World cup

[midlands hobo]

Before the tournament started, I just assumed Aus will play NZ in the final. Still seems true,, doesn't it?

It is the most likely final. However you have to say If NZ get either Tonga or Samoa it will be a great Semi Final.

 

[SwoopAE]

With Ponga out at least until the final if NZ make it, Tonga and Samoa definitely become more of a chance to upset NZ with an elite performance

Obviously it's still the most likely final though

 

[Red]

With Ponga out at least until the final if NZ make it, Tonga and Samoa definitely become more of a chance to upset NZ with an elite performance

Obviously it's still the most likely final though

Though Kini is a very good fullback. I think Australia will miss Moses and Cleary more.

 

[SwoopAE]

In attack he is great yeah

In defence he is probably the second or third worst FB in the NRL after Drinkwater and maybe one or two others, he has a lot of potential but needs to work on his defence a lot to get to anywhere near Ponga or Walsh's level for a small fullback

 

[SwoopAE]

Finefuiaki is getting a run for Tonga this week which is good to see

 

[mr_c]

sounds like izzy maybe looking at surgery reaggravated the ankle injury( upper ankle ) six month recovery )

 

[SwoopAE]

He's back next week apparently for Tonga against Samoa he hasn't made it substantially worse they're just resting him because the Lebanon game is meaningless how much they win by as long as they win

I think they never intended to play him in a game they are going to win 100% of the time without him and that makes sense given the Samoa game next week and finals are more important

It's the same ankle injury he's been carrying and waiting to deal with until after the tournament but there's no point him playing through it against Lebanon when they're going to win by 30-60 points regardless of whether he plays or not and for and against doesn't matter for Tonga anymore as they have the tie breaker over England so even if they lose to Samoa they should go through, and if they beat Samoa then it comes down to England/Samoa for and against for who the 4th team that goes through is (assuming Samoa beat PNG which they will)

They're incentivised to beat Samoa, since it means they would avoid Australia until the grand final and with Ponga out they surely prefer to play NZ in the semis

But again it doesn't matter how much they beat Lebanon by this week as long as they win whereas England have to stack points against France in case Samoa lose to Tonga so that they have a chance to bury PNG by enough and potentially make the finals as much as that's a long shot and England don't control their own fate anymore unless Tonga beat Samoa

I was surprised when they named Izzy in the first place this week, he'll be back against Samoa, meanwhile we'll have to enjoy Herbie stacking up tries against France this week and Hammer against PNG, Bostock for Australia and the NZ guys etc

 

[mr_c]

He's back next week apparently for Tonga against Samoa he hasn't made it substantially worse they're just resting him because the Lebanon game is meaningless how much they win by as long as they win

I think they never intended to play him in a game they are going to win 100% of the time without him and that makes sense given the Samoa game next week and finals are more important

It's the same ankle injury he's been carrying and waiting to deal with until after the tournament but there's no point him playing through it against Lebanon when they're going to win by 30-60 points regardless of whether he plays or not and for and against doesn't matter for Tonga anymore as they have the tie breaker over England so even if they lose to Samoa they should go through, and if they beat Samoa then it comes down to England/Samoa for and against for who the 4th team that goes through is (assuming Samoa beat PNG which they will)

They're incentivised to beat Samoa, since it means they would avoid Australia until the grand final and with Ponga out they surely prefer to play NZ in the semis

But again it doesn't matter how much they beat Lebanon by this week as long as they win whereas England have to stack points against France in case Samoa lose to Tonga so that they have a chance to bury PNG by enough and potentially make the finals as much as that's a long shot and England don't control their own fate anymore unless Tonga beat Samoa

I was surprised when they named Izzy in the first place this week, he'll be back against Samoa, meanwhile we'll have to enjoy Herbie stacking up tries against France this week and Hammer against PNG, Bostock for Australia and the NZ guys etc

all well n good but if its the op i think hes getting he wont be right till halfway through season glad we did pick up george

 

[SwoopAE]

Is there any source for Izzy's injury being longer term? I'm pretty sure it isn't and from what i've read he's going to play next week against Samoa. If he was facing a long term layoff surely that wouldn't be possible and the season is months away.

 

[Red]

sounds like izzy maybe looking at surgery reaggravated the ankle injury( upper ankle ) six month recovery )

Where did you read about 6 months? What kind of angle injury is that? A ruptured achilles is about that long. In the Courier Mail, according to the thing I read about him missing the game against Lebanon, it's just a minor aggravation for which he could have played if really needed.

 

[Red]

Is there any source for Izzy's injury being longer term? I'm pretty sure it isn't and from what i've read he's going to play next week against Samoa. If he was facing a long term layoff surely that wouldn't be possible and the season is months away.

