Brown on the Bench for Tri Nation Decider

[KenyaQuin]

Was thinking along the same lines BLR..ACC to go in to 10 if necessary, Mitchell to full back. Can't really see Morts at 10 and most certainly not Cross. I'm sure Deans has this worked out, would be interested to see/read his response if questioned by reporters in the lead up to the game.

[NTT]

You could put Tahu at 10 if need be, oh wait ..... HE'S NOT THERE !!!

[WF2006]

Jeez, only one back on the bench!
Maybe Brownie for a run on the wing!

[Flamethrower]

Dunning at 10.

[shasta]

Dunning at 10.

Moses is posting from your account, Flame.

[Flamethrower]

Well I figured he's useless as a prop maybe he could try playing some other position.

[AndyS]

And he is a....sorry, is able to, dropkick.

[gotheforce]

I remember robbie answering that question in a coaching clinic whilst in perth.
If gits gets injured, then either AAC will go to 10. OR George Smith will go to 10!
He can kick, you know!

[lara93]

YAY for brownie!!

[robyn <3]

im a bit suprised really. im so glad brownie is there, well done! im so glad hes got his turn finally!!
the back situation is a worry, if a centre or gits gets injured there will be a major shuffle up with aac having to cover that positions, since he is the only bloke who can. i think the reason aac is out there is because he can cover so many positions, and even then that kind of player should be put on the bench to cover injury, not starting. i am SO SO SO SO angry drew isnt there ahead of aac. a consistenly rubbish player should not be starting every single game in such a vital role!! i am not pleased with this. robbie's kept this inconsistent back 3 the same and i have absolutely no idea why! drew really deserves a run. if aac and lote and hynes had all been 100% great more than once each, then i would be singing a different tune. but all three were BAD last game and someone needs a wakeup call.
crossy is the future in that position, go get em mate!! nonu should be worried bout our crossy

three loose forwards on the bench. hmm... robbie doesnt underestimate richie and co

[Flamethrower]

People, people!!!!!

Let's not panic.

Lote is playing and can cover every position on the field. (As well as some off field.)

[zimeric]

Actually Lote is not a bad choice for 10 in my opinion, he just shouldnt try any fancy tricks like Mat Rogers tried in his one disastrous foray at 10.

other option is AAC or Even Mitchell and then there are the looseys like Brownie and Smith that can backfill in the line at 12 or 13.


im not concerned ...too much!!

[prop003]

good to see browny in hopefully he gets a run probably for palu i would say sharpy also a good inclusion hopefully lineouts improve and centre pairing is very strong i agree with aac in ten if needed but gits is strong he will see out the game go the wallabies

[Jehna]

Why? What has he done wrong?

It isn't so much that Horwill has been playing horrendously but he's just a weaker link in the forwards. I'll admit he's the best optoin we have but he lacks the test experience which causes him to make silly and sometimes criticle errors.

[Jehna]

Mortlock cast as Giteau's shadow

By Wayne Smith
September 11, 2008

AUSTRALIA captain Stirling Mortlock has been unmasked as the man to shoulder the playmaking duties should five-eighth Matt Giteau be injured in Saturday's Tri-Nations decider against New Zealand.

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has been at pains to conceal the identity of his back-up five-eighth at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, teasingly deflecting media questions again this week.

"We have to have some intrigue," he said. He certainly has that.

There is not a single player in the Wallabies 22 who has logged any meaningful game time at No.10, this going into a match in which one of the greatest five-eighths in history, Dan Carter, will direct operations for the All Blacks.

Peter Hynes was being touted as a possibility on the strength of two pre-season runs for Queensland, but the most charitable thing that could be said of his performances is that, as a five-eighth, he makes a world-class winger.

After that, the speculation started to veer comically towards the outer limits - half-backs Sam Cordingley and Brett Sheehan, full-back Adam Ashley-Cooper and even flanker George Smith, who has, admittedly, always fancied his kicking game.

On Wednesday, assistant coach Jim Williams playfully dropped the hint that "even" Mortlock could play at five-eighth, but subsequent investigation suggests that he was parading the truth in the guise of a joke.

Certainly Mortlock at No.10 is no crazier a solution than anything else on offer. If anyone has the versatility to adapt to a demanding and totally new position in the din of a Bledisloe battle, it surely would be the Wallabies captain.

Mortlock played his first eight Tests as a winger before switching to inside centre, where he earned two more caps in 2000, before being consigned to the wilderness for the next 18 months.

When he returned, it was again as a winger before, in his 18th Test, he finally made his first appearance at outside centre, marking the man who ultimately would emerge as his only rival for the title of "world's best 13", Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll.

Mortlock was promptly banished to the wing for the next Test against England and one Test later found himself at full-back against Italy on the final match of the 2002 spring tour. Only in 2003 did he finally drop anchor at outside centre, straying only when circumstances demanded he pinch-hit at inside centre, which is where he finds himself this week.

Even that modest positional switch is not without its difficulties, All Blacks outside centre Conrad Smith said.

"A lot of inexperienced guys struggle with it and outsides don't realise how much of a difference there is (between inside and outside centre), but a guy like Stirling, he's someone who can do it," Smith said.

Certainly the Wallabies' plans hinge heavily on Giteau not just going the distance on Saturday night but replicating his most recent performance at Suncorp Stadium, against France on July 5, when he set up all four tries in Australia's 40-10 victory, personally contributing half of that total.

It was easily his most impressive display at five-eighth and should have reinforced to the Wallabies forwards just what he is capable of doing if they can supply him with front-foot ball.

Conversely, there was nothing even a player of Giteau's consummate ability could do with the rubbish served up to him at Johannesburg a fortnight ago, when the Wallabies reached their lowest ebb - statistically at least.

The consensus on both sides of the Tasman is there is only one explanation for the radical form swings all three Tri-Nations side have experienced this series: attitude.

"If you turn up with your attitude not quite on that edge, it's so easy to come second," All Blacks captain Richie McCaw said.

The Wallabies enter this Tri-Nations grand final with the most un-Australian stat imaginable. They have let in as many tries as they have scored this season: 21.

Even allowing for the fact that Deans has introduced a new defensive system, those are numbers to shame this team given that Australia have been the best defensive team in world rugby for a decade.

While it raises the obvious question of whether defence coach John Muggleton should have been let go, it raises far more disturbing queries about the Wallabies' mindset.

Certainly the Canterbury-based All Blacks, who know Deans far better than the Wallabies, are waiting in some trepidation for the Australian response

"He wouldn't have enjoyed that," Crusaders and All Blacks second-rower Brad Thorn said of the 53-8 loss to the Boks.

"I've heard people say they weren't committed, but the one thing I know about Robbie is that he wants to win every game. It would have been a huge wake-up call for them and they would have copped a lot of grief, so that makes them really, really dangerous."