Chinks in the Aussie Armour.

[ozbash]

I guess with all the Hunt hysteria we have forgotten theres going to be a fairly decent game of footy played on Friday night.

Being of fairly staunch kiwi extraction I thought i,d share with you the weak links in the roo side. theres only 3.

1- johns. he will be very lucky if he fronts up for the full 80. Too old, injury prone and i doubt if he can stand the pressure these days. Seen it in the NRL, when the chips are down, joey folds.

2- lockyer. Playing out of his natural position lockyer hasnt looked remotely comfortable at #6. Although he has played there now a couple of years, tomorrow night will see him outside johns on a rare occasion. correct me if i,m wrong but i think the lack of match time together will see no cohesion, zero understanding between them and i predict mistakes,,, lots of them while the kiwis apply the pressure.

3- buderus. has not got the temperament. i think he will be proved a liability, again. he has zero temper control and if we get the better off him he will lose the plot and be a penalty cow the kiwis will be only too pleased to milk.

not a weakness as such but i question gasniers inclusion. stuart claims a tight team but i,d say the resentment for gaz considering a code switch could show through..

Kiwi weaknesses ? dont think we,ve got any really.

 

[JJ]

ozbash, you get dumber by the day....

Johns is an injury worry for them, but Marshall and Williams aren't for us?

 

[Nook]

:lol: That has to be the worst attempt at a troll I have seen in a long time.

Are you nospam49 in disguise?

 

[Mr Saab]

Weaknesses in the kiwi team? There is one glaring one.... Who is going to kick for the Kiwis? Who is going to be the one when they are stuck on their own 30m line to kick it 45m down field to get them out of trouble?

 

[Scott]

Ozbash - are you seroius??

You have completely lost the plot and now have zero credibility on these forums. As a kiwi myself, I find you an embarrassment!

Get real you moron!

 

[Twizzle]

not to convincing Oz.............

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Are Toopi and Tupou going to be together on the same side of the field? If they are, the Roos could have a field day down that side.

 

[JJ]

Are Toopi and Tupou going to be together on the same side of the field? If they are, the Roos could have a field day down that side.

could even be worse, he could try and hide Marshall out there too, :lol:

 

[ozbash]

good grief.....

i,m serious here

 

[carlnz]

1- johns. he will be very lucky if he fronts up for the full 80. Too old, injury prone and i doubt if he can stand the pressure these days. Seen it in the NRL, when the chips are down, joey folds.

I agree look at when Webb ran around him last year. Didnt look to good against Souths last week.

2- lockyer. Playing out of his natural position lockyer hasnt looked remotely comfortable at #6. Although he has played there now a couple of years, tomorrow night will see him outside johns on a rare occasion. correct me if i,m wrong but i think the lack of match time together will see no cohesion, zero understanding between them and i predict mistakes,,, lots of them while the kiwis apply the pressure.

Look at the last two matches they played together they got hammered in one and just won the second match.

3- buderus. has not got the temperament. i think he will be proved a liability, again. he has zero temper control and if we get the better off him he will lose the plot and be a penalty cow the kiwis will be only too pleased to milk.

Interesting but i think it might be time they need to blood a new hooker whos faster.

Like said before the kiwis would be weaker down the Toopi side but in saying that he always plays his best for the kiwis - fingers crossed he has a good night.

Kicking game is going to be poor - hence why we won the Tri Nations as we had a good kicker in Johns.

 

[JJ]

great analyses guys :roll:

 

[Skram]

1- johns. he will be very lucky if he fronts up for the full 80. Too old, injury prone and i doubt if he can stand the pressure these days. Seen it in the NRL, when the chips are down, joey folds.

This can be the case, however, if Johns gets a a feel for the game and the Aussie gain some momentum, watch out, it could be bad. Although I trust Bluey has a gameplan aiming to stop exactly that, lets just hope it works.

2- lockyer. Playing out of his natural position lockyer hasnt looked remotely comfortable at #6. Although he has played there now a couple of years, tomorrow night will see him outside johns on a rare occasion. correct me if i,m wrong but i think the lack of match time together will see no cohesion, zero understanding between them and i predict mistakes,,, lots of them while the kiwis apply the pressure.

3- buderus. has not got the temperament. i think he will be proved a liability, again. he has zero temper control and if we get the better off him he will lose the plot and be a penalty cow the kiwis will be only too pleased to milk.

I think you're right here but the key is definitely pressure and most importantly, maintaining it.
If the Kiwis get the upper hand and slack off, then much like last year the Aussies will come back and come back strong. Last year the key was our finish, we were able to regain the momentum and finish on a strong note in both Tri-Nations games (including the loss) against the Aussies down here.
This time round it's not gonna be as easy, if we slack off again and the Aussies come back they won't forget what happened last year and they will put the clamps on and look to close down any opportunities that come our way.
Thankfully we have guys like SBW, Benji & Toopi who can take that type of situation and create something from nothing, but if they're not up to it and/or the Aussie defense is too tough then it will be curtains for the Kiwi's, so maintaining the pressure for the full 80 is key.

Kiwi weaknesses ? dont think we,ve got any really.

Fully disagree.

• Our starting halfback hasn't played in 3 weeks and is carrying one of the dodgiest shoulders ever.
• His replacement is average at best.
• No 'week in week out' recognised kicking option.
• An injured captain pushing for fitness at the last possible moment.
• Clinton Toopi
• Two rookies, one who has already showed that nerves can affect him, bigtime.
• History, we have never won an Anzac Test in Aussie.

However all these are avoidable: injuries will come down to luck/fate, we should just hop for the best; Leuluai and Toopi seem to step up for the Kiwi's and with Bluey at the helm I don't see that ceasing; with support from Webb, Marshall and Leuluai should make a good enough job of the kicking; Bluey proved last year with Vatuvei that he can get the best out of rookies, hopefully the same will be said for Tupou & as for the last one, well we saw last year that history means nothing
Go The Kiwis.

 

[bartman]

I actually feel the Kiwis will put one over on us. Having seen how good those guys were at the Tri-Nations games in England, they've got a spirit thing going for them that our side hasn't had for 20 years.

And I'm not sure Johns and Lockyer are going to be the strength that we'd like the to be in the halves either. Both brilliant players on their day, I just don't think May 5 2006 is their day.

Happy to be proved wrong of course!

 

[Nook]

I'm tipping an Aussie victory

The Kiwis will be as fired up for this one as ever - but passion alone is never enough. The smarts Bluey has provided will help but there are several key weaknesses they'll have to contend with.

The most glaring of these, obviously, is the absence of Stacey Jones. He led a rag-tag bunch of Kiwis to glory last year but without him and even with the brilliance of Marshall the Kiwis are looking very bare in the halves. Direction and kicking will be a problem - NZ will probably look to work up the middle of the ruck and rely on 2nd phase stuff, as well as broken field play, rather than on any sort of structured backline attack. The Aussies have it all.

Topou and Toopi will be liabilities.

Johns is capable of pulling the Kiwis apart, as long as his forwards can match the power of the NZers. But with Sonny Bill and Benji playing together and a bit of self belief the Kiwis are capable of just about anything.

The Aussies deserve favouritism but its going to be a great, fierce, passionate game. International RL is back!

 

[aqua_duck]

Interesting but i think it might be time they need to blood a new hooker whos faster.

Don't they show NRL in NZ?

 

[Skinner]

You blokes need to start showing the respect that MrBash deserves.

He is a very wily and astute judge of Rugby League and you ignore
his well thought out points at your peril...

 

[gunnamatta bay]

You blokes need to start showing the respect that MrBash deserves.

He is a very wily and astute judge of Rugby League and you ignore
his well thought out points at your peril...

He is out of control. He is a cold blooded dictator with a knack for whipping up hysteria among his gullible followers. I can just see him tonight laughing hysterically over the lifeless body of poor Karmichael.

 

[Twizzle]

You blokes need to start showing the respect that MrBash deserves.

He is a very wily and astute judge of Rugby League and you ignore
his well thought out points at your peril...

oh, so its Mr Bash now

are you sure you dont want us to call him Sir Bash

btw, Aussies by heaps

 

[douglasallen91]

Don't they show NRL in NZ?

yep, what ws it 8 mistackles against the storm, 10 vs the warriors. yeah hes in form.

 

[JJ]

yep, what ws it 8 mistackles against the storm, 10 vs the warriors. yeah hes in form.

lol, He goes well when they win

I guess he Toopi and Tupou can compare notes after the game :lol: