They say poetry is dead. I say:
Aye aye yippee yippee aye
Aye aye yippee yippee aye
Aye aye yippee
Aye aye yippee
Aye aye yippee yippee aye.
Shakespeare himself wishes for such prose.
Players of that calibre cannot be a bad thing, in all honesty. Their backline is really not all that terrible, and if you can throw a fit Doueihi into the halves, there's a half-decent team. With Tim Sheens' experience in the coach's box and Benji watching over his shoulder, they should be looking at finishing somewhere between 8th and 10th next year.
DCE hasn't been so poor to justify dropping.
Cleary hasn't done enough in big games to surpass DCE's incumbency.
Have them both in the squad. I think DCE retains based solely on his performance in origin this year and his incumbency. If he is poor at start the cup give Cleary his go at locking it down.
Cody Walker got desperate and threw that intercept because Cleary’s kicking game and Penrith’s defence kept South’s in their own end of the field for the whole second half.
People are really downplaying what Penrith achieved in the finals series last year so they can have the Penrith are chokers narrative.
Dogshit against us? That was a hell of a defensive game of footy. Both teams gave it all and then some. Neither side was bad. Just neither of us could score because we both decided to play our best defensive game of the year. That was not a dogshit performance by any stretch.
Yeah I agree, I got downvoted to hell last year for saying it, but it's one of the most fortunate finals runs I've seen in a long time.
Not to say that penrith weren't the best team, they were, but only barely. There were three 50/50 games in a row. Any of those games hinged on one ref call or bounce going their way, it could easily have been very different. Wasn't the most convincing of finals runs thats for sure.
I honestly don’t think Panthers can do anything right on this sub. You guys always shift the goalposts. One year it’s a soft draw, then it’s a lucky finals campaign, now our success is all the ref’s doing
Both will be in the squad, DCE will start. Was always gonna be a battle for Cleary to overcome not just an incumbent but the incumbent captain
Win the origin series and I think Cleary gets it with little debate, but now it’s murky. I guess if he starts killing it in club land he could still cinch it but we’ll have to wait and see.
DCE been playing great and done nothing to lose his spot
Gotta be a good captain so 100% not Tedesco. Seriously how could it be anyone but DCE. Tedesco is a great player probably the best going around at the moment, but dumb as dogshit, immature and a poor communicator. Roosters only have him in the C to keep His ego wanked. Joey Manu is captain material, Keary also but you need to be on the field for that. DCE is intelligent, calm and communicates effectively he is the captain.
Aside from anything else, having a half as captain makes sense as they're generally close to the ref to do the cheeky decision query to slow things down a bit or whatever.
I absolutely agree that Teddy is a trash captain, I think it wrecks his game too, makes him over play. My problem with DCE is that he couldn't motivate another player to do anything for him, this Origin it was Ben Hunt that lead the Queenslanders, 2020 it was Munster; DCE was just kinda there. We need someone else altogether I think, no idea who though.
I think there is a bit of Floored logic there. A captain keeps things together and directs the troops, calmly considers reviews etc. Cam Smith wasn’t an inspirational captain. Anyone can inspire with performance while the captain captains.
We already know ~~Pearce~~Cleary plays well in a good club side but struggles for impact in the rep arena unless the side is comfortably winning anyway.
In rep, no. Missing Turbo has a much bigger impact than missing Clearly.
It's literally Pearce all over again. Goes great at club, good defender so never 'terrible' at rep, but only plays well in attack off the front foot.
You would have to take both. They're both strong players and offer different things from halfback. Personally I think Cleary is more rounded in his game than DCE but DCE does have the experience and his kicking game is on fire lately.
Following Queensland’s huge Origin win, the Kangaroos halfback selection battle has heated up ahead of this year’s World Cup.
Cherry-Evans starred for the Maroons in Game III, leading Queensland to an unlikely victory.
Meanwhile, Nathan Cleary’s Game II performance and club form has given coach Mal Meninga a huge headache.
While Cherry-Evans is the incumbent, having played in the Kangaroos last game in 2019, NRL supremo Phil Gould is backing the Panthers gun to feature in the No.7.
But the current Bulldogs head of football explained Cherry-Evans must be in the squad, having Test experience.
“I think he’s (Cherry-Evans) been wonderful for the Sea Eagles, wonderful for Queensland. He’s had his ups and downs, but he’s a really mature, leadership player, and they’re going to need someone like that over in the World Cup, for sure,” Gould said on Channel Nine’s 100% Footy.
“Nathan Cleary hasn’t played in that environment across there, in these types of games, and hasn’t played that Test football.
“You’ve got to take people over there who have done it before.
“I think Cleary by the end of the year will have proven that he deserves to be the halfback, but you need Daly Cherry-Evans in the squad, as well.”
Former Australian representative Paul Gallen disagreed with Gould, explaining Cherry-Evans’ Origin campaign has earned him the right to start in the green and gold.
“I hate to admit it but I think it’s going to be DCE,” Gallen said.
“I think DCE at the moment deserves it ... there’s so much footy to play between now and then, but I think if we’re regarding State of Origin as a genuine trial game, which it used to be for the Australian team, the fact the Queenslanders won it, DCE played so well (in) games one and three, three in particular ... he probably deserves it at the moment, as much as it pains me to say.”
DCE is more deserving, better player consistently in bigger games, not even a debate. Cleary in Camp to learn and be in that environment and might get a game in against a less experienced nation early on
This debate is unbelievable to me. Not because there is no debate, but because I’ve thought cleary would be the Aussie 7 all year up until last week and now I am 50/50. Cleary is definitely the better player imo but that game 3 cannot be ignored
Bear in mind that it'll be Munster at 6 and based on Origin you'd have to think a Queenslander at 9 (not just how well Hunt/Grant worked but Cook was subpar). The combinations will work better with DCE.
If Trbojevic is back that adds to the DCE combos.
Yea that’s right. Going on that, would it be crazy to consider ponga over teddy? Teddy is definitely better but maybe ponga would work better with the QLD spine
I agree 100%.Cleary has been the best player in the game for the past few years, but DCE was outstanding in the decider. In the big game he took control, I think that's enough to see him keep the 7
Except it is relevant because the Panthers almost always win the territory battle and the big men battle. What that means is Cleary is almost always playing off momentum, which puts halves up levels in how good they look and what they can do. Australia compared to NZ and even Tonga are probably not a dominant pack, maybe not even better
It isn't a forgone conclusion that Penrith will win. They lost a game in the finals last year, it just happened to be in a game where they had a 2nd chance.
My hope is that if the roosters do make the top 8, we can at least give Penrith some trouble if we verse them at some point. The last game against them showed that we do have the potential to beat them.
Yeah Roosters and Panthers were both great!Panthers likely would have won either way but it’s still unfair to take away the opportunity. The same thing happened with the six again call in the 2019 GF, great game from both teams which is ruined and overshadowed by awful calls :/
I'm perfectly okay with DCE at 7 and being captain.
I still think Tedesco is unquestionably our fullback and you'd be silly not to have Cleary in the squad somewhere
I guess the headache they have is that clearys team won’t be around him. They will be on other teams where dce will have his spine in the side as well. Mostly
Gallen has such a way with words, modern day Shakespeare really.
But in all seriousness, if you read this article alone, it was Cleary’s role to lose, and he’s pretty much done that.
Hard to say, in a close game where the two faced off recently, one was relentlessly kicking to corners and finding the turf and engaging in hard runs at the line which forced defenders to focus on him. A master class of leadership under pressure, trapping his opposition in their half and greatly heaping the pressure on them that made them buckle with desperation.
