Brumbies Starting Lineup

[Burgs]

Time to get the armchair selectors caps on crew!
Here's my take on the Brumbies first pick squad for '06:

1. Bill Young
2. Jeremy Paul
3. Nic Henderson
4. Mark Chisholm
5. Alister Campbell
6. Radike Samo
7. George Smith
8. Daniel Heenan
9. George Gregan
10. Stephen Larkham
11. Mark Gerrard
12. Matt Giteau
13. Stirling Mortlock (c )
14. Clyde Rathbone
15. Adam Ashley-Cooper

16. Guy Shepherdson
17. David Palavi
18. Adam Wallace-Harrison
19. Jone Tawake
20. Luke Burgess
21. Gene Fairbanks
22. Ben Batger


For squad list go to www.brumbies.com.au/page.asp?pageID=73

[Burgs]

"Don't forget us!" neighed the Brumbies!
Actually just an excuse to get it back on the front page list!
Any thoughts re the Brumbies for '06?
They arguably have the most experienced 1st XV if they all stay fit, but also have some handy reserves.
They just may be the dark horse of the first S14..... pun intended.

[Sagerian]

Really hard to say, despite having an incredibly poor year they were suprisingly still in the finals hunt til the last week.

Injuries will tell the story. Fisher will (probably) do a good job coaching them, but I'm still expecting the Force to beat them in week 1.

[no.8]

Saggy

You are hoping the Force will knock off the Brumbies. We hope the Force will knock off the 'Tahs as well.
We'll only know when the final whilst is blown.

Interesting though you don't think they'll keep up the experiment with George at 8 and bring young Julian Salvi to the open?
Dike is a sensational lock but I think your right Al campbell, Daniel heenan and Adam Wallace-Harrison will bring extra height to their line out.
If they can't get that backline fit and sharp (Matt Giteau is touch and go!) they'll be slightly easier, but still difficult.
I think at full strength and a lack of a steady no.10 the 'Tahs will find it hard to knock over the Brumbies this year!

Can't wait for that eye for an eye clash..........

[Sagerian]

I don't share that dream of the force knocking off the tahs...

[Burgs]

Brumbies look to youth for opening trial

January 17, 2006 - 12:32pm

Story by: ACTRU

Lock Adam Wallace-Harrison returns for the Brumbies this weekend, after representing Australia A in Bordeaux in November
Brumbies Head Coach Laurie Fisher has named a youthful squad ahead of Saturday night's opening pre-season trial match against the Waratahs at WIN Stadium.
Most of the Brumbies senior playing contingent has been rested for the match, whileFisher has named eight players from the Brumbies Academy squad, as well as sevenSuper 14 rookies in the 32-man squad.
Just four of the Brumbies' fourteen capped Wallabies will play in the match, including prop Bill Young, Reds recruit Daniel Heenan, lock Alister Campbell and talented outsideback Adam Ashley-Cooper.
Recent Spring Tour representative Adam Wallace-Harrison will play his first match since the Australia 'A' clash in Paris, while seasoned campaigners Joel Wilson and Guy Shepherdson have also been included in the squad.
Fisher will use the trial to test a crop of the team's emerging talent.
The squad contains a strong local representation; including three Canberra Vikings representatives from last season in flanker James Stonham, lock Dan Guiness andwinger Ben Johnson, along with Western District back-rower Peter Kimlin and back John Williams.
They will be joined by Wagga Wagga junior Jason Lagaali, Goulburn product Luke Gray, NSW Country winger and Armidale junior Francis Fainifo and dual Australian Schools back Christian Lealiifano for their first opportunity in a genuine Super 14 trial match.
Bill Young and Joel Wilson will share captaincy duties, while Fisher has confirmed that all 32 squad members will see time on the field during the match.
For 46-test veteran Young, the match will provide a much-needed hit out, having not taken the field since the final match of the Tri-Nations series.
"I'm very keen to have a run. There are a lot of young guys in the squad so there's a good opportunity for those guys to show their wares and a good opportunity for blokes like myself to build some match-fitness having not played for six months or so," said Young.
Young has completed his first full pre-season of training in several years, gaining eight kilos of muscle since October.
"It was certainly my aim to gain a bit of size and conditioning but I'll see how I go (carrying the extra weight) in a game situation this weekend."
"I've trained well but you can do as much training as you like; there's nothing like getting some game time under your belt," he said.
Brumbies Head Coach Laurie Fisher is looking forward to seeing the progress of a number of his emerging talent.
"We'll be looking at players on an individual basis in terms of their performance to assess the progress they've made over the past two months of the pre-season," he said.
"We'll be mixing and matching the team and trying players in different positions. The result is really inconsequential to us and we're not expecting a tremendous team performance with the majority of the squad coming from the Academy."
"Our main concerns are on our set piece execution, defensive structure and general skill level."

Pre-season trial match

CA Brumbies v Waratahs
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Saturday 21 January 2006
Kick off: 5.00pm

CA Brumbies squad

Forwards: Bill Young, Guy Shepherdson, Nic Henderson, Salesi Ma'afu, John Ulugia, Saia Faingaa, David Palavi, James McCormack, Adam Wallace-Harrison, Alister Campbell, Richard Stanford, Dan Guiness, Daniel Heenan, Peter Kimlin, Ben White, James Stonham, Julian Salvi
Backs: Luke Burgess, Patrick Phibbs, Gene Fairbanks, Luke Gray, Joel Wilson, Tim Curran, Anthony Faingaa, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Peter Owens, Ben Batger, Ben Johnson, Jason Lagaali, John Williams, Francis Fainifo, Christian Lealiifano

[Burgs]

Great to see Christian Lealiifano getting a run, I have been aware of him through the Australian Schools and Junior Commonwealth teams with our own Will Brock.
I hope he does really well, might have been a good one for us to have recruited I think.
The rise of the Faingaa twins and Richard Stanford also continues and great to see some local club types getting a run too.
The new bigger stronger Bill Young will be interesting too, it may just get him through to '07!
Hopefully Sage may have the technology to record the match for us, or at least give us a match review?