Is Australia's dominance officially over?

[yakstorm]

As shown in the Nines and at Wollongong, Australia still have some exceptionally talented players who can score from almost nothing and burn any opposing team on their day. In some ways, the 'strikepower' of the Kangaroos at the moment is the best it has been for a while, the key difference now with the team is it doesn't play like a team, and they don't have a Plan B.

The Kiwis showed that last year, and Tonga this year, that if you turn up and play to a plan, you can beat this Kangaroos side. It's why England can beat Australia in next year's Ashes, because even if they stick with Bennett, the way they played in 17' and 18' will trouble this type of Australian team.

Meninga as coach will help limit the improvement of this Kangaroos team. He doesn't have them for enough games to mould them, and it's questionable whether he has the coaching finesse to do so.

 

[adamkungl]

I think Australia are in a lull after a golden era.

In the last 30 years we've had the likes of Meninga, Daley, Fittler, Langer, Johns, Lockyer, Thurston, Smith, Slater, Inglis go through the Roos - never a year where key positions weren't stacked with out and out superstars.

But after Smith and Thurston we have a bit of a transition in the key playmaking positions.
Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell, Tom and Jake Trbojevic, Ponga, David Fifita - all brilliant, but who's leading the team around in 6-7-9?
DCE and Munster - meh. Keary is good but has had a run of bad luck.
Cook is good but is no Smith.
Ben Hunt is in the test team and we just lost to a Lolohea led Tonga - tells you all you need to know.

Australia's halves lack the honed-to-perfection killer instinct that has dominated the international game for 3 decades.
Our backs and forwards are great but can and will be beaten.

Good time to be Shaun Johnson right now if he can get his form right and a stable halves partner - he could be the most important playmaker in international football for the next 3 years.

 

[Dave's mate]

I think Australia are in a lull after a golden era.

In the last 30 years we've had the likes of Meninga, Daley, Fittler, Langer, Johns, Lockyer, Thurston, Smith, Slater, Inglis go through the Roos - never a year where key positions weren't stacked with out and out superstars.

But after Smith and Thurston we have a bit of a transition in the key playmaking positions.
Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell, Tom and Jake Trbojevic, Ponga, David Fifita - all brilliant, but who's leading the team around in 6-7-9?
DCE and Munster - meh. Keary is good but has had a run of bad luck.
Cook is good but is no Smith.
Ben Hunt is in the test team and we just lost to a Lolohea led Tonga - tells you all you need to know.

Australia's halves lack the honed-to-perfection killer instinct that has dominated the international game for 3 decades.
Our backs and forwards are great but can and will be beaten.

Good time to be Shaun Johnson right now if he can get his form right and a stable halves partner - he could be the most important playmaker in international football for the next 3 years.

SJ is a fraud

 

[deluded pom?]

I think Australia are in a lull after a golden era.

In the last 30 years we've had the likes of Meninga, Daley, Fittler, Langer, Johns, Lockyer, Thurston, Smith, Slater, Inglis go through the Roos - never a year where key positions weren't stacked with out and out superstars.

But after Smith and Thurston we have a bit of a transition in the key playmaking positions.
Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell, Tom and Jake Trbojevic, Ponga, David Fifita - all brilliant, but who's leading the team around in 6-7-9?
DCE and Munster - meh. Keary is good but has had a run of bad luck.
Cook is good but is no Smith.
Ben Hunt is in the test team and we just lost to a Lolohea led Tonga - tells you all you need to know.

Australia's halves lack the honed-to-perfection killer instinct that has dominated the international game for 3 decades.
Our backs and forwards are great but can and will be beaten.

Good time to be Shaun Johnson right now if he can get his form right and a stable halves partner - he could be the most important playmaker in international football for the next 3 years.

I sometimes think Australians don’t appreciate just how good some of the players from the last forty years who have pulled on the green and gold actually are. Many of them are some of the best players to have ever played the game. The Poms and the Kiwis get players like that once in a while. Australia have been doing it for decades.

 

[Dakink]

I sometimes think Australians don’t appreciate just how good some of the players from the last forty years who have pulled on the green and gold actually are. Many of them are some of the best players to have ever played the game. The Poms and the Kiwis get players like that once in a while. Australia have been doing it for decades.

I agree with this so much. Since Sterlo, we have been blessed with a seeming never ending progression of stars. Admittedly the structures have been there to identify and develop their skills but we have been spoilt. A system that Tonga (and to a degree NZ) have taken advantage of. Australia coming back to the fold wouldn't hurt, in fact it would be great for the game. Having said that I still dont think it has ended just yet.

 

[Walter sobchak]

I agree with this so much. Since Sterlo, we have been blessed with a seeming never ending progression of stars. Admittedly the structures have been there to identify and develop their skills but we have been spoilt. A system that Tonga (and to a degree NZ) have taken advantage of. Australia coming back to the fold wouldn't hurt, in fact it would be great for the game. Having said that I still dont think it has ended just yet.

The NRL is the strongest competition in the RL world which has 15 Australian teams which I believe also runs 3 junior age group teams picking up youngsters from big cities like Sydney and Brisbane and other well populated areas like the Gold Coast, central coast, Newcastle and Illawarra etc where RL is strong and popular and in some cases the dominant code.

This will always allow Australia to be the strongest RL playing nation purely down to playing numbers as the likes of England, NZ and France etc can’t match this domestically.

 

[Perth Red]

Like the Incas and British empire Australias era is at an end. No one close to the quality of the last 30 years is coming through at the moment. I can see them playing less and less games so they dont get beat so often.

 

[Walter sobchak]

Like the Incas and British empire Australias era is at an end. No one close to the quality of the last 30 years is coming through at the moment. I can see them playing less and less games so they dont get beat so often.

That maybe so but the elephant in the room is that England and to a lesser degree NZ aren’t producing enough world class players to take advantage of this.

 

[adamkungl]

Like the Incas and British empire Australias era is at an end. No one close to the quality of the last 30 years is coming through at the moment. I can see them playing less and less games so they dont get beat so often.

Not quite.
We might have a halves weakness for a period but Tedesco, Ponga, Fifita in other positions could be as good as anyone to have ever played the game.

But the Roos best halves-hooker combinations are nothing special and I don't see who the next star is.
Munster-Keary-Cook? Good club players but none have the invincible vibe of previous generations, and I'm finding it difficult to predict who will step up beyond that.
Someone who watches more u20s than I might be able to pick the next playmaking superstar, but I'm not seeing it.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

If you picked a world XIII that are not retired from rep football right now it shows that the Kangaroos still have most of the best players accross the park.

1. Tedesco AUS-NSW
2. Ado-Carr AUS-NSW
3. Latrell AUS-NSW
4. Manu - NZL
5. Ferguson AUS-NSW
6. Keary AUS-NSW
7. Cherry-Evans AUS-QLD
8. J. Bromwich NZL
9. Cook AUS-NSW
10. Taukeiaho TON
11. Kikau FIJ
12. Bateman ENG
13. Taumalolo TON

14. A. Fifita TON
15. JWH NZL
16. Turbo Jake AUS-NSW
17. Ponga AUS-QLD

AUS 9 (NSW 7, QLD 2)
Rest of the World 8 (NZL, TONG 3, ENG 1, FIJ 1)

But, guys like RTS, Jennings on recent form, Maumalo, Harris and Hodgson wouldn't be too far behind and not too long ago the Kangaroo / Rest of the World would be no where close to 50/50.

 

[deluded pom?]

Why did you feel the need to put the Aussie's state after their name? That's a very NRLcentric selection tito. Was Bateman shit until he rocked up in Canberra?

 

[NRLMad]

The only difference is halves. If and when Tonga, Samoa, Fiji start producing halves they will beat Australia. If Australia tries to play a forward domination style they lose as the forwards playing for the islands are generally getting better and better.

NZ has basically halved into the other teams. Else stack all the best Tongans Samoans and NZ players back into NZ and they’ll beat Australia.

 

[NRLMad]

The only difference is halves. If and when Tonga, Samoa, Fiji start producing halves they will beat Australia. If Australia tries to play a forward domination style they lose as the forwards playing for the islands are generally getting better and better.

NZ has basically halved into the other teams. Else stack all the best Tongans Samoans and NZ players back into NZ and they’ll beat Australia.

Naturally, we know 50% of juniors are PIs so when Australia stops stealing players then they’ll be a hell of a lot weaker.

Holmes, Ponga, Papalii, Fifita, Kaufusi,
Others....

 

[adamkungl]

Naturally, we know 50% of juniors are PIs so when Australia stops stealing players then they’ll be a hell of a lot weaker.

Holmes, Ponga, Papalii, Fifita, Kaufusi,
Others....

Birthplaces
Holmes: Townsville
Ponga: WA
Papalii: Auckland (moved to QLD at 7)
Fifita: Brisbane
Kaufusi: Auckland (moved to QLD at 5)

This is an idea that needs to die
Tier 2 nations aren't automatically entitled to every player that has a bit of heritage.

Tonga and Samoa need to built legitimate pathways from the islands to professional football or they will be forever reliant on Australia and NZ
PNG and Fiji will reap long term benefits of theirs

 

[latingringo101]

Same thing has been asked numerous times for the last 20 or so years.

Australia will always be n.o 1 or close to it due to having the best 15 NRL clubs on its soil. Yeah they've had an off game against Tonga but those players will learn from it and come back stronger than before

 

[Perth Red]

This is why they are being pegged back by the rest. All the best forwards in the world are coming from other countries Hodgson on his NRL form was ahead of Cook in 2019. Maybe Haas and D Fifita may help the Aussies out in years to come.

8. J. Bromwich NZL
9. Hodgson - ENG
10. Taukeiaho TON
11. Kikau FIJ
12. Bateman ENG
13. Taumalolo TON

14. A. Fifita TON
15. JWH NZL
16. Turbo Jake AUS-NSW

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Why did you feel the need to put the Aussie's state after their name? That's a very NRLcentric selection tito. Was Bateman shit until he rocked up in Canberra?

It's a QLD thing mate (although I would love for there to be more QLD names on that list right now)

Re: Bateman, no he wasn't - not sure why you asked that though. You are talking to a guy that doesn't follow any NRL team and if the international game didn't exist I would struggle to follow the game at all.

 

[Walter sobchak]

It's a QLD thing mate (although I would love for there to be more QLD names on that list right now)

Re: Bateman, no he wasn't - not sure why you asked that though. You are talking to a guy that doesn't follow any NRL team and if the international game didn't exist I would struggle to follow the game at all.

This is exactly how i feel about the game today. I don’t really follow any team although I have a soft spot for St. Helens.

I’m more of a follower of and an expansionist supporter of new teams and nations be it the likes of Toronto or Ottawa and PNG etc.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

This is exactly how i feel about the game today. I don’t really follow any team although I have a soft spot for St. Helens.

I’m more of a follower of and an expansionist supporter of new teams and nations be it the likes of Toronto or Ottawa and PNG etc.

Nice! I love the game and I'll casually watch the NRL or SL. I'll definately watch SOO (it's a cultural thing) but nothing lights me up like international season and even though I'm Australian, I don't care much for the Kangaroos either way. I respect them and respect that it is good for the game as they are RL's All Blacks. I tend to find myself backing any team in an international match that will be the best story for the game as a whole.

 

[Walter sobchak]

Nice! I love the game and I'll casually watch the NRL or SL. I'll definately watch SOO (it's a cultural thing) but nothing lights me up like international season and even though I'm Australian, I don't care much for the Kangaroos either way. I respect them and respect that it is good for the game as they are RL's All Blacks. I tend to find myself backing any team in an international match that will be the best story for the game as a whole.

Yeah, I really wish that the French would get their act together internationally and at the dragons with giving young French talent a shot at 1st team rugby. I also wish that people in RL would get serious with PNG and heavily invest at the grassroots level of the game in that country as they have the potential to be huge imo.