Brumbies set for embarrassing season

No chance Kafer will coach since he did poorly with Saracens in the UK and is now President of the Players Association.

Melon is now the forwards coach so if the forwards are having a problem adapting to the new laws then it might be his problem.

But I do agree it could be a very ordinary season for the Brumbies this year but good luck to the guys taking over from the legends Gregan and Larkham.

Maybe our crowds expect too much and think we have a clone factory producing awesome players?

agreed, Fisher is my biggest worry. I was very concerned over the last couple of years to hear Laurie talk about how the Super 14 has become a defensive game so thats how we are going to play it.

Besides our past fantastic players, the reason we have been so dominant is because we were innovative and we made the rest of the teams follow us. I’m pretty sure we pioneered the extensive use of the short little tap off from the 22 restart and the tall kicking tee for half restarts. Maybe it was the quality of players that allowed us to be so creative?

Anyway, I don’t see any value in a coach who simply accepts that things are the way they are and doesn’t try to change things. Would love to see someone like Kafer, Robinson or even Melon take the reigns and get us back to where we were before – being on the offensive, not the defensive.

What worries me more than most things is the suggestion that Laurie Fisher hasn’t quite worked out the rule changes (or “law variations” as rugbyheads put it). It’s not as if there hasn’t been time or that there’s been no chance to see what happened in the lamented Australian Rugby Championship. No messing around getting the ball back into the 22 for kicks because it doesn’t pay off. Fewer full penalties and resets, therefore much greater continuous exertion and a higher value to endurance and mobility over strength. Success for teams that used the reduced value of field kicking in an intelligent way. Considerable advantage to teams with good lienouts that could pinch some opposition throws. Referees more likely to reach for a yellow card to deal with repeated infringements.

scoring 21 points in a trial against the hurricanes in NZ seems promising to me.

Don’t forget that we lost all three trials in 2004.

I always look forward to seasons with a few unknowns – just like it was with Jim Williams, Gerard, Bondy etc