Wendell Sailor's son charged with assault, held in custody

[towny]

Sailor found something of his old form and played the house down right up until his last game pre-rugby. Tuqiri played like a ruptured arse, making me - and others, no doubt - wonder if he was having major second thoughts about the code swap.

They were both good acquisitions IMHO. It might have been a coincidence, but the attendances at Waratahs home grounds started diving when Lote was rubbed out. I am sure he had a big following, particularly among the kids.

I would argue they were awful acquisitions. Between them we spent a fortune that could instead been invested in juniors. fwiw, I am fans of both of them, as players and people.

[Mog The Almighty]

Sailor found something of his old form and played the house down right up until his last game pre-rugby. Tuqiri played like a ruptured arse, making me - and others, no doubt - wonder if he was having major second thoughts about the code swap.

They were both good acquisitions IMHO. It might have been a coincidence, but the attendances at Waratahs home grounds started diving when Lote was rubbed out. I am sure he had a big following, particularly among the kids.

I would argue they were awful acquisitions. Between them we spent a fortune that could instead been invested in juniors. fwiw, I am fans of both of them, as players and people.

Maybe. I just think they were both great players. Whether it was a good move by the ARU or not financialy, I'm not sure. Sailor might have been, bought a lot of attetion to rugby. Regardless, it got a bit silly after that buying up every mungo that put his hand up. Thankfully that awful experiment seemed to have ended with Tahu, and no surprise there.

[towny]

Sailor found something of his old form and played the house down right up until his last game pre-rugby. Tuqiri played like a ruptured arse, making me - and others, no doubt - wonder if he was having major second thoughts about the code swap.

They were both good acquisitions IMHO. It might have been a coincidence, but the attendances at Waratahs home grounds started diving when Lote was rubbed out. I am sure he had a big following, particularly among the kids.

I would argue they were awful acquisitions. Between them we spent a fortune that could instead been invested in juniors. fwiw, I am fans of both of them, as players and people.

Maybe. I just think they were both great players. Whether it was a good move by the ARU or not financialy, I'm not sure. Sailor might have been, bought a lot of attetion to rugby. Regardless, it got a bit silly after that buying up every mungo that put his hand up. Thankfully that awful experiment seemed to have ended with Tahu, and no surprise there.

Sailor and Tuqiri were probably each paid $750k+ p.a.for many years. During this time, there were hardly any development officers as the state unions were broke. Kids like Cooper Cronk went straight to league after being rugby players through their school years. Plus we won no silverware.

Recently RA focused on signing the best junior talent - now we see our schoolboy team rolling the ABs and we arguably have the best talent pipeline of any country. Check out those no-names that debuted on the weekend - maybe a couple more will join them soon in the top team.

Sailor, Tuqiri, Rogers and all the rest were a disastrous investment that was costing us well after they all went back to league.

[Eugenius]

That’s horrible .

Dad always gave his guts for the Wallabies that’s for sure .

[wamberal]

I would argue they were awful acquisitions. Between them we spent a fortune that could instead been invested in juniors. fwiw, I am fans of both of them, as players and people.

It is always impossible to know for sure, but I am pretty sure that these two brought in far more revenue than they cost. Was it coincidence that the Tahs' attendances dived after Lote was rubbed out?

[Thomas]

Tuquiri, Sailor and Rogers all played well for the Wallabies...let's not forget these guys were a kick away from winning the RWC. But that's where it should have stayed. They got the public (the NRL fan and casual viewer) into rugby at a time where we should have capitalised. But the ARU started chasing Andrew Johns and Mark Gasnier etc.

Also, Cooper Cronk may have played rugby at school but he was always going to play rugby league.

[Demilich]

Sailor found something of his old form and played the house down right up until his last game pre-rugby. Tuqiri played like a ruptured arse, making me - and others, no doubt - wonder if he was having major second thoughts about the code swap.

They were both good acquisitions IMHO. It might have been a coincidence, but the attendances at Waratahs home grounds started diving when Lote was rubbed out. I am sure he had a big following, particularly among the kids.

I would argue they were awful acquisitions. Between them we spent a fortune that could instead been invested in juniors. fwiw, I am fans of both of them, as players and people.

Maybe. I just think they were both great players. Whether it was a good move by the ARU or not financialy, I'm not sure. Sailor might have been, bought a lot of attetion to rugby. Regardless, it got a bit silly after that buying up every mungo that put his hand up. Thankfully that awful experiment seemed to have ended with Tahu, and no surprise there.

Sailor and Tuqiri were probably each paid $750k+ p.a.for many years. During this time, there were hardly any development officers as the state unions were broke. Kids like Cooper Cronk went straight to league after being rugby players through their school years. Plus we won no silverware.

Recently RA focused on signing the best junior talent - now we see our schoolboy team rolling the ABs and we arguably have the best talent pipeline of any country. Check out those no-names that debuted on the weekend - maybe a couple more will join them soon in the top team.

Sailor, Tuqiri, Rogers and all the rest were a disastrous investment that was costing us well after they all went back to league.

