Aussie Pro Rugby
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I find it weird that Whetton hasn’t made more of an impact in NZ. Son of an AB and big, yet he’s struggled while every NZ team has played midget locks.
@Nepia agreed, hard to now if hes moved around because he doesn't want to commit to one team or because the teams he's played for haven't wanted to keep him around
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I find it weird that Whetton hasn’t made more of an impact in NZ. Son of an AB and big, yet he’s struggled while every NZ team has played midget locks.
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
I find it weird that Whetton hasn’t made more of an impact in NZ. Son of an AB and big, yet he’s struggled while every NZ team has played midget locks.
Struggled in terms of game time? He's mostly played good when selected
When he first went to the Brumbies it was early in his career and he wasn't the beast he is now. I remember he was still getting picked at blindside at times for Auckland.
It's a shame he signed with the Brumbies before being offered an NZ pro contract. His development might have been differentWhen he came back from the northern hemisphere he was huge. Since being back he has been one of Auckland's best in the last three campaigns.
The Highlanders have underplayed him. Yes they have good locks but they could've rotated better. For instance in 2019 he was named to start vs the Crusaders and the game was cancelled. He barely saw any time for the rest of the year. It was just a pre planned rest for the regular starters.
Last year injuries forced his selection and he performed wellI think he'll succeed in the Aussie competition. Those games do become an arm wrestle and don't flow that well.
The main criticism I have of him is he isn't that mobile. If the backs aren't setting the right targets or are putting in shitty kicks I have seen him gas a few times.
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@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
I find it weird that Whetton hasn’t made more of an impact in NZ. Son of an AB and big, yet he’s struggled while every NZ team has played midget locks.
Struggled in terms of game time? He's mostly played good when selected
When he first went to the Brumbies it was early in his career and he wasn't the beast he is now. I remember he was still getting picked at blindside at times for Auckland.
It's a shame he signed with the Brumbies before being offered an NZ pro contract. His development might have been differentWhen he came back from the northern hemisphere he was huge. Since being back he has been one of Auckland's best in the last three campaigns.
The Highlanders have underplayed him. Yes they have good locks but they could've rotated better. For instance in 2019 he was named to start vs the Crusaders and the game was cancelled. He barely saw any time for the rest of the year. It was just a pre planned rest for the regular starters.
Last year injuries forced his selection and he performed wellI think he'll succeed in the Aussie competition. Those games do become an arm wrestle and don't flow that well.
The main criticism I have of him is he isn't that mobile. If the backs aren't setting the right targets or are putting in shitty kicks I have seen him gas a few times.
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Over the past few weeks, two former Wallabies have left their European club to return home for personal and family reasons ... What's the chance they'll play in Super AU?
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@NTA The London Irish media release says he's returning to New Zealand, so maybe he'll play for Counties in the Mitre 10 Cup again? That's where his rugby career started.
@Stargazer said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA The London Irish media release says he's returning to New Zealand, so maybe he'll play for Counties in the Mitre 10 Cup again? That's where his rugby career started.
Wait. We didn’t revoke his citizenship when he left to join the Wallabies.
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton, I would like to vote for him so that we can deport these undesireables.
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@Stargazer said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA The London Irish media release says he's returning to New Zealand, so maybe he'll play for Counties in the Mitre 10 Cup again? That's where his rugby career started.
Wait. We didn’t revoke his citizenship when he left to join the Wallabies.
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton, I would like to vote for him so that we can deport these undesireables.
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@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton
Surely no such beast exists.
We created a Barnaby so surely we have the capacity for a Dutton!
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@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton
Surely no such beast exists.
We created a Barnaby so surely we have the capacity for a Dutton!
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton
Surely no such beast exists.
We created a Barnaby so surely we have the capacity for a Dutton!
No we didn't
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@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton
Surely no such beast exists.
We created a Barnaby so surely we have the capacity for a Dutton!
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton
Surely no such beast exists.
We created a Barnaby
Nature or nurture?
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Tahs have some issues too.
