If the NRL had any credibility they would have banned him for a season without pay. That would have been the least they could have done. 9 games is just stupid. Not long ago a player got 4 years suspension for doing steroids, this bloke injured a child and his mum and drove unlicensed while doing drugs and all he gets is a 9 weeks suspension

The only comment that I can make is that Mam has won the lottery. To be given this watered down punishment is like winning the lottery And the broncos will be castigated for allowing him to be still contracted to them. They should have got rid of him immediately. Mam should be banned from playing for at least two seasons and not get paid. Look at the bloke from Cronulla who did steroids and got banned for 4 years. Surely what Mam did rates sooo much higher (worse) than what this. Mam was high on narcotics and driving unlicenced and injured people in the process. And he gets a slap on the wrist with a very soft tissue, can’t see the justice in this

I don’t agree that Bateman will be a good acquisition for the Cowboys, he just lacks something and is a hot head. I think that Wests would be glad to get rid of him and will do better without his disruptive presence. Admittedly he is tough and he plays hard but he is just a bit undersized to be a top forward, and his hot head nature is a liability to a team. Marshall can now get on with coaching and get Wests off the bottom

Well said this comment is right on the ball

TWAS, by way of credentials do you mean that coaching in Australia is not good enough. Who would have thought that Phill Mooney was good enough to coach the Reds back a while ago. But he was given a go at it and was very successful. If you are never given a go you will never know. We seem to think that if you are coaching overseas ie 6 nations you are soooo much better than if you are coaching Super Rugby???

I read about the first twenty or so comments and the consensus seems to be from most is that you could never trust an Australian coach to coach our national side. What is wrong with this country do we not believe that we are capable of having enough intelligence to coach the wallabies. That seems to me to be what is wrong with rugby these days. Way too many people thinking that we are inferior to other people from other countries. Where is the belief that Australians are as good as anyone. If you never get to have a go at a job how do you ever know if you can do it???? Have some faith all you killjoys and start believing in how good we are and have been in the past. In the past we were coached by Australians and were very successful. So have some FAITH

Been through Ma Ma Creek many times as I live in Warwick and we do the drive at times to go to Brisbane just as an alternative

Jimbo you are absolutely correct in your opinion. The stupid box kick within your own half is plainly dumb. what you have said is perfectly as I have described more than once on this forum. However I did notice in the last game where they were box kicking a lot longer trying to gain territory and at times they kicked for the lineout. There needs to be more lineout kicking as you then gain territory and you have a chance of winning the lineout. As I have said it is fools gold to think that teams these days are going to make a mistake catching the ball. And as you say box kicking short is only handing over possession, so what is the point???? The box kick used to used when you were in the oppositions territory and you had run through a lot of phases and the scrum half box kicked to put it in front of his charging forwards. I was a scrum half and I taught both my sons how to box kick with either foot left or right. It is to be used judiciously not randomly. The Wallabies need a bloke than can kick long and accurately, ie like Roger Gould in my day. I’m looking forward to the super season to see if JS plans have rubbed off on some of the super coaches

On the subject of coaches being good, bad or indifferent. Good coaches do not have to be good players. I think that they should have played the game they coach at some point in time to become acquainted with the way the game operates. The essence of being a good coach is to be able to get into players heads and make them believe that they can play better. Good coaches have an overall plan on how they want the team to play. In the case of J S he has the basic plan but there are variations to the plan that he can implement for different oppositions etc. He is centred on attacking rugby ie running the ball. That doesn’t mean that he has banned kicking. But there is less than there has been. And the kicking is starting to develop into augmenting attacking rugby. I see some lessening of the stupid box kick from inside our half to now longer box kicking to gain territory. We now are prepared to run the ball instead of kicking possession away and hoping for the opposition to make a mistake. As I have said in this modern era that is fool’s gold to imagine the opposition will make a mistake. I now can see a light at the end of a long tunnel for the Wallabies. Let us pray that RA starts to implement changes so that rugby can survive here in Australia

Harry I agree with your assessment I have long abhorred the stupid short box kick, against good opposition all it achieves is giving back possession to the opposition. If you are going to kick in your own half please for God’s sake kick long to contest lineout in their territory. In days gone past, if the flyhalf could not kick long the fullback stood up to take the kick. Shades of Gould and Mclean era, back in the 70s. Horses for courses. This game saw the Wallabies resort to some of their previous conservatism, and that was a mistake. Lolly at flyhalf went back into his shell and Ikky didn’t play all that well at 12. probably due to Lolly playing carefully, that flowed on the the rest of the backline. And I did note the defence was really compressed, if you get that not perfect it comes back to bite you. I hope the coach continues but he may not and then heavens above we might have to select an Australian coach. That would be so brave to think we might value our coaching system to produce a really good coach

Nat To assume that I have never done anything wrong in my life is really way over the top assumption. I have made my share of mistakes and been rightly punished for them. I would never have made the comments that I did if I hadn’t had the experience. And I did not say the he should be punished for the rest of his life I did say that he should be banned for a two season period and to me that would be a suitable punishment as he would have to go and get an ordinary job to sustain himself like us mere mortals

The adjudication by the ref was not the best game that I’ve seen There were some decisions for both sides that were not up to international standard. A couple of times when the wallabies kicked for line we didn’t make it and against a top side you have to make touch every time, this stuff is schoolboy error and came back to bite us. I can see the bones are there for the Wallabies now we need to put some polish to them. It’s hard sometimes to watch, one moment they are on fire doing really well then they make silly schoolboy errors that lets the opposition take control. There is still a tendency to make arm tackles by us and that does hurt us. JAS is working out well and he is teaching others either side of him to use the shoulder and wrap the arms not as they have been doing arms first and then shoulder. I’m not a league advocate but the code does bring some good things to Rugby in that they all know how to tackle properly. As I said the ref missed a lot and let the rucks become messy. His decisions led to confusion by both sides

A draw is the sensible decision to be made each team gets a point and they walk away happy and the crowd walks away happy. The extra time etc and golden point do not create excitement that is a fallacy that the NRL created by the hype that they put out to justify the golden point inception.
For the grand final they could play 2 extra five minute halves to decide a winner but only if its a grand final

I have an opinion that Mam should not be playing rugby league. That should be his punishment for the injury that he did to innocent people, driving while under the influence. The lack of responsibility that he has shown should be enough to say to him, see you later. If he doesn’t get a custodial sentence he should be told to go and get a job somewhere and work for a living like us mere mortals. That to me would be a suitable punishment for the crime that he has committed. To all you out there that say Oh he just made a mistake he is a young bloke and he will learn from this. I say to you what about the people in the other car that got injured. There is a huge difference between dui and what Mam did. And also there are a dozen Mam’s out there just dying to get the chance to have a go at a league career at less money that Mam Is getting now. IMO they should sack him and move on, it will not be the end of the world. And the NRL should stand up to be counted and give him a serious ban for at lest 2 seasons

I just love all these posters that blast McDermot and lampoon his passing etc. I have watched him very critically over his time, and I have to say he passes fairly well. He may not be a natural but he has a good pass that is quite adequate. Please if you do not agree show my the multiple instances where he has not passed to his flyhalf or where he has stuffed up the pass, or where he has failed to get the pass to go the distance. His pass is reasonable dependable. I should know having been a scrum half in my time and both my sons are scrum halfs at rep level. The thing that Mc D brings to the team is his pace around the ruck you can actually see the difference when he comes on. The other halfs are good, Gordon is fine, but they are a bit pedestrian, and don’t talk to me about White who just wants to control the whole game from Scrumhalf by box kicking or not passing to his flyhalf. At least Mc D brings some difference and some variety to the game and speed. That is the vital ingredient

Hi Blik My son fracture his arm when he was a little bloke playing under 10 rugby. It was a green stick fracture. I got a piece of poly pipe and cut it lengthways and wrapped it around the break and then bandaged it up and he played the whole season with it like that. Nothing was said and although he said it was sore at the end of each game he could still tackle fairly well.

A perfectly valid comment by an intelligent human. But I’ll bet there are plenty that do not agree. I wouldn’t give you 2 bob for any of these thugs that have been convicted in a court of law but still played on for their clubs or got signed by another club. You do not need criminal behaviour to be rewarded. It shows all those young blokes that you can get away with most things if you play well

The simple thing that the wallabies need to do that they didn’t do last week was tackle with your shoulder and wrap your arms. Not as they did last week doing arm tackles. As I said previously you learn to tackle with the shoulder when you are a junior. Surely as a Wallaby you are expected to be able to tackle properly.

In Summation after reading the comments and watching the game, all that I could say was that the wallabies defence was appalling. The Scots just ran through us like a hot knife through butter. There were far to many arm tackles. Whats wrong with putting the shoulder in and then wrap the arms like your supposed to, as you learnt as a junior player from the age of 6. I could not believe I was watching a professional side. The players need to own this as does the coaching staff. I thought that the set piece was OK. The forwards did OK, the scrum held up well, however Skelton was found out by his lack of speed around the park. Our million dollar man was unlucky to be injured, he needs a lot more game time to be up to scratch, but he went OK for his time on the field. Lolly struggled at flyhalf, but that was to be expected against top opposition. And Wright was always going to find it hard defensively against a top side. The coach needs to run our best versus the Irish now that we have seen what all the players that toured can do. All in all it will be of benefit later as I would hope that the coach has learnt from this tour.

