The Official English Rugby Thread

[Rhubarb & Custard]

I too am much more of the view a backrow of Willis, Curry and Dombrandt looks the way to go, with Barbeary perhaps the emerging presence on the bench. If Lawes is the bench lock, being behind Itoje and Hill, that gives us some extra cover but much less reliance on a player who is a real talent but not much of a loose forward.

I'll confess I've not completely given up on Billy. If he's playing well enough to be involved in the World Cup training camp then there's a decent amount of time to sort fitness concerns. Whether he'll be playing well enough to even be called up I've no idea but the underlying talent and the exact sort of player we're looking for are there

[Brazil]

Lawes is a great player but, to pinch a line from Eric Morecambe, he's got all the right notes, he just plays them in the wrong order. A test 6 needs to be able to carry hard often as the first reciever in heavy traffic, a great jackler over the ball, a primary tackler, hit a lot of rucks and ideally he needs to be a decent lineout option. In that order. Lawes does it in the opposite order.

I refer you back to the esteemed scribe of PR. That doesn't matter so long as you've got it across the back row, or something.

[Kawazaki]

Lawes is a great player but, to pinch a line from Eric Morecambe, he's got all the right notes, he just plays them in the wrong order. A test 6 needs to be able to carry hard often as the first reciever in heavy traffic, a great jackler over the ball, a primary tackler, hit a lot of rucks and ideally he needs to be a decent lineout option. In that order. Lawes does it in the opposite order.

I refer you back to the esteemed scribe of PR. That doesn't matter so long as you've got it across the back row, or something.

He appeared on screen in a Zoom press conference. He's put on a lot of timber.

[Madness]

Anyway, some random points about England in this 6N.

1) We said picking Tuilagi and Nowell was a waste of everyone's time, and so it proved. THEY CAN'T STAY FIT, EDDIE. Nowell also still looked strong but slower than he's ever been, and never looked like being a real attacking threat. A large percentage of his tries for England have come against much weaker teams (plus Scotland). He is not the future. He is not even the present. Both players were a waste of a squad place.

2) Sam Simmonds had a weird tournament. He tackled like a demon. He had to play 7 a fair amount. He carried a huge amount. But he also never looked like actually making a break or causing teams real problems. It looks like a technical problem to me - it's very noticeable just how many times he carries into contact pretty much on the way down already. It's like he's terrified of being held up or getting hit hard, so he's looking just to make a couple of yards off every carry. There's some value in that, but it's not what makes Simmonds worth a punt. Admittedly we've barely managed to get within 5 metres for his other major skill to come into play.

3) Related - Dombrandt was dropped to the bench and I think it was a mistake. He had more impact, full stop. And in the absence of Curry for the final game, we couldn't get near opposition ball; he would've made a difference there.

4) Marcus Smith had an average tournament. He's been a cut-price George Ford, and George Ford is better at being George Ford. More importantly, George Ford is also a better player than the one Eddie often wants him to be, because Eddie is fucking addicted to bad kicking tactics. Smith is always going to have some cross field kicks go awry, and there were a couple of shockers at the weekend. He'll get better at them, hopefully, but it's also worth pointing out that his kicks to Steward worked a treat; perhaps having a tactic to a midget (Nowell) and a player who's crap in the air (Daly) isn't the way to go. I yelled at him for the attacking kick he put in just outside their 22 but Steward was within a foot of snatching it and scoring, so that was a good reminder that he does actually know what he's doing when he's playing attacking rugby. It was good to see him start to chance his arm more in the second half of that France game. I have no faith we're going to suddenly become a team that does that on the regular, though.

5) Talking of Daly - just stop. He's not up to international rugby at the moment. Stop having him around the squad. There are other utility backs worth a shot. Dropping Malins entirely was terrible man mangement, especially given Daly's repeated poor performances. If you want a flexible back, pick someone who's actually providing some utility or a young player with a very high ceiling (e.g. Malins, or even someone like Luke James).

6) No-one expects Randall to be incredible straight off. He is a much better player when we're trying to threaten teams. He's worth perservering with, but so is Quirke.

