This is a team who were only without their first choice locks and Phil Waugh for the season right?
Along with the hole left my Rogers and the power of Sailor. Any team that loses so many key players (esp our lineout) goes through an adjustment period. To say the team is rubbish is well, rubbish.
but as they displayed in this years Super 14 they have a rubbish backline
Hardly rubbish, just inexperienced and no consistency in the positions. SNK was playing fullback and flyhalf (where he was decent). Beale saw the same even though he isn't ready to play with the big boys. The couldn't settle on a proper centre combo and putting turinui on the wing was a trainwreck waiting to happen. It's not the backline it was last year but it can still do the job. They just needed some common sense in the coaching and time to gel.
They've got a couple of good outside backs in Turner and Tuqiri but they lack talent in every other position.
Not really. They're all decent players at a super rugby level. Hewat lacks on defence but his goalkicking and scoring ability make up for it. Turinui, well he's a decent player that didn't have a regular inside to work with. Beale, well he's talented but clearly not ready for super rugby. SNK is decent at flyhalf and halangahu is a handy player. There were so many changes throughout the season you can't really expect them to perform.
hey have an average halves combination, no decent centres, and the worst defensive fullback in the competition who can't kick a goal under pressure.
Average halves sure, but not rubbish. Decent centres yes, but not given time to develop into a combination. We won't have a great centre pairing but it is enough to stick with other teams. Worst fullback? Hardly, and kicking under pressure? Everyone always remembers the final miss and not all the kicks slotted earlier in the match. Had he missed an earlier one and got the final one nobody would have remembered. He has a good strikerate, it's just too bad he occasionally misses at the times people will remember.
The simple fact is that the Waratahs are unable to compete unless they raid the NRL
It's a shorterm solution. I agree that they're not great at development, but none of the aussie clubs really are. Depth in Australian rugby is a problem, not just at NSW.
It will be quite a few years before Kurtley Beale is able to match it up with the top flyhalves, and Sam Norton-Knight seems to have lost his talent with the Tahs.
SNK was mostly playing fullback this year which was a disaster, but his form improved as soon as he was put at flyhalf. From what I remember his performance was ok, decent enough at super level.
Beale I agree, it was a poor decision from nsw to play him this year.
I don't know if Tahu will be able to give them anything in the centres or if he will display the sideways running technique of Lote Tuqiri when he was played there.
It will be interesting to see. Obviously I'm hoping it's a good buy.
I'm not trying to say the 'tahs are a great team, I'm just saying they're not rubbish. They did underperform this year and if you check the results they lost a lot of close games that could have gone either way. If they had gone the other way they could have finished 8th or 9th and nobody would have said anything about it. It's no secret that the 'tahs are underachievers and this year was no different. I think Ewan has lost the plot, I'm still surprised by the match up habana with turinui...
