ARL: Kangaroos team discussion

[hugebrianfan]

OMG! Why aint Buderus on that team! I know hes been suspended and all that but hes done great in the australian team! I had a feeling he wasnt going to get selected..bugger!

[Steelers]

OMG! Why aint Buderus on that team! I know hes been suspended and all that but hes done great in the australian team! I had a feeling he wasnt going to get selected..bugger!

There is no way on this earth that he deserved the number 9 over Cameron Smith.

[Future Star]

There is no way on this earth that he deserved the number 9 over Cameron Smith.

...Unless some die-hard Knights beats him with a base-ball bat

*looks at Michael Hagan*

[Steel Dragon]

While I agree with everyone here that I cannot understand the side chosen, I still think that team will smash the baby Kiwis, probably by 50 or 60.

1. Karmichael Hunt - should have been Bowen, but he'll still carve them up, especially in combination with Locky (unless the Kiwis get him like they did lat year).
2. Brent Tate - will probably feel embarassed to be picked after Friday night, which should hopefully fire him up for a big game.
3. Jamie Lyon - haven't seen any Manly games, but I doubt he will let us down. Still one of the best centres in the game.
4. Justin Hodges - the form centre of the competition. Will tear the Kiwis a new one out wide.
5. Matt King - has speed, strength, can tackle, is safe under the high ball. Will not let the team down.
6. Darren Lockyer - future immortal. Say no more.
7. Jonathan Thurston - the best halfback in the game currently. Will run the Kiwis in circles with his kicking game and brilliant spur of the moment creativity.
13. Andrew Ryan - not a lock, could be the weak link. But still, one of the hardest workers in the game.
12. Nathan Hindmarsh - THE hardest worker in the game. Will tackle himself dead yet again. Let's just hope he wasn't watching his brother too closely the other night though.
11. Willie Mason - good to see him in the second row. When he sets his mind to it, there is no more devestating forward runner in the game. As he showed last year, has all the skills too!
10. Petero Civoniceva - the best front rower in the game. Incredibly hard for opposition defences to shut him down. Even the Titans couldn't do it properly in a game they otherwise dominated. Will lay a good platform as always.
9. Cameron Smith - has absolutely everything you could ever want in a hooker - brilliant distributer, great dummy half runner, plenty of speed, fantastic kicking game, great defender, and can kick goals on the side.
8. Brent Kite - the form prop of the comp. Thoroughly deserves his spot.

14. Luke Bailey - has grown an extra leg since moving to the Titans, and he was good at the Dragons. Will run and tackle hard all night.
15. Shaun Berrigan - halfback come centre come hooker - hopefully has worked out his identity crisis. Very fast, and has shown since his move to hooker that he can kick and put players through holes very well.
16. Steve Simpson - another hard worker who won't let the team down when he comes on to give the other guys a rest.
17. Anthony Toupou - easily the most questionable selection. Certainly has the talent, but out of form in a badly under-performing side. Hopefully will lift in the presence of proven performers.

GO THE AUSSIES!!!

Jason

[shavenjas]

Brent Tate on the wing is a bit of a joke, he should not even be in the side or Karmichel Hunt at full back, how can tey ignore the form of Brett Stuart from Manly. If they are picking on form than the only Broncos in the side should be Lockyer and Hodges.

[Steelers]

Source: www.foxsports.com.au

Tallis blasts Test panel

FORMER Australia captain Gorden Tallis has questioned the loyalty shown towards incumbent Kangaroos after early season form was overlooked for Friday night's Anzac Test in Brisbane.

Test selectors stuck with the majority of the squad that won the Tri Nations final against New Zealand last October, including six players from the struggling Brisbane side.

The Broncos have won just a single game this season, prompting Tallis to question how in touch selectors are "with the modern game".

"There are at least three or four players in the Australian team named to meet the Kiwis this week that should be thanking their lucky stars," Tallis wrote in his column in Brisbane's Courier-Mail.

"If you have a look at it, this is not exactly a team picked on form."

Tallis said while Darren Lockyer, Petero Civoniceva and Justin Hodges were automatic selections, the remaining trio of Broncos - namely Brent Tate, Shaun Berrigan and Karmichael Hunt - might consider themselves lucky.

"So why did they make it? Well it comes down to that old chestnut called incumbency," Tallis wrote.

"In a lot of ways it's something I agree with. If a guy has served his country well in the past he deserves first opportunity to hold his place.

"When it is a one-off Test, held just five weeks into the season, the incumbents probably hold even greater sway. But it shouldn't guarantee a walk-up start.

"It is something that gets thrown around too easily and I think you need to have played at least six Test matches for Australia before you deserve to be considered an incumbent and reap the benefits that come with the title."