Sounds like random spybook, I mean facebook rumour.

 

[mr_c]

Where did you read about 6 months? What kind of angle injury is that? A ruptured achilles is about that long. In the Courier Mail, according to the thing I read about him missing the game against Lebanon, it's just a minor aggravation for which he could have played if really needed.

was said on radio by woolf they were giving him more time to make sure the injury wasnt more serious than thought as be good 6 months out probbaly been less if he had rested its a upper ankle sprains ( which has gotten worse ) i reckon we wont see him back in cup if its serious ( op or not no way will woolf risk him out for 6months if its really bad or reaggravates it further


hopefully not 6months but picking it will be

 

[SwoopAE]

Im pretty sure from what i've read he's playing next week against Samoa and if he isn't that might be the time to be concerned but assuming he gets through the Samoa game fine I very much doubt he has a long term injury

Tonga's attack looked lost without him structurally same as ours would

Looking forward to watching Herbie, AJ, Young, Savala and Williams tear France apart in a few hours. Hope Williams and Herbie do well and as an ex Titans fan I want to see AJ do well and get his wish to go to PNG because he deserves better than the mess that is the Titans it is truly insane that PNG have offered him 750k for the Titans to chip in 150k and get out of their long term deal at 900k and they haven't accepted it, since no one is paying him 900k a season and he isn't a 900k a season centre plus their cap and roster are a mess.

Young might score 5 tries if England get rolling today and get him quality early ball. Hope we see a ton of Herbie magic too, not against real competition but will be enjoyable to watch.

 

[SwoopAE]

It is only against France but it's nice to see Herbie and Williams playing well so far

 

[SwoopAE]

Herbie randomly showing up at right centre to back up the line break and score the try despite being left centre

 

[SwoopAE]

I have a feeling the George Williams haters are going to be a lot quieter in 2027

 

[midlands hobo]

Donga is having a great time in the halves.

 

[Equaliser]

Donga is having a great time in the halves.

Just about to say that. We know who our back up 5/8 is. He's giving Dearden a bath.

 

[SwoopAE]

Donoghoe was the best half out there, he's still too important at lock to shift him though especially with Williams also looking good this world cup but if any halves get injured he's definitely our primary backup half now ahead of Schneider since Plath can cover lock.

That was an utterly embarrassing performance from Australia. Turbo looked lost on the wing despite all his tries, both centres went missing, Bostock was fine but unspectacular compared to last week, Teddy had two nice assists in the first half but was otherwise fairly invisible compared to Walsh, Cotter is absolutely not a rep player and it's disgraceful he was picked over Plath and in no universe should Turbo be on the wing over Jenkings (who should move to the left and Bostock to the right).

Latrell had a bad game vs NZ but gets his spot back by default, idk who gets the other centre spot, Staggs playing terribly or Best on the wrong side of the field.

Dearden and Walker were both pretty terrible, Dearden probably worse (I did miss a few mins late 1h) but he did play well vs NZ.

Fiji were fantastic though and props to them for keeping it close. They covered the spread by more than 30 points, huge overperformance by them.

The Australian forward pack looked like disgraceful slugs out there against Fiji's QCup bench. Carrigan has clearly lost a step, Tino has too but wasn't as bad as a few, Smith and Koloamatagi looked slow and immobile. Cotter has lost a step and isn't rep level anymore. Queensland had better not pick him in the second row next year.

Australia should obviously have Jenkins and Plath in the squad but since they can't just wow these slug forwards and centres are going to cost Australia against NZ/Tonga/Samoa at some point if Walsh/Munster/Grant back doesn't just win the game with attack

 

[SwoopAE]

As much as I want Bostock to crush it it's kind of lucky for us he didn't score another hattrick etc today in terms of his stock is already high but we don't want it going too much higher until he re signs with us ideally. He didn't do anything bad today really despite Australia being awful but also didn't stand out like last game.

While Turbo did stand out with the tries, but was absolutely horrible on the field he is really absolutely not a winger lol he looked so lost out there at times and played about as badly as a winger who scores a hattrick in a game could have played against a tier 2 opponent, he looked lost against NZ too at times.

I don't even know what Australia can do with these slug forwards I guess bring Yeo and Collins back in and I would probably have Murray play max minutes whether thats at second row or in the middle and split prop/lock duties with Yeo, then Martin and Preston have to be the second rowers and take as many minutes as possible away from several of the middles who played today and Cotter should get dropped entirely (and Fifita probably)

Do we pick Dearden or Walker in the 7 next week, it's actually a tough call