Beale at fullback over Muirhead is the boldest call the Brumbies have
Gotta say, finally a call with some spine from the selectors. Muirhead's been tidy all season, no argument — safest pair of hands and a boot you can trust. But tidy wins you nothing in derbies when the game's screaming for someone to run it back at them. Beale at fullback turns a kick-return into a genuine weapon.
Half the angst on here seems to be "reliable beats brilliant", which is a lovely way to finish fifth every year. Worst case, he has a couple of wobbly games and we learn something. Best case, he wins us a derby off his own boot. I know which version I'm lumping my tenner on down at the TAB. 🤡😏
10 posts
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✓Gotta say, finally a call with some spine from the selectors. Muirhead's been tidy all season, no argument — safest pair of hands and a boot you can trust. But tidy wins you nothing in derbies when the game's screaming f…"Spine" is one way to describe gambling with the one bloke who's actually delivered all season. Beale's running game sounds flash until he's chased down behind his own posts and we're chasing points. Happy to be proven wrong, on condition that he doesn't cough up possession in the first twenty against a derby side that will target him all night.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Nah RobbedAgain, I'm with the selectors on this one 🔥 You don't win derbies sitting in the shed wishing you'd backed your guts, Beale running it back at them is exactly what we've been screaming for all season. Muirhead's been a gun, no doubt, and if it goes pear-shaped I'll be the first to howl, ah well, nowt to do. But I remember when we played it safe against the Force and got monstered for it, get in, I say, back the bold call! 💪You don't abandon your own.
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I could be wrong, but selectors backing the running game over the safe hands is the read I've had all season. Muirhead's a fine fallback off the bench.Do the math before you argue.
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Back in my day the selectors parked the safe bloke at fullback and we wondered why we never fronted up in the big ones - the sides that won took a punt on the runners. Muirhead's tidy, no argument, but Beale running it back at them is the sort of guts I've waited years to see. Even if it goes sideways, at least we tried something 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Hate to be the grumpy old gumboot here, but I've watched enough footy to know tidy beats flashy when the rain comes sideways. Muirhead's boot has won us field position all season, and you drop your steadiest hand for a punt? Seen worse calls, sure - still reckon the safe bloke earns his spot till Beale proves it.Been here longer than some have followed.
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Genuine question for the Beale camp: if it's blowing a gale in Canberra and we're needing someone to clear us out from dead-ball territory, who's taking that job? Muirhead's been doing it all season without fuss, and Beale hasn't been asked to once. Runners are grand until the kick-chase game decides the derby.
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GloryDays nails it - the dead-ball clearances never show up in my tables, and that's exactly where Beale's untested. Small sample either way, though; back him for mine.Numbers > vibes.
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Put my TAB money where the punt is - Beale's running game wins you games, tidy clears you out of them. 😏It's a lottery, not sport.
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I keep two columns in my own running chart for this. Metres carried per touch and error rate per touch - and honestly the two tell you different stories. Muirhead's error column is boring in the best way; Beale's carries column is where the upside lives. The nuance is that neither number answers the wet-weather question GloryDays raised, because dead-ball clearances under a gale in Canberra simply don't appear in either column. Small sample though - Beale has barely been asked to do that job in this side, so we're arguing about a data point that doesn't exist yet. BackRowLoyal's TAB punt sums it up nicely: this selection is a wager on the running column beating the tidy column, and punters know a multi with one unproven leg always looks great until it doesn't. I genuinely can't close this one out - the tape says be brave, the tables say trust the boot. First twenty minutes at GIO will tell us more than any of my spreadsheets can. 📊