Tallis said last year's Tri Nations side was picked as a result of good form of their side through the year, and that Lockyer and Johnathan Thurston "magic" had helped Australia escape with victory.

"It raises questions about the whole selection process," Tallis said.

"Does the coach just get the team he wants? Or do the selectors pick the side and if they do what are the guidelines they follow?

"I know the coach is at the coalface every week and at least one of the selectors is still heavily involved in the game, but what about the rest, how often do they get to Townsville, or to Canberra, or Melbourne on a cold winter's night?"

Tallis said that he wondered if - likehimself - selectors were a little out of touch with current National Rugby League systems and game plans.

"Do these selectors still ring coaches to ask how a player is really going?" he asked.

"They can't have rung Wayne Bennett, because I saw him say after the Broncos' loss to the Gold Coast, if a heap of his players got picked, the selectors 'couldn't be watching the same games as me'.

"I'm not sure how this team was pulled together, and who knows it might still be good enough to beat the Kiwis on Friday night. But if I was a player like Matty Bowen or Greg Bird, players who have outstanding in the opening rounds of this competition, I'd be thinking "Geez what more can I do?"

"Good luck to the blokes who have been picked. I'm sure there'll wear the jumper with pride.

"But if they don't and the Kiwis manage to beat us, then no doubt some questions will be asked."

[Chaos]

Tallis asks the questions we all want to know but we do have selectors and I'm sure these guys are making choices...would you if you were a selector?

I just want to know what structure the selectors use to make their choices.

I know you can't purely go on current form. If that was the case, Lockyer wouldn't get picked and I know he deserves a spot.

You also can't just pick the same players year after year either...Tate and Ryan come under question here.

It's tricky to get the balance right and even more so this early in the year.

[Steel Dragon]

Steelers: did you lose a sig bet mate, or do you actually like Melbourne?

Jason

[Future Star]

Tallis asks the questions we all want to know but we do have selectors and I'm sure these guys are making choices...would you if you were a selector?

I just want to know what structure the selectors use to make their choices.

I know you can't purely go on current form. If that was the case, Lockyer wouldn't get picked and I know he deserves a spot.

You also can't just pick the same players year after year either...Tate and Ryan come under question here.

It's tricky to get the balance right and even more so this early in the year.

It wouldn't go purely on current form, atleast the Captain is a certainty.


And Another Thing, the excuse for Hunt being picked was because of his great combination with Lockyer. wtf.
Bowen has an even greater combination with Thurston, and hes been the best fullback so far.
Oh yeah, and where the hell is Steven Bell?

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

I think the three broncos that deserve their spot are lockyer and hodges, based on form, hasn't been the best at times, but is still good and will step up.

Petreo is the only broncos player that should be pleased with his current form and deserves his spot in the test side.

[Steve]

Pretty much agree with what's been said already. Even agree with Tallis, which is unusual for me!

Tate is a definite no no. I literally burst out laughing when I read that.
Surely there's other options for the wing.

Hunt doesn't even come close to being best fullback choice.
Bowen is going great guns, and as has been pointed out, has his combination with Thurston. Thurston, who is in much better form than Lockyer.
Stewart is carving it up, and there's probably a few other fullbacks who are doing a bit better too.

No denying Hodges and Petero, probably the only players actually performing at the Broncos.
How Toupou got in, I don't know. Laffranchi, Clinton and Price are three forwards who instantly come to mind as playing well and probably more deserving of a spot. There's probably plenty more.

In past years, it's been a case of even a third or fourth string Australian team could flog all comers, but the kiwis are fast catching up. I'd not be surprised to see Australia lose this one.

[DIEHARD]

Tallis for Australian selectors role!

[Steelers]

Steelers: did you lose a sig bet mate, or do you actually like Melbourne?

Jason

How can any Dragons fan support Melbourne after what happened in 1999?

I lost a sig bet :|

[shavenjas]

I can't belive this guy is not the Australian full back, followed close up by Matt Bowen, there is NO WAY Hunt has earned that jumper for this test match, IMO Stuart is one of the best players going around at the moment he is expolsive of the mark and a very exciting player to watch. if anyone has any idea how Hunt got the job please let me know.

[Cowboy Titan]

if anyone has any idea how Hunt got the job please let me know.

Incumbency - he played in an Australian team that just managed to scrape through the Tri Nations on the back of a bit of brilliance from a couple of players. That supposedly gives him the right to retain his spot regardless of form.

They say Bowen is a weak link in defence and under the bomb but I don't recall him dropping a bomb this year and he's pulled off at least one try saving tackle on a big forward per game so far.