Rugby League World Cup 2017 Thread

surmo13 wrote:I’d bet on Munster being the fullback if Billy can’t go for whatever reason during the tournament, Boyd out doesn’t change the fact that there are still 5 fullbacks in the team and a back-up specialist fullback is not needed

Its possible.
Its also possible that munster is there to be a half. Its also possible that TTrbo plays FB if Slater goes down.

My problem is that Tedesco is clearly a better player than Mansour, he has a great origin series, he carried that terrible tigers side all year then doesnt get picked in the Aus team over a bloke who played half a season. Ted has been one of the top few players in the league for years and is a genuine superstar. Tedesco would be a better wing than Mansour and Ted also offers cover for fullback and centre if needed. He shouldnt be there as a backup specialist fullback, he should be there as a starting winger with boyd out.

Mansour is a specialist winger. Generally, wingers are not better footy players than Fullbacks.

Pieman wrote:
Mansour is a specialist winger. Generally, wingers are not better footy players than Fullbacks.

But he's a better winger then Tedesco and the fullback position is more then catered for without Ted. Theres no point in taking the top 17 "footy players" into a game if you don't have every position on the field filled.

Horse shit, Tedesco is a top 3 fullback in the game. He (just like most fullbacks) are better footy players than wingers.

No one in their right mind would think that Manour is a better winger than what Tedesco would be - even though tedesco doesnt play on the wing. He doesnt play on the wing in club land because he is too good. Just like why Boyd doesnt play on the wing in club land. Or just about any other rep winger.

Obv there are 1 or 2 rare exceptions to the rule but jeez, Ted is hard done by in this situation.

Oz Sport Mad wrote:

I understand Mansour was already on standby from the start and prior to Teddy joining the Italians.

I don't find it odd at all.

Why weaken one position (wing) on the off chance that your clear #1 fullback gets injured, particularly when you have similar backups to Teddy anyway already in the squad.

Agree 100%. Slater starts every game, so replace a guy with your next best option on the wing, which is Josh. TTurbo is FB cover only if required, which is unlikely, otherwise, you'd be naming a back up for every position.

Pieman wrote:

Thank fuck tommy turbo is in the side.

I mean yeah, dugan or gagai would do a job but far out there is a big gap between Slater and them. Not as much of a gap between him and ttrbo tho.Cant believe they picked Mansour over Ted, lol.

Also - the "he was already named for another side" talk is garbage. Fifita was literally named in the aus team and withdrew to play for tonga. There is no reason they couldnt have been in touch with Tedesco and asked him to play for aus. The bloke covers wing, centre and fullback - I dont care what anyone says, Tedesco is 10x the player Mansour is. If you can be an excellent fullback you can be an excellent winger.

Absolute garbage selection.

Its purely a selection from mal and co, no other excuses.

I don't think they need any other excuses. Mansour is an easily justifiable replacement for Boyd and deserves a jersey.

Pieman wrote:Horse shit, Tedesco is a top 3 fullback in the game. He (just like most fullbacks) are better footy players than wingers.

No one in their right mind would think that Manour is a better winger than what Tedesco would be - even though tedesco doesnt play on the wing. He doesnt play on the wing in club land because he is too good. Just like why Boyd doesnt play on the wing in club land. Or just about any other rep winger.

Obv there are 1 or 2 rare exceptions to the rule but jeez, Ted is hard done by in this situation.

Tedesco isn't good enough to make the side as a fullback. Fact.
Mansour is a better winger then Tedesco. Fact.

Its a simple decision.

Saying hes a better "footballer" and should therefore be in the side is asinine. He's a better footballer then RCG but he isnt a better prop then him. RCG gets the nod. Same situation.

ryno_ wrote:

Tedesco isn't good enough to make the side as a fullback. Fact.
Mansour is a better winger then Tedesco. Fact.

Its a simple decision.

Saying hes a better "footballer" and should therefore be in the side is asinine. He's a better footballer then RCG but he isnt a better prop then him. RCG gets the nod. Same situation.