7) STOP FUCKING PICKING PLAYERS OUT OF POSITION AND STOP PICKING BENCHES THAT MEAN WE'RE THROWN INTO DISARRAY BY A SINGLE FUCKING INJURY

8) STOP PICKING PLAYERS IF THEY'RE NOT EVEN FIRST CHOICE FOR THEIR CLUBS UNLESS THEY'RE A RARE TALENT

9) STOP BEASTING PLAYERS IN TRAINING

10) PICK A REAL TWELVE FOR FUCK'S SAKE, EVERYONE KNOWS SMITH WORKS BEST WITH A TARGET MAN

might have gotten a bit annoyed at the end there

Well that saved me a lot time typing out pretty much the same stuff. Can someone point out to Eddie that we are not Australia and have a limited player pool so everyone in the backs needs to be able to play not quite as well out of position. Unless its someone like Manu then just pick the best player regularly playing in that position its not fucking difficult.

[Madness]

So this is a very rough list of regular English starting players who already have international experience or look like they are worth a go if they play in their best club position. I'll miss out loads especially youngsters in squads
(ignoring current injuries)

1 - Genge, Vunipola, Marler, Hepburn, Rapava-Ruskin, Goodrick-Clarke, Rodd, West, Obano, Boyce,
2 - Dolly, George, Woolstencroft, Walker, LCD, Langdon, Taylor, Oghre, Thacker, McGuigan, Blamire, Dunn
3 - Heyes, Collier, Williams Balmain, Schonert, Painter, Hill, Sinckler, Davison, Stuart
4/5 - Chessum, Wells, Itoje, Isiekwe, Hill, Slater, Munga, Beaumont, Ribbans, Stooke, Launchbury, Attwood, Ewels, McInally
6 - Martin, Ewels, Curry, Lawes, Shields, Hill, Reid
7 - Earl, Kenningham, Ludlow, Curry, Ludlam, Harrison, Willis, Kvesic, Underhill
8 - Vunipola, Dombrandt, Simmonds, Barbeary, Willis, Fitzharding, Chick
9 - Youngs, Van Poortflviet, Care, Maunder, Quirke, Mitchell, Robson, Randall, Spencer
10 - Ford, Burns, Farrell, Smith, Simmonds, Umaga, Cipriani
11 - Malins, Nowell, May, Hassel-Collins, Bassett, Radwan, Watson, Muir
12 - Kelly, Lozowski, Devoto, Atkinson, O'Connor, Ojomoh
13 - Marchant, Northmore, Slade, Tuilagi, James, Odogwu, Lawrence, Joseph
14 - Daly, Lynagh, Woodburn, Thorley, Loader, Sleightholme, Cokanasiga, Mcconnochie
15 - Steward, Goode, Woodward, James, Furbank, Freeman, De Glanville

[Madness]

Having a look at the Bath squad when putting the England player list together and I know they have injuries and poor coaches but how can a 23 squad of this calibre be at the bottom?

Obano
Dunn
Stuart
Ewels
McInally
Faletau
Underhill
Hughes
Spencer
Cips
Cokanasiga
Redpath
Joseph
Watson
De Glanville

Boyce, Du Toit, Morozov, Bayliss, Reid, Simpson, Ojomoh, McConnochie

[Kawazaki]

Telegraph

Nice article for the Farrell haters to post-rationalise and find other reasons why Farrell is no good...

