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| Quote ="Charlie Sheen"Why do people always assume we're going to get hammered by NZ? Their record against us in England has been pretty awful for the last 10 years.'"
cos they are half blind idiots
the kiwis have only won here twice in 11or12 games since 2002
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| Quote ="wakey_saint"Maybe it is just personal opinion, but from what I have seen, Atkins is big, strong, got pace and a far better finisher than Cudjoe. Cudjoe is quick, but not really impressed me from what I have seen this year, unlike Atkins'"
Atkins is big, strong and pacy. So is Cudjoe
Difference is Atkins is a defensive liability and can't pass.
Cudjoe is excellent in defence, has great hands and is a good finisher, he also isn't afraid to pass to his supporting players
If Cudjoe hadn't impressed you, you haven't seen him play.
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| I agree with many of your points but how bad was Cudjoes pass inside against Leeds
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| Quote ="Code13"Atkins is big, strong and pacy. So is Cudjoe
Difference is Atkins is a defensive liability and can't pass.
Cudjoe is excellent in defence, has great hands and is a good finisher, he also isn't afraid to pass to his supporting players
If Cudjoe hadn't impressed you, you haven't seen him play.'"
Ryan Atkins - 23 games, 21 tries, 12 assists, 2113 metres from 244 carries, 61 tackle busts, 20 clean breaks, 278 tackles, 10 missed tackles, 4 penalties conceded
Leroy Cudjoe - 26 games, 6 tries, 9 assists, 1911 metres in 292 carries, 45 tackle busts, 7 clean breaks, 485 tackles, 29 missed tackles, 11 penalties conceded
The stats for 2011 dont lie, granted Cudjoe has made more tackles (although this could also be down to Huddersfield defending more as a team than Warrington), but other than that he isnt anywhere near. Atkins scores tries at a good rate, makes more metres, has a higher average of metres per carry, more assists, more tackle busts, more clean breaks and given away less penalties.
Therefore, I think my opinion between the 2 is fairly justified
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| Quote ="Code13"Atkins is big, strong and pacy. So is Cudjoe
Difference is Atkins is a defensive liability and can't pass.
Cudjoe is excellent in defence, has great hands and is a good finisher, he also isn't afraid to pass to his supporting players
If Cudjoe hadn't impressed you, you haven't seen him play.'"
I think Atkins’ passing game has come on considerably this year. He was poor last year’s 4 Nations, no doubt, but it is also clear that he has worked hard on his game over the past 12 months and he certainly has all the physical attributes
Personally, I would have had Atkins in the squad (not saying over Cudjoe directly)
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| On that last line I agree
And I definitely agree Atkins should also be in the squad too
The problem with stats is they are meaningless without context. Given Atkins has been the beneficial recipient of THE best attacking TEAM I can remember seeing in Super League it's not surprising his stats look so good.
I'd be prepared to wager that if the Giants form hadn't been so awful for the last 3 months then Cudjoes stats would have been as impressive. What is impressive about Cudjoe is that his form didn't dip with the teams and he carried on his excellent work.
I'd also day Cudjoe is much much safer under the high ball
He has definitely earned his spot, and as I said, I agree Atkins should also be there ahead of a few others. Hell
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| George Riley tweeted that Ryan Atkins asked not to be considered for selection, so it's not much of an issue.
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| Quote ="wakey_saint"For me, Peacock has been average this year'"
Perhaps for the part of the season he was regaining his fitness, but not in the latter two months. His GF performance was phenomenal and one of the main reasons why Leeds are champions. Nearly 200 metres in a GF shows he is not average.
I would take Atkins over Cudjoe.
Maybe a few too many Leeds players in but I doubt all of them will be first choice picks.
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| Will Danny Brough flip back to Scotland for the next World Cup?
I agree he's been out of form, but worth having him the squad and a no brainer once Lomax pulled out.
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| Quote ="Big Ask"Will Danny Brough flip back to Scotland for the next World Cup?
I agree he's been out of form, but worth having him the squad and a no brainer once Lomax pulled out.'"
People were on here moaning about Chase being picked because he'd played for the Exiles (who arn't even a test team, they're like the Barbarians of RL), yet most would be happy for Brough to be picked despite playing several games for Scotland in the past. Seems like hypocrisy to me.
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| Excited to see what Reed, Jones Bishop, Chase and Heighington can bring to the squad and to see the continued development of guys like Briscoe and Widdop.
Guys like JJB, Sinfield and McIlorum shouldn't be in but none would really let you down (need more then that though). I think a couple of you get guys in Mossop and Houghton are very unlucky to miss out and Luke Robinson also.