Same as boyd wasnt good enough to make the side as a fullback, they picked him - a fullback - on the wing. Facttttt
Tedesco is a better footballer, he is a fullback - which means he is a better outside back than a winger. Faccctttttt
Did you even read what I said? Comparing a prop to a fullback is just dumb. Comparing a winger to fullback is not. Just about all wingers would aspire to be fullbacks. No fullbacks are aspiring to be props. Tedesco would be a better winger than Mansour - and that is proven because he plays fullback. Faccccccct

You blokes are generally "Pick the best players then fit them in" when it comes to the broncos, but when it comes to the Aus team "nah pick a specialist winger to replace a fullback playing on the wing". Cool

Rep wingers (and outside backs in general) are generally club fullbacks.
Club fullbacks are generally better rep level wingers/centres than club level wingers/centres, because fullbacks are better players.

Sure, its a justifiable replacement. Mansour is a good winger. But Ted - who IMO is a better winger - has been hard done by especially considering Boyd is a fullback who got picked on the wing.

We have -
Dugan who is a club fullback (for the most part) who will be playing centre
Gagai who is a club centre (for the most part) who will be playing wing
Trbo who is a club fullback who will be playing wing or centre
Boyd who is a club fullback who was going to be playing on the wing
Hunt who is a club halfback (for the most part) who will be backing up at hooker

Yet all of a sudden - nah we need a specialist winger to replace boyd.

What absolute horse shit

Pieman wrote:Tedesco would be a better winger than Mansour - and that is proven because he plays fullback.

Righto champ.

Tedesco isn't good enough to make the side. Simple.

Pieman wrote:Horse shit, Tedesco is a top 3 fullback in the game. He (just like most fullbacks) are better footy players than wingers.

No one in their right mind would think that Manour is a better winger than what Tedesco would be - even though tedesco doesnt play on the wing. He doesnt play on the wing in club land because he is too good. Just like why Boyd doesnt play on the wing in club land. Or just about any other rep winger.

Obv there are 1 or 2 rare exceptions to the rule but jeez, Ted is hard done by in this situation.

Problem is that you don't know whether Teddy makes a good winger because we've never seen him there. Fair chance he is, but his style is also more similar to say Dugan than Boyd or Slater. When Dugan was picked for Australia on the wing it was a disaster. Yeah Teddy will probably play that roaming winger style pretty well in attack (not that we need it with Slater at fullback), but who knows if he will do the 10m hard hit up on the second tackle, will muscle his way to a try in the corner, or make the right defensive calls from the wing. Maybe he will, but maybe he won't, and a World Cup isn't the place to find out. We know Mansour can do all of those things. We also know Australia is heavy favourites and on paper has by far the best side. We don't need wingers who can create stuff, we just need guys who can finish what the other superstars in the team will set up, and not risk letting a heap in.

Tedesco hasn't played on the wing in a meaningful game since 2013.

Even Italy didn't play him at fullback or wing when he played for them but now he should force his way into the Australian side into a position he doesnt play when there are perfectly good players in front of him? Fuck outta here.

Pieman wrote:

Same as boyd wasnt good enough to make the side as a fullback, they picked him - a fullback - on the wing. Facttttt
Tedesco is a better footballer, he is a fullback - which means he is a better outside back than a winger. Faccctttttt
Did you even read what I said? Comparing a prop to a fullback is just dumb. Comparing a winger to fullback is not. Just about all wingers would aspire to be fullbacks. No fullbacks are aspiring to be props. Tedesco would be a better winger than Mansour - and that is proven because he plays fullback. Faccccccct

You blokes are generally "Pick the best players then fit them in" when it comes to the broncos, but when it comes to the Aus team "nah pick a specialist winger to replace a fullback playing on the wing". Cool

Rep wingers (and outside backs in general) are generally club fullbacks.
Club fullbacks are generally better rep level wingers/centres than club level wingers/centres, because fullbacks are better players.

Sure, its a justifiable replacement. Mansour is a good winger. But Ted - who IMO is a better winger - has been hard done by especially considering Boyd is a fullback who got picked on the wing.

We have -
Dugan who is a club fullback (for the most part) who will be playing centre
Gagai who is a club centre (for the most part) who will be playing wing
Trbo who is a club fullback who will be playing wing or centre
Boyd who is a club fullback who was going to be playing on the wing
Hunt who is a club halfback (for the most part) who will be backing up at hooker

Yet all of a sudden - nah we need a specialist winger to replace boyd.

What absolute horse shit

We don't need a specialist winger, but picking someone who has played more than 3 losing club games (in his first 4 matches), and one losing City/Country game on the wing makes sense. Probably best not to compare him to a guy who by the time he had cemented a fullback spot had won a premiership, an origin series, and played for Australia on the wing - his predominant position since coming in to the NRL.

