Wallabies axe Mitchell, Turner
8 Jul 2010
Robbie Deans has left Drew Mitchell and Lachie Turner out of the Wallabies’ 28-man Tri-Nations squad.
Both wings featured for the Wallabies in June, however they will miss the Tri-Nations after failing to impress head coach Deans. Other players who are also dropped are props Pek Cowan and Laurie Weeks and hooker Huia Edmonds.
The omissions of Mitchell and Turner mean that Adam Ashley-Cooper is likely to remain at wing instead of fullback, his preferred position. Peter Hynes and Digby Ioane are the only other recognised wings in the squad and Ioane is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury.
The Wallabies’ front row have been boosted by the returns of loosehead prop Benn Robinson and hooker Stephen Moore, who will bring experience to the scrum after inconsistent performances during the June internationals. However, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, prop Ben Alexander and No 8 Stephen Hoiles have not been considered because of their respective injuries.
Deans has also selected centre Anthony Faingaa, lock Rob Simmons and flankers Scott Higginbotham and Ben McCalman. The Wallabies start their Tri-Nations campaign on 24 July against the Springboks in Brisbane.
Wallabies Tri-Nations squad: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Berrick Barnes, Kurtley Beale, Richard Brown, Luke Burgess, Mark Chisholm, Quade Cooper, Ben Daley, Rocky Elsom (c), Anthony Faingaa, Saia Faingaa, Will Genia, Matt Giteau, Scott Higginbotham, Matt Hodgson, Rob Horne, Peter Hynes, Digby Ioane, Ben McCalman, Salesi Ma’afu, Stephen Moore, Dean Mumm, Jame O’connor, David Pocock, Benn Robinson, Nathan Sharpe, Rob Simmons, James Slipper.
44 Comments
8 Jul 2010, 05:52 am
thats a strange call, Drew Mitchell is an outsanding player, looks like the wooden spoon for oz again.
8 Jul 2010, 05:55 am
@Kiwisamoan(Kiwisamoan)-1: Ye I hear you would have him in my world 15 most times,you get the sense that all is not kosher with the Aussies.
8 Jul 2010, 06:24 am
very strange indeed, but I figured Deans is out at the end of the season if he can’t win 3 Tests
8 Jul 2010, 07:04 am
k@k dom.
8 Jul 2010, 07:08 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-3: Deans will be there until the WC, regardless of what happens this year..
8 Jul 2010, 08:24 am
1. Benn Robinson
2. Stephan Moore
3. Ben Alexander
4. Nathan Sharpe
5. Mark Chisholm
6. Rocky Elsom
7. David Pocock
8. Scott Higgenbotham
9. Will Genia
10. Quade Cooper
11. Digby Ioane
12. Berick Barnes
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
14. Drew Mitchell
15. James O’Connor
Would be my choice Wallaby starting 15.
8 Jul 2010, 08:39 am
Turner I can understand, but dropping Mitchell doesn’t make sense to me. So he fumbled a couple of passes in his last game – he’s still a world class finisher and a very tough guy to bring down. He’d be just about my first backline selection if I were picking this squad.
8 Jul 2010, 08:50 am
Mitchell has taken big abuse in the press over here but I agree, I think he’s class. Deans is safe until at least the RWC, they treat him like the Messiah over here. The tight five just isn’t good enough and Elsom has disappeared as a player since he became captain. They should choose another and let Rocky get on with his game.
8 Jul 2010, 08:53 am
A rash decision.
Fair enough drop him from the starting team for his poor form in the last 2 tests.
But he was the form Aus wing in the Super season, and without him or Turner we only have one specialist wing fit in Hynes -Ioane is injured, and AAC should be playing fullback.
@scrumfan(scrumfan)-6: Not too bad a team.
I would bench Chisholm for Horwill, Hynes on Ioane’s wing with Ioane to outside centre and AAC to fullback, benching O’Connor.
That leaves a bench of:
Daley/Ma’afu/Baxter/Kepu
Polota Nau
Mumm/Chisholm
Palu
Giteau
O’Connor
Burgess or outside back like Shepherd/Turner
Giteau to cover scrumhalf if a 2nd outside back reserve.
8 Jul 2010, 09:17 am
Very surprised, I thought Mitchell was the best wing in the super 14 along with Hougaard.
Maybe hes not good for team culture as hes too arrogant?
8 Jul 2010, 09:35 am
unbelievable…!!
dean’s is crazy as a dingo under a blood moon…
Mitchell is one of Aussie’s better players… rate him very highly… great counter-attacker… Mitchell, Cooper, Genia, Barnes and O’Connor are gonna be the core of the Aussie backs for a long time to come…
Turner’s not too shabby either… and can feel very hard done by…
this is gonna help NZ and SA…
i worry about dean’s and his big rep… just don’t understand his selections and these are not the first surprises… several last year left me wondering…
time may prove that he was just in the right place at the right time in a strong franchise with a great group of players… but maybe he’s not the great coach his rep suggests…
8 Jul 2010, 10:12 am
Much better squad. Got some ball carriers.