England's biggest winner from a dismal Six Nations? Owen Farrell
He'll never be universally popular, but Farrell's on his way back and must return to the England side to build partnership with Marcus Smith
By
Ben Coles,
RUGBY REPORTER
23 March 2022 • 7:30am
Owen Farrell
England missed Owen Farrell's leadership and control CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
With the knives out for Eddie Jones and England widely criticised after a poor tournament, Owen Farrell has ended up having a great Six Nations without even spending a minute on the field.
The announcement of Farrell's championship-ending ankle injury back in January posed an interesting dilemma. What would happen if England set the tournament alight with an all-conquering display and Farrell, the captain since Dylan Hartley's injury and viewed by Eddie Jones as absolutely vital to the side from a leadership and playmaking perspective, was no longer required in order for England to be one of the world's best sides?
England might have come third in the tournament but that was only an improvement due to the mediocrity of Scotland and Wales, with England's record reading exactly the same as last year: two wins, three losses, 10 table points. There was no attacking revolution, no massive suggestion that Farrell - often cheaply targeted as a deadweight in England's backline, yet revered by players and coaches - was holding England back.
Given Jones loves referring to the process of continually improving as England build towards the Rugby World Cup, were England not supposed to make a leap in this Six Nations during their continued progression towards 2023? It didn't feel or look as they made any discernible progress as a team, even if some individuals will be better off for another five Tests under their belt, including Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward.
Farrell, apparently, was the handbrake holding back England's attack. The evidence from this Six Nations, scoring only eight tries - England's lowest return since 2013 - compared to the dozen they scored in 2021, would suggest otherwise, as would the fact that England beat more defenders and made more line breaks last year. Jones pointed out in his debrief that England attacked well up until the opposition's 22, before things broke down. Farrell's authority during the moments where England's composure let them down would have been welcome.
Jones deserved a bit of slack here. He was clear back in the autumn that the more time Smith and Farrell could play together the better. All being well they would have had seven Tests together by now, going back to the Test against Australia in the autumn when Smith came into the starting XV. Instead, Smith and Farrell have had 68 minutes together, with Farrell going off injured against the Wallabies and not playing for England since.
Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell in action
Marcus Smith and Farrell have played just 68 minutes together CREDIT: AFP
"Marcus could be an absolutely brilliant 10 so he needs to have a 12 next to him that can run the game for him and that’s where Owen is so good," Jones said in January. Smith flashed in patches during the Six Nations but wasn't the dominant force he is at Harlequins; a result of England's overall attack being "clunky", as Ben Youngs put it after France, but partly too because Farrell can help Smith, as Jones explained above, but wasn't available.
The one-point win over South Africa in the autumn was touted as proof that England could win without Farrell, having defeated the world champions at Twickenham and gained a bit of revenge for the World Cup final. But a few months later that result increasingly looks like an anomaly.
There were good arguments to be made that England would have won up at Murrayfield against Scotland, or not dropped off against Italy, with Farrell on the field to direct traffic, and his experience would have helped, too, in Paris.
In this Rugby World Cup cycle, England's winning percentage is better with Farrell in the side than without him and against Tier 1 opposition England's winning percentage drops from 71 per cent with Farrell playing (four defeats out of 14) to 50 per cent when he has not (three defeats from six).
Jones, intriguingly, would not commit to Farrell coming back as captain when he discussed him in his Six Nations debrief but it would be a shock if he didn't, even if Courtney Lawes has done little wrong during his four Tests in charge this season.
He will never be universally popular, but Farrell is on his way back and will be in England's midfield again imminently. Smith will benefit from having him around again. And perhaps, following his absence, what Farrell brings to the table will be more greatly appreciated too.

[petej]

Telegraph

Nice article for the Farrell haters to post-rationalise and find other reasons why Farrell is no good...

Or Farrell is no better than an out of position Slade. We did no worse without him this year despite getting a player sent off in game. The loss of Farrell had no negative impact on our results.

[sockwithaticket]

I don't consider us being shite at scoring tries with a slow back three, unbalanced centre partnership and new half back pairing as a particularly strong argument to bring back a member of a different unbalanced partnership.

Stick someone like Odogwu or Marchant next to Farrell and maybe there's an argument, but if we're going back to Farrell - Slade and not doing anything about the back three's gas, then I wouldn't expect his return to make an appreciable difference to tries scored.

[Kawazaki]

Telegraph

Nice article for the Farrell haters to post-rationalise and find other reasons why Farrell is no good...

Or Farrell is no better than an out of position Slade. We did no worse without him this year despite getting a player sent off in game. The loss of Farrell had no negative impact on our results.

Scored 50% more tries with Farrell and 150% more line-breaks though*.












* In all seriousness, English did miss him.

[JM2K6]

Think it's actually impossible to say if we missed him. We went from "oh we need Owen to hold Smith's hand" to "fuck the concept of structured rugby entirely, let the tyro freestyle it with a worse backline than the one he plays with in club rugby".

Perhaps with Farrell he would've forced Gleeson to actually do some coaching. Who knows.

[Kawazaki]

Think it's actually impossible to say if we missed him. We went from "oh we need Owen to hold Smith's hand" to "fuck the concept of structured rugby entirely, let the tyro freestyle it with a worse backline than the one he plays with in club rugby".

Perhaps with Farrell he would've forced Gleeson to actually do some coaching. Who knows.

Everything about England is worse than what the players are used to in their club rugby. I'd fancy Bath to give this England team a decent run for their money.

[Ovals]

Think it's actually impossible to say if we missed him. We went from "oh we need Owen to hold Smith's hand" to "fuck the concept of structured rugby entirely, let the tyro freestyle it with a worse backline than the one he plays with in club rugby".

Perhaps with Farrell he would've forced Gleeson to actually do some coaching. Who knows.

