the mindboggling disgrace that is the ARU/QRU

[Ken Gargett]

Well, the Roman Empire fell in a similar spectacular fashion, albeit it took two hundred years to do so, not 2! I can only think of Wayne Bennett's co-coaching stint with Don Furner in 1987 with the Canberra Raiders, that went well. I can't think of too many other examples where coaching by consensus has worked better than one person at the helm. I'd think it'll be unlikely that Nick Stiles and Matt O'Connor will be co-coaching the Reds come the start of the 2017 Super 18 season.

i'd reckon no chance.

word on stiles is excellent forwards coach but not head coach material. but he has been successful so they might give him a go. if they want any hope of resurrection then they need a top line coach. i thought the way jake white walked out on his contract over here last time was truly disgraceful but i'd be looking for someone like him.

and sue the crap out of him if he breaks the contract.

[Ken Gargett]

Jason Little! Now there was a man with a big reputation who totally failed to deliver when he came over to England. I remember the excitement when he came to Gloucester, then seemingly only topped up his pension fund.

It is good to see some club loyalty among players still as it is becoming far too rare as professionalism changes the game. A committee coaching team? Hopefully this will just be for the interim while they line up someone to take over. Although you would have hoped they would plan ahead before just sacking him.

don't even recall him doing that. must have been right at the end of the career. a lot of league players would go to england for the end of career pension. still do. harder now for rugby players as the standards have increased so much.

little was a truly great centre and he and horan peerless.

of course, that was back in the days when qld ruled the world and the wallabies expected to beat the all blacks.

[David88]

don't even recall him doing that. must have been right at the end of the career. a lot of league players would go to england for the end of career pension. still do. harder now for rugby players as the standards have increased so much.

little was a truly great centre and he and horan peerless.

of course, that was back in the days when qld ruled the world and the wallabies expected to beat the all blacks.

Little was phenomenal when I saw him playing for the Wallabies, but he did not bring that class over to England. I think he only managed 1 year of his contract before being released which is a shame.

It is good to see southern hemisphere players coming over to play, many are class acts despite money being the main reason they have gone over. Speaking of class acts, I see Kurtley Beale is looking like he is making a move over to England...

[Ken Gargett]

, I see Kurtley Beale is looking like he is making a move over to England...

seriously? it would be very cruel to tease a bloke over this if not happening.

[David88]

seriously? it would be very cruel to tease a bloke over this if not happening.

Yes I have heard that he will be moving to Wasps at the end of the Super Rugby season. I think he has enough caps to still be considered for Wallabies selection though so I doubt this will be the last you see of him.

[JohnS]

Yes I have heard that he will be moving to Wasps at the end of the Super Rugby season. I think he has enough caps to still be considered for Wallabies selection though so I doubt this will be the last you see of him.

The eligibilty to be considered for Wallaby selection changed last year. If you are an Overseas player, you need 60 Test caps and have held an Australian Rugby Union contract for 7 years.

Kurtley Beale has 60 Test caps and qualifies. Unfortunately, Quade Cooper needs 2 more Test caps to qualify. Both these players have had an ARU contract for 7 years.

[David88]

The eligibilty to be considered for Wallaby selection changed last year. If you are an Overseas player, you need 60 Test caps and have held an Australian Rugby Union contract for 7 years.

Kurtley Beale has 60 Test caps and qualifies. Unfortunately, Quade Cooper needs 2 more Test caps to qualify. Both these players have had an ARU contract for 7 years.

Quade Cooper has always impressed me and I would have him at Gloucester without a second thought, I can't believe he is 2 caps short for eligibility, seems very harsh. Is there much of a call in Australia for him to be included? I don't think Toulon are too happy with him at the moment, they were looking for a Jonny Wilkinson mk2, which he is not.

[Ken Gargett]

breaks your heart!

From an article on the Roar website.

