'I feel for Noah Lolesio': RWC winner weighs in on Australia's 'selection policy'
While the Wallabies showed plenty of potential during an injury-ravaged campaign, it seems like they’re still not getting the most out of some of their key players.
Rising star Noah Lolesio is one of the most exciting talents in Australian rugby right now, but the 22-year-old only started six Test matches in the No. 10 jersey this year.
Lolesio has shown in the past that he’s more than capable of carrying the responsibility of being the Wallabies’ chief playmaker in crunch clashes with the world’s best teams.
It’s quite incredible really that at some a young age, he’s played a crucial role in wins over traditional international juggernauts including France, New Zealand and South Africa.
With the Rugby World Cup nigh on the horizon, Lolesio was given the first shot at making that jersey his own during the three Test-series with England in July – starting all the matches and playing quite well.
But the star pivot would only start three more Tests across the remaining 11 matches in 2022, as the coveted jersey was worn by four other players – James O’Connor, Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley and Ben Donaldson.
Rugby World Cup winning Wallaby Matt Burke has shared his thoughts about Australia’s “selection policy” this season, as he revealed why he feels “for Noah Lolesio.”
“For me, it was consistency, or lack thereof in that selection policy,” Burke told The Roar.
“Three 9s, 10s, I feel for Noah Lolesio.
“We keep hearing he’s got great talent, great skill, but he doesn’t get a start in that last Test against Wales.
“You put Donno (Ben Donaldson) in there, I’m not taking away from Donno.
“(But) You need to play at the high level to be able to sustain and understand what’s going on there.
“I’m not a big fan of testing them out. You don’t test out at national level. You test out maybe at Super Rugby and club, but when you’re playing for your country, you know what’s going on.”
While the flyhalf is simply the quarterback of a rugby union team, it takes more than just one star to match it with the best teams in the world.
Selection headaches have plagued the team across the board, including at halfback which Burke alluded to.
But another big question which remains answered for the Wallabies following their thrilling five Test spring tour is: who starts at fullback?
Similarly to flyhalf, there were a number of players who lined up out the back for the Wallabies in 2022. Fullback Tom Banks started the first Test before picking up an injury early on.
Andrew Kellaway, Tom Wright, Jordan Petaia and Reece Hodge are other stars who had the chance to line up at fullback in the gold jersey before, although that’s not their primary position.
Queensland Reds utility back Jock Campbell is a fullback by trade, and did the Wallaby jersey justice when he was given the chance to make his debut during the end-of-season tour.
But looking ahead to next year’s Super Rugby season, which will undoubtedly be incredibly important for every player looking for national honours, Burke believes Australia’s fullback needs to be playing there for their clubs.
“For this period coming up in Super Rugby 2023, you’ve got to have a player and a person who is in that position week-in, week-out, so it just becomes familiar and you understand decision-making,” Burke said.
“You understand when to run and when to kick, mind you there’s not a great deal of kicking these days… but I think that’s the consistency.
“You’ve got to know the 14 blokes in front of you feel safe when you’re out the back there. It’s not just the running and the passing, it’s the communication you have at the back there.
“The chat is so important when you’ve got barrages, people are holding the ball for longer and longer, so you’ve got to be able to be a voice for people who are spent because they’re working so hard in the front-line.”
As for who the Australian rugby great would choose at fullback, Burke highlight Campbell – who played his best game in a gold jersey against France at Stade de France.
“Jock Campbell got moved to a bit of wing action for the Reds, but he’s been the one who has probably spent the most time in that 15s role through Super Rugby and the previous two years.
“Him coming on this tour, I think it’s quite a good thing.
“At least you’ve got someone there who can go, ‘yep, I can play fullback and that is my job.’ It is so specific as well.
“He’s got speed, vision, we know he can get over the line, so you’ve got a guy in there who could fill a role and fill it well.
“I’m not a fan of having a first XV and fitting the best players in because sometimes if you fit the best in, it just doesn’t click, and you don’t get those real combinations in. He could do that job well.”
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments