The end is near for Gregan

[skeepe]

Also he had to put these youth on the bench due too so many injuries. Do you think he would have done the same if there weren't so many injuries?

Hard to say. I'm not the coach and neither are you. He may have, he may not have. The point though is that he did.

 

[aussies1st]

Yes a good nucleus of players were missing hence the reason he should have blooded more youth. Dunning was given the first test as was Baxter. After that game surely Jones must have known these 2 aren't working.

As for those young players, they haven't got a start yet have they? If they were in the ABs they would have. These guys are promising but why didn't Jones use them. What did we have to lose? We lost all games bar 1 so we couldn't have done any worse.

 

[lockyno1]

Yes a good nucleus of players were missing hence the reason he should have blooded more youth. Dunning was given the first test as was Baxter. After that game surely Jones must have known these 2 aren't working.

As for those young players, they haven't got a start yet have they? If they were in the ABs they would have. These guys are promising but why didn't Jones use them. What did we have to lose? We lost all games bar 1 so we couldn't have done any worse.

BINGO! You hit the nail there!

 

[skeepe]

Which players failed to get a start, other than those that played for Australia A?

 

[aussies1st]

List up the Aus A team and I can tell you. But some of the guys in Aus A should have got a start.

 

[blackfriday]

from the aust a team, someone like brett sheahan has a lot of ticker and i believe he has a much better attitude to his rugby than henjak PLUS he has a pretty good kicking game too. skeepe, you are missing the point that being on the wallabies bench means usually a lonely five or ten minutes at the end of the match, which means that all those youngsters he's blooding are spending more times with their hands buried in their faces than on the field. hardly any opportunity, yet players like lloyd johannson can still manage to make an impact on the match, which means that he really is a special player.

 

[strong_latte]

Did you even watch the European tour? Greg Holmes and David Fitter. Before the tour I would have said seeing those two start is out of the blue.

Jones IS blooding youth. Look at this year alone:

Greg Holmes
Tatafu Polota-Nau
Matt Henjak
Drew Mitchell
Lloyd Johansson
Adam Ashley-Cooper
Mark Gerrard
Rocky Elsom
Scott Fava
Hugh McMeniman
Stephen Moore
Cameron Shephard
David Fitter (ok a little older)

Not to mention others who went on the tour, such as:

Which begs the question as to why he persists with Gregan starting each test despite the fact he offers absolutely NOTHING and isn't up to the standard of Whitaker, who reacts quicker, has a faster, longer and more accurate pass!

 

[Corbin]

seriously thats a load of bullsh*t, that article.

Gregan will saty im not fan of both Whits and gregan....Go Sheenan! (im a warringah boy)

 

[bayrep]

I remember reading an Article on the SMH web site saying that Aus rugby had a bright future after the Aus A side played a French Barbarian side and won rather well from all accounts. So why didnt Eddie jones pull some of these great young players into the test squad ? He has hung onto some dead wood to long.

 

[blackfriday]

thats a great question and it should be the question that gets eddie sacked, because he wont have an answer

 

[skeepe]

Polota-Nau, Fava, Johansson, Mitchell, Moore, Rogers etc all did play a part in the test series. 6 of the Australia A players went home after the match: Adam Ashley-Cooper (already a test player), Al Campbell (test player), Brett Sheehan, Nic Henderson (test player), David Croft (test player) and Lachlan McKay (test player).

The rest all stayed with the squad, and out of those only 3 didn't play a test match: Leroy Houston, Digby Ioane and Adam Wallace-Harrison.

 

[strong_latte]

I remember reading an Article on the SMH web site saying that Aus rugby had a bright future after the Aus A side played a French Barbarian side and won rather well from all accounts. So why didnt Eddie jones pull some of these great young players into the test squad ? He has hung onto some dead wood to long.

He's funny isn't he? He bloods alot of players by putting them on the bench and giving them 15 minutes or 10 minutes at the end of the match... not exactly a good way to expand our deapth IMO. Look what Henry did! For Wales and Ireland he used completely different starting XV's! Jones would never have done that, purely because it would have meant dropping his beloved has-been Gregan.

 

[bayrep]

man if that is the case I would be very worried if I was an Aus fan.

 

[CanadianSteve]

Henry can blood new players more than Jones, because NZ has such greater depth of talent than Aus.

 

[aussies1st]

Indeed they do but we had enough players to blood. Blood meaning playing in the STARTING 11 and not from the bench.

 

[skeepe]

Indeed they do but we had enough players to blood. Blood meaning playing in the STARTING 11 and not from the bench.

Dude I'm not sure if you know this but there are 15 players on a rugby team. Just trying to help.

And blood means to play in a test match. Where they started is irrelevant - they've playing in test matches.

 

[aussies1st]

For the whole of 5 minutes. Just ask Whits how he feels about being blooded. Hes being blooded for 5 years.

 

[skeepe]

For the whole of 5 minutes. Just ask Whits how he feels about being blooded. Hes being blooded for 5 years.

Do you understand what blooding a player means? Because it seems from what you're saying, you don't. I mean you don't even know how many players on the field in a normal rugby match.

 

[blackfriday]

i think aussies1st didnt mean it that way. he means that there is no point sending young players on for the last few minutes of a match and say that they had adequate test match experience or that they have been given a good chance to show what they can do. whits has faced this situation for the past five years, so much so that he doesn't shower after a match because he sees no point.