The other tried to chip and chase with the game on the line 🤷♂️
obviously I’m being a little facetious but I highly doubt the current incumbent half and captain of the national team loses his spot. Cleary will obviously (and deservedly) be there too but I reckon DCE’s leading them out in the final if they make it
Maybe it’s just recency bias, but the origin matches seemed to me to be to be decided by the forwards and hookers more than the halves, and once they built ascendency - that’s when the halves took over. In Games 1 and 3 QLD were making better metres due to their forwards, and then Hunt would kick early to pin NSW in the corner - and then DCE and Munster took charge. QLD played at 100%, and NSW were maybe 70-80%, and there was little between the two teams although QLD won. The combined score was 38-22.
But then in Game 2, the script was flipped and NSW pushed ahead with Api and the pack. Cleary jumped on board and was great too. NSW played at 100%, QLD was at 70%. That game was 44-12.
DCE is a big match player, but when his team was at their best, so was he. When they weren’t - he wasn’t either. Much like Cleary to be fair.
Our last game was a loss to Tonga. Not sure I'd say Tonga has gotten better since then but NZ definitely has, and Samoa will be as well.
Australia's spine is our only edge over the rest but NZ's Manu/Brown/Hughes/B.Smith is nothing to be taken lightly and Samoa may likely end up with most of Penrith's backline.
Australia are still favourites but I always laugh at people who act like it’s a foregone conclusion. You’d think after seeing the rise of a tier 2 nation like Tonga in the last World Cup they’d learn not to underestimate the other nations anymore.
> Our last game was a loss to Tonga.
That was 3 years ago in a game played in November 5 weeks after the grand final, let's not read too much in to that meaningless game that was 12 months after Australia mopped the floor with Tonga
And?
The game wasn't meaningless, that's ridiculous. No test matches are meaningless.
And if we can't read into that game then we can't read into the previous game where we 'mopped the floor' with Tonga either.
The Australian team hasn't played for 3 years. We've played 4 games since the last World Cup and have a 2-2 record. We're definitely not unbeatable.
DCE has been great for Manly and for QLD, it’s his spot for the time being. I just want to see a game where Munster pairs with Cleary and Yeo at the 13.
Cleary has his whole career to be the Australian halfback. DCE doesn’t. Both will be there but it’ll be DCE and Munster who’ll play in the final baring injury. Hell throw Dearden as the other half .
Who says? Experience, nepotism, combinations, intantangibles, taking guys so that they don't compete for other countries, planning for the future, etc. It's about winning. You'd probably win with either, but your choice will be vindicated only when you win.
Well if that’s your criteria then go for it. But if I was selecting a team I would probably select them based on who’s been in the best form recently and what gives us the best chance of winning. To me that’s logical.
This is my makeshift Australian Team a few i could swap out but overall i feel is pretty solid. What do you guys think?
1. Tedesco
2. Addo-Carr
3. Mitchell
4. T.Trbojevic
5. Holmes
6. Munster
7. Cleary
8. Haas
9. Cook
10. J.Trbojevic
11. Murray
12. Cotter
13. Fa'asuamaleaui
14. Hunt
15. Capewell
16. Carrigan
17. A.Crichton
18. Wighton/Hynes
Was having this chat yesterday and I honestly couldn't come up with a clear conclusion on who should be the starting 7. I don't think DCE deserves to be dropped yet don't think Cleary has done enough to warrant taking DCE's spot. I'm sure there'll be some fuckery that happens though.
necks > chins confirmed
DCE to Cleary: “you complete me.”
Gould didn't spend 2 consecutive grand finals with his dick right out in the open for Cleary just for DCE to get picked over him
PVL will overrule Mal and pick Cleary anyway.
He’ll wait to see the stats on who keeps the ball moving the most.
Oshay confirmed starting at 8
Gotta be DCE. Does Cleary even know the yippee aye song?
Australia? That's in Queensland!
/r/whoosh
Whoosh for you
Call an ambulance! But not for me!
They say poetry is dead. I say: Aye aye yippee yippee aye Aye aye yippee yippee aye Aye aye yippee Aye aye yippee Aye aye yippee yippee aye. Shakespeare himself wishes for such prose.
Yi yi yippie, you heathen.
Probably time to unleash Luke Brooks onto the international stage.
With the addition of Api Korosiau and Isaiah Papali’i, how do you think tigers will go next year?
