Aussie Pro Rugby
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@NTA said in Aussie Rugby in general:
When you look at the disparity in pay from the top to bottom, and the net effect of retaining these particular players, you have to ask one question:
"So what?"
Really, if you take out Pocock and Folau are we going to be any more second tier than we are now? We've never paid tight five forwards enough, or given them a decent pathway, to compete at the highest levels consistently. The cupboard is pretty bare on decent inside backs, and we lack pace OR size on the wings. We have no decent 8th men to speak of and some half-arsed blindside flankers.
7 is actually one place we do ok.
As for Folau... Well a fullback who can't fucking pass is of questionable value.
Mike Brown might be available.
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@Catogrande we've got enough complete twats.
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One of the concerned officials told Sydney Morning Herald column Ruck & Maul this week: "This issue has to again be looked into. Our suspicions were originally raised due to the very strange mistakes made by usually reliable Australian players during that game. Some errors are glaring. It's like watching Tiger Woods miss a two-inch putt, over and over again. Very odd."
Have to disagree there. Much like when match fixing allegations were levelled against the mid 90s Black Caps, hiding a couple of profitable match fixings amongst a decade of shit play is not a bad strategy.
Per the article Australia have only been heavily favoured in a handful of games in the past decade : the potential candidates would be the 2011 loss to Samoa, 2012 loss to Scotland and 2017 thrashing by Scotland. The article also doesn't confirm it is a test match so the Munster tour loss is on the table too (let's assume the 2011 RWC loss to Ireland is not the test in question).
Of the four games, the Samoa and Scotland game at home were first tests of the season and the ABs at times play as though they are on the take during that first hit out; so I will guess either the Munster loss or the loss in Edinburgh a few years ago.
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One only needs to have seen the team wide displays of incompetence in those games to determine the losses were a team issue.
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That's like a news thump article headline. The wallabies haven't been consistent for years, and look at England just recently in the 6N, reckon they threw that by stupidly sticking with a failing tactic after building up massive odds vs Ireland and France?
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You would need a lot of players on the take for it to work gaurenteed surely. The Aussie players are also fairly well renumerated. Teams are also often changed and players are injured etc.
For a betting co-op to make massive bets they would want to be bloody confident of the ability of said players to fix the game.
I just think it would be too hard and risky to do. Also wouldnt the coach sub any players that were obviously having a shocker.
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It's Greg Growden writing the article remember. He's a moron.
Match fixing is not something you just lazily throw out there like this, with no detail at all. He's just smeared a great number of Wallabies with no real evidence other than the fact that someone was mates with a bookie and another person was vaguely suspicious.
You uncover these things because there is a late plunge by a number of punters on a specific market, and it's then reported by the bookies. That's what happened when Ryan Tandy was pinged by the NRL.
I'd be pretty furious if I was RA. This is the type of allegation you make after a months-long investigation, where you then name specific games, dates, players and associates.
In true Growden fashion he's just tossed it out that it might have happened, but won't tell us where or when.
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@barbarian he's such a fucking cock. There's a reason he blocks so many people on Twitter - they call him on his bullshit. No idea if ESPN is getting the clicks they want, but they wouldn't want to be paying him much.
EDIT: Hang on a minute, this is attributed to a Greg Growden listed as "...a rugby columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald"
When did THAT happen?
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Some errors are glaring. It's like watching Tiger Woods miss a two-inch putt, over and over again. Very odd
dont agree with the analogy provided in the article (also quoted by Rotated) as the only thing close to that would be if the kicker had numerous kicks from right out in front, and missed them all.
Dropping a ball, throwing a forward pass, missing a tackle, kick for touch are unfortunately simple errors that happen to every player, with numerous variables including the weather, other players, the shape of the ball the pace and nature of the game means these are inevitable.
IMO unless you have a whole team on board, you will struggle, but even then, I'd wager it woudl look so blatantly obvious something was up too.
I mean watch practically any movie where they 'act' that they are playing rugby, it looks so fake, and these are supposedly professional actors, whereas a professional rugby player deliberately dropping a ball, fluffing a kick, throw, missing a tackle on purpose, IMO would be easy to spot.
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FoxSports asked Facebook users what questions they wanted put to Chieka:
E.g. What other traits, besides being a warratah do you look for in future wallaby players?