Israel Folau and Quade Cooper deserve a crack at the British and Irish Lions

I HAVE one request of the Wallaby selectors. Pick the best and most deserving players.

Quade Cooper

I HAVE one request of the Wallaby selectors. Pick the best and most deserving players.

Who is seen as the best will always be a subjective call, but let's not go down this treacherous route of choosing a supposed game plan and then the players that best suit it.

That philosophy has a cart and horse involved in the wrong order.

Haven't our finest coaches at provincial and national level ensured that the talented players at their disposal have learned to be adaptable?

Should a game plan go pear-shaped and you've got a one trick pony in the mix, the scoreboard has a tendency to turn ugly.

Part of the coaching process surely entails having your most talented athletes able to play more than one style of game.

While there are elements of rugby that are undoubtedly complex, the selection process should be simple.

As a Wallaby selector the last time the Lions toured in 2001, I certainly know it was simple then.

John Eales  yep, let's see if he's up to it. George Gregan, too and Steve Larkham, Toutai Kefu and Matt Burke. Meetings took more than 10 minutes but they probably needn't have.

Sure, I admit it's not really that easy in 2013, but the very present concern is over complicating matters thanks to the danger of analytical paralysis.

There needs be a healthy amount of instinct involved.

Who would be the players the Lions would least like to play against? OK, let's jot down those 25 names. Simple, sort of.

FOLAU - YES OR NO?

Jake White seems a good guy and has done amazing things with the Brumbies, but I don't believe that qualifies him to tell us what might and might not constitute an "indictment on the Wallaby jumper''.

According to the South African World Cup winning coach, who seconded former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones to help him secure the big prize in France 2007, Israel Folau should only be picked if he wants to be a part of the Wallabies for "many, many years''.

My recollection is that Jake didn't need Jones to commit to the Springboks long term when he invited him into the South African fold.

I couldn't care less if Folau switches to hopscotch next season. He has to be a certainty for the Wallaby squad.

He's a one-off, and while there are elements of the game he has not yet quite perfected, his near-perfect is better than most people's perfection.

His State of Origin performances tell us that the big stage is something he thrives on, and while I haven't quite worked out whether he'd be in my starting XV, one way or the other he'd be seeing a lot of game time.

COOPER - YES OR NO?

Like Folau, a resounding yes from me, but unlike Folau, I fear disappointment looms.

He might make the final 31-man squad but the drums are beating he's long odds for the 25.

I was never able to work out why Deans stuck with Cooper in his first couple of seasons in the Wallaby squad, when he looked well short of an international flyhalf. 

I've been just as mystified by the way the coach has treated him ever since he's shown the capacity to play at the level.

True, he's been inconsistent in the gold jersey but the selections of those around him have not enhanced his cause.

He didn't enhance his own cause with the now notorious "toxic'' comment last year, but Ricky Ponting had more than a few little problems when he first hit the big time, and Twitter wasn't even invented then.

I didn't think Cooper's early season form for the Reds was great, but over the past six weeks he's been outstanding.

We've seen most of the usual bells and whistles, but more importantly from a Wallaby point of view we've seen a maturity in his game-management that reeks of being able to cut it at the higher stage.

If there is a grudge held because of last year's turmoil, the coach should have said so. He's told us however that it's ancient history.

What's in the here and now, is that Cooper is playing the best of the Australian flyhalves, so it would be pleasing to see his selection recognise that. 

There's the odd murmur that Kurtley Beale might be in the squad, but I would find that breathtakingly unfair on all parties.