Your Anzac Test Teams

[Broncoman]

Dugan is only somewhat good at centre. He has the same problem as Hoggman at FB/ other spine positions, and isn't athletic enough to play on the wing. NSW are in trouble if he's selected at the back.

Dugan was a very good fullback for Canberra and is still playing very well at the back for the Dragons. After today I rate him as a fullback/centre

 

[Alec]

I think with enough practice, centre is Dugan's best position.

 

[Rhys van Beurden]

Dugan is only somewhat good at centre. He has the same problem as Hoggman at FB/ other spine positions, and isn't athletic enough to play on the wing. NSW are in trouble if he's selected at the back.

Pretty much this. Never got the hype for him at Canberra, and he seems to break down more often than not. When we were inches from signing him in 2013, I went over a bunch of highlights of him to see the hype, and came to the conclusion he was only a slightly better option than Hoffman was anyway, and played a similar style as well. But at least Hoffman had the versatility of being a good winger and centre. I don't think Dugan even has that. I would say he is still best suited for a fullback role, but the kind who needs a strong halves pairing to make up for his lack of playmaking (much in the same way as Hoffman needed Lockyer). I don't see him a premiership winner, a rep player, and he was certainly not the best choice for wing.

 

[Harry Sack]

It depends on how you look at it.

He doesn't have the worst win-loss record, it's actually very good and won back the World Cup. He has one of the best win-loss records when it comes to coaches that have coached over 20 games. This is only his 4th loss since taking over, but 2 of those losses resulted in us losing the Four Nations trophy.

This is likely why the question sprang to mind actually, cheers.

 

[Porthoz]

Thoroughly deserved win by NZ, superior in both attack and defense. Vatuvei deserved the MOTM medal, but I thought all NZ players, more so their forwards, stepped up, especially Taupau, who had imo the biggest impact in the Kiwis momentum shift during the first half.

It's telling when SKD manages to shine brighter than the whole Aussie backline too. :rolleyes:

Credit to Thaiday, best Kangoroo imo, although most Aussies were average at best, even Parker, who pushed his luck too far. Smith, Inglis and Cronk very ordinary, Thurston just a bit better than them, Chambers the only backline player who can hold his head high. Scott doesn't know how to play bad, but wasn't at his destructive best either, while Myles, Woods and Tamou were overshadowed by their Kiwi counterparts. Lewis did what he could, as did Merrin in their limited time, and Bird was definitely and easily the worst on the field.

I just hope this signals the end of the sheenius era!

 

[Huge]

I went to the game, again ha ha. When the game was three minutes old I rang Sportsbet and had two hundred on the Kiwis at 2.85 . I thought they were a certainty a week ago. In no way was I being unpatriotic , I just couldn't believe a team that had beaten Aus twice before was at such long odds. I am happy that we lost because after twenty years of overwhelming superiority we are no longer certainties. That means international rugby league is healthy and as long as I've been an adult that has not been the case.

The game has been sick but now, at last it is alive and well. Beaten by a better team and when we challenge the worlds best side next time I will be screaming for the Kangaroos . I'm not looking for scapegoats, I'm applauding the better team. I cannot wait for our shot at redemption. Well done NZ.

 

[Sproj]

Too many Blues players and it showed. ;)

 

[mitch222]

We were god awful. Inglis at rep level cant hold a candle to Slater. He just doesn't play consistently enough and do all the little things slater does which is what makes slater the play he is. Sure Inglis might pull off a big play for you but Slater will do 10-15 little things all game which win you the game. They wont be game breaking but they all help build momentum. Inglis also looked injured and like he needed a week off but I cant see McGuire doing that with Souths at the moment.
I quite literally didn't see Alex Johnson all game. Every kick that went to his side of the field was picked up by Inglis. As for Dugan, he was horrendously out of position all game and Vatuvei took full advantage of it. I can handle picking some fullbacks at wing because that were they started their career but Dugan never played wing before and it showed big time.
Blokes like Bird, Myles, Tamou, Woods, Merrin & Lewis were ordinary. We had no spark what so ever from the bench. I was pretty disappointed with Matt Scott too.
And is it just me or has Cronk been playing really bad this year. He was dreadful yesterday and it looked like the kiwis had our playbook all week because everything they put on just failed. At least Parker & Sammy had decent games so we weren't disgraced.

 

[Broncoman]

Too many Blues players and it showed. ;)

There were more Queensland players then Blues.

 

[Rhys van Beurden]

There were more Queensland players then Blues.

He's absolutely right. And I don't think Johnston was playing? And Dugan was so bad he was pretty much a minus 1. So really it was 9 Qlder's to 5 NSWkers.

 

[Broncoman]

Too many Blues players and it showed. ;)

He's absolutely right. And I don't think Johnston was playing? And Dugan was so bad he was pretty much a minus 1. So really it was 9 Qlder's to 5 NSWkers.

Seriously why do people feel the need to bring the Origin rivalry into a discussion about the national team? It's so stupid. Neither Maroons or Blues were playing yesterday proud Australians who would die for their country were playing.

 

[Big Pete]

To be fair, it is a natural reaction and both sides are as guilty as the other. Just look at social media or other forums and you'll see a lot of anti-Queensland posts.

It's all just mis-directed. I don't think people really care about Origin, it's just them making light of a negative situation. What they're annoyed about is the incumbency and push for guys who didn't deserve their spots.

I'm not sure what Dugan exactly did to earn his wing spot but he's been pushed heavily in the media and it seems like certain pundits (eg Joey) would play him anywhere just to get him in the side.

Whenever you select a player out of position, you're hanging your neck out. Unfortunately, Dugan let the selectors down and his positioning wasn't good enough at Test level.

To be fair, there weren't many alternatives. I believe the popular choice would have been to put Hodges at centre and Chambers to wing but you run into the same problems in regards to Chambers' positioning.

Honestly, I just think the Australians were caught out. They didn't have the same mind-set as the Kiwis and were punished accordingly. Got to give NZ all the credit in the world for showing the Kangaroos how an International Test should be played and they still have plenty of upside.

Again, Kearney deserves credit too. He drew a line in the sand which saw him opt for players like Issac John just to send a statement and it paid off.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Seriously why do people feel the need to bring the Origin rivalry into a discussion about the national team? It's so stupid. Neither Maroons or Blues were playing yesterday proud Australians who would die for their country were playing.

Lighten up, dude. Did you not see the little winkie thingy?

 

[Huge]

Actually, I believe it's a football fan ( possibly worldwide ) thing. A lot of fans just cannot cope with loss and must deflect, must have a scapegoat . What the mature enlightened fan does is congratulate the winner, recognise the winners superiority on the day and look at his/her team when the emotion has died down. First identify what went well and that which needs work.

It makes no difference from which state players hail, it was a united team. The truth is, on this day even if every player played the perfect game at his absolute maximum potential there would still be no guarantee of victory. Sometimes they are simply too good. We do not have a mortgage on all the best players in every position.

Time me for us to harden the **** up and improve where we can and hope that that is going to be enough because it just may not be.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Just on the Origin ramifications of this Test, the older Queenslanders are copping an absolute bagging on talkback and in the papers. I think they will be fired up big time come Origin One.

 

[Son Edo]

Not much you can do. There's nobody better who can replace the current players in the Aussies spine. Until those younger guys can reach that level, the Kiwis will continue to dominate.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

So, Birds defence tonight is basically: It was all Corey Parkers fault. Good luck, douchelord.

 

[Ari Gold]

He doesn't need luck. He's a blue.

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