Mitchell's exile made him hungry

[waratahjesus]

the force profile isnt whats best for australian rugby though!

agree about the fullback situation though robyn, not alot of confidence there, wouldnt be surprised if there is a bit of a selection shocker to cover, is latham fit yet?

[GIGS20]

i would put cross ahead of tahu because tahu provides morebench options (ala matty rodgers)

OH.....MY......GOD! I was following along for a while thinking, we'll he's making an argument, I don't agree with him, but what he's saying is based upon reason and logic.....but you seriously can't believe that Mat Rogers was on the Wallabies bench because of his footballing ability? the guy was about fourth best in every position in the backline (as evidenced by the fact that they tried him at every position and replaced him at every position) Rogers was the archetypical utility back, ok at everything but not really good at anything, he was on the bench either because he had a contract saying he played for the wallabies or because the pressure that was applied by media/NSWRU board/a muti-million dollar price tag said he plays there.

Why do you reckon they pissed him off to league the first chance they got. (has he recaptured any of his earlier form since joining the titans?)

Sorry Tahu will make ten times the tugby playe Matt Rogers did....thank god, that means he'll actually get selected for the Wallabies......I just don't think he's cooked quite yet! he needs another year to get used to the flow of the game, he made the transition quicker than Ryan, but he's not finished transitioning. I wouldn't be sad to see Giteau 10 Tahu 12 Cross 13 in the future.

[waratahjesus]

i'm agreeing with you to much tonight!
i need to start an argument!

rodgers was a wallaby because of the utility factor absolutely!

my view on cross is just that he is an outside centre, when mortlock goes he should be the man to take over, i just dont like him at 12 or on the wing, Tahu has better ball playing skills close in and is a more thinking footballer, (no offense to cross though, he has impressed me out of sight this year, last year i hated him!)

Tahu is the man for the bench spot Cross is sitting in and in teh next year or so, i think cross may drop in and out of the team to accomadate him.

[GIGS20]

i'm agreeing with you to much tonight!
i need to start an argument!

rodgers was a wallaby because of the utility factor absolutely!

my view on cross is just that he is an outside centre, when mortlock goes he should be the man to take over, i just dont like him at 12 or on the wing, Tahu has better ball playing skills close in and is a more thinking footballer, (no offense to cross though, he has impressed me out of sight this year, last year i hated him!)

Tahu is the man for the bench spot Cross is sitting in and in the next year or so, i think cross may drop in and out of the team to accomadate him.

Bloody hell mate have you been taking reasonable pills or something!

Yes, Cross is a specialist 13 for sure I've seen him on the wing and he plays wing a bit like Spanner (the most underrated man in World Rugby) does. He's not quick he's solid, he defends strongly and runs hard straight lines with good angles. The good thing about Ryan is he knows his skill set and plays accordingly I only question your assertion that Tahu can play anywhere, it's quite apparent he's no Matt Giteau and even Matt really only has 12 inwards covered.I'd suggest Tahu doesn't read the game well (That might change with more time looking at it but right now he doesn't read the game) an that's going to be the factor which will affect him playing at 10 and 15. He's sure got plenty of toe, and his lateral movement is pretty awesome, but the best I can go with is he has the POTENTIAL to be an extremely versatile back, but right now I'd put Berrick above tahu as the solve-all benchrider.

Berrick has a proven ability to play 10, 12, 13, Shepherd Mitchell and Lote would handle the back three with possibly an AAC on the bench (versatility to cover all three of those spots) so the backline of the Future IMHO would probably look like this
9 Burgess
10 Giteau
11 Mitchell/Hynes
12 Tahu
13 Cross
14 Lote
15 Shepherd

20 Hmmmmm not a lot in the closet, Maybe a Turner?
21 Barnes
22 Ashley-Cooper/or a younger up and comer. Maybe a Nick Cummins if he develops, surely you could name a 'Tah who shows potential.

Barnes could play 10 or 12, AAC could play 11, 14 or 15, Giteau Could play 10 or 12, Shepherd would probably stay at fullback unless hurt, Mitchell could cover Fullback in a pinch.

In the absence of younger guys meeting their potential before this gets implemented that'd be my call!

[waratahjesus]

sorry, i meant to say not at pivot for tahu, he can play 12 out, i didnt mean right away, i did say in the coming years, he definately needs a full super 14 under his belt and will most probably get that at 12 next year which will do wonders for his reading of the game. he seems to be a very bright and intellegent footballer though, i wasnt thrilled about another league convert but he has unlimited potential if he stays fit!

i think the main problm int he wallabies backline is gits and berrick, i still strongly believe they need to swap! berrick is a 10 and gits is a 12, gits with more space and time one out will open up alot more space than berrick who tends to run straight most of the time!

[robyn <3]

Bloody hell mate have you been taking reasonable pills or something!

Yes, Cross is a specialist 13 for sure I've seen him on the wing and he plays wing a bit like Spanner (the most underrated man in World Rugby) does. He's not quick he's solid, he defends strongly and runs hard straight lines with good angles. The good thing about Ryan is he knows his skill set and plays accordingly I only question your assertion that Tahu can play anywhere, it's quite apparent he's no Matt Giteau and even Matt really only has 12 inwards covered.I'd suggest Tahu doesn't read the game well (That might change with more time looking at it but right now he doesn't read the game) an that's going to be the factor which will affect him playing at 10 and 15. He's sure got plenty of toe, and his lateral movement is pretty awesome, but the best I can go with is he has the POTENTIAL to be an extremely versatile back, but right now I'd put Berrick above tahu as the solve-all benchrider.

dare i mention the bokke here? when i read that description i thought francios steyn. incredible athlete, can play most positions but cannot read play. and he has just been dropped from the boks squad. just pointing it out...

Berrick has a proven ability to play 10, 12, 13, Shepherd Mitchell and Lote would handle the back three with possibly an AAC on the bench (versatility to cover all three of those spots) so the backline of the Future IMHO would probably look like this
9 Burgess
10 Giteau
11 Mitchell/Hynes
12 Tahu
13 Cross
14 Lote
15 Shepherd

20 Hmmmmm not a lot in the closet, Maybe a Turner?
21 Barnes
22 Ashley-Cooper/or a younger up and comer. Maybe a Nick Cummins if he develops, surely you could name a 'Tah who shows potential.

Barnes could play 10 or 12, AAC could play 11, 14 or 15, Giteau Could play 10 or 12, Shepherd would probably stay at fullback unless hurt, Mitchell could cover Fullback in a pinch.

In the absence of younger guys meeting their potential before this gets implemented that'd be my call!

would you put tahu in ahead of barnes? i havent seen much of tahu this year, but barnes has some great defensive skills and is pretty creative with the ball. id say barnes will put up a pretty good fight before anyone gets near 12.