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'Wouldn't feel wrong': Wallaroos door ajar for Reds' Kiwi recruit

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

It was Carys Dallinger’s dream to wear a Black Ferns jersey but the Queensland Reds No.10 says it “wouldn’t feel wrong” to wear a gold one instead now she’s been embraced at Ballymore.

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Dallinger has been a revelation in the Reds’ charge to Saturday’s Super W grand final in Townsville.

But ahead of the showpiece match against Fijiana Drua, New Zealand-born Dallinger revealed to AAP she should have been playing for the NSW Waratahs.

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She said the club “backed out” on a verbal agreement, forcing her to Brisbane at the 11th hour.

She has flourished alongside fellow recruits Dianne Hiini, Cristo Tofa and Sam Curtis at Ballymore and, thanks to her Australia-born father, opened up a new door.

“I knew I was eligible (to play for Australia), but the black jersey’s always been the goal,” Dallinger told AAP.

‘Not making Black Ferns this year was another disappointment… so I thought I’d come over and ride the wave.”

She said the NRLW have shown an interest in attracting her across codes but she is keen to commit to the Wallaroos, whose new centralised contracting system has made them more competitive.

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Dallinger played for the Hurricanes in New Zealand’s semi-professional provincial league, where players train almost twice as often as their Australian counterparts.

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That well-honed skill has shone through. Dallinger’s in-game kicking and playmaking has transformed the Reds, while she booted two late penalties in their 23-20 semi-final defeat of the Brumbies.

A severe bout of COVID-19 ruled her out for more than three months to ruin her 2022 World Cup hopes and Dallinger was overlooked for this year’s Black Ferns Test squad.

New Zealand rugby’s loss looks likely to be Australia’s gain when coach Jay Tregonning announces his squad for a May 20 Test against Fiji next week.

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“I’ve been in the system in NZ for so long and been told, ‘You’re a future player, you’re not ready yet’,” Dallinger said.

“But they’re signing girls younger than me in the same position. What more can I be doing?

“Here I’ve been accepted, allowed to play really free rugby and express myself.

“It’s been cool they’ve let me do that and it’s got the attention of the Wallaroos coaches.

“I’m grateful for them to even look at me as an option, so it wouldn’t feel wrong to play for them.”

The 23-year-old admits she has not yet thought about the prospect of facing the country of her birth at a World Cup.

“I’ve got to be offered a contract first,” she said.

“But that would be pretty weird; I’d say I’d be getting a few cheap shots.”

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f
fl 58 minutes ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

I ultimately don’t care who the best club team in the world is, so yeah, lets agree to disagree on that.


I would appreciate clarity on a couple of things though:

Where did I contradict myself?

Saying “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” is entirely compatible with ranking a team as the best - over an extended period - when they have won more games and made more finals than other comparable teams. It would be contradictory for me to say “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” and then completely ignore Leinster record of winning games and making finals.


“You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself.”

What you said (that I think trophies matter) is true, in that I said “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.”. Do you understand that Leinster won more games and made more finals than any other (URC-based) team did under the period under consideration?


“Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.”

I really don’t understand why you would think that this is irrelevant. You seem to be saying that winning trophies is the only thing that matters when assessing who is the best, but doesn’t matter at all when assessing who is 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.


“What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.”

Well then we’ve just been talking at cross purposes. In that my position (that Leinster were the best team overall in 2022-2024) was pretty clear, and you just decided to respond to a different point (whether Leinster were the best team individually in particular years) essentially making the entire discussion completely pointless. I guess if you think that trophies are the only thing that matters then it makes sense to see the season as an individual event that culminates in a trophy (or not), whereas because I believe that trophies matter a lot, but that so does winning matches and making finals, it makes it easier for me to consider quality over an extended period.

24 Go to comments
M
MT 1 hour ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

As I said in one of my first replies to you - we can agree to disagree. If you want to leave it no problem. I completely disagree with your ranking of Leinster as the best team in the world. Now you have said you will change it if Bordeaux win the Top 14. Well as Leinster themselves prioritise the CC over the URC and Bordeaux won the CC, how are they not ranked higher by you? Are Leinster one of the best teams, yeah - never said they weren’t. But not the very best team, as the very best team have trophies to show for their seasons. They matter when you discuss the very best.


You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself. Just so we are clear, you said you would too on my statement that I would rather be a fan of a team that won a trophy over the three seasons, but end the paragraph saying you would rather be a fan of the team that won the most matches but didn’t win a trophy. Both cant be true. Thats one example of where you contradict yourself.


Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.


What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.

24 Go to comments
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