less than 4 weeks to kick off

[BDAVEY]

not too long before the Foxtel receiver gets a hammering... like to have some correspondence from EWF as to the season etc... didnt even get an acknowledgement for paying $825 for two gold tickets!!!!........I hope the trial games will be good enough indicator for the coaches!! about time to name your run on team.... the coaches may need guidance!!!

[Rucking Good]

OKay - Draft list

1. Pek Cowan
2. Nathan Charles
3. Tim Fairbrother
4. Ben McCalman
5. Nathan Sharpe
6. Richard Brown
7. David Pocock
8. Matt Hodgson
9. Brett Sheehan
10. Willie Ripia
11. Nick Cummins
12. James O'Connor
13. Alfie Mafi
14. David Smith
15. Can Shepard

[travelling_gerry]

Inman??

[Rucking Good]

Inman??

Hmm - the centers are a quandary - its is only a draft and Mafi is a bit of a gamble

[Sandnsurf]

A few injury niggles leading up to the trial games.
Despite recent surgery Sharpie will make it for game 1...

1. Pek Cowan
2. Nathan Charles
3. Tim Fairbrother
4. Ben McCalman
5. Nathan Sharpe
6. Richard Brown
7. David Pocock
8. Matt Hodgson
9. Brett Sheehan
10. Willie Ripia
11. Gene Fairbanks
12. Alfie Mafi
13. Mitch Inman
14. Nick Cummins
15. James O'Connor

[Rucking Good]

Fairbanks over Smith - big call. Smith is a rocket and a brick with eyes.

[Sandnsurf]

Fairbanks over Smith - big call. Smith is a rocket and a brick with eyes.

...Fairbanks has two good ankles...

[Rucking Good]

...Fairbanks has two good ankles...

Fair call but it would be a pity not to see the Brick in Blue

[farva]

1. Pek Cowan
2. Nathan Charles
3. Tim Fairbrother
4. Tom Hocking
5. Nathan Sharpe
6. Matt Hodgson
7. David Pocock
8. Ben McCalman
9. Brett Sheehan
10. Willie Ripia
11. Nic Cummins
12. James OConnor
13. Mitch Inman
14. David Smith
15. Cameron Shepherd

16. Ben Whittaker
17. Kieren Longbum
18. Sam Wykes
19. Richard Brown
20. James Stannard
21. Gene Fairbanks / Rory Sidey
22. Alfi Mafi / Mark Bartholomeuz / Pat Dellit

A couple of points.
We need one of either Wykes or Hocking (preferably both) to really step up and make the second locking spot their own. This will quite possibly be Nathan Sharpes last season, and he has very big boots to fill.
McCalman needs to play 8. Having him at lock, with 3 short back rows will mean our lineout will be put under pressure. Opposition will know it will go to Sharpe and will cover him. We have young inexperienced hookers and we dont want them under extreme pressure.
Having McCalman at 8 means that I would have Brown on the bench. This is not a step back for Brown. We would bring him on for either McCalman or Hodgson with 30 to go. He is a workhorse and having him come on late will mean we will suddenly have a hell of a lot more ball. And with opposition back rows getting tired he could really make a difference.
Stannard and Sheehan are going to have a great battle for the starting 9 jersey. I hope they both lift to another level.
OConnor needs to start at 12. Mitch Inman has been having huge games in the Shute Shield and I expect him to continue that form. But he is a player that will straighten and run hard - a Mortlockesque player. OConnor will provide him with the gaps to hit. That is something that Mafi or Fairbanks (the other options) wont do. I can see these two as a long term Wallaby centre pairing and I think they compliment each other really well.
The outside backs will be based around who is in form. I dont really feel any stand out from the pack of Mafi, Shepherd, Cummins, Smith, Bart, Sidey, Fairbanks and Dellit. None of them are really going to set the world on fire.

[brokendown gunfighter]

shepherd and Smith could

[travelling_gerry]

I dont know why people say Brown in the line out is a problem.

Go back over the stats and see how many times he has won lineouts.

[GIGS20]

Agreed Gerry, that's why I wouldn't name a back row and sit on it for the whole season. As farva rightly says, hockings and wykes need to step it up, but even assuming that's the case, I'd still tailor the wallabies to suit the opposition. Sit hodgeo against the lineout technicians and sit brown against the hard, straight runners, sit mccalman against the agile teams, or anybody for whom the pilfer is likely to be important.

In the same way, I wouldn't be too settled in the back three, while there is no standout, there are some definite specialties. Smith, dellit and mafi are meant to be really quick. Fairbanks barty and shepherd are experienced campaigners, shep Barth and Fairbanks are pretty good under the high ball, shep and cummo are known to be solid hard runners and that's without even knowing anything much about Sidey and dellit.

[zimeric]

id have Inman at 12, Cummins at 13 and OConnor on the wing...
the double playmaker thing is not my Favorite style, id rather have two hard hitters as a centre pairing and Cummins is coming along nicely will be a waste not to have him in the line up..

[farva]

id have Inman at 12, Cummins at 13 and OConnor on the wing...
the double playmaker thing is not my Favorite style, id rather have two hard hitters as a centre pairing and Cummins is coming along nicely will be a waste not to have him in the line up..

Problem is though we need OConnor as close to the action as we can, and I dont think that he will be if out on the wing.
While I agree that the double playmaker doesnt always work out, remember that Ripia and OConnor are very different players.

I think OConnor needs to be either 12 or 15 to make the most of him. I said 12 just to allow Inman to run off of him. Cummins I would have on the wing, and then we could go with the speedster on one wing (Smith) and the crashball on the other (Cummins) a bit like we saw in teh Wallabies with Tuqiri and Roff / Mitchell.

[zimeric]

i get you.. i do
i just have a problem with such a small centre, we saw it in Giteau and you dispute it all you like but OConnor is made from the same mould, slightly different stepping style and runs straighter lines but essentially is a lightweight, sniper that get past someone if they were both in a phone booth.. All good qualities but times they are a changing and small inside centres are being exposed more often now in defence and have even less room to work their magic on attack due to the rush defence that is used by many teams..

have a watch of gits face when he got body slammed against France? last year.. from memory they did it twice in the space of 5 mins and that was him for the game... Someone like Inman or Spanner wouldnt have had that problem..
Fairbanks is another one thats just too light for my liking...

maybe the answer is to rotate the lights with the heavys based on the team we're playing...

so against say the Tah's & Reds we play big and against the Brumbies and Rebels we play small? id have to have a closer look at the other squads so this is just a hypothetical..