We have a new shiny thing in Aussie rugby. A teenage prodigy has turned his back on lucrative NRL offers to ‘chase his dream’ to play for the Wallabies. No doubt there are lashings of hyperbole in reportage on Joseph Suaali’i but we do love a good Messiah story.
We’ve had a few in the past. Occasionally we get an Israel Folau but, more often than not, we get a James O’Connor.
I took my nephew to Homebush to see a young JOC strut his stuff against the French. As is their predilection, the Tricolour sent an understrength outfit that year and we pantsed them. The blonde bombshell was OK but we kept telling each other in the stands that one day this kid will be a star.
He never was a star and only ever showed fleeting glimpses of his talent. Bizarrely, he has been signed by the Crusaders for next year’s Super Rugby. It would seem their fall from grace has been more precipitous than we imagined.
Who else is creating a buzz? Well, nobody as far as I can tell. Fringe players like Jordan Petaia come into view, only to be dismissed just as quickly.
Our recent Rugby Championship was notably dismal with the odd performance getting an honourable mention. Looking across the six Tests, I was pleased to see Fraser McReight come along. He was rewarded with the captaincy.
Joe Schmidt is experimenting with different configurations in key positions – front row, halves and the back three. I’m open to this trial and error phase, but I really hope he settles on Gordon and Donaldson as a minimum. You can’t be taken seriously unless you have solid playmakers.
The Wallabies are currently ranked tenth in the world – a nadir. We have a tough schedule of Tests next month. Recent European sojourns have been ordinary, so we should have low expectations about this one.
For all the difficulties the game faces, it is still a great experience to see Test match rugby up close.
I scored free tickets to the recent Bledisloe in Sydney. A gang of four optimistic middle-aged blokes walked into the ground on a glorious Spring day. The Wallabies were bloody awful in the first half but rallied in the second to get within striking distance. Alas, to no avail.
We all muttered under our breaths about being masochists. But we’ll be back! And we’ll get up early to watch the games next month. Hey, we may even have Joseph the wunderkind pull off a miracle.
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Welcome back to the site, Ruminator!
More of the same old, same old – you ‘win’ one (Sua’ali’i), you ‘lose’ one (Nawaqanitawase).
It was ever thus!
I could take Gordon and Donaldson at 9 and 10. Solid works for me.
Nothing against the guy, but I just can’t warm to Lolesio as a test no. 10.
He never fills me with confidence when we are up against the top nations.
Maybe they should put the new kid in at 10? They are paying him a shitload of money so they may as well make him earn it! It’s a lot of money to loiter out on the touchline.
I do feel for the new kid though. He needs to be real good, real quick, to avoid a pile on. It’s not his fault the powers that be wanted to throw a massive pile of cash at him.
I still can’t believe JOC to the Crusaders.