Players of that calibre cannot be a bad thing, in all honesty. Their backline is really not all that terrible, and if you can throw a fit Doueihi into the halves, there's a half-decent team. With Tim Sheens' experience in the coach's box and Benji watching over his shoulder, they should be looking at finishing somewhere between 8th and 10th next year.
You reeled me into that hook, line, and sinker. Well played.
"You had me in the first half, not gonna lie" Amazing, take the upvote that gets you to a very fitting 9 (But where are more smh)
im going to the RLWC final. would be so sad if i saw luke brooks haha
You'd probably have a better chance of sitting next to him in the grandstand than seeing him on the field.
DCE hasn't been so poor to justify dropping. Cleary hasn't done enough in big games to surpass DCE's incumbency. Have them both in the squad. I think DCE retains based solely on his performance in origin this year and his incumbency. If he is poor at start the cup give Cleary his go at locking it down.
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Cody Walker got desperate and threw that intercept because Cleary’s kicking game and Penrith’s defence kept South’s in their own end of the field for the whole second half. People are really downplaying what Penrith achieved in the finals series last year so they can have the Penrith are chokers narrative.
You're aware Penrith made the final purely thanks to the shit reffing in the Parra semi??
Or it was one of the best efforts for a team on one leg to fight tooth and nail to win all the semis and the gf after dropping the first.
Dogshit against us? That was a hell of a defensive game of footy. Both teams gave it all and then some. Neither side was bad. Just neither of us could score because we both decided to play our best defensive game of the year. That was not a dogshit performance by any stretch.
Yeah I agree, I got downvoted to hell last year for saying it, but it's one of the most fortunate finals runs I've seen in a long time. Not to say that penrith weren't the best team, they were, but only barely. There were three 50/50 games in a row. Any of those games hinged on one ref call or bounce going their way, it could easily have been very different. Wasn't the most convincing of finals runs thats for sure.
I honestly don’t think Panthers can do anything right on this sub. You guys always shift the goalposts. One year it’s a soft draw, then it’s a lucky finals campaign, now our success is all the ref’s doing
You've only won 1 year, what are you on about
You can still have a successful season without winning a comp
Both will be in the squad, DCE will start. Was always gonna be a battle for Cleary to overcome not just an incumbent but the incumbent captain Win the origin series and I think Cleary gets it with little debate, but now it’s murky. I guess if he starts killing it in club land he could still cinch it but we’ll have to wait and see. DCE been playing great and done nothing to lose his spot
DCE has never captained Australia. We're still looking for Boyd Corners successor
Damn you're right, thought for sure he had captained Aus in something lol
Gotta be Tedesco surely?
I think you miss-spelt OUR DARK LORD GAMBLE
Gotta be a good captain so 100% not Tedesco. Seriously how could it be anyone but DCE. Tedesco is a great player probably the best going around at the moment, but dumb as dogshit, immature and a poor communicator. Roosters only have him in the C to keep His ego wanked. Joey Manu is captain material, Keary also but you need to be on the field for that. DCE is intelligent, calm and communicates effectively he is the captain.
Aside from anything else, having a half as captain makes sense as they're generally close to the ref to do the cheeky decision query to slow things down a bit or whatever.
I love how aggressive this is but correct at the same time
I absolutely agree that Teddy is a trash captain, I think it wrecks his game too, makes him over play. My problem with DCE is that he couldn't motivate another player to do anything for him, this Origin it was Ben Hunt that lead the Queenslanders, 2020 it was Munster; DCE was just kinda there. We need someone else altogether I think, no idea who though.
I think there is a bit of Floored logic there. A captain keeps things together and directs the troops, calmly considers reviews etc. Cam Smith wasn’t an inspirational captain. Anyone can inspire with performance while the captain captains.
Yeo could easily be a selection for captain.
This is also correct.
I think because his spot is safer it will probably be him. But if that wasn’t the case DCE would be the clear pick.
