Growden "Strikes" Again

[Burgs]

SMH's Greg Growden has an ability to annoy me at least once a week however his attitude in today's Monday Maul really pushes the parcel.
He seems to believe that his is the only voice in Australian Rugby that deserves listening to.
He has an absolute blatant biased against Gregan and has had nothing but criticism for him for most of his career. It would appear he has now stepped up the attack by broadening the scope to include anyone who doesn't support his warped viewpoint!

"Forget about what all of George Gregan's lickspittle mates in the print and broadcast media are gibbering on about, and do what Eddie Jones was going to do this year if he had hung around long enough - get rid of the skipper."

For mine, Gregan has been playing some of his best Rugby in several seasons and he is far enough in front of his next rival, Cordingley, to warrant selection on that alone, without adding the value of his experience and leadership.
I don't know what it is that Gregan has ever done to Growden and his ilk but if Growden had had his way Gregan would have only ever played about twenty Tests!
Find a new target Greg, you are getting tiresome and your bias is too transparent!

http://www.rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/ar...802755585.html

[Sagerian]

Word on the street is Gregan once ate one of Growden's pies. Growden has never forgiven him.

[frontrow]

Sounds like he has an axe to grind...I too believe Gregans return to form this year is obvious( even to a blind man), and replacing him now would be totally irresponsible and probably detrimental to the teams performance, and i don`t think knuckles gives two shi*s what Growden thinks anyway.

[Burgs]

Phew, I thought it was just me!

[Sagerian]

Gregan certainly had one of his better games on Saturday, he actually kept the defense guessing a little bit and is moving away from his traditional "3 step, pass" routine. Good to see, I think Cordingly is a great backup, but like Whitaker before him will have to be content with coming off the bench for now at least.

[Burgs]

I do think he is a very good Half however, the trouble for making a case for Cordingley is: he is only three years younger (30 v 33), he has played 114 less Tests and 87 less Super 12/14 matches and is still by and large a lightly built passing Half.
IMHO, what we need is a bench player who offers variety and is harder. A Scrumhalf rather than a Halfback if you like. For that role I would be fast tracking Sheehan then Valentine as (especially Sheehan) they offer more "mongrel" at the base of the Forwards.
I also tend towards looking at vital pairings when "doing my selections" (ie Lounge Room Selector ) and the absolute wealth of knowledge and understanding between Gregan and Larkham (who Growden even begrudgingly admits is our best #10) is undeniably an asset for the Wallabies.
In my world, if I were Knuckles, I would be looking for another S14 pairing to come on as a unit and the only obvious one at this point is Sheehan and Rogers.
Coaches and Selectors always refer to the value of an understanding between players that only comes from time playing together and that would be one of the reasons behind the current Brumbies stacked backline.
Unless I am selecting an "All Stars" type XV, you will normally notice in my TWF XV's that there will be pairings of #9 & 10 and #12 & 13 and often #1 & 3 as well. Less important but still desirable is a common source for #4 & 5 and at least two of the Back Row and Outside Backs as well.
Just my two bobs worth anyway....

[Sagerian]

Would have rathered Whitaker, real pity he left.

I have a feeling Rogers will move to 12 for the Tahs next year and Two-Dads will "officially" be the number 10. Sheehan's prob at the moment is he has too much mongrel and tends to think run first option, passing is an afterthought.

Valentine might well land the starting role, Holmes is an option too. One of the 3 are going to be left out in the cold.

What all this means is we might see a Valentine/Sam Norton-Knight combination emerge.

[.X.]

I have been very vocal about how I feel about Gregan at 9 for a very long time in the pages of these forums. I dont believe that Gregan is the right man for the job now. Nor was he the right man for the job 3 years ago at the last World Cup.

I agree that he is the best performing scrum half at the moment, because he has been the only scrum half to be given all of the oppertunities to do so.

When Gregan does finally retire we will struggle to find a suitable replacement, just like we struggled to find a front row combination that could scrimmage after the retirements following the 1999 RWC. Is this yet another Eddie Jones legacy?

The fact that there is not a suitable replacement for Gregan is a serious problem that needs to be fixed sooner rather then later. There is no denying George Gregans contribution to Australian Rugby and to the wider community. His send off should be large, and it should be now.

John Connolly as Australian Coach recognised the problems that we had in the scrum, and he has done something about it. He brought in some young fellas that could be developed prior to the RWC'07. He has to bite the bullet and do it again for the halves.

Bring in a couple of 20 something halves give them the chance, give them the experience that they need. If we lose a couple of tests in the process so be it, a little short term pain for long term gain, will ensure our standing at the top of world rugby for the next 5 years plus.

Just like the Australian Cricket Team struggled with the loss of Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh and Greg Chappell. We will struggle with the loss of Gregan. But if we dont do something about it now our struggle will be magnified.

[Sagerian]

I'd like to see Gregan and Larkham stay home for the EOYT.

Barnes, Two-Dads, Valentine and Cordingly (with Rogers as well) should go on the tour.

[The Lone Hydrangea]

Burgs to keep the blood pressure down stop reading the SMH and read The Australian. Wayne Smith rugby editor is the best writer in our fair land by a country kilometre.

[travelling_gerry]

I've been thinking for a couple of weeks along the same lines. Articles with Growden being overly critical of the establishment etc....terms such as describing the ARU as "Fort Fumble" and this incessant probe into Eddie Jones's demise are quite frankly getting boring....even Eddie is over it...

Get over it Growden.....