Barnes groomed as Giteau understudy

[mudskipper]

Someone got to be able to step in and Barnes is the best standby flyhalf in OZ now. I always look at him and Giteau splitting the role. A Left foot and Right foot kicker combo. If Gits in down Barnes steps in and vice versa. It keeps the Wallabies on the attack. Mortlock is a short term 12.

I think Drew Mitchell could be groomed to play flyhalf. He sees the game clearly as did Larkham...

[robyn <3]

Someone got to be able to step in and Barnes is the best standby flyhalf in OZ now. I always look at him and Giteau splitting the role. A Left foot and Right foot kicker combo. If Gits in down Barnes steps in and vice versa. It keeps the Wallabies on the attack. Mortlock is a short term 12.

I think Drew Mitchell could be groomed to play flyhalf. He sees the game clearly as did Larkham...

Drew?? at flyhalf? I don't see it happening. He doesn't kick to fantastically of his other (i forget which one he uses ) foot, he runs like lightning on the wing and we have excess young boys coming through like Cooper, JOC and dare I say it, Beale, who will be hunting down the flyhalf position. Change for change's sake isn't... necessary. Or have I missed something?

[mudskipper]

Drew could play fullback for another year then begin to be groomed for Flyhalf. His kicking has improve. He is reading the game well and is a quick thinker. The flyhalf is your navigator, given time he could steer a team around quite well...

Beale has had to much pressure put on him at the Tahs...he is still unproven at S14 level. Perhaps this season Beale will mature. Daniel Halanaghu had a very good Shute Shield Beale will have to compete for a starting spot at fly this year...

[robyn <3]

Drew could play fullback for another year then begin to be groomed for Flyhalf. His kicking has improve. He is reading the game well and is a quick thinker. The flyhalf is your navigator, given time he could steer a team around quite well...

Beale has had to much pressure put on him at the Tahs...he is still unproven at S14 level. Perhaps this season Beale will mature. Daniel Halanaghu had a very good Shute Shield Beale will have to compete for a starting spot at fly this year...

But... Drew can't play fullback. There is no way he would get fullback ahead of Cameron when he comes back, and we've seen that he doesn't even get fullback ahead of AAC, which is saying something! If Giteau signs with the Brumbies then we would shape JOC into our flyhalf, and Drew can continue his fabulous work on the wing.

[Burgs]

It would be a waist of coaching time to try and turn Drew into a Flyhalf, he just simply doesn't have the skill set for the position.
Even his most fantical supporter (Robyn) can see the time is better spent more qualified juniors than dabbling like that.

[waratahjesus]

Drew could play fullback for another year then begin to be groomed for Flyhalf. His kicking has improve. He is reading the game well and is a quick thinker. The flyhalf is your navigator, given time he could steer a team around quite well...

Beale has had to much pressure put on him at the Tahs...he is still unproven at S14 level. Perhaps this season Beale will mature. Daniel Halanaghu had a very good Shute Shield Beale will have to compete for a starting spot at fly this year...

drews problem would be his passing game at 5/8, seems like a pipe dream there, he is a winger, a good one and should be left there, do you not remember the gerrard experiment of last euro tour?

beale is proven at super 14! his defence is the only thing letting him down, but he ran the tahs last year, we fell apart when he went off the field, he is a general and is quite underrated in the work he does in organising those around him. According to reports he is working hard on his defence so hopefully he shows improvement, he ranks above quade anyway!

[robyn <3]

It would be a waist of coaching time to try and turn Drew into a Flyhalf, he just simply doesn't have the skill set for the position.
Even his most fantical supporter (Robyn) can see the time is better spent more qualified juniors than dabbling like that.

yes, believe it or not I do know that Drew would make a crap flyhalf. AND I can admit it But I can admit he is a bloody good winger

WJ- Beale cannot KICK! That is why he is unproven. If you can't kick, you're pretty screwed at flyhalf!

[waratahjesus]

robyn- he can kick, he has an awesome short kicking game, his long kicking game is alright, its only problem is he doesnt have great distance, thats why when norton-knight came back last year we started playing better.

if you need proof, watch the grand final from last year, he is pin point accurate.

[blueandblack]

Drew?? at flyhalf? I don't see it happening. He doesn't kick to fantastically of his other (i forget which one he uses ) foot, he runs like lightning on the wing and we have excess young boys coming through like Cooper, JOC and dare I say it, Beale, who will be hunting down the flyhalf position. Change for change's sake isn't... necesary. Or have I missed something?

Drew is a natural left foot kicker.

"necessary".

[mudskipper]

To be fare Australian coach John Connolly and attack coach Scott Johnson didn’t adequately prepare Mark Gerrard as a flyhalf...Gerrard had only stepped on a few occasions as fly for the Brumbies due to injuries. The Wallabies coaches were tested him during the Northern tour mid week against the Wales club Ospreys’ vs. Australia A...

The backline had trouble playing Connolly’s and Scott Johnsons new style...In the last minutes Gerrard through a long pass to Ashley Cooper however the ball was intercepted and a try resulted....game over

In the after match press conference Connolly blamed Gerrard. Both the new Australian coaches coldly stepped away leaving the loss at Gerard’s feet.. During the famous loss the Wallabies received 2 sin bins and suffered several injuries. First choice half Sheenan was injured and Connolly played a very young Valentine...This was not an example of the Coach supporting his team and was the beginning of Connolly downfall as a creditable Wallabies coach.

As a coach who was training up a new player in a unfamiliar position he didn't back him even if privately he thought otherwise...The game was lost on mistakes by many new kids not just Gerrard. That really killed Gerard’s confidence he was only 23...
The sides were level at 16-16 after 70 minutes before Shaun Connor's drop-goal and Richard Mustoe's try sealed a shock victory for the Welsh region.

Extract from rugby365:
Ospreys beat Wallabies in SwanseaWed, 01 Nov 2006 20:26

Shepherd's counterattack led to the first try of the match as he handed off Tal Selley, drew Stefan Terblanche and sent outside centre Adam Ashley-Cooper over for the try far out. Shepherd did well to convert. 10-3 to the Wallabies.

After a hectic attack by the Ospreys, scrumhalf Brett Sheehan left the field with a bloodied nose. He returned but was replaced at half-time. The Wallabies survived the attack and when Paul James was penalised again Shepherd goaled the penalty. 13-3. That did not last long as the black-shirts of Swansea piled into the golden Wallabies and won a penalty which Connor goaled. 13-6.

Two penalties and two Spice taps gave the Ospreys the try that levelled the scores. It was a night of lots of whistle. The first came as the Ospreys swung into action and there was a ruck on Jonny Vaughton which became a penalty for off-side. Spice tapped and went close. When lock James Horwill was yellow-cared at the tackle for killing the ball, Spice tapped and went again. Again there was a ruck and this time the forwards drove over for a try credited to Barry Williams. Connor converted from far out. 13-13.

The long injury time in the half had one of the liveliest parts of the match as play ebbed and flowed.

Early in the second half prop Guy Shepherdson became the second Wallaby sin-binned. This time it was for stamping and on the touch judge's report. Not long afterwards Filo Tiatia joined Shepherdson in the sin bin, for a tackle offence.

The Wallabies went ahead later when Shepherd goaled a penalty at a scrum, to a cacophony of booing. 16-13 to the Wallabies.

But then Connor goaled a penalty to level the scores and then the flyhalf dropped a goal to put the home side ahead with four minutes to play.

The Wallabies attacked to win, running out of deep defence, but Richard Mustoe intercepted at pass from Mark Gerrard and scored the try which made the match safe.

The experiment of playing Mark Gerrard in the unfamiliar position of flyhalf was not a success. He was in fact overshadowed by Shaun Connor of the Ospreys.

For Ospreys: 24
Tries: Williams, Mustoe
Con: Connor
Pens: Connor 3
Drop: Connor

[B]For Australia A: 16[/B]
Try: Ashley-Cooper
Con: Shepherd
Pens: Shepherd 3

Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Tal Selley, 11 Jonathan Vaughton, 10 Shaun Connor, 9 Jason Spice, 8 Filo Tiatia, 7 Richard Pugh, 6 Lee Beach, 5 Lyndon Bateman, 4 Mike Powell, 3 Andrew Millward, 2 Barry Williams, 1 Paul James (captain) .

