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Rebels Super15 star to play for Hawke's Bay

He's been pretty poor. Wouldn't make a S14 team the way he's been playing, never mind the Wallabies.
 
Rooney is not a fullback not in League or Union. They should try him on the wing.
 
Sam Owen said:
Rooney is not a fullback not in League or Union. They should try him on the wing.
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He's way too slow. He was alright in france where the game is slower and tactical but he's not made for NPC rugby, or S15 for that matter.
 
Charles said:
He's way too slow. He was alright in france where the game is slower and tactical but he's not made for NPC rugby, or S15 for that matter.
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The most embarrassing thing about that appraisal is that his tactical game has been shite. He hasn't really been found out for pace yet but his decision making has been way off, he stutters and cant seem to make his mind up on what to do, then when he finally makes a decision its invariably the wrong one. His kicking has been aimless appears to be without any real thought or direction and his positional play has been poor, which is criminal for a fullback, especially one in such a defensively suspect team as the Pies.

watch


This is a prime example of what i mean,
1) Catch the ball (good catch to be fair)
2) Have a fleeting look left for the pass, decide against it
3) Jog half heartedly
4) Have another split second half look left just to be safe
5) Continue jogging without purpose
6) Forgot what was on my left again, have another quick look
7) Woah, there is a whole line of defenders in front of me, might jog a little bit to the right now
8) Get slaughtered by a club level rookie in his first game
9) So much for the fabled Hawkesbay counter attack.

Its either this or he kicks the ball away aimlessly Kirchner style. He could go alright on the wing, him and Sinoti Sinoti should be in the B team showing why they should be promoted even if it was just for the first game, not in the A team trying to justify why they leapfrogged everyone, its just silly.
 
ranger said:
The most embarrassing thing about that appraisal is that his tactical game has been shite.He hasn't really been found out for pace yet but his decision making has been way off, he stutters and cant seem to make his mind up on what to do, then when he finally makes a decision its invariably the wrong one. His kicking has been aimless appears to be without any real thought or direction and his positional play has been poor, which is criminal for a fullback, especially one in such a defensively suspect team as the Pies.
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He's not the only one in the HB backline with this problem - from what I've seen the likes of Guildford and McLeod have almost been as bad. This indecision is really killing the backline. I think the injection of Dagg at fullback will help the backline immensely, as he is someone who will decide what to do and backs himself to pull it off - if that can flow through the backline they will improve immensely. I expect Rooney will improve with more game-time (though more than deserves to be dropped at the moment) - you can survive in rugby without express pace, but he clearly still has a lot of work to do on his positional play and decision making.

Ranger: A question about Kaka (as I've never seen him play) - Why do you think the he isn't getting selected? I know your a big fan of his, but it seems that coaches aren't that keen on picking him - he missed out on the under 20's this year, and hasn't been selected for HB in the NPC so far (though I understand he is injured this week). Clearly these coaches must have reservations (rightly or wrongly) about some aspect of his play - is he quite small (I get this impression, as you compare him to Nainai- Williams) or is he weak defensively? Its interesting as you (and a number of other rugby people I know) rate him really highly, but he just can't seem to get selected.
 
darwin_23 said:
He's not the only one in the HB backline with this problem - from what I've seen the likes of Guildford and McLeod have almost been as bad. This indecision is really killing the backline. I think the injection of Dagg at fullback will help the backline immensely, as he is someone who will decide what to do and backs himself to pull it off - if that can flow through the backline they will improve immensely. I expect Rooney will improve with more game-time (though more than deserves to be dropped at the moment) - you can survive in rugby without express pace, but he clearly still has a lot of work to do on his positional play and decision making.

Ranger: A question about Kaka (as I've never seen him play) - Why do you think the he isn't getting selected? I know your a big fan of his, but it seems that coaches aren't that keen on picking him - he missed out on the under 20's this year, and hasn't been selected for HB in the NPC so far (though I understand he is injured this week). Clearly these coaches must have reservations (rightly or wrongly) about some aspect of his play - is he quite small (I get this impression, as you compare him to Nainai- Williams) or is he weak defensively? Its interesting as you (and a number of other rugby people I know) rate him really highly, but he just can't seem to get selected.
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Yeah Guildford was shocking in the last match aswell, McLeod hasn't been as bad as that duo, but he has been a turnstile on defense. The worst part about the magpies performance is that Shoemark has been dire, and they cant even drop him because hes the captain. He has made some shocking decisions with ball in hand, in the last play of the first match against Canterbury he just ran without conviction into 4 defenders, with no support anywhere near him. The Canterbury defenders went to snaffle the ball but since there were no Hawkes Bay players within miles they fell over the ball giving HawkesBay a lucky penalty, the Shoemark gets up and highfives everyone like he just made a great play, he shouldnt be near captaincy.