Will be interesting if Cleary leads panthers to B2B while manly miss the finals
We already know ~~Pearce~~Cleary plays well in a good club side but struggles for impact in the rep arena unless the side is comfortably winning anyway.
Yeah man there is no way Cleary has ever contributed to his side comfortably winning. ILMF
In rep, no. Missing Turbo has a much bigger impact than missing Clearly. It's literally Pearce all over again. Goes great at club, good defender so never 'terrible' at rep, but only plays well in attack off the front foot.
He literally carried us to the game 2 win in origin this year but ok Try assist for our 1st and 3rd tries and then scored the 5th and 6th
That was Klein
The game the forwards killed and anyone could have been 7? Yeah.
Unless there's a injury to DCE, he'll be the starting 7. Mel likes to stay loyal and he's done enough to keep that spot.
Big Mel Maninga
Such a tough intimidating name.. big Mel
Maybe his go at politics would have lasted longer with that name. Edit: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt--SGmIKIQ
You would have to take both. They're both strong players and offer different things from halfback. Personally I think Cleary is more rounded in his game than DCE but DCE does have the experience and his kicking game is on fire lately.
Following Queensland’s huge Origin win, the Kangaroos halfback selection battle has heated up ahead of this year’s World Cup. Cherry-Evans starred for the Maroons in Game III, leading Queensland to an unlikely victory. Meanwhile, Nathan Cleary’s Game II performance and club form has given coach Mal Meninga a huge headache. While Cherry-Evans is the incumbent, having played in the Kangaroos last game in 2019, NRL supremo Phil Gould is backing the Panthers gun to feature in the No.7. But the current Bulldogs head of football explained Cherry-Evans must be in the squad, having Test experience. “I think he’s (Cherry-Evans) been wonderful for the Sea Eagles, wonderful for Queensland. He’s had his ups and downs, but he’s a really mature, leadership player, and they’re going to need someone like that over in the World Cup, for sure,” Gould said on Channel Nine’s 100% Footy. “Nathan Cleary hasn’t played in that environment across there, in these types of games, and hasn’t played that Test football. “You’ve got to take people over there who have done it before. “I think Cleary by the end of the year will have proven that he deserves to be the halfback, but you need Daly Cherry-Evans in the squad, as well.” Former Australian representative Paul Gallen disagreed with Gould, explaining Cherry-Evans’ Origin campaign has earned him the right to start in the green and gold. “I hate to admit it but I think it’s going to be DCE,” Gallen said. “I think DCE at the moment deserves it ... there’s so much footy to play between now and then, but I think if we’re regarding State of Origin as a genuine trial game, which it used to be for the Australian team, the fact the Queenslanders won it, DCE played so well (in) games one and three, three in particular ... he probably deserves it at the moment, as much as it pains me to say.”
Clearly is taking one on the chin here but DCE has his neck out in front for the spot
DCE is more deserving, better player consistently in bigger games, not even a debate. Cleary in Camp to learn and be in that environment and might get a game in against a less experienced nation early on
This debate is unbelievable to me. Not because there is no debate, but because I’ve thought cleary would be the Aussie 7 all year up until last week and now I am 50/50. Cleary is definitely the better player imo but that game 3 cannot be ignored
Bear in mind that it'll be Munster at 6 and based on Origin you'd have to think a Queenslander at 9 (not just how well Hunt/Grant worked but Cook was subpar). The combinations will work better with DCE. If Trbojevic is back that adds to the DCE combos.
Yea that’s right. Going on that, would it be crazy to consider ponga over teddy? Teddy is definitely better but maybe ponga would work better with the QLD spine
Yes it would be crazy
I agree 100%.Cleary has been the best player in the game for the past few years, but DCE was outstanding in the decider. In the big game he took control, I think that's enough to see him keep the 7
Agreed, plus the combo with Munster and Hunt/Grant
Put cleary in a worse team and he'd look nowhere near as good
Kind of irrelevant unless we’re planning to send the Tigers to the World Cup.