I'm one of the few that backs Ryan Baileys inclusion. He's not the best prop option available and he's a grade A moron but he can hopefully do a wind up job on a few of the Aussies. Seem to remember him getting to them the last time he turned out for GB.
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| Some odd selections and ommissions. MoM in the Grand Final omitted?
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| Usual problem - we'll get destroyed by Australia's centres.
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| Quote ="Dally"Some odd selections and ommissions. MoM in the Grand Final omitted?'"
He is injured.
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| Quote ="Wigg'n"He is injured.'"
He is also the one Leeds player that should be anywhere near the squad
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| Quote ="roughyedspud"cos they are half blind idiots
the kiwis have only won here twice in 11or12 games since 2002'"
They are still a better side than us though and on paper you would back them to win.
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| Code13 - are you saying that only Burrow out of the team that beat Wire at their place when it counted, and then went on to win the GF desrve a place in the squad? Should there be more Quins or Wakey players maybe? Very odd.
Anyway, for those complaining about the number of Leeds players I can't see more than Hall, Peacock and possibly Sinfield (depending on team structure) being first choice. Almost all the rest will be backup only - McGuire, Bailey, BJB, JJB and Ablett I would guess are behind others, at least to start?
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| Quote ="Conroy"They are still a better side than us though and on paper you would back them to win.'"
go doa haka or something you
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| Quote ="Big Ask"Will Danny Brough flip back to Scotland for the next World Cup?
I agree he's been out of form, but worth having him the squad and a no brainer once Lomax pulled out.'"
technically danny brough is still a scotland player,having not played a game for england he's absolutely within his rights,without any laws being bent or broken, to go back to scotland
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| Quote ="Dally"Usual problem - we'll get destroyed by Australia's centres.'"
We are in a bad state if so , Australia are down to a not even half fit Inglis and their fifth and sixth choices for centre..
Given the fact that Australia are missing over a dozen players and NZ not far short it is Mcnamara's golden opportunity....if we do not at least take them to the wire it will be very disappointing....
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| Quote ="roughyedspud"technically danny brough is still a scotland player,having not played a game for england he's absolutely within his rights,without any laws being bent or broken, to go back to scotland'"
Maybe Ben Harrison will go bvack to Ireland
Maybe Chris Bridge will go back to Ireland
If McIlorum does not play he will elect to play for Ireland again
Either way there will be a lot of players who will not be playing in the next world cup who should be but they are having to play the England RFL lottery
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| It made me laugh the quote saying England had decided to pick heritage players just to get a win when in the same paragraph Uate was named for Aus..
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Quote ="Dico"icon_mad.gifnaqp7llIt made me laugh the quote saying England had decided to pick heritage players just to get a win when in the same paragraph Uate was named for Aus..'" Cribb were teaching me rugby league basics like how to play the ball.’’
Rugby union had been the main football code played in Fiji, although Aku had always had an interest in rugby league and had closely followed the careers of Fijian rugby league stars Noa Nadruku and Lote Tuqiri on TV.
Aku soon followed the lead of his cousins and schoolmates and joined the Woy Woy Roosters under-17s team in the Central Coast rugby league premiership.
Roosters president Grant Pride says Aku made an immediate impression.
Aku proved a fast learner, too, and in 2005 was selected in the Australian Schoolboys squad alongside current Newcastle teammates Jarrod Mullen and Cory Paterson, as well as current NRL stars Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra), David Taylor (South Sydney) and Mitchell Pearce (Sydney Roosters).
Aku has fond memories of his first rugby league games at Woy Woy.
‘‘It was just fun,’’ he says. ‘‘All you did was run and score tries. You got more space than in rugby union. In union you’ve got to ruck and maul, but in league you get to keep the ball for five tackles and you kick it on the last. That’s the fun part about league.
‘‘And I didn’t really get touched back in those days because nobody could catch me,’’ he laughs.
Everything came easily to Aku on the football field. So there was no reason for him to ever doubt that he would make it in the NRL.
‘‘I thought it would be easy getting into the NRL,’’ he says, smiling at his naivety. ‘‘But it’s hard work.’’
As a teenager, Aku had trials with Wests Tigers, Manly and the Sydney Roosters.
‘‘My last trial was with Newcastle, and the only reason I picked Newcastle was because it was fairly close to Woy Woy and only maybe two hours on the train,’’ he says.
‘‘I then got a letter from Newcastle saying that I had made the train-on squad.’’
For the next two years, Aku had a crash course on the dedication needed to make it in the NRL. And he almost failed the test.