Coach Rob Penney confirmed Swinton is “no chance” of taking on the Reds, but he can consider himself a tad unlucky. Had the Waratahs not been forced to cancel their January 30 trial against the Brumbies, Swinton’s four match ban would have elapsed by round one. Meanwhile, Penney said Dempsey is recovering from appendix surgery and has been taking it easy at training recently but rest assured, there is fire in the belly less than two weeks out from the season. “He was looking like a bit of a caged lion towards the end of last week,” Penney said. The more complex case, however, is that of winger James Ramm, who had a breakthrough year in 2020. The 22-year-old was one of the Waratahs’ best in Super Rugby AU before earning a call-up to an extended Wallabies squad. Penney said Ramm came back from Wallabies camp “pretty sore and beaten up” and has been managing a groin injury. “It’s an ongoing issue for him to be fair,” Penney said. “He needs careful management.” -
Some really interesting comments by Rennie
Even Rennie was forced to face the possibility that his team might have been spooked by the scoreboard. “We’ve talked a lot about that,” he admitted. “I even look at that last Test against Argentina when we were down by seven, we get a red card but we fought our way back into that. Tough conditions but we kicked smart and we managed to come back and draw that and could have won it. “If we had applied ourselves better in Newcastle, we led by nine and we were playing a team that doesn’t want to play any rugby. We just need to put the ball in the corner and be patient. “But that is almost not in the Aussie psyche. We tried to counter-attack at times but we didn’t actually have to play all the footy. If you put it back in the corner, you are forcing them to chase the game.” So, inexperienced rugby from an inexperienced team. But, as Rennie said, he now knows a lot more about them, the good and the bad, the players he used and those he choose not to. It’s a random sample, but some of his thumbnail sketches make fascinating reading. Matt Toomua: “I thought Matt was excellent – in the game and a half he played for us.” Hunter Paisami: “I thought he was really impressive. For a young kid in his first season of Super Rugby, plays every Test and acquitted himself really well. He will take back a couple of offloads if he had the chance but he showed he has a good skill set and this season he will go back, he will be a lot more confident and hopefully he will talk a lot more.” Jordan Petaia: “He has played as many Tests as he has games of Super Rugby so there are areas of his game that he has got to put more time into … certainly around his catch-pass. He is very good at beating people on the outside but needs to keep growing other areas. Even when they have guys on the outside, he will try to do a goosie and get around them. “He is a hell of an athlete and a good kid and for some guys it is just time in the seat and he has barely played any footy.” Taniela Tupou: “He has the ability to be the best tighthead in the world. He is a unique athlete for a tighthead prop, runs as quick as a back, incredibly powerful. But he needs to be leaner. He needs to be back on his feet and back in the game more, to get back in the game quicker. But he has a great skill set, so we want him to carry more.” Matt Philip: ”He was one of our best carriers. We have a lot of guys who carried high, upright into contact and no footwork and are getting double-teamed every time, especially by the Argentinians. If you can create footwork and create one on ones, you can generate quicker ball and you will put them under pressure next phase. So I thought Matt was really good in that area. And he has excellent leg drive beyond contact. He is always going to put up his hand to carry but he was certainly far more effective than a lot of other guys who carried ball for us.” Harry Wilson: “A big man who carries hard, who defends really well, aggressive. But he has no footwork in contact. He made a lot of go-forward against the Kiwis but against Argentina who double-teamed him ... if you don’t use footwork he was really ineffective against them and it’s a good lesson for him. “We have been talking about instinctive footwork so that is part of the game he has to grow.” There were the players Rennie opted to pass over … Jack Dempsey: “He is a really good ball-carrier, good feet but I need to see more than that. I need to see a lot more defensively, around cleanouts and around workrate, the physicality.” Isi Naisarani: “It was a number of things. We asked him to make shift in the game, around his footwork in contact, more yards, around his accuracy – he lost a lot of ball in contact. Around his conditioning, to get more repeat efforts. He had a lot of errors in his game and he was carrying too much weight.” And then there was the captain Michael Hooper … “There is a fair bit made of Hoops’ captaincy. I guess if you compare it with the All Blacks captains, they win an unbelievable number of Tests. I didn’t know Hoops at all. I had coached against him and that has been good from my perspective. We put a lot of emphasis around leadership and he and I would spend a lot of time together and then he would help drive the rest of the group. He said it was the most support he had felt as captain so those guys did a really good job. From a playing perspective, he is an absolute warrior. His numbers are incredible, through the roof. And the thing is that he trains the same way. “He is just full-on, so as a role model for all our young players coming through he is outstanding. So he still has parts of his game, from a leadership perspective that he has to grow, but he is excited by it.” -