If Eddie isn't going to pick an actual 12, we might as well have Farrell there - but it won't lead us to where we want to be but at least it might mean we stick with a backline for more than one gane at a time.

[fishfoodie]

Think it's actually impossible to say if we missed him. We went from "oh we need Owen to hold Smith's hand" to "fuck the concept of structured rugby entirely, let the tyro freestyle it with a worse backline than the one he plays with in club rugby".

Perhaps with Farrell he would've forced Gleeson to actually do some coaching. Who knows.

This !, so much this.

I was always left wondering what the underlying plan was with Englands attack, & after the end of the Scottish game, I came to the conclusion that there wasn't one, & the players were just told to ad lib; because they'd never trained with a plan, that just left them with kick it, & hope someone from your side catches it.

Which might have worked if you didn't have the slowest SH in world rugby, who consistently kicks too deep, & a glacially slow back three.

Occasionally Smith was able to use Stewart's fielding, with pin point cross-field kicks; but without a functioning bosher, 2nd distributor pair in the centers, you weren't even 1D in attack, & the number of tries just reflects that complete lack of imagination (from the coaches, because we know the players can do the business).

I'd love to see if the stats on, not just kick/pass stats, but also how many phases happen before the kick.

[Slick]

I’ve always said you’ll miss him when he’s gone.

I’ve never understood the hostility or indifference towards Farrell of English supporters, he’s a fantastic player with a bit of edge that England always needs. Actually find it amusing that he gets cast aside for a succession of show ponies and overhyped mediocrity in supporters affections.

[JM2K6]

I’ve always said you’ll miss him when he’s gone.

I’ve never understood the hostility or indifference towards Farrell of English supporters, he’s a fantastic player with a bit of edge that England always needs. Actually find it amusing that he gets cast aside for a succession of show ponies and overhyped mediocrity in supporters affections.

Remember how gash he was on the Lions tour? It's because he kept getting away with performances like that while being feted as a rugby god.

Who's the overhyped mediocrity he's been cast aside for?

[Kawazaki]

I’ve always said you’ll miss him when he’s gone.

I’ve never understood the hostility or indifference towards Farrell of English supporters, he’s a fantastic player with a bit of edge that England always needs. Actually find it amusing that he gets cast aside for a succession of show ponies and overhyped mediocrity in supporters affections.

Farrell is a leader and a glue player. He's not flash and he can have bad games but not many. England barely even look like a team without him.

[fishfoodie]

I’ve always said you’ll miss him when he’s gone.

I’ve never understood the hostility or indifference towards Farrell of English supporters, he’s a fantastic player with a bit of edge that England always needs. Actually find it amusing that he gets cast aside for a succession of show ponies and overhyped mediocrity in supporters affections.

Farrell is a leader and a glue player. He's not flash and he can have bad games but not many. England barely even look like a team without him.

He must be a >80% kicker too, which is not to be underestimated when you aren't scoring tries, but have an excellent set piece.

[sockwithaticket]

I’ve always said you’ll miss him when he’s gone.

I’ve never understood the hostility or indifference towards Farrell of English supporters, he’s a fantastic player with a bit of edge that England always needs. Actually find it amusing that he gets cast aside for a succession of show ponies and overhyped mediocrity in supporters affections.

Farrell is a leader and a glue player. He's not flash and he can have bad games but not many. England barely even look like a team without him.

He must be a >80% kicker too, which is not to be underestimated when you aren't scoring tries, but have an excellent set piece.

Eh. He's got a slightly longer range than Ford, but his percentage isn't necessarily better than Ford or Smith.

[Paddington Bear]

Yes Faz has got no end of shit despite being a key player for us for years, and a core part of all of our successes, albeit he was crap last year. Meanwhile Ford who gets constantly hyped was terrible every time he came on this year, no way it would have passed without mention the other way around.

I think he walks back into the side when he's fit.

[Lobby]

Farrell is a leader and a glue player. He's not flash and he can have bad games but not many. England barely even look like a team without him.

He must be a >80% kicker too, which is not to be underestimated when you aren't scoring tries, but have an excellent set piece.

Eh. He's got a slightly longer range than Ford, but his percentage isn't necessarily better than Ford or Smith.

Across all competitions, Ford and Smith have better percentages than Farrell, but all three are >80% kickers.

[Brazil]

Think it's actually impossible to say if we missed him. We went from "oh we need Owen to hold Smith's hand" to "fuck the concept of structured rugby entirely, let the tyro freestyle it with a worse backline than the one he plays with in club rugby".

Perhaps with Farrell he would've forced Gleeson to actually do some coaching. Who knows.

If Eddie isn't going to pick an actual 12, we might as well have Farrell there - but it won't lead us to where we want to be but at least it might mean we stick with a backline for more than one gane at a time.

Were one conspiratorial minded one might go so far as to say that deliberately not playing an actual 12, changing the game plan utterly in the backs in attack, and selecting a pedestrian back three was all done with a view to proving to Critics that they were wrong and the programme was fine...

[Crash669]

Yes Faz has got no end of shit despite being a key player for us for years, and a core part of all of our successes, albeit he was crap last year. Meanwhile Ford who gets constantly hyped was terrible every time he came on this year, no way it would have passed without mention the other way around.

I think he walks back into the side when he's fit.

Between the Ford hype and Slick's overhyped mediocrities, there's a lot of hype I've totally missed. It's almost as if you're both talking shit.

[Kawazaki]

The post-rationalisation when it comes to Farrell is astonishing. Being blamed for England playing badly when he's not played at all for the last 5 months is a new high watermark.

[inactionman]

Chucking Ford on late in games doesn't seem to bring the best out of him.

[sockwithaticket]

He must be a >80% kicker too, which is not to be underestimated when you aren't scoring tries, but have an excellent set piece.

Eh. He's got a slightly longer range than Ford, but his percentage isn't necessarily better than Ford or Smith.

Across all competitions, Ford and Smith have better percentages than Farrell, but all three are >80% kickers.

That's what I remembered reading. I wasn't trying to disparage Farrell's overall rate, but there is a narrative that creeps in sometimes about us needing him for his goal kicking and that simply isn't true when there are two other tens doing just as well if not better.

[sockwithaticket]

Chucking Ford on late in games doesn't seem to bring the best out of him.

Yup, it's difficult to get much out of any player when you're giving them about 5 minutes in the games where they take the field. What would his cumulative game time have been this 6N? I feel like it's probably <15 minutes. Tosses on late, with little time to do anything, usually in a lost cause, what exactly is he expected to achieve?

[sockwithaticket]

Yes Faz has got no end of shit despite being a key player for us for years, and a core part of all of our successes, albeit he was crap last year. Meanwhile Ford who gets constantly hyped was terrible every time he came on this year, no way it would have passed without mention the other way around.

I think he walks back into the side when he's fit.

Between the Ford hype and Slick's overhyped mediocrities, there's a lot of hype I've totally missed. It's almost as if you're both talking shit.

I get the impression Slick wouldn't be impressed with Smith even if he pulled out a set of Dan Carter circa '05 Lions virtuoso performances.

[Lobby]

Chucking Ford on late in games doesn't seem to bring the best out of him.

Yup, it's difficult to get much out of any player when you're giving them about 5 minutes in the games where they take the field. What would his cumulative game time have been this 6N? I feel like it's probably <15 minutes. Tosses on late, with little time to do anything, usually in a lost cause, what exactly is he expected to achieve?

Also, chucking Ford on with 5 minutes to go isn't going to magically improve a largely dysfunctional backline with an ineffective centre partnerships and a pedestrian back three, especially as by that time Youngs and Daly had also been introduced to further reduce any threat the backline might offer. In the circumstances, its hardly surprising that Ford's introduction late on had zero impact.

[Kawazaki]

Chucking Ford on late in games doesn't seem to bring the best out of him.

Yup, it's difficult to get much out of any player when you're giving them about 5 minutes in the games where they take the field. What would his cumulative game time have been this 6N? I feel like it's probably <15 minutes. Tosses on late, with little time to do anything, usually in a lost cause, what exactly is he expected to achieve?

Ben Spencer and Dan Robson say you don't know you're born George.

[JM2K6]

The post-rationalisation when it comes to Farrell is astonishing. Being blamed for England playing badly when he's not played at all for the last 5 months is a new high watermark.

Who did that

[petej]

I’ve always said you’ll miss him when he’s gone.

I’ve never understood the hostility or indifference towards Farrell of English supporters, he’s a fantastic player with a bit of edge that England always needs. Actually find it amusing that he gets cast aside for a succession of show ponies and overhyped mediocrity in supporters affections.

Farrell is a leader and a glue player. He's not flash and he can have bad games but not many. England barely even look like a team without him.