‘‘I was going to give up,’’ he confesses. ‘‘It was a bit hard for me.
More here
Link
www.theherald.com.au/news/local/ ... torypage=3
I guess since he lives in Oz and is a citizen of Australia its hard to tell him he can not play for the country he has PERMANENTLY moved to.
Not like a Grand Parent or 3 year rule like some of the current English squad.
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Quote ="Dico"icon_mad.gifnaqp7llIt made me laugh the quote saying England had decided to pick heritage players just to get a win when in the same paragraph Uate was named for Aus..'" Cribb were teaching me rugby league basics like how to play the ball.’’
Rugby union had been the main football code played in Fiji, although Aku had always had an interest in rugby league and had closely followed the careers of Fijian rugby league stars Noa Nadruku and Lote Tuqiri on TV.
Aku soon followed the lead of his cousins and schoolmates and joined the Woy Woy Roosters under-17s team in the Central Coast rugby league premiership.
Roosters president Grant Pride says Aku made an immediate impression.
Aku proved a fast learner, too, and in 2005 was selected in the Australian Schoolboys squad alongside current Newcastle teammates Jarrod Mullen and Cory Paterson, as well as current NRL stars Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra), David Taylor (South Sydney) and Mitchell Pearce (Sydney Roosters).
Aku has fond memories of his first rugby league games at Woy Woy.
‘‘It was just fun,’’ he says. ‘‘All you did was run and score tries. You got more space than in rugby union. In union you’ve got to ruck and maul, but in league you get to keep the ball for five tackles and you kick it on the last. That’s the fun part about league.
‘‘And I didn’t really get touched back in those days because nobody could catch me,’’ he laughs.
Everything came easily to Aku on the football field. So there was no reason for him to ever doubt that he would make it in the NRL.
‘‘I thought it would be easy getting into the NRL,’’ he says, smiling at his naivety. ‘‘But it’s hard work.’’
As a teenager, Aku had trials with Wests Tigers, Manly and the Sydney Roosters.
‘‘My last trial was with Newcastle, and the only reason I picked Newcastle was because it was fairly close to Woy Woy and only maybe two hours on the train,’’ he says.
‘‘I then got a letter from Newcastle saying that I had made the train-on squad.’’
For the next two years, Aku had a crash course on the dedication needed to make it in the NRL. And he almost failed the test.
‘‘I was going to give up,’’ he confesses. ‘‘It was a bit hard for me.
More here
Link
www.theherald.com.au/news/local/ ... torypage=3
I guess since he lives in Oz and is a citizen of Australia its hard to tell him he can not play for the country he has PERMANENTLY moved to.
Not like a Grand Parent or 3 year rule like some of the current English squad.
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| I always look at the england squad and think which of those players are the aussies etc going to be worried about...
Tomkins, Roby, Graham, Mozza, Ellis are the only 5 i can realistically see them worrying about.
I mean Ben Jones Bishop???? Really??????????
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Quote ="Jonesy"Not quite the same is it though?
Uate came to Australia as a teenager and was developed in Australia not poached as a ready built player.
"Aku was aged 16 when he left his home in the remote Fijian island of Lakeba to live with his father, David Uate, and stepmother Julie, at Woy Woy, on the Central Coast.
‘‘I wasn’t going really well at school because I always wanted to come home and go fishing and do things like that,’’ Aku says sheepishly. ‘‘So Dad brought me over here in 2003 to finish high school.’’
Aku attended Brisbane Water Secondary College, Woy Woy, where he became one of the foundation students in the school’s Rugby League Sports Academy.
‘‘It was just fun back then,’’ Aku recalls. ‘‘Mr [Matt Marker and Mr [Mark Cribb were teaching me rugby league basics like how to play the ball.’’
Rugby union had been the main football code played in Fiji, although Aku had always had an interest in rugby league and had closely followed the careers of Fijian rugby league stars Noa Nadruku and Lote Tuqiri on TV.
Aku soon followed the lead of his cousins and schoolmates and joined the Woy Woy Roosters under-17s team in the Central Coast rugby league premiership.
Roosters president Grant Pride says Aku made an immediate impression.
Aku proved a fast learner, too, and in 2005 was selected in the Australian Schoolboys squad alongside current Newcastle teammates Jarrod Mullen and Cory Paterson, as well as current NRL stars Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra), David Taylor (South Sydney) and Mitchell Pearce (Sydney Roosters).
Aku has fond memories of his first rugby league games at Woy Woy.