Dip wrote:

or make the right defensive calls from the wing. Maybe he will, but maybe he won't, and a World Cup isn't the place to find out. We know Mansour can do all of those things..

Do we ?




i would have picked teddy over mansour but i'm not gonna concern myself to much about, i just think that before bringing in a replacement for boyd we covered all positions fairly well and it was either the fullback who is a better player who could possibly (as you say, not definitely ) cover winger/centre or the winger who is not quite as good and almost certainly couldn't cover any position other then the wing

Yeah it's a pretty good problem to have.

Also, 1 play which took a freak play (wasn't it try of the year at the Dally M's?) doesn't indicate he makes bad decisions (I know your post was a little in jest). You could also argue that he actually made the high percentage play here, because 99% of the time Feldt doesn't make that catch and the Panthers win. If he goes for the ball or tries to bat it dead maybe only 98% of the time the Cowboys don't score (there was still a minute on the clock). I think defensively he's very good and rarely does things like come in when he shouldn't. I think Slater is awesome under the high ball too, but he does drop some every now and then.

yeah i was gonna add that the photo isn't really a true reflection on mansour who has been better defensively over last 2 seasons then he was before, i just love the lost look on his face in this photo and wanted to post it haha

leaguegod wrote:yeah i was gonna add that the photo isn't really a true reflection on mansour who has been better defensively over last 2 seasons then he was before, i just love the lost look on his face in this photo and wanted to post it haha

Lol. It's about the only bomb to a winger this year where the centre hasn't taken out the winger. Blake should have put Feldt into the 3rd row of the crowd. Chances are he wasn't going to get penalised, and even if he did the Cowboys were 4 behind with a minute to play.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Don get me wrong, I love it too,  but the process has been shit in some circumstances.

I.e. Lolo pulling out of the NZ team a day before the squad is named without having discussions with them is shit. Fifita pulling out after he was named is just dumb.

Im left feeling some of these guys are just taking the piss a bit. Its playing for your country after all, you should have a little bit more respect for that IMO.

I agree those 2 went about it the completly wrong way and makes guys like Lolohea Mau Fuistua look bad(because they are named in every article about Tolo) even though they told Kidwell months ago.

If im in charge on AUS/NZ i make it known that those 2 wont be selected again because of the way they did it but other players who did it the right way are welcome back.

fifita is an easy call for australia, i know he stayed out of the headlines this year but its obvious he was still on thin ice, him choosing tonga after being named is enough reason to black list him forever, plus we'll always have the depth

i dunno about NZ, even the guys who gave notice, whats the point of playing them at other times if they'd rather play for another country at world cup time ? if Fifita made the call 3 months ago, i'd probably still want him to not be named for Australia again


but what does make it harder is lolo is obviously the best forward in the world and its pretty hard to say we're not picking you ever again to that type of quality, especially when their depth isn't as strong as ours.

Moose wrote:While it may be somewhat of a cunt move I'm looking forward to seeing Fifita and the Tongan forward pack give a few sides a run for their money. Just purchased a full new projector setup so can't wait to put it to good use for the WC.

What does the full set up include ? Projector and queen size sheet ?

ryno_ wrote:Tedesco hasn't played on the wing in a meaningful game since 2013.

Even Italy didn't play him at fullback or wing when he played for them but now he should force his way into the Australian side into a position he doesnt play when there are perfectly good players in front of him? Fuck outta here.

You mean 4 years ago when he was 20 and when the captain of Italian side was one of the best fullbacks of the modern era?
You are using that as your argument?
That 4 years ago, when he had not even played a full season of first grade he didnt play fullback over one of the modern day great fullbacks who was the captain of the side? So therefore he doesnt deserve a spot in the Australian team now?

Look, That is an interesting way to try and prove your point I will give you that.

ryno_ wrote:

Righto champ.

Tedesco isn't good enough to make the side. Simple.

By that reasoning, Josh Dugan is a better centre than James Roberts.

Pieman wrote:

You mean 4 years ago when he was 20 and when the captain of Italian side was one of the best fullbacks of the modern era?
You are using that as your argument?
That 4 years ago, when he had not even played a full season of first grade he didnt play fullback over one of the modern day great fullbacks who was the captain of the side? So therefore he doesnt deserve a spot in the Australian team now?

Look, That is an interesting way to try and prove your point I will give you that.

Swing and a miss.