8 Jul 2010, 10:14 am
I don’t see what is special about Mitchell. He is not particularly fast, big or strong.
I would of dropped him as well.
8 Jul 2010, 10:18 am
@DonutDunning(DonutDunning)-9:
AAC definately needs to be starting at either 13 or 15. I would play him at 15.
8 Jul 2010, 10:25 am
kurtley beale is overrated!!!!
8 Jul 2010, 11:24 am
Deans cant work with a limited player base & the structures/culture(media) in OZ is proving more difficult that initially thought.
He has made some average decisions of late and dropping arguably their most effective & on form(S14) outside backs is another one.Whilst keeping average players like Hynes & Beale who hardly display anything about that of Mitchell.
Good to see Scott Higginbotham in squad.Best athlete is Australia by a country mile.Great size,speed and a fair bit of mongril.He would be a good robust 8 in time,he has played majority of his rugby at blindside so it will take time.
Robinson,Moore,Higginbotham will strengthen foward pack but they havent played any rugby in over a month.That will be a huge factor in their effectiveness at Test level.
Plus a new halfback combo,centre pairing & back 3.
Chopping & changing has been name of game for Deans since becoming Oz head coach.
No continuity. No settled combinations
8 Jul 2010, 13:10 pm
Hehe, I hope that Deans in inspired by Gillard to completely mess up their side.
8 Jul 2010, 13:47 pm
Deans is losing the plot here.
8 Jul 2010, 13:48 pm
i suspect deans is a polarising coach in the team structure as some of the decisions he’s made simply cant be for rugby reasons…..axing mitchell who was head and shoulders the best aussie wing in the super 14 is ridiculous. not to mention his experience…..he did the same with mark gerrard, axed with no explanation after gerrard had a great season. then there was the whole dropping mortlock as captain fiasco as well as axing waugh. i dont think his culture/philosophies mould with the aussie way where experience is revered more than potential
8 Jul 2010, 13:51 pm
is it just me or are some of deans selections a tad bit arrogant, ALA PDV when he 1st got the job. only dif is everyone thinks deans is some genius so nobody questioning some of his ridiculous calls. i mean, wtf is kurtley bale doing in the setup????
8 Jul 2010, 13:54 pm
and giteau isnt happy…something not right about that team environment IMHO
8 Jul 2010, 14:23 pm
Mitchell is not that good, but would be in the 28. I think Turner is actually better. Still a little strange. Higginbottom should have been there from the beginning, looks like a decent prospect.
The dropping of Mitch and Turner signals Beale is going to start at 15 and Ash-Coop on the wing. Beale is kak.
8 Jul 2010, 14:28 pm
@Oubaas2009(Oubaas2009)-22: turner= the quickest aussie wing, mitchell=the best balanced….beale and cooper were schoolboy mates but only 1 of the two has matured. beale still plays like he’s in high school and has had enough time to prove his worth. he’s taking up space for real talent like o’connor
8 Jul 2010, 14:37 pm
I honestly don’t understand these rash moves by Deans sometimes. The amount of phsychological damage that is done to these players the way he just drops them from the squad, often players that have proven their class time and time again in a very limited Ozzie player base.
It’s fine if the players genuinely don’t deserve a place but Drew Mitchell? He’s had an awesome run of form right through the S14 and even into the Oz internationals from what I’ve seen AND he’s one of the few experienced guys in that side to help guide the youngsters.
8 Jul 2010, 14:38 pm
@flanka(flanka)-23: Agreed. O’Connor would be the first name in the backline after perhaps only a fit again Genia.
