ARL: Kangaroos team discussion

[DIEHARD]

1 Karmichael Hunt
2 Brent Tate
3 Jamie Lyon
4 Justin Hodges
5 Matt King
6 Darren Lockyer (c)
7 Johnathan Thurston
8 Brent Kite
9 Cameron Smith
10 Petero Civoniceva
11 Willie Mason
12 Nathan Hindmarsh
13 Andrew Ryan

Interchange

14 Luke Bailey
15 Shaun Berrigan
16 Steve Simpson
17 Anthony Tupou

Coach: Ricky Stuart

[DIEHARD]

There is no way Hunt deserves that #1 jersey, especially over Bowen...

Happy to see Bailey in there as the Titans first representative player, as an Australian Kangaroo no less!

[Steelers]

My post from the 'Pick your Aussie side thread':

1 Karmichael Hunt (Brisbane Broncos) Shouldn't be there
2 Brent Tate (Brisbane Broncos) Shouldn't be there
3 Jamie Lyon (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles) Shouldn't be there
4 Justin Hodges (Brisbane Broncos)
5 Matt King (Melbourne Storm)
6 Darren Lockyer (captain, Brisbane Broncos)
7 Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys)
8 Brent Kite (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles)
9 Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm)
10 Petero Civoniceva (Brisbane Broncos)
11 Willie Mason (The Bulldogs)
12 Nathan Hindmarsh (Parramatta Eels)
13 Andrew Ryan (The Bulldogs)

Subs:
14 Luke Bailey (Gold Coast Titans)
15 Shaun Berrigan (Brisbane Broncos) Shouldn't be there
16 Steve Simpson (Newcastle Knights) Shouldn't be there
17 Anthony Tupou (Sydney Roosters) Shouldn't be there

Coach: Ricky Stuart Shouldn't be there



Seriously! How the hell do the Broncos manage to earn themselves 6 selections!?! Once again the selectors have ignored anything from this season and based their selections on tapes from the archives.

[Go_The_Doggies]

Umm.
Wheres Mark O'Meley. FFS he has been bloody awesome.

*waits for Kiwis to be named* .. its either tonight or tomorrow.

[DIEHARD]

Yea Mark should have been a dead cert.

[Go_The_Doggies]

IMO, thats not a first class team :| the bench could have been better.

We may have a chance but i'm not expecting my boys to win tbh.

[TITAN PETE]

This team was not picked on form because there is no way Tate should be picked for the Broncos never mind Australia he has been very average this season with Petro not far behind him.

If Bowen couldn't make the team on his current form he'll never make the green & gold, it must hurt when you are being kept out of the side by a KIWI & again where is Shrek he should have atleast been on the bench, Tupou must have been picked on form from 3 years ago.

[Queenslander]

I cannot understand why Bowen would not get picked ahead of Hunt or at least Berrigan as an interchange utility.

Loyalty is one thing, but as Wayne Bennett said on Friday night "The selectors are probably not watching the footy" after the Broncos performance against the Titans....

[DIEHARD]

They devalue the jersey every time they do this kind of thing.

The Kangaroos should be nearly entirely picked on form with the possible exception being the captain.

A representative team of the most competitive and tough competition of the toughest sport on earth.

They are throwing away the Kangaroos true marketability by doing this.

We have a chance to be something a lot more than the Wallabies or the Australian cricket team. A true representative Australian side...

[Darren Lockyer]

I like the look of the team apart from Brent Tate on the wing. He hasn't performed at all and some one else should be there.

[jake86]

I think the backline looks a bit slow tbh

I would have Bowen in for Hunt, Tahu and Grothe in for the wingers, and Cooper in for Lyon. This would allow Hodges to play at his preferred position of right centre

Bench/Halves and Forward pack looks fine imo. Maybe Price or Omeley in for Simpson

[Tamwelg]

Some good selections and some bad onces, based on current form, but the selestion has been made, let get behind them and kick the Kiwis .

[Steelers]

Source: www.foxsports.com.au

Broncos flops hold Test spots

AUSTRALIA coach Ricky Stuart isn't worried about the Brisbane Broncos' domination of the Kangaroos team to face New Zealand in the trans-Tasman Test despite the fact the out-of-form premiers have won only one game this season.

