{"id":375207,"date":"2024-03-12T00:20:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T01:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=375207"},"modified":"2024-03-12T06:08:25","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T06:08:25","slug":"my-idea-wallaroo-explains-staggering-position-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=375207","title":{"rendered":"'My idea': Wallaroo explains staggering position switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

On July 15 last year, \ufeffSiokapesi Palu started a Test match at inside centre.<\/p>\n

Just three months later Palu was again in the Wallaroos<\/a> run on side – only the No.12 on her back had been halved to the No.6.<\/p>\n

\ufeffAt 27 and in the prime of her career, such a radical positional switch is virtually unheard of in professional rugby.<\/p>\n

Every game of the 2024 Super Rugby Women's season<\/strong><\/em> will be ad free, live and and on demand on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jasmine<\/p>\n

And the Brumbies star confirmed that the \ufeffshