27 May 2007

An open letter to John Connolly

| johnboy
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Dear John,

We know that as a fat old neanderthal Queenslander you despise the Brumbies and all their works and long for the happy days when Queensland v. NSW was all that mattered in the world of rugby.

But I humbly suggest that in future you play a scrum half at scrum half and thereby leave yourself free to have the world’s best inside centre play that position rather than whatever time serving hack takes your fancy.

It’s true that Matt Giteau is a better scrum half than I am, but the same could be said of at least a few hundred thousand Australians. Whereas in all the world Matty’s unsurpassed wider in the line and one Gregan G is a rather good half in anyone’s book.

That will be all.

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Greg Growden is a tool.

link

“Wallabies coach John Connolly opted, however, to retain the centre pairing of Adam Ashley-Cooper and Stirling Mortlock, and he continued to experiment with Matt Giteau at scrum half.”

Mutley
Like you. I have looked over several years at Greg Growden’s views of George Gregan. I have no idea what Gregan is, or has done, to deserve such loathing. Growden has lost any credibility on pretty much any subject because of his fixation.

The only reason Gits is playing at halfback is the influence the Sydney media has.

In particular, look at that muppet, Greg Growden, whose pure hatred of Gregan has driven him to call for his sacking for most of his career. A couple of years ago Greegs should have been dropped for a while but his recent form (last 2 seasons) has been pretty damn good.

Also, the front row for the Wallabies should be the Brumbies front row, as they at least managed to push a couple of opposition scrums around – including shunting the Crusaders if I recall correctly.

It doesn’t matter how good George plays, Sam Cordingly will be the half-back for the world cup. Cordingly followed Connolly all through Europe and only came back to Australia when Connolly got the Wallabies coaching job. I don’t know why (and it would be interesting to speculate)but Cordingly is Connolly’s golden haired boy who can do no wrong.

Agreed on all of what’s been said. The Git at 9? Joke! Sure, he was still good…but at what cost? He should be at 12, he’s the best in the world at 12, only a FOOL would play him elsewhere. Phil Waugh? Was he even on the field? He did exactly nothing for the entire game! Joke! Norton Knight? Joke. Dunning? Joke. The only bright moment for me was hearing the Sydney crowd cheer when they saw Gregan warming up to come on. The Sydney media may have it in for George, but at least the fans know what’s what.

The Brumbies would’ve thrashed these Taffys if we’d played them a couple of weeks ago.

How are Palu & Lyons rated as our 2 gest No. 8’s ?

Steve_Pedestrian2:00 pm 27 May 07

I also do believe that Connolly has it in for Brumbies players. The whole reason JP came here was because he was coaching Qld at the time. You can’t tell me that last night’s team was picked on form! Phil Waugh (what is he good for? Absolutely nothing!) played 2 and a bits games or so this season, so you can’t use that as an excuse. Vickermann missed all of Super 14 but played a few club games for Syd Uni-so what? Stephen Moore played for Qld and the less said about them the better and the backup to him was no better. And Fatt Dunning couldn’t even make the starting team for the Waratarts!

Play players in their correct positions and stop stuffing around! If you say you need to experiment then you have no idea what you’re doing so close to the World Cup. The whole point of these games is to get it right with the right players BEFORE getting to the world cup and not stuffing around over there and only just beating Japan and Canada in the pool games. Just because you know have the Wallabies coaching job next year, don’t ruin it for the fans who are expected to fork out hundreds for dud games. Just go back and be Foley’s puppet master in Qld where you belong!

sim_m_o – yes, but they rest key players – not rest some and put other out of position in their spot. Noone wants git’s at 9 – not even git’s. Only connolly with his 1950’s amateur style coaching does.

it could have been worse. Matt Dunning might have tried to win the game by kicking a field goal.

I used to think Connolly had been shafted when overlooked for the Wallabies job in the past. I am now fairly confident that he is a goose and that those who dismissed his charms were people of some discernment.

Where does one start? The 59 man train on squad that did not include a couple of players (Fairbanks, Hewat, Schifcofske) who have played at least well as the chosen 59 all year and who did pretty well against ordinary opposition when plucked from nowhere for the Aus A game? Or do you look at his idea of a test team – one of the best 12s on the planet playing ok at 9, a bloke at 12 who hasn’t had a lot of work there, the best 9 in Australia on the bench, a captain who has had minimal time on the field this year, a prop who couldn’t crack a start with the garbage that was the 2007 Waratahs and (until he withdrew) another Waratahs prop who has failed in every test other than looking right and who was replaced in the 22 by a bloke who just isn’t big enough. Oh, and the not very good hooker from the wooden spooners ahead of the Waratahs best player (who got to the bench) and the best in Oz over the last half-dozen super 14 games (who missed out altogether). Or do you look at the fact that their technical competence (catch and pass) was disgraceful and the plays unimaginative – how many times do you have to win a lineout and give the ball to Palu 10 metres from the end of the lineout before the opposition starts to work it out?

If you want a nightmare, think of last night’s Walabies against the All Blacks. It’s not too late to ditch Connolly. It really doesn’t matter if his replacement is David Nucifora (my preference), Laurie Fisher or the hed of the National Ballet. None of them could be worse.

The All Blacks don’t always do that, they are quite well known for resting marquee players at smaller matches and fielding a second string team.

I tell ya, it’s amazing how you can a bunch of good players can be so mis-coached and mismanaged. No wonder the NZ and South African unions are laughing at us. They tend to pick the best side from the players they have available… concept…

Greegs at half, Gits at inside centre, anyone but Norton Knight at 5/8, Hoiles at number 8, with Palu coming on as an impact player later.
The sad thing was I knew it would be a bumbling performance.
Can anyone tell me why players that knew how to catch and pass a few backs, always seem to become inept for the first few games of every season? It’s not like many don’t play together at club level.
They must undergo some special ‘untraining’ at camp Wobbly to look that bad.
And what about those yarpies?

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