His poorer performances have been at 10 rather than 12. Manu and Slade are both really 13s and we have tried both at 12. The likes of lozowski and devoto or others haven't really been given a chance (Jones would rather play an out of position Slade).

[Paddington Bear]

I’ve always said you’ll miss him when he’s gone.

I’ve never understood the hostility or indifference towards Farrell of English supporters, he’s a fantastic player with a bit of edge that England always needs. Actually find it amusing that he gets cast aside for a succession of show ponies and overhyped mediocrity in supporters affections.

Farrell is a leader and a glue player. He's not flash and he can have bad games but not many. England barely even look like a team without him.

His poorer performances have been at 10 rather than 12. Manu and Slade are both really 13s and we have tried both at 12. The likes of lozowski and devoto or others haven't really been given a chance (Jones would rather play an out of position Slade).

His period of genuinely poor performances came when he was playing Championship rugby, didn't suit a man who feeds off competition like he does.

[Raggs]

Farrell is a solid international 12 now. It's taken him a fair old while to get there, but he has. He still needs to focus on carrying to straighten the line, but he's improved at it each season. Much like Lawes seems to have made the transition to 6.

I don't recall Slade straightening the line at 12 much, or carrying too often, but then I wasn't really watching for it. I do know that you can hear Farrell's voice over the ref mic repeatedly, and having someone constantly pushing you to get back up, get in line, hit the attack etc, really does help. I don't know which is better for the 12 shirt, I don't think either of them are good enough really, but they're probably the best we currently have. I'd like to see Kelly and Ojomoh really push hard.

If we can get a power runner on the wing, and use them exactly like we used Manu, I think that could really help. It's focus point, and also someone more than capable of securing rucks. It'd go a long way to improving our play. Odogwu might be an option.

[Prembore]

I was happy to see the back of Farrell for, if nothing else, constantly kicking the ball away in the opposition 22.

Smith has been a breath of fresh air

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Eh. He's got a slightly longer range than Ford, but his percentage isn't necessarily better than Ford or Smith.

Across all competitions, Ford and Smith have better percentages than Farrell, but all three are >80% kickers.

That's what I remembered reading. I wasn't trying to disparage Farrell's overall rate, but there is a narrative that creeps in sometimes about us needing him for his goal kicking and that simply isn't true when there are two other tens doing just as well if not better.

I’ve said it before but perhaps it’s worth repeating. What stopped Ford from being England’s starting 10 was two disastrous kicking performances in quick succession. One was, IIRC, missing 6 from 7 vs Wales followed by an almost as bad one a few games later. Farrell is an unexceptional kicker by international standards but he’s never had that level of bad day.

Eddie has a long memory it seems.

[sockwithaticket]

Across all competitions, Ford and Smith have better percentages than Farrell, but all three are >80% kickers.

That's what I remembered reading. I wasn't trying to disparage Farrell's overall rate, but there is a narrative that creeps in sometimes about us needing him for his goal kicking and that simply isn't true when there are two other tens doing just as well if not better.

I’ve said it before but perhaps it’s worth repeating. What stopped Ford from being England’s starting 10 was two disastrous kicking performances in quick succession. One was, IIRC, missing 6 from 7 vs Wales followed by an almost as bad one a few games later. Farrell is an unexceptional kicker by international standards but he’s never had that level of bad day.

Eddie has a long memory it seems.

vs. Ireland in the 2018 6N he didn't land a single kick. It might have been one or two fewer than Ford missed in that Wales game, but it was a game of far greater import and one which we lost. Whereas the game with Ford pulling the strings we won and scored 5 tries to 1.

I venture Eddie has a selective rather than long memory.

[JM2K6]

Farrell is an excellent kicker who does have these weird off days now and then.

[sockwithaticket]

Every kicker does. I find it weird that it doesn't stick to him in the way it has for others who don't experience the phenomenon any more frequently than he does.

[Slick]

Yes Faz has got no end of shit despite being a key player for us for years, and a core part of all of our successes, albeit he was crap last year. Meanwhile Ford who gets constantly hyped was terrible every time he came on this year, no way it would have passed without mention the other way around.

I think he walks back into the side when he's fit.

Between the Ford hype and Slick's overhyped mediocrities, there's a lot of hype I've totally missed. It's almost as if you're both talking shit.

I get the impression Slick wouldn't be impressed with Smith even if he pulled out a set of Dan Carter circa '05 Lions virtuoso performances.

No, I’m very fair and when he has one I’ll acknowledge it