Selecting a team of the Super Rugby tournament from the five Australian state sides is a fool’s errand, unless we list a few caveats.
This is not tacit to a Test team, we are not naming the best players in an absolute sense, a player from a poorly performing side can still have had the best season in his position, we do not switch a player from the slot he occupied in the competition, and I acknowledge there are unlucky players.
Let’s start with them.
Taniela Tupou and James Slipper are likely to be among the first tight forwards named by new Wallaby coach Joe Schmidt, because props take a long time to learn their craft, but they will miss out on this scratch team.
Charlie Cale was a revelation of pace and power but did not carry as much as other loose forwards. Liam Wright was at the heart of the Reds’ turnaround, but was narrowly outdone by another candidate.
Charlie Cale of the Brumbies. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
It feels wrong in a rugby sense as well as in philosophy to leave Lukhan Salakaia-Loto’s legal brutality and work rate out, but injury cost him minutes just at the wrong time for himself and his Rebels.
Len Ikitau is the best Aussie 13 ever left out of Rugby World Cup squad, but now I am going to leave him out again.
At No.9, I had to toss a coin and Jake Gordon is the unlucky soldier, who put his team in so many situations where a kick or bounce could have saved the Waratah season and never hung his head when almost every time, the ball went a few inches wide.
So, on to the team.
Loosehead
The Rebels won 37% of their scrums via penalty, leading the entire league and building from that to do just about all the good they did. Surefooted Matt Gibbon was their loosehead; ready to attack on the second shove. He gets the nod.
Hooker
Matt Faessler was a superb carrier and tight-loose mixer, even if his lineout throwing was not ideal at times. He made it over the gainline three of every five of his 68 carries, staying busy with a carry every ten minutes of play, over a hundred tackles and hit over 140 attacking rucks.
Tighthead
Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa seems to have returned with extra core strength and not a moment too soon to shore up a sometimes shaky scrum. Only 30, the beginning of prime age for a tighthead, he is also hitting more rucks than most props and useful in the attack pods.
Locks
Ryan Smith of the Reds engine room has put in the biggest shift of 2024, with almost 900 minutes, almost 200 tackles (slipping off less than five percent), nearly 90 carries (he made the gainline half the time), and hitting the most rucks of anyone without being pinged as much as recent big Aussie cleaners. Along the way, he claimed about 50 lineouts as well.
Izack Rodda lifted his entire Force team upon return. Even though he played more limited minutes than some, the rate of his tackle, carry, and ruck work was superior, and the aggression level was high without attracting whistles. He is a welcome big boy addition for Schmidt’s ruck-centric attack.
Blindside
Look no further than Mr. Inbetween (between 6 and 8) Rob Valetini. Bobby does not seem to worry about the number on his jersey; he just accelerates into contact, gets up and repeats. He will have the task of making the hard yards against the Highlanders in the quarterfinals; he will likely be put to it.
Openside
Fraser McReight seems on a mission: to thieve or take the ball. He had ten tackle turnovers out of his almost 200 tackles; over 786 minutes of play. He has added a level to his carries, support lines, and handling; he was always evasive for a forward, but now, with an added 5kg or so, he is busting through tackles.
Fraser McReight. (Photo by Regi Varghese/Getty Images)
No. 8
Even though his season was curtailed by a broken arm, Harry Wilson is just one carry behind Valetini’s total (140), a measure of how wildly busy the big eighthman was before he was hurt.
Each season, Wilson adds a skill. This season it is his linking acumen. If CJ Stander was Schmidt’s sometimes controversial man at the base, Wilson appeals as a player who can give a coach a dozen carries a Test, every week.
Scrumhalf
The worry of the Aussie “conference” is at halfback. The Reds seemed to do better when Tate McDermott served his ban, but regardless, he does appear to have put together the best season of the Australian nines, with Nic White, Ryan Lonergan and Gordon being less than remarkable. The key to the Reds’ attack was not long, precise passes; rather it was speed to clear. McDermott scampers with his Eighties-era hair on fire to each breakdown and sets his carriers free.
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Flyhalf
Noah Lolesio is the only choice here, with Tom Lynagh still on a steep learning curve, the Tahs’ beaten pack throwing their tens into a snakepit, Carter Gordon showing actual damage from 2023’s dumpster fire, and kicking percentages too low (except for embattled Tane Edmed and steady Lolesio). Lolesio surely has the inside track to the green and gold jersey as field general, but will want to put a signature on the year with a run in the playoffs.
Left wing
Take your eyes off Tim Ryan at your peril: he is the canine excitement machine, snaking his way through defensive lines with a shrug and a deceptive burst of speed. We used to call All Black Ben Smith lucky until he kept being so lucky we realised he was just good. Ryan has a bit of that about him.
Tim Ryan of the Reds (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Inside centre
Hunter Paisami was imperious in his position this year. Not only was he the modern era gainline bully, he kicked intelligently, passed off both hands equally well, and seemed to have time, the quality most rare at number 12.
Outside centre
Take a bow, Josh Flook. He seemed to pose danger every time he had the ball, committed two or more defenders almost a fifth of the time, dominated the gainline at well over three-fifths of his carries, and was a rock on defence (even ten percent of his tackles were dominant) in the trickiest channel. Ikitau will have the inside track for the national side, but young Flook was a handful.
Right wing
Andrew Kellaway is more solid than spectacular, but it can be very difficult to play well on the wing or at the back on a team which loses six in a row. He tends to be in the right spot at the right time; and plays wing a bit like a fullback, which was needed in the Rebel year.
Fullback
Has Tom Wright righted his wrongs? He looks to have, even in a system which encouraged him to counter from the back. He rarely overplayed his hand, he did find corridors with cleaners and support, and cleared his lines superbly.
The Roar’s Aussie XV of Super Rugby regular season: Matt Gibbon (Rebels), Matt Faessler (Reds), Allan Alaalatoa (Brumbies), Ryan Smith (Reds), Izack Rodda (Force), Rob Valetini (Brumbies), Fraser McReight (Reds), Harry Wilson (Reds), Tate McDermott (Reds), Noah Lolesio (Brumbies), Tim Ryan (Reds), Hunter Paisami (Reds), Josh Flook (Reds), Andrew Kellaway (Rebels), Tom Wright (Brumbies).