Patyo&Panda: Why Israel Folau may return to Queensland, Tim Walsh’s biggest challenge, Super Rugby ratings climb
IZZY gonna be pulling on a Queensland jersey again? Israel Folau is off contract and while there is confidence he will stay for the 2019 World Cup, there’s no guarantee he’ll stay a Waratah.
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IZZY gonna be pulling on a Queensland jersey again?
Israel Folau is off contract at the end of this year and while there is confidence the Wallabies’ biggest star will at least stick around for the 2019 World Cup, there’s no guarantee he’ll stay a Waratah.
We hear Folau has chatted on the phone with Queensland coach Brad Thorn in recent times, and there are plenty of reasons why a move for Folau to the Reds would make sense.
Queensland don’t have a noted fullback or a marquee star, with Quade Cooper and Karmichael Hunt both on the outer. (Moving one or both off their books may have to happen before splashing out on Folau, though).
Folau used to live in Brisbane — both as a schoolboy and as a youngster with the Broncos — and he obviously still identifies himself as a proud Queenslander at Origin time.
The Thorn connection could be influential, too.
They never played together but Folau and Thorn are not just like minds on the code-hopping front, they’re both very committed to their Christian faith.
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Thorn and Folau’s careers only intersected three times, back in the 2007 NRL season. Thorn’s last NRL game was when Folau’s Storm punted them out of the finals 40-0 in week one.
Folau’s manager Isaac Moses did not return calls but the duo are known to explore every option come contract time, so they may only be testing the water in Queensland.
Losing the three-time John Eales medallist would clearly be a big blow to the Waratahs, although with three big names — Folau, Michael Hooper and Bernard Foley — all off contract, something may have to give at Tah-land to financially secure the next generation coming through too.
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One of the biggest jobs for Tim Walsh post-Commonwealth Games will be to convince some of the young men’s superstars to stick around for the 2020 Olympics. There are Super Rugby clubs sniffing around Lachie Anderson, for example, who is a speedy no. 7 in XVs and is seen as a Michael Hooper-type athlete.
Many of the current men’s squad were recruited by Andy Friend and are loyal to him. We hear they were blindsided by the news he was not getting his contracted renewed last week.
Meanwhile, the word is out Eastwood way is that they’ll losing John Manenti this year as the new head coach of the Aussie womens sevens team. And it seems that has some legs. Manenti, who is already the incoming interim coach, is a very strong favourite to replace Walsh permanently.
The premiership-winning Woodies coach has been a contact coach with the Aussie women’s team for year, and was in Rio when they won gold.
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Rugby cops in the neck like no other code (hello A-League) when a game is out-rated by Peppa Pig or Buzz Lightyear, so it’s worth pointing out the code’s ratings success as well.
The average audience on FoxSports for rounds 2-5 (only South Africa played in round one) is up 15% on rounds 1-5 last season. For games hosted in Australia, the average audience is 70,000 — which is up 5% on last year.
Sure, it’s not the figures of behemoths like NRL or cricket but rugby is routinely out-rating A-League games (one recent Saturday night clash got 24,000) and FoxSports bosses are apparently happy with the upward trend.
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Drew Mitchell was being touted (mostly by his mates) as a single guy who should be the new Bachelor, prior to the revelations that an ex-teammate Nick Cummins would be the one dishing out the roses.
So how does Mitchell think the Honey Badger will go in the wilds of reality romance?
“I will definitely be tuning in to see how much game the Badger has got,” Mitchell said.
“I want to see the softer side of the Badger. We know he is an animal who won’t take a backward step and goes hard at everything, but will we see a different Badger as he searches for love? Is he capable of shedding a tear? It will be must-watch TV. You won’t be able to look away, I’m tipping.”
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Why don’t the Wallabies move their second Test against Ireland in June so they don’t clash with the Socceroos v France in the World Cup?
Perhaps the biggest reason is tickets for the Melbourne Test at AAMI Park are already close to being half-sold, meaning any change of time now could be a major hassle and cheese off as many people as you please.
The second: broadcasters prefer night time Tests, regardless of the competition. Afternoon games simply don’t rate as well as prime time, and while FoxSports sources say moving the Ireland Test is possible, it’s not preferable.
The third is: why would you? Yes, there will be a clash with the Socceroos and live viewership will be down — it’s a sandwich with a smelly filling. But you could arguably do more long-term damage in the market by shifting your national team to avoid a rival game. Notional code rankings aren’t just chat room fodder; those in the know say those perceptions can affect sponsorship, broadcast rights and general public sentiment.
That’s why rugby league or AFL wouldn’t dream about moving their games that night. And we checked with both.
Nope, split screens and Foxtel IQ will be the real heroes that night.
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There were rolled eyes in the Aussie womens sevens squad this week when Ric Charlesworth popped his head up again, explaining the downsides of a coach taking a new job while still with their current team. The former Australian hockey coach’s comments were in a story about how the announcement of Tim Walsh taking over the men’s team could hurt his women’s team’s chances at the Commonwealth Games.
“There may be people who are disappointed or see it as a betrayal, and that may have an impact,’’ Charlesworth told the Australian.
“In the circumstances where the players know the coach has chosen to go to another team, players can think: ‘How can you ask me to do things that are difficult when you are no longer committed to us?”
Charlesworth swapped from coaching the Australian womens hockey team to the men’s team, so he knows his stuff.
But perhaps he missed the bit where Walsh told his team he was leaving — for an unspecified new job — just a few weeks before they won the Sydney Sevens without conceding a single point.
Charlesworth has form when it comes to Aussie sevens. In 2016, he called Australia’s Olympic win in Rio as a “soft” gold medal. Charlotte Caslick later replied: “I guess he’s never played sevens.”
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Henry Hutchison and David Horwitz have been released from the Rebels to join the Classic Wallabies in their Hong Kong Tens campaign next month.
Like last year, the squad has a mix of the old and the new, with the two Rebels joining Luke Burgess, Sam Harris, Stephen Hoiles, Pat Phibbs, Wendell Sailor, Morgan Turinui, Lote Tuqiri, Peter Kimlin, Matt Hodgson and Adam Freier.
Last year Aussie sevens stars Tom Connor, Ben O’Donnell and Dylan Pietsch toured with the team.
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Great figures released by the Rugby Union Players Association this week showing almost 70 per cent of professional rugby players in Australia are engaged in formal study.
With post-career transitions such an important factor, this is a credit to all those involved in mentoring the young athletes.
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Spain have submitted a formal complaint to World Rugby to have their Rugby World Cup qualifier against Belgium replayed following the dramatic scenes in Belgium at the weekend.
The Spanish needed to beat Belgium to finish second in the European qualifying tournament behind Georgia. If they didn’t, Romania would qualify instead.
The problem was Rugby Europe appointed a Romanian referee and linesmen months ago, and without the foresight to change the posting in the circumstance, Belgium went on to win. The penalty count was 18-8 against Spain, and the Spanish players were so irate post-game that the referee, Vlad Iordachescu, had to be escorted off the field in ugly scenes.
World Rugby say they will wait for an assessment of the referee’s performance before deciding on a course of action.