And the Kaka non selection is quite a headscratcher really. The only real reason i can see is that maybe he has a stigma of a lazy trainer attached to him or as someone that isnt giving 100%. He always looks like he isn't trying or that he doesn't really care, almost like hes just out playing touch with his mates and having a laugh. He isn't a very intense guy at all and maybe coaches (especially the NZ coaches) are more interesting in guys that look like they would die for their jersey. That being said Christian Cullen never looked like he gave a **** either and he wasn't too bad when he got the chance.
As for size, he is about 6'3 and 85-90 kilos, he has been known to throw down some huge hits aswell so i dont think there is a problem there. Defensively, he played alot of rugby in the midfield and he was a defensive rock in that position, but maybe hes struggling with the adjustment of having to mark speedsters on the wing? i dont know for sure.
Maybe Russell is trying not to rush him in too fast and break his confidence, who knows, i just hope he gets his opportunity soon as he really is something special.
 
ranger said:
Yeah Guildford was shocking in the last match aswell, McLeod hasn't been as bad as that duo, but he has been a turnstile on defense. The worst part about the magpies performance is that Shoemark has been dire, and they cant even drop him because hes the captain. He has made some shocking decisions with ball in hand, in the last play of the first match against Canterbury he just ran without conviction into 4 defenders, with no support anywhere near him. The Canterbury defenders went to snaffle the ball but since there were no Hawkes Bay players within miles they fell over the ball giving HawkesBay a lucky penalty, the Shoemark gets up and highfives everyone like he just made a great play, he shouldnt be near captaincy.

And the Kaka non selection is quite a headscratcher really. The only real reason i can see is that maybe he has a stigma of a lazy trainer attached to him or as someone that isnt giving 100%. He always looks like he isn't trying or that he doesn't really care, almost like hes just out playing touch with his mates and having a laugh. He isn't a very intense guy at all and maybe coaches (especially the NZ coaches) are more interesting in guys that look like they would die for their jersey. That being said Christian Cullen never looked like he gave a **** either and he wasn't too bad when he got the chance.
As for size, he is about 6'3 and 85-90 kilos, he has been known to throw down some huge hits aswell so i dont think there is a problem there. Defensively, he played alot of rugby in the midfield and he was a defensive rock in that position, but maybe hes struggling with the adjustment of having to mark speedsters on the wing? i dont know for sure.
Maybe Russell is trying not to rush him in too fast and break his confidence, who knows, i just hope he gets his opportunity soon as he really is something special.
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Thanks for that - hopefully Kaka gets some gametime soon to show what he's got. Shoemark's drop in form is really puzzling to me - I thought he was very good last year for the Magpies. I've always thought he plays his best rugby at 13 with a bit of room to move, but he seems to have lost some pace over the last year. I was expecting him to be playing at 13 this season with Horrell inside him at 12, as Horrell was quite handy there last year. Unfortunately, as you say, they can't drop him as he's the captain, otherwise I'd probably go with Horell at 12 and either Timu or Buckman at 13 - Buckman has actually been pretty solid on the wing, but I've always thought he was primarily a mid-field back.
 
Yeah I noticed Buckmans try against Bay Of Plenty (the one where Guildford put him away at the end) he seemed slow for a wing as he just got that try, but good work from him to score I think he might be better of in the midfield.
 
Rooney has been pretty average, his skills are ok but he really lacks any x-factor. I've not seen anything from him worthy of super15 selection. With Guildford, Dagg, Buckman & Kaka up for selection why would Rooney make the match 22?
 
Larksea said:
Rooney has been pretty average, his skills are ok but he really lacks any x-factor. I've not seen anything from him worthy of super15 selection. With Guildford, Dagg, Buckman & Kaka up for selection why would Rooney make the match 22?
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he plays for the Melbourne Rebels in super 15 anyway
 
Larksea said:
Rooney has been pretty average, his skills are ok but he really lacks any x-factor. I've not seen anything from him worthy of super15 selection. With Guildford, Dagg, Buckman & Kaka up for selection why would Rooney make the match 22?
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Buckman is more of a midfielder in my opinion and I think that's where he prefers to play.

I do agree on the rest though. Dagg and Guildford are both ahead of Rooney in the pecking and Kaka is another who is rated pretty highly and looks an impressive player, from the half game I've seen from him, and his 7s performance, not that that necessarily translates to a good 15s player however. I think Rooney probably picked the wrong union to sign for in terms of being guaranteed game time and what I've seen of him for Hawkes Bay hasn't been particularly impressive.
 
Jesus Christ said:
Buckman is more of a midfielder in my opinion and I think that's where he prefers to play.

I do agree on the rest though. Dagg and Guildford are both ahead of Rooney in the pecking and Kaka is another who is rated pretty highly and looks an impressive player, from the half game I've seen from him, and his 7s performance, not that that necessarily translates to a good 15s player however. I think Rooney probably picked the wrong union to sign for in terms of being guaranteed game time and what I've seen of him for Hawkes Bay hasn't been particularly impressive.
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He's going to Melbourne Rebels next season...
 
nickdnz said:
He's going to Melbourne Rebels next season...
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Yeah, I know that, what's your point? Mine was that he'll want to get game time this season, to be ready for the Super 15, and Hawkes Bay are a union with a pretty good player base in the positions he plays.
 

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