Good comments by White, I see that the wallabies are playing to a vastly different plan. It reminds me so much of the era that Campo, Gouldy, Noddy, Slacky and a few others were playing superb rugby. “They ran the ball”. And this side is doing just that. It is the way of the Wallabies that has been missing for a lot of years now. Good on Joe for instilling this type of rugby, I commend him for his effort. It makes a game that the wallabies are playing worth watching regardless of the outcome. It has me enthused and I have not been enthused for a few years now. I’m so looking forward to the weekend. And I also noted that there is a change to White’s game he actually passed the ball to lolly most of the time instead of that stupid box kick. I watch in horror each time they set up for that stupid box kick in their own half to then having to contest possession at the half way line after doing this for ten or so rucks, to then do it all over again. In the last test I saw the scrummies box kick long for the line to contest lineout or at least gain some distance in territory. That’s what you use a box kick for. if you are short kicking in your own half so that the opposition may make a mistake, that’s fools gold these days as sides are too good for that.

BF you are entirely on the money here I always coached to have the body on the ground when scoring tries, putting the ball down one handed is asking for trouble. However in the case of Wright not making the conversion a lot easier, he is at fault here, as he was not in any danger of being tackled at all. I always coached players to make sure that they made it as easy as possible for the conversion to be successful. But not to take chances.

Having read the comments I have to agree to some extent, while I admire Wrights ability when running the ball and scoring tries. I lament that he is not thinking of his team mate trying to convert the try. He had plenty of opportunity to run the ball so much closer to the uprights. But he was more interested in showboating. Leaves a bad taste in the mouth when blokes do not think of their team mates. If the coach has some “rounded things” he will have a quite word in the next training session. Every now and again coaches have to bring some players down to earth. The better they are the more times this happens. Good players are always full of confidence of the own ability, thats why they are good, but a good coach can open their eyes to reality and get them to appreciate their team mates.

I thought that Kerevi will not be missed if we don’t see him again this season. He did not look anywhere near to being on song the same for Skelton. He played OK but was not outstanding. Uru was good as was the rest of the pack. Bell got a lessen at scrum time but that will be good for him he did carry well though in general play. White went OK and passed the ball instead of kicking the leather off the ball. All the pundits that say that McDermott has not got the skill set to start are whistling up their backsides. His pass while it is not absolutely natural it is very adequate. I did not see any example of where he threw a bad pass in his time on the park. However if I was selecting I would have Gordon play first and have McDermott come on in the second half, he initiates some good tries due to his speed around the ruck. By the time the world cup comes around we may see McDermott starting. I also thought that the reffing was particularly pedantic and I did not agree with the red card, yellow maybe but not red. And in general it was very picky but unbiased, which did not enhance the game. The Wallabies are at last playing how wallabies should play. Running the ball and not box kicking in their own half, they are long kicking generally to contest lineout as it should be when in your own half. The box kick is utilised when you are on the attack in their half if all else is not happening.

Like you big M, I too played until I was 67 years, ancient. I managed, coached, administrated, before I played as I never thought that I was good enough to play as I was league at school and then AFL as a teenager. But in my middle 20s I got the chance to join a rugby club and that was the best thing for me and changed my life. I elevated myself out of my working class background and mixed with uni grads and professional people that could converse on a level that I enjoyed. These blokes are my lifelong friends to this day. Singing the woodpecker song with Wallabies and others at 1.00 am in the morning beats all. That’s after they played and came back to our club after their celebrations. It was nothing to see a Wallaby play on Saturday and then run out for his local team on Sunday. But you cannot live in the past. I played my first actual game in a exhibition match at the age of 32 against past players etc, all were my mates, they took absolute delight in catching me with ball in hand and I had to go to ground and try and lay the ball back with a pack of howling hyenas jumping on top of me kicking the shit out of me trying to disguise it as rucking the ball. They loved it laughing all the time. I ended up with what I call the medals of war all over my back and sides. It was a moment in time that I will call my ultimate experience. I became one of them. I continued to play oldies right up until my last game at 67 in Hawaii. The wallabies tour, and see even I toured. Does that make me the same. In some small part it does in my tiny mind. My last tour I was partnered with another to be scrum half and he ran on first but he got injured in the first game of the week long carnival and I played the entire carnival without a rest. My lasting memory was my words running to the breakdown. Pick and Drive until I get there guys. Oh what a week. 6 games in the week. My real expertise was in admin and I am proud of my efforts in generating income for the clubs that I joined and making them solvent and profitable. Both my sons play and coach rugby it runs in our family. It can not get any better. But as you say if you cannot watch it, is it really happening. I fear for the health of rugby in Australia. I think that super rugby in its current for has run its course. Wiser heads than me can pontificate how it will continue. But to me it is and always will be the game that’s played in heaven.

A much more level headed assessment of JAS game, he played really well for his first game and I applaud him for his effort. However IMO I would have awarded Bell as MOM with Ikki inside JAS the next best. I have to say our forwards stood up to be counted and that is where we gained ascendancy. It emanated from the forwards initially and then the backs had a crack. Wright ran the ball instead of kicking and both the scrum halves box kicked long for a change. Lolly played very well at flyhalf, his best game yet. But the pack played sooo well and that was the essence of the win