Thread: Wallabies Lose In Mendoza

Just as long as the All Blacks keep things nice and stable and no serious injuries occur on the European tour i think the All Blacks will be looking very good in the title defence.

There's an email doing the rounds claiming McKenzie has shacked up with this woman, got her a 'job' with the team, and the team now is rebelling against the importance Link has placed on her within the team environment, what she is actually doing there, the time Link spends with her, etc etc, culminating in Beale probably making some pointed remarks about this when McKenzie had her take on the Tshirt issue with him.

ARU is also apparently ****ed that Link chose to take off with her to the airport, rather than stay with the team, when someone else could easily have done the driving.

Guess we wait and see.

Another good signing for the REDS. That E-mail doing the rounds has a NZ address. No need to get excited, nothing to see here. Quade Cooper has his first full game back tonight with Brisbane City. It's the televised game, interesting to see how he goes. Bob

From AAP
The Queensland Reds have secured an important boost to their forward pack by signing former All Blacks back-rower Adam Thomson for the 2015 Super Rugby season.
Capped 29 times for New Zealand, the rangy Thompson was a member of the All Blacks 2011 World Cup-winning squad before moving to play in Japan for the past two seasons.
A veteran of seven Super Rugby seasons as a key player with the Highlanders, he is currently leading the try-scoring in the Japanese Top League while playing for Canon Eagles.
Reds coach Richard Graham said Thomson would provide experience to the pack and leadership for the young back-rowers in the squad, including up-and-comers Curtis Browning and Lolo Fakaosilea.
At 196cm and 112kg, he is capable of playing all three back-row positions.
“It was evident Adam is still genuinely craving the competitive nature of Super Rugby,” said Graham.
“As an All Black and World Cup winner, his influence on the Super Rugby competition has been enormous. He was at the heart of everything the Highlanders did.”
“Adam rounds out a highly competitive back row and he brings an outstanding skill set to the way that we want to play the game.
Along with Jake (Schatz) I believe Adam is one of the best aerial forwards in the modern game.”

Originally Posted by Hastykiwi

There's an email doing the rounds claiming McKenzie has shacked up with this woman, got her a 'job' with the team, and the team now is rebelling against the importance Link has placed on her within the team environment, what she is actually doing there, the time Link spends with her, etc etc, culminating in Beale probably making some pointed remarks about this when McKenzie had her take on the Tshirt issue with him.

ARU is also apparently ****ed that Link chose to take off with her to the airport, rather than stay with the team, when someone else could easily have done the driving.

Guess we wait and see.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, Bob


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I think Adam Thompson will be a very good Addition to the Reds,they seem to have shopped very smartly for next season. He will add some much needed grunt and experience which is lacking in the Reds forwards. I was gutted when the mighty Waikato Chiefs missed out on him. I am looking forward to finally seeing some NRC action on Saturday night,When Queensland country take on the Sydney Stars. Go Queenslander!!!! I am interested to see what sort of crowd shows up,Townsville is very much a Rugby league town but does have a small rugby comp. But $15 for a ticket might keep some people away.

Originally Posted by disco man

I think Adam Thompson will be a very good Addition to the Reds,they seem to have shopped very smartly for next season. He will add some much needed grunt and experience which is lacking in the Reds forwards. I was gutted when the mighty Waikato Chiefs missed out on him. I am looking forward to finally seeing some NRC action on Saturday night,When Queensland country take on the Sydney Stars. Go Queenslander!!!! I am interested to see what sort of crowd shows up,Townsville is very much a Rugby league town but does have a small rugby comp. But $15 for a ticket might keep some people away.

Adam Thompson is the player the REDS need, their young players will feed off his enthusiasm, & experience. I remember, years ago when in NZ with a Fleet side, picked to play the RNZN side, after the game, the coach of the RNZN side had a chat over a beer, & suggested while there were many fine players in the Wallaby side of the time, as far as culture & management went, they were just a bunch of back yarders. He was right, Australian Rugby has progressed since then, but there is still a division between the NSWRU, & the rest. It is holding Australian Rugby back from developing its full potential, IMO. For example, blind freddy could see Beale should go, let's see what the Tribunal comes up with. Bob

The plot thickens, Bob


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Yes Bob, it is thickening, and that truth it starting to get awful close to the email....

Kurtley Beale saga shows level of discontent in Wallabies camp

Georgina Robinson SMH: 9 October 2014 - 9:32PM

The latest developments in the Kurtley Beale saga raise yet more questions for the ARU.

As chief executive Bill Pulver announced Beale would be asked to front a code of conduct hearing to answer "new and more serious allegations" pertaining to his interactions with a staff member, Fairfax Media has learnt troubling new details about the extent of the dysfunction within the Wallabies.

Members of the wider Wallabies group have confirmed that business manager Di Patston is the staff member at the centre of the fresh allegation, which centres around an image of a woman, plus an accompanying message referring to Patston, that Beale sent via the smart phone messaging app Whatsapp in the week leading up to the Test against France in Melbourne on June 14.

They have also confirmed that Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie was aware of the incident at the time, and that Beale made a subsequent emotional apology, which Patston accepted. Their versions of events contradict Pulver's comments on Thursday that McKenzie was only made aware of the incident this week. They also raise questions about why, if McKenzie knew about the incident, he did not refer the matter to higher levels of ARU management at the time, considering they have now been deemed serious enough to trigger a code of conduct hearing.

Just as troubling was Pulver's denial of any "dysfunction" within the Wallabies set-up.

"At the professional end of our game it teeters on a knife edge," he said. "There are inches between extraordinary success and unique failure. What's created the lack of comfort in all of us is that we went on to lose a game against Argentina. I would reject the notion there is a dysfunctional environment around the Wallabies."

In reality, there has been a "lack of comfort" building in the Wallabies for almost a year.

Fairfax Media has learnt that as early as November, players were querying Patston's growing influence. A week before the Dublin drinking incident, McKenzie called a team meeting in Turin where he confronted rumours of unrest about Patston's role within the team, saying he would rather address the issue face-to-face.

When players asked McKenzie to define her role and duties, he prevaricated and became defensive. At that time Patston did not travel with the team, but her influence on its day-to-day workings became clearer this year with a former staff member describing her role as an "all-powerful" gatekeeper to the coach.

By the middle of the Rugby Championship, unease within the squad had grown in direct proportion to Patston's involvement in the micromanagement of the team's day-to-day workings, and the high level of drama that accompanies her involvement.

Fairfax Media understands that during the week leading up to the Wallabies Test against South Africa in Perth, McKenzie missed a compulsory team dinner to accompany Patston to the airport so she could fly home for a family emergency. She did not end up leaving Perth.

For Pulver to be unaware of the extent of the discontent within the Wallabies raises serious questions about his leadership, and that of senior players, none of whom have been prepared to voice their concerns publicly. But that so many key figures inside the Wallabies team and staff have been prepared to talk at all about their concerns should be ringing huge alarm bells for Pulver, ARU chairman Michael Hawker and the board.

These are people who want the best for the team and put their bodies on the line for it week in, week out. These are also people who have been, and largely remain, vocal supporters of their coach.

The events of the past week prove McKenzie and Pulver have some serious work to do.

Sounds like a complete circus.