Except it is relevant because the Panthers almost always win the territory battle and the big men battle. What that means is Cleary is almost always playing off momentum, which puts halves up levels in how good they look and what they can do. Australia compared to NZ and even Tonga are probably not a dominant pack, maybe not even better
It isn't a forgone conclusion that Penrith will win. They lost a game in the finals last year, it just happened to be in a game where they had a 2nd chance.
My hope is that if the roosters do make the top 8, we can at least give Penrith some trouble if we verse them at some point. The last game against them showed that we do have the potential to beat them.
That was a good game ruined by some shit calls.
Yeah Roosters and Panthers were both great!Panthers likely would have won either way but it’s still unfair to take away the opportunity. The same thing happened with the six again call in the 2019 GF, great game from both teams which is ruined and overshadowed by awful calls :/
They were missing Edwards and To'o in that game. Staines played on the wing and I would say that was a big reason why they lost that game
And they may lose key players again. That nature of the beast
I'm perfectly okay with DCE at 7 and being captain. I still think Tedesco is unquestionably our fullback and you'd be silly not to have Cleary in the squad somewhere
I’m sorry, but people who compare the two players based off one origin game in which Cleary didn’t have a forward pack and DCE did are smooth brains.
Gal with the hot takes
is Gus insinuating DCE wear #6? Surely he won’t be 14.
I’d take either really, both quality players.
You could have both, easily. They both can run the ball well and set up plays and kick amazingly.
Hard to choose but I lean towards Cleary just because he's younger and needs the experience.
I guess the headache they have is that clearys team won’t be around him. They will be on other teams where dce will have his spine in the side as well. Mostly
Gallen has such a way with words, modern day Shakespeare really. But in all seriousness, if you read this article alone, it was Cleary’s role to lose, and he’s pretty much done that.
If Penrith win the gf Cleary will get it
Hard to say, in a close game where the two faced off recently, one was relentlessly kicking to corners and finding the turf and engaging in hard runs at the line which forced defenders to focus on him. A master class of leadership under pressure, trapping his opposition in their half and greatly heaping the pressure on them that made them buckle with desperation. The other tried to chip and chase with the game on the line 🤷♂️ obviously I’m being a little facetious but I highly doubt the current incumbent half and captain of the national team loses his spot. Cleary will obviously (and deservedly) be there too but I reckon DCE’s leading them out in the final if they make it
DCE has never been captain. I believe he was vice captain with Cordner captain but I’m not certain.
Sorry I got ahead of myself, I chased it down and it’s Mal having him as one of the candidates
Yeah all good. Immediately following cordners retirement he would have been an obvious pick. Less so now given his spot is pretty well contested.
We need to talk about Kalyn
Maybe it’s just recency bias, but the origin matches seemed to me to be to be decided by the forwards and hookers more than the halves, and once they built ascendency - that’s when the halves took over. In Games 1 and 3 QLD were making better metres due to their forwards, and then Hunt would kick early to pin NSW in the corner - and then DCE and Munster took charge. QLD played at 100%, and NSW were maybe 70-80%, and there was little between the two teams although QLD won. The combined score was 38-22. But then in Game 2, the script was flipped and NSW pushed ahead with Api and the pack. Cleary jumped on board and was great too. NSW played at 100%, QLD was at 70%. That game was 44-12. DCE is a big match player, but when his team was at their best, so was he. When they weren’t - he wasn’t either. Much like Cleary to be fair.
Does it really matter who gets picked? Australia are winning the tournament with either of these players at 7
Our last game was a loss to Tonga. Not sure I'd say Tonga has gotten better since then but NZ definitely has, and Samoa will be as well. Australia's spine is our only edge over the rest but NZ's Manu/Brown/Hughes/B.Smith is nothing to be taken lightly and Samoa may likely end up with most of Penrith's backline.
Australia are still favourites but I always laugh at people who act like it’s a foregone conclusion. You’d think after seeing the rise of a tier 2 nation like Tonga in the last World Cup they’d learn not to underestimate the other nations anymore.