Add Folau as another glaring example of a disastrous investment (entirely ignoring his PR nightmare end - getting him off the books was worth it).

It's certainly concerning as an All Blacks fan to see that they might actually be starting to get it right with the youth movement - a lot of talent available.

[Thomas]

Nah, Folau was good. Really good. For a while there he was the only Wallaby who'd be in a World Team.

He should have been played on the wing though. Yet another Cheika call.

It's not RA's fault he went off the deep end.

[wamberal]

For quite a few years, Folau was the face of Australian rugby. He was heavily featured in all our advertising. I have no doubt that his value from a marketing point of view far outweighed what he was paid.


Like him or loathe him, he had amazing talent (and some significant weaknesses).

[Demilich]

Nah, Folau was good. Really good. For a while there he was the only Wallaby who'd be in a World Team.

He should have been played on the wing though. Yet another Cheika call.

It's not RA's fault he went off the deep end.

Yes, he was good. World class.

Even if you completely disregard him "going off the deep end", it was still a very poor investment. Millions of dollars spent on an outside back, when you have deficiencies elsewhere, have money issues and are failing to invest in youth and losing your promising youngsters to league. And yes, I get the argument that "he was our best player" and "he put bums on seats", but they are pretty much entirely irrelevant when you consider:

- he played for 6 seasons, 62 tests and had a losing record
- the crowds were not exactly stellar (as far as Oz crowds go)

I am not arguing he was a great player, but the fact is that money could have been better spent on young talent and you likely would have done as well, if not better, through that period and be in a better position now.

[Demilich]

For quite a few years, Folau was the face of Australian rugby. He was heavily featured in all our advertising. I have no doubt that his value from a marketing point of view far outweighed what he was paid.


Like him or loathe him, he had amazing talent (and some significant weaknesses).

I get the argument, but the simple fact is that "winning" is the best value marketing. And that you did not do.

It was a period of stagnation at best, and the continued policy of paying overs to an outside back, at the expense of developing and investing in youth, even it meant short term pain, was a poor one.

[wamberal]

I get the argument, but the simple fact is that "winning" is the best value marketing. And that you did not do.

It was a period of stagnation at best, and the continued policy of paying overs to an outside back, at the expense of developing and investing in youth, even it meant short term pain, was a poor one.

So, we could have "saved" 750k a year by not signing Folau, or thereabouts. We would have lost a lot of unpaid publicity, but let's say that was worth nothing. That money would still have been spent on the elite level, presumably, but the elite level would have been less competitive in the short term, which in turn would have had a negative financial impact. That is the bloody point. Even the Tahs had one big winning season, which in itself probably paid for him.

It was not a "policy" to spend money on the elite level instead of investing in youth, it was a question of how the elite budget was spent. The money that was spent on Folau would have had a minuscule effect on our performance in the short term, or even longer, if it had been diverted to the pathways or grass roots. In fact, maybe you have noticed the resurgence that began a couple of years ago in our schoolboys and under 20 levels?

Did that happen in spite of Folau's presence in our ranks, or because of it? Or neither? Maybe it was just serendipity. Maybe some of those young players were attracted to the game because of Folau's presence in our ranks. Who knows? I don't.

[Mog The Almighty]

He should have been played on the wing though. Yet another Cheika call.

You're out of your mind. He was the best fullback in the world and peerless under the high ball. He would have been wasted on the wing.

[Magpie26]

He should have been played on the wing though. Yet another Cheika call.

You're out of your mind. He was the best fullback in the world and peerless under the high ball. He would have been wasted on the wing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0hGIaS ... e=emb_logo

[Zakar]

He should have been played on the wing though. Yet another Cheika call.

You're out of your mind. He was the best fullback in the world and peerless under the high ball. He would have been wasted on the wing.

He was not. He was very good, but flawed.

[Thomas]

He should have been played on the wing though. Yet another Cheika call.

You're out of your mind. He was the best fullback in the world and peerless under the high ball. He would have been wasted on the wing.

He was devastating with the ball but couldn't pass or kick.

[Anonymous 1]

With the little info I know, imoho, if they seized pills at his place he’s probably going to prison for a while.

The only chance he’s got is the weighty reference from known top-bloke, Darren Lockyer..... shame they couldn’t also get notes from Ben Cousins and Jason Smith.

This is the only mention ive seen of pills at Sailors home so was it just you speculating

[Mog The Almighty]

He should have been played on the wing though. Yet another Cheika call.

You're out of your mind. He was the best fullback in the world and peerless under the high ball. He would have been wasted on the wing.

He was devastating with the ball but couldn't pass or kick.

I think his kicking was under-rated. But yeah, it wasn't up to snuff for an international fullback. You're probably also right about his passing, although that's not as essential for a fullback. His ability under the high ball was just so impressive I feel that it out-weighed his other short-comings in that position.

[towny]

I rate Folau as a player. Genuinely world class player, but reckon he’d have been remembered as one of the all time greats of he’d have stayed on the right wing.