to have any one of Stephen Hoiles, who made a successful return from knee surgery on Saturday, Rocky Elsom, Wycliff Palu or even young gun Leroy Houston alongside them.

    Saturday's team that beat the Brumbies was stacked with junior members of the NSW squad, yet McKenzie had a relevant pre-match message.

    "A lot of the guys who played [in the win over the Brumbies] were on the development tour [last year] and I said to them before the game that they had come off four wins in the development tour, and now they're playing this trial, which is probably the next step," McKenzie said. "Some of those guys are basically in the middle of a seven-game pre-season to get a [Super 14] spot. So in the context of that, to come out with a positive scoreline can only be a good thing for, if nothing else, confidence ...

    "It's about getting that winning habit, and NSW has been inconsistent in the past. So the guys run out and they have a win; [then] they start to expect that ... "

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    The Waratahs will welcome back seven other Wallaby tourists in their line-up for Saturday night's trial match against the Blues from Auckland in Gosford.

    McKenzie has selected a 29-man squad with Chris Whitaker, Morgan Turinui, Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor, Al Baxter, Matt Dunning and Tatafu Polota-Nau all set to make their first appearances for the year.

    Hooker Adam Freier will captain the side, with Turinui his vice-captain.

    Ex-Brumbies recruit Sam Norton-Knight gets his chance to impress at five eight while Peter Hewat will start at fullback after coming off the bench in the win over the Brumbies.

    "Competition for places is always a good thing at this time of year, as it gives every player an incentive to hit the ground running," McKenzie said.

    "The team that beat the Brumbies set a good platform and I think the Wallaby guys who watched saw first hand the depth we have in 2006.

    "Added depth gives us the ability to experiment a little, so like last week we'll be trying a number of guys in a number of positions in an attempt to strike the right combinations for the start of the season."

    Of those making their returns, Baxter, Sailor, and Turinui will all be in the run-on side, while the remainder will make an appearance off the bench.

    NSW team: Peter Hewat, Winston Mafi, Morgan Turinui (v-capt), Tom Carter, Wendell Sailor, Sam Norton-Knight, Brett Sheehan, David Lyons, James Campbell, Rocky Elsom, Will Caldwell, Alex Kanaar, Al Baxter, Adam Freier (capt), Benn Robinson. Res: Aaron Broughton-Rouse, Matt Dunning, Troy Takiari, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Wycliff Palu, Leroy Houston, Stephen Hoiles, Chris Whitaker, Tim Donnelly, Daniel Halangahu, Shaun Berne, Lote Tuqiri, Ben Jacobs, Chris Siale.

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  12. #27
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    Interesting that Turinui, a Wallaby vice captain, wouldn't lead the side?
    Can only assume it's because he won't be playing a full game as one of the returning Wallabies?
    Pretty handy reserves bench too!

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  13. #28
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    HSBC WARATAHS TO PLAY THE BLUES (NZ)
    CENTRAL COAST STADIUM, GOSFORD
    SATURDAY JANUARY 28, 2005, 7.30PM (4X20 Minutes)

    1. Benn Robinson
    2. Adam Freier [c]
    3. Al Baxter
    4. Alex Kanaar
    5. Will Caldwell
    6. Rocky Elsom
    7. James Campbell
    8. David Lyons
    9. Brett Sheehan
    10. Sam Norton-Knight
    11. Wendell Sailor
    12. Tom Carter
    13. Morgan Turinui [v-c]
    14. Winston Mafi
    15. Peter Hewat

    RESERVES (in order of position)
    Aaron Broughton-Rouse
    Matt Dunning
    Troy Takiari
    Tatafu Polota-Nau
    Wycliff Palu
    Leroy Houston
    Stephen Hoiles
    Chris Whitaker
    Tim Donnelly
    Daniel Halangahu
    Shaun Berne
    Lote Tuqiri
    Ben Jacobs
    Chris Siale

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  14. #29
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    Numbers up for Waratahs

    Link you funky guy you, all new age and all, who would have thought from a caveman!?
    Bloody stupid idea for regular matches if you ask me!

    Numbers up for Waratahs
    February 1, 2006

    NEW South Wales Waratahs will break with tradition and replace numbers on players' jumpers with their initials for Saturday's rugby trial match with Canterbury Crusaders.

    The franchise is looking to make the move permanent as it believes it is within the competition rules.

    Players will still have numbers on their shorts but each jersey will be unique to the player wearing it.

    Winger Lote Tuqiri unpacked his "LT" jersey at Sydney's Aussie Stadium today.

    Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie said the move fits in with the Waratahs game plan of not having players tied down by a number or position.

    NSW today named a squad of 26 players for its trial match against the Crusaders at Aussie Stadium on Saturday with lock Dan Vickerman set for a comeback from injury.

    Flanker Phil Waugh will also make his first appearance in 2006.

    NSW Waratahs: Peter Hewat, Wendell Sailor, Morgan Turinui, Shaun Berne, Lote Tuqiri, Sam Norton-Knight, Chris Whitaker (captain), Stephen Hoiles, Phil Waugh, Rocky Elsom, Daniel Vickerman, Will Caldwell, Al Baxter, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Matt Dunning. Res: Al Manning, Benn Robinson, Troy Takiari, Alex Kanaar, Wycliff Palu, Leroy Houston, David Lyons, Brett Sheehan, Tim Donnelly, Ben Jacobs, Daniel Halangahu.

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  15. #30
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    It'll fail (I hope)..


    Btw, I've made a bet that if the Reds win, wearbluefriday will replace the waratahs logo with a reds one for the rest of feb... I can't help but be a little scared now.

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