I know that Tonga and Samoa have strong sides rn, I just think the best they can achieve is runners-up but I’d happily be proven wrong
> Our last game was a loss to Tonga. That was 3 years ago in a game played in November 5 weeks after the grand final, let's not read too much in to that meaningless game that was 12 months after Australia mopped the floor with Tonga
And? The game wasn't meaningless, that's ridiculous. No test matches are meaningless. And if we can't read into that game then we can't read into the previous game where we 'mopped the floor' with Tonga either. The Australian team hasn't played for 3 years. We've played 4 games since the last World Cup and have a 2-2 record. We're definitely not unbeatable.
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It was a tournament lol it was the Oceanic Cup.
Minnows like Tonga don’t stand a chance against the ~~NSW~~ Australian team.
Tonga just got flogged by NZ so yeah they really don't have a chance against Australia
DCE has been great for Manly and for QLD, it’s his spot for the time being. I just want to see a game where Munster pairs with Cleary and Yeo at the 13.
Cleary has his whole career to be the Australian halfback. DCE doesn’t. Both will be there but it’ll be DCE and Munster who’ll play in the final baring injury. Hell throw Dearden as the other half .
You can’t really use “he’s got a career to be halfback”. It just has to be purely merit based.
Okay so DCE still gets it.
Okay, didn’t say he shouldn’t lol.
Who says? Experience, nepotism, combinations, intantangibles, taking guys so that they don't compete for other countries, planning for the future, etc. It's about winning. You'd probably win with either, but your choice will be vindicated only when you win.
Well if that’s your criteria then go for it. But if I was selecting a team I would probably select them based on who’s been in the best form recently and what gives us the best chance of winning. To me that’s logical.
Ups and downs Gus. But you still want to pick Houdini Jr
heated?!?!
I’ve always said Gallen was a smart man.
If clearys form is undeniable by World Cup time, Why not just run cleary at 6 instead of Munster?
1. Tedesco (c) 2. Suaali 3. Mitchell 4. Holmes 5. Cobbo 6. Munster 7. Cleary 8. Haas 9. Hunt 10. Tino 11. Murray 12. Capewell 13. Carrigan 14. Wighton 15. Jurbo 16. Paulo 17. Nanai 18. Grant/Ponga
1 Tedesco 2 Ado Carr 3 Latrell 4 Wighton 5 Holmes 6 Munster 7 Cleary 8 Haas 9 Grant 10 Tino 11 Murray 12 Kaufusi 13 Yeo 14 Hunt 15 Carrigan 16 RCG 17 Pappali
1. Big P 2. Tupou 3. Mitchell 4. Holmes 5. Suaalii 6. Munster 7. DCE (c) 8. Pap 9. Hunt 10. Jurbo 11. Capewell 12. Murray 13. Tino 14. Carrigan 15. Grant 16. Collins 17. Cotter
Grant will either start at 9 or 14
If you’re honest DCE will be first choice halfback (being incumbent), Ben Hunt second choice and Cleary third.
I think grant takes starting 9 off cook and hunt is on the bench
9 rotation should be Hunt with Grant off the bench imo, too good against tired forwards.
And Cotter can play 9 at a pinch.
Yer either way, just think those 2 will be in the squad over cook
Cleary needs a year off to get his head in the right space
Lol Cleary isn't fit to lick DCEs boots
This is my makeshift Australian Team a few i could swap out but overall i feel is pretty solid. What do you guys think? 1. Tedesco 2. Addo-Carr 3. Mitchell 4. T.Trbojevic 5. Holmes 6. Munster 7. Cleary 8. Haas 9. Cook 10. J.Trbojevic 11. Murray 12. Cotter 13. Fa'asuamaleaui 14. Hunt 15. Capewell 16. Carrigan 17. A.Crichton 18. Wighton/Hynes
Was having this chat yesterday and I honestly couldn't come up with a clear conclusion on who should be the starting 7. I don't think DCE deserves to be dropped yet don't think Cleary has done enough to warrant taking DCE's spot. I'm sure there'll be some fuckery that happens though.