Replacements:16 Huw Bennett, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Mike Collins, 19 Andrew Lloyd, 20 Martin Roberts, 21 Andrew Bishop, 22 Nikki Walker.

there are a lot of new names in this team
Australia A: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Scott Staniforth, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Gene Fairbanks, 11 Morgan Turinui, 10 Mark Gerrard, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 David Lyons, 7 George Smith (captain), 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill, 4 Al Campbell, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Nic Henderson.

Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Mat Rogers, 22 Clyde Rathbone.

Referee: Andrew Small (England)
Touch judges: Rob Debney, Peter Huckle (both England)

[James]

To be fare Australian coach John Connolly and attack coach Scott Johnson didn’t adequately prepare Mark Gerrard as a flyhalf...Gerrard had only stepped on a few occasions as fly for the Brumbies due to injuries. The Wallabies coaches were tested him during the Northern tour mid week against the Wales club Ospreys’ vs. Australia A...

The backline had trouble playing Connolly’s and Scott Johnsons new style...In the last minutes Gerrard through a long pass to Ashley Cooper however the ball was intercepted and a try resulted....game over

I don't think Mark Gerrard would handle an 80 minute game at fly-half. He seems to struggle with an 80 minute game at full back and if he can't do the 80 in a position like that don't put him there. He gets tired and sluggish and probably doesn't have that mental push to bring a team home. He is an incredibly talented player but his energy and fitness are a big weakness.

And I wouldn't blame Scott Johnson for the Wallabies 'style' in 2006/2007. You just can't have a conservative head coach and a radical, experimental assistant coach. He wasn't given that much of a chance.

[mudskipper]

You’re most likely right James… Scott Johnson wasn't given much of a chance but neither was Gerrard. I'm not stating he could have been one of the best but he was unfairly dealt with at the time and that killed his confidence…he went downhill from there.
Deans could have done the same with Burgess but instead he has stood by the kid and worked with him. Burgess didn’t even have a box kick but had the Wallabies 9 jersey so Deans went out and worked with him after each training season on his kicking. He should belief and Burgess responded. Remember Giteaus first test at Twickenham…ouch…Eddie Jones didn’t give up on Gits…

I remember going to the Sydney France match this year and during pre-match warm up there was Robbie Deans with Luke Burgess behind the goal line working on his snap passing. The head coach was focussed on one young player but that was he was needed. In doing that everyone in the stadium could see that Deans was backing Burgess whose abilities had been questioned in the papers that week. Know where you’re needed is a big part of being a successful manager in any business. I have a lot of respect for Robbie Deans he is a real coach. He is a true motivator of men…

The Wallabies are shaping well and the team are all playing out of their skins to get a start and impress Deans.

[robyn <3]

he ranks above quade anyway!

Is he injured or just wasn't chosen for the wallabies or is cooper better? (not taking the piss, genuinely do not know)

I'm sorry, I don't rate Beale and I don't think he is ready to run out it wallaby gold- yet. He will be good... but at the moment he is blah.

[Burgs]

...his long kicking game is alright, its only problem is he doesnt have great distance...

Was that a deliberate contradiction
By definition, if his long kicking game doesn't have great distance then surely he doesn't have a long kicking game???

[James]

Is he injured or just wasn't chosen for the wallabies or is cooper better? (not taking the piss, genuinely do not know)

I'm sorry, I don't rate Beale and I don't think he is ready to run out it wallaby gold- yet. He will be good... but at the moment he is blah.

Pretty sure he has been injured. With NZ teams like the Hurricanes chasing Quade Cooper (being eligible to play for NZ) I don't think it escaped anyone's notice that capping him would ensure we hold onto a quality player which is an issue we don't have with Beale. Saying that a lot of people rated Quade Cooper's perfomance at the JWC this year very highly indeed so he's getting a lot better since the error ridden performances of 2007.