Kurtley Beale needs a nanny

Mr T becomes a bodyguard
By Jon Geddes Mr T becomes a bodyguard | The Daily Telegraph

February 27, 2008 12:00am

MR T is set to take the role of Kurtley Beale's bodyguard during Saturday's Super 14 showdown with the Highlanders in Dunedin.

In a sometimes fiery training session at Victoria Barracks yesterday, coach Ewen McKenzie sprung a surprise by moving former NRL star Timanu Tahu into Beale's No.10 position when the side was defending in an opposed run against the Junior Waratahs.

The move is clearly designed to offer Beale protection and take some pressure from the outstanding 19-year-old talent after he has obviously been targeted by opposition players. Poor bastard..someone should tell them to stop, its not fair.

It could prove a masterstroke as Tahu stamped himself one of the most feared defenders in the NRL. Last season with Parramatta he absolutely monstered Melbourne's Israel Folu in the final.

With Tahu at No.10 Beale switched to fullback and onto the wing, before moving back to five-eighth in attack. On a couple of other occasions Lote Tuqiri also moved to five-eighth on a couple of occasions in defence.

But Beale will be named at five-eighth when an unchanged starting side is announced tomorrow. While he has played the first two Super 14 games on the wing as he adjusts to the different demands of rugby backline play, Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie has made it clear he wants to get him more involved in the action.

In a lively hit out prop Matt Dunning had a dust up with Junior Waratahs secondrower Adam Byrnes during the opposed session which almost ended with punches being thrown.

Byrnes then locked horns with Dan Vickerman before he was replaced and cooled his heels on the sideline. That is the kind of spirit the Waratahs need to show against a Highlanders side that hooker Adam Freier admits will be desperate.

"The added incentive for them is that they are a team that aren't getting much love and are sitting on the bottom of the comp and have lost two games,'' Freier said.

"They are the teams you don't want to play, they can easily turn it around by beating us. They will be desperate and we need to see those challenges throughout the year.''

The game is a milestone for Freier who plays his 73rd game for NSW, which sees him equal Phil Kearns record as the Waratahs' most capped hooker.

"Growing up as a Randwick hooker Phil Kearns was certainly an idol of mine so to equal his record is a real honour,'' Freier said.

McKenzie said there was no doubt the Highlanders have one of the biggest packs in the competition with props Clint Newland and Jamie Mackintosh both tipping the scales at 130kg.

"There is a bit of work for us,'' McKenzie said. "We have worked pretty hard to be an aggressive side and we want to be that.''

Freier said the team was determined to get back on track after a performance they weren't proud of going down to the Chiefs. "We need to have pride in what we put out onto the park,'' he said.

"We want to come back to the Sydney Football Stadium playing the Brumbies to a full house (on Friday week),'' Freier said.

Was going to offer to be his nanny until I actually read this article - best comment on the Tahs match last week was from Spiro via John Welborn in today's West

"The Western Force went out to win their away game and the Tahs did their best not to loose at home "

Beal is showing signs of having a bit more to offer than his one-trick chip 'n' chase from last season. The coach is probably right put a strong defender in that channel. We all love to knock Beale 'cause he's a bit of a turnstile in defense but let's not forget he's still only a kid who was thrust straight from school into S14.

So what are they telling us (the Tahs coaches)?
Has Beale been brought into S14 too soon, or is he just a poor defender?
if the former, thats a selection/management problem - no suprised for the Tahs.
If the later, how is "we'll get someone to do that for you" solving the problem? Has McKenzie heard of "basic skills training"?

Oh and I love that doughboy got rattled by the 'juniour Tahs' 2nd row. He's on target to get 'monstered' by the Highlanders front row.

They just sound like a team making excuses before anything happens.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hopep

If the later, how is "we'll get someone to do that for you" solving the problem? Has McKenzie heard of "basic skills training"?

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It's not solving the problem that Beale is a turnstile. But obviously he thinks it may shore-up the team's midfield defense. I imagine they are working at young Kurtley's defense technique too. We'll see whether it works or not on the weekend I suppose.

Shasta if it doesn't work THIS weekend, they may as well give up. Highlanders are the form team to take out the wooden spoon, and people are saying their most promise is in the front row....ergo, there won't be anything very threatening pushing at the 10 channel!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GIGS20

Shasta if it doesn't work THIS weekend, they may as well give up. Highlanders are the form team to take out the wooden spoon,

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Agree. I've tipped them in my comps. Matter of fact I've tipped ALL the away teams for the first time ever. That used to be unheard of.

Beale deal could spell disaster for Tahs
Mat Rogers His two cents..11:00 AEST Thu Feb 28 2008

Mat Rogers is a dual-international with a reputation for telling it straight. Now playing for the Gold Coast Titans, his WWOS column appears every Friday.

The Waratahs are cooking up their own recipe for disaster with the plan to shift Kurtley "Kid" Beale around in defence.

The last thing I would be doing is shuffling the back line around to hide him. I've been a part of a Waratah team where this happened, and it does absolutely nothing for your confidence or the team's structure.

Ask Benji Marshall what moving him in defence did for his confidence and his game.

There's no question Kurtley needs to work on his defence, but not because he's a bad defender. It's simply because he's going to get a lot of traffic coming his way this year.

In one way this is a compliment to the Tahs' No10 as well as maybe highlighting what the opposition think of as a weakness.

One of the prime reasons to target a guy with runners is to make him work so hard and tire him out so that he is far less effective in attack. All of a sudden those great steps and zippy runs lose their fizz after having to crash the opposition big men to the ground repeatedly.

The other reason of course may be that they believe that you're not up to the standard defensively and you are the weakest link.

I actually think Kurtley is a competent defender despite some of the comments flying around, but when you run numbers at him all game eventually something has got to give.

But I'm already sick of hearing about his age as some kind of excuse. All of this "He's a kid this", or "he's a kid that".

That's a poor excuse for anything now.

He's a fully fledged Super 14 player with a year under his belt, and as the old saying goes; If you’re good enough, you're old enough!

Even the great Trevor "The Axe" Gilmeister told me he missed tackles. It is going to happen. Nobody is perfect.

I've also heard reports that Phil Waugh and his back row buddies are 'having to protect Kurtley' and help him defensively, and that this is leaving weaknesses in other areas.

That's just a ridiculous suggestion.

How could this happen? The back row's job is to be on the ball like stink on a monkey. If the ball is being run at Kurtley Beale, then they should be there quicker than Matt Shirvington's shadow.

You do hear all sorts of talk about defence technique and defence position, and warranted these topics all have their place.

Personally I think defence is an attitude thing, plain and simple.

I'll never forget speaking to Les Davidson, a feared defender in my early years in league, and the words he spoke to me still ring clearly.

I asked him what he was thinking when defending. He put it very simply by saying I just want to hit them harder than they hit me.

I'll guarantee when Lote Tuqiri comes flying in off his wing or Phil Waugh has an opposite back rower coming round the back of a lineout and running straight at him these guys aren't thinking, 'now let’s get our left foot forward our shoulders in front of our hips, bend our backs and drive with the legs.'

No, they're thinking 'I'm going to smash this bloke!' They want to win the battle. They want to hurt their opposite number so they remember that next time he comes at them, they'll be right there waiting.

Like I said. It's an attitude thing.

I hope the Tahs take this as a public plea NOT to be shuffling players out of position in defence; Beale needs to be in the thick of the action exposed to the pressure of the role he can shine in.

And speaking of pressure, there's a big cloud hanging over the team that could seriously affect their performance, and that's the status of coach Ewen McKenzie.

I feel the public knowledge that he has to make the finals or he will be sacked is a massive threat to the organisation with quite possibly ruinous effects.

I know McKenzie has said they're not slitting their wrists, but the season is short and stability is what's required. I know Link well and think he's a great coach, but I do get concerned that with the threat of his job on the line that this pressure may unintentionally be passed down line.

It was a bad move by the administration to put demands on the coach before the season opener. Do they honestly think Ewen was coaching a side not to make the semis?

It just looks like a bit of grandstanding from the new administration who may not realise they could make their mark at the expense of the team's confidence.

Or maybe the new administration has a line on a new coach who has more tricks up his sleeve than whingeing about injuries and making excuses before the boys stink it up on Friday night!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GIGS20

Or maybe the new administration has a line on a new coach who has more tricks up his sleeve than whingeing about injuries and making excuses before the boys stink it up on Friday night!

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And claiming statistically they are always the better team...

That's about the most intelligent thing to come out of Mat Rogers' mouth!

Frontrow.........1 Fatty
2 Freir
3 Trestle

Thank christ he has played 73 games for the Tahs. He is a honest goer, but he deserves his prop mates. Thats whats wrong with our rugby. Hope all new props have a blinder.