‘‘It was just fun,’’ he says. ‘‘All you did was run and score tries. You got more space than in rugby union. In union you’ve got to ruck and maul, but in league you get to keep the ball for five tackles and you kick it on the last. That’s the fun part about league.
‘‘And I didn’t really get touched back in those days because nobody could catch me,’’ he laughs.
Everything came easily to Aku on the football field. So there was no reason for him to ever doubt that he would make it in the NRL.
‘‘I thought it would be easy getting into the NRL,’’ he says, smiling at his naivety. ‘‘But it’s hard work.’’
As a teenager, Aku had trials with Wests Tigers, Manly and the Sydney Roosters.
‘‘My last trial was with Newcastle, and the only reason I picked Newcastle was because it was fairly close to Woy Woy and only maybe two hours on the train,’’ he says.
‘‘I then got a letter from Newcastle saying that I had made the train-on squad.’’
For the next two years, Aku had a crash course on the dedication needed to make it in the NRL. And he almost failed the test.
‘‘I was going to give up,’’ he confesses. ‘‘It was a bit hard for me.
More here
Link
www.theherald.com.au/news/local/ ... torypage=3
I guess since he lives in Oz and is a citizen of Australia its hard to tell him he can not play for the country he has PERMANENTLY moved to.
Not like a Grand Parent or 3 year rule like some of the current English squad.'"
He's still not Australian.
The only debatable one in the English squad is Rangi Chase and he hasnt lived in NZ since he was about 13. Its absolutely no different to Uate or many others Aus have picked in the past
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Quote ="Jonesy"Not quite the same is it though?
Uate came to Australia as a teenager and was developed in Australia not poached as a ready built player.
"Aku was aged 16 when he left his home in the remote Fijian island of Lakeba to live with his father, David Uate, and stepmother Julie, at Woy Woy, on the Central Coast.
‘‘I wasn’t going really well at school because I always wanted to come home and go fishing and do things like that,’’ Aku says sheepishly. ‘‘So Dad brought me over here in 2003 to finish high school.’’
Aku attended Brisbane Water Secondary College, Woy Woy, where he became one of the foundation students in the school’s Rugby League Sports Academy.
‘‘It was just fun back then,’’ Aku recalls. ‘‘Mr [Matt Marker and Mr [Mark Cribb were teaching me rugby league basics like how to play the ball.’’
Rugby union had been the main football code played in Fiji, although Aku had always had an interest in rugby league and had closely followed the careers of Fijian rugby league stars Noa Nadruku and Lote Tuqiri on TV.
Aku soon followed the lead of his cousins and schoolmates and joined the Woy Woy Roosters under-17s team in the Central Coast rugby league premiership.
Roosters president Grant Pride says Aku made an immediate impression.
Aku proved a fast learner, too, and in 2005 was selected in the Australian Schoolboys squad alongside current Newcastle teammates Jarrod Mullen and Cory Paterson, as well as current NRL stars Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra), David Taylor (South Sydney) and Mitchell Pearce (Sydney Roosters).
Aku has fond memories of his first rugby league games at Woy Woy.
‘‘It was just fun,’’ he says. ‘‘All you did was run and score tries. You got more space than in rugby union. In union you’ve got to ruck and maul, but in league you get to keep the ball for five tackles and you kick it on the last. That’s the fun part about league.
‘‘And I didn’t really get touched back in those days because nobody could catch me,’’ he laughs.
Everything came easily to Aku on the football field. So there was no reason for him to ever doubt that he would make it in the NRL.
‘‘I thought it would be easy getting into the NRL,’’ he says, smiling at his naivety. ‘‘But it’s hard work.’’
As a teenager, Aku had trials with Wests Tigers, Manly and the Sydney Roosters.
‘‘My last trial was with Newcastle, and the only reason I picked Newcastle was because it was fairly close to Woy Woy and only maybe two hours on the train,’’ he says.
‘‘I then got a letter from Newcastle saying that I had made the train-on squad.’’
For the next two years, Aku had a crash course on the dedication needed to make it in the NRL. And he almost failed the test.
‘‘I was going to give up,’’ he confesses. ‘‘It was a bit hard for me.
More here
Link
www.theherald.com.au/news/local/ ... torypage=3
I guess since he lives in Oz and is a citizen of Australia its hard to tell him he can not play for the country he has PERMANENTLY moved to.
Not like a Grand Parent or 3 year rule like some of the current English squad.'"
He's still not Australian.
The only debatable one in the English squad is Rangi Chase and he hasnt lived in NZ since he was about 13. Its absolutely no different to Uate or many others Aus have picked in the past
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