Possible Reds XV
1. James Slipper
2. James Hanson/Stephen Moore
3. Greg Holmes
4. Rory Arnold/James Horwill
5. Rob Simmons
6. Scott Higginbotham
7. David Pocock
8. Ah Wong/Enever/McMenimin
9. Nick Frisby/Will Genia
10. Quade Cooper
11. Nemani Nadolo
12. Samu Kerevi/Matt Toomua
13. Tevita Kuridrani. Or Special K
14. James O’Connor/Joe Tomane/Shipperley
15. Israel Folau

[JohnS]

Yes I have heard that he will be moving to Wasps at the end of the Super Rugby season. I think he has enough caps to still be considered for Wallabies selection though so I doubt this will be the last you see of him.

Well done, you called it!

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/waratahs-kurtley-beale-set-for-london-wasps-move-20160308-gne1yf.html

[David88]

Well done, you called it!

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/waratahs-kurtley-beale-set-for-london-wasps-move-20160308-gne1yf.html

It will be good to see him in the English premiership, I just hope that he wants to play rather than simply cash-in. The amount of money coming into the English game is worrying, some clubs seem desperate to simply buy big names from overseas than develop their own.

breaks your heart!

From an article on the Roar website.

Possible Reds XV

1. James Slipper

2. James Hanson/Stephen Moore

3. Greg Holmes

4. Rory Arnold/James Horwill

5. Rob Simmons

6. Scott Higginbotham

7. David Pocock

8. Ah Wong/Enever/McMenimin

9. Nick Frisby/Will Genia

10. Quade Cooper

11. Nemani Nadolo

12. Samu Kerevi/Matt Toomua

13. Tevita Kuridrani. Or Special K

14. James O’Connor/Joe Tomane/Shipperley

15. Israel Folau

That side looks incredibly good. What could have been...

[Ken Gargett]

It will be good to see him in the English premiership, I just hope that he wants to play rather than simply cash-in. The amount of money coming into the English game is worrying, some clubs seem desperate to simply buy big names from overseas than develop their own.

That side looks incredibly good. What could have been...

forgot sean mcmahon. move him to 6 and higgers to 8.

and in breaking great news, carmichael has also announced his resignation from the reds. though he won't go till the end of the year. reminds me of when that rotten fish smell gets into your woodwork and only time can get rid of it.

[JohnS]

So Ken, did you catch the Reds recent effort against the Rebels? I'm guessing you did. If so, what were they thinking in playing 12 phases with 2 minutes to go, then passing the ball to Jake McIntyre to go for the drop goal, who despite kicking 5-for-5 for night, decided to offload it to the wing, where the winger wasn't waiting for it and so dropped it and allowed the Rebels to win the game? A two-point loss like that hurts, surely things must get better.

[Ken Gargett]

So Ken, did you catch the Reds recent effort against the Rebels? I'm guessing you did. If so, what were they thinking in playing 12 phases with 2 minutes to go, then passing the ball to Jake McIntyre to go for the drop goal, who despite kicking 5-for-5 for night, decided to offload it to the wing, where the winger wasn't waiting for it and so dropped it and allowed the Rebels to win the game? A two-point loss like that hurts, surely things must get better.

no, john. as i said, this would be the first reds game i have deliberately not watched (as opposed to couldn't) in my life and i stuck to it. so disgusted all round.

i did read some reports and i saw a quick clip of the reds first try. long range effort but what was so obvious was that anthony faingaa, our centre, could not catch up to our blindside flanker when he made a break and then when it went to frisby, he dropped further behind. slowest centre in the game. slowest since nathan grey. what are they thinking? and the same player was off with a yellow card in the crucial final minutes.

plus most of the damage done by the rebels was all from former qld players.

i was quite happy watching the broncos.

[JohnS]

Yes, it's galling to know there's former QLD players in other Australian Super 18 teams. Early rounds, but it's obvious that the Brumbies are the form team to beat from all the Australian sides.