8 Jul 2010, 14:46 pm
Mitchell, Cooper, Genia, Barnes and O’Connor… and a couple of others… with a couple of more years experience between their ears… are going to be a very scary backline that is going to take creative and clever backline play to a whole new level… they’ll give everyone else the complete run-around…
these guys have all got the pots to be ‘greats’…
2115… or even 2119… Australia are gonna be serious WC contenders… (if they can produce some forwards of the same class – which IMO at the moment they don’t have)
SA, NZ and everyone else must watch these guys… carefully…
exciting stuff for Aus Rugby…
8 Jul 2010, 14:47 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-24: thats what i mean…he’s really not having any respect for the system….poor man management i reckon. if u were drew mithcell what would be going thru your mind after being the best wing in your country during the super season and a veteran international suddenly dropped cold from the 28 MAN SQUAD! i’d seriously start looking at my european optons coz this kind of treatment is k*k
8 Jul 2010, 14:48 pm
@ufo(ufo)-26: don’t be so sure with ‘axe deans’ looming nobody is safe…as i mentioned earlier this dropping of mitchell is strangely similar to what happened to an in-form mark gerrard who was banished to the wilderness inexplicably
8 Jul 2010, 14:49 pm
rocky elsom also a very uninspiring captain IMHO…good player, but not a leader
8 Jul 2010, 14:55 pm
yikes typos…
2015 and 2019…
having corrected that…
@flanka(flanka)-28:
that’s why i’m saying 2015…
deans will be long gone and can go and trash talent somewhere else…
8 Jul 2010, 15:05 pm
@ufo(ufo)-30: he’s even been subtly jibing giteau in the media regarding his kicking. IMO deans has never really had to deal with pressure in his career and now is when we’ll see if he just rode the wave of a talented Crusaders generation
8 Jul 2010, 15:08 pm
@flanka(flanka)-31:
yip… that’s what i was intimating in my post #11… looking more and more like he fell with his bum in the butter with the crusaders…
8 Jul 2010, 15:55 pm
@flanka(flanka)-27:
It’s no wonder Guys like George Smith and Stirling Mortlock are just calling it quits and retiring and their best player, Giteau, is unhappy. Experience seems to have no place in the Robbie Deans school of thought.
8 Jul 2010, 16:13 pm
@flanka(flanka)-31: I think that’s a bit harsh. He played a huge part in building that winning Crusaders team from the ground up.
What he seems to be struggling with is not having total control.
As Crusaders coach he played a huge part in identifying talent young, and helped build them up to add to his team.
At international level he does not have that luxury. He has to rely on the Super teams developing the players, and they will always develop their players how they need them, not how Deans wants them.
In terms of tactics and development he is a brilliant coach, but he really appears to be struggling with the man-management side of things and it is costing him dearly.
8 Jul 2010, 16:18 pm
I believe it was Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who, when asked whether he would be interested in coaching the English national team, said he would prefer coaching Arsenal as at Arsenal he has control of who plays for him.
As English coach he would not.
Seems fairly appropriate for this situation. Perhaps Robbie would have been better off staying in charge of his own Arsenal…
8 Jul 2010, 16:25 pm
@DonutDunning(DonutDunning)-35:
point being Donut… that deans does/did have control of who plays for him…
he could’ve selected Mitchell…
but he chose to drop – completely out of his squad – Aussie’s best backline player of the year so far…
so… not quite the same thing…
8 Jul 2010, 16:38 pm
@ufo(ufo)-26:
That’s always been their problem…they’re great runners but their packs never seem to front up so their backs always end up a bit waisted having to deal with minimal go forward ball.
8 Jul 2010, 16:42 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-37:
too true…
which is just as well for the rest of us…
8 Jul 2010, 17:35 pm
Is Drew maybe unconditioned i.e. Fat? He is a great player nonetheless
8 Jul 2010, 17:40 pm
boks will start BJ at 3 if robinson plays against us.
8 Jul 2010, 17:48 pm
I find all the criticism of Deans a little strange, especially with regards to players like Mortlock and Waugh being dropped. Mortlock played about half a game this whole year, and is like a punch drunk boxer – he can’t get on the field, and when he is on the field, is not particularly good. Same with Waugh, who is a liablity, see his performances against the Stormers x 2 for example.
I think we all forget how low Australian rugby had sunk in 2007. The destruction in the scrums against England for example and they also lost the heart of the team – Gregan, Larkham and Latham, as well as Vickerman. Mortlock is also a has been and Tuquiri’s contract was torn up, and Giteau has not really performed since his move to the Force. This can’t be blamed on Deans as he hasn’t performed for the Brumbies either, and his missed kicks are shocking.
The development in players such as Cooper, Genia, the front row and O’Connor has as much to do with the Super 14 coaches as it does with Deans. Genia and Cooper either didn’t play or didn’t perform for the Reds last year, yet they were selected for the Wallabies, performed, grew as players and set the Super 14 on fire this year. Their frontrow against England at 1 run on cap between them, he resisted selecting Dunning and Baxter, who are very much the past, and backed players who are all 21 or 22. A player like Slipper now has more international caps than Super 14 caps.
The Aussies have also had a number of injuries to key players, which, with their limited depth, is always going to influence them. All in all, I reckon Deans is on track, and the Australians now have a generation of players who might rival the greats of Gregan, Larkham, Latham, Eales, Kefu et al. if given time.
9 Jul 2010, 00:50 am
I think it is very simple, Mitchell played poorly and got dropped. He shined in a club game on the weekend but maybe that is just it, like Meisiekind he just can’t make the step-up to international rugby….
9 Jul 2010, 02:41 am
Pity about Polota-Nau and Alexander injuries, they could’ve really done with those two.
9 Jul 2010, 06:47 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-43: All in good time…
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