Some really interesting comments by Rennie
Even Rennie was forced to face the possibility that his team might have been spooked by the scoreboard. “We’ve talked a lot about that,” he admitted. “I even look at that last Test against Argentina when we were down by seven, we get a red card but we fought our way back into that. Tough conditions but we kicked smart and we managed to come back and draw that and could have won it. “If we had applied ourselves better in Newcastle, we led by nine and we were playing a team that doesn’t want to play any rugby. We just need to put the ball in the corner and be patient. “But that is almost not in the Aussie psyche. We tried to counter-attack at times but we didn’t actually have to play all the footy. If you put it back in the corner, you are forcing them to chase the game.” So, inexperienced rugby from an inexperienced team. But, as Rennie said, he now knows a lot more about them, the good and the bad, the players he used and those he choose not to. It’s a random sample, but some of his thumbnail sketches make fascinating reading. Matt Toomua: “I thought Matt was excellent – in the game and a half he played for us.” Hunter Paisami: “I thought he was really impressive. For a young kid in his first season of Super Rugby, plays every Test and acquitted himself really well. He will take back a couple of offloads if he had the chance but he showed he has a good skill set and this season he will go back, he will be a lot more confident and hopefully he will talk a lot more.” Jordan Petaia: “He has played as many Tests as he has games of Super Rugby so there are areas of his game that he has got to put more time into … certainly around his catch-pass. He is very good at beating people on the outside but needs to keep growing other areas. Even when they have guys on the outside, he will try to do a goosie and get around them. “He is a hell of an athlete and a good kid and for some guys it is just time in the seat and he has barely played any footy.” Taniela Tupou: “He has the ability to be the best tighthead in the world. He is a unique athlete for a tighthead prop, runs as quick as a back, incredibly powerful. But he needs to be leaner. He needs to be back on his feet and back in the game more, to get back in the game quicker. But he has a great skill set, so we want him to carry more.” Matt Philip: ”He was one of our best carriers. We have a lot of guys who carried high, upright into contact and no footwork and are getting double-teamed every time, especially by the Argentinians. If you can create footwork and create one on ones, you can generate quicker ball and you will put them under pressure next phase. So I thought Matt was really good in that area. And he has excellent leg drive beyond contact. He is always going to put up his hand to carry but he was certainly far more effective than a lot of other guys who carried ball for us.” Harry Wilson: “A big man who carries hard, who defends really well, aggressive. But he has no footwork in contact. He made a lot of go-forward against the Kiwis but against Argentina who double-teamed him ... if you don’t use footwork he was really ineffective against them and it’s a good lesson for him. “We have been talking about instinctive footwork so that is part of the game he has to grow.” There were the players Rennie opted to pass over … Jack Dempsey: “He is a really good ball-carrier, good feet but I need to see more than that. I need to see a lot more defensively, around cleanouts and around workrate, the physicality.” Isi Naisarani: “It was a number of things. We asked him to make shift in the game, around his footwork in contact, more yards, around his accuracy – he lost a lot of ball in contact. Around his conditioning, to get more repeat efforts. He had a lot of errors in his game and he was carrying too much weight.” And then there was the captain Michael Hooper … “There is a fair bit made of Hoops’ captaincy. I guess if you compare it with the All Blacks captains, they win an unbelievable number of Tests. I didn’t know Hoops at all. I had coached against him and that has been good from my perspective. We put a lot of emphasis around leadership and he and I would spend a lot of time together and then he would help drive the rest of the group. He said it was the most support he had felt as captain so those guys did a really good job. From a playing perspective, he is an absolute warrior. His numbers are incredible, through the roof. And the thing is that he trains the same way. “He is just full-on, so as a role model for all our young players coming through he is outstanding. So he still has parts of his game, from a leadership perspective that he has to grow, but he is excited by it.”@KiwiMurph that looks suspiciously like public, honest critiques of players. Surely that isn't allowed?
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@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton
Surely no such beast exists.
We created a Barnaby so surely we have the capacity for a Dutton!
No we didn't
@Hooroo said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton
Surely no such beast exists.
We created a Barnaby so surely we have the capacity for a Dutton!
No we didn't
By we, I meant the Hooroo whanau.