Six players chosen in the team to face the Kiwis at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on Friday night are Broncos, with selectors for the most part sticking with the players that did the job for them in last year's Tri-Nations series.

Apart from the injured Mark Gasnier (chest), Greg Inglis (knee) and Luke O'Donnell (hamstring), the only player from last year's final to genuinely miss out was Bulldogs prop Mark O'Meley.

Selectors have shown faith in a Brisbane side down on confidence and although Darren Lockyer, Petero Civoniceva, Justin Hodges and Karmichael Hunt were never in doubt, Brent Tate and Shaun Berrigan are lucky to retain their spots.

The Broncos' only win this season has come against the bottom-of-the-table Sydney Roosters, prompting coach Wayne Bennett to say after Friday night's loss to the Gold Coast Titans he would be surprised if Brisbane was heavily represented in the national team.

However, Stuart said he had a lot of faith in the players who won the Tri-Nations series final 16-12 in golden point to restore Australia's mantle as world champion.

"You look at Petero Civoniceva, Karmichael ... Justin Hodges is probably the best centre in the game at the moment, Brent Tate there ... they're good footballers and individually they're playing well," Stuart said.

"I personally don't think the Broncos' results have got anything to do with those individuals we've picked. Those individuals are going OK."

O'Meley appears to have paid a heavy price after missing last Saturday night's loss to Manly, with a one-match suspension for dropping knees on Titans captain Scott Prince the previous round.

However, his loss was the Gold Coast's gain after workaholic front rower Luke Bailey was included at O'Meley's expense, after missing last year's Tri-Nations series though injury.

Other players who could consider themselves a little unlucky are Newcastle hooker Danny Buderus and Sydney Roosters fullback Anthony Minichiello.

Buderus was the Australia hooker, until personal reasons made him give up his spot to Cameron Smith in the Tri-Nations series, while a serious back injury to Minichiello last year handed Hunt his opportunity.

There has also been a strong push for in-form North Queensland fullback Matt Bowen, although he was always going to struggle and did his cause no good yesterday when the Cowboys were demolished by the New Zealand Warriors.

"Matt Bowen is a great football player and I think (Manly's) Brett Stewart could be as disappointed," Stuart said.

"And you've also got to look at the person Karmichael Hunt replaced, through an unfortunate situation, in Anthony Minichiello.

"So when you have great football players like Matty Bowen, Mark O'Meley ... when you have those players missing out, you know you're picking an Australian team."

Stuart said he, and the selectors, hadn't forgotten the job Hunt had done for the Kangaroos when he made his debut against the Kiwis in the Anzac Test match last season.

Hunt's New Zealand heritage was called into question by the Kiwis before the game and he was on the end of several big hits, including one by Penrith back rower Frank Pritchard that ended his night.

"A couple of times, he had to bring the ball out of his own in-goal and he used his size and power," Stuart said.

"He got bashed around quite a lot and he kept coming back, until he physically got knocked out.

"That day showed me that boy has a lot of courage."

The loss of Gasnier, Inglis and O'Donnell through injury triggered selection and positional changes, with Newcastle's Steve Simpson winning a bench spot after injury kept him out last year.

Sea Eagles centre Jamie Lyon comes in to replace Gasnier, while Matt King gets a chance to make up for the pain of sitting out last year's Tri-Nations series final.

Sydney Roosters forward Anthony Tupou, selected on the bench, will play against the Raiders at Canberra Stadium tonight before joining the rest of the team in Brisbane tomorrow.

The only injury concern is Smith, who twisted his knee in Melbourne's win over St George-Illawarra on Saturday night.

[Steelers]

Ricky Stuart is an idiot. I have always believed that. Look at what he said:

"I personally don't think the Broncos' results have got anything to do with those individuals we've picked. Those individuals are going OK."

They are going OK? What about all the other players who are playing FANTASTICALLY!

[Robbie_Dee]

Ricky Stuart is an idiot. I have always believed that. Look at what he said:

"I personally don't think the Broncos' results have got anything to do with those individuals we've picked. Those individuals are going OK."

They are going OK? What about all the other players who are playing FANTASTICALLY!

exactly. I still can't get my head around some of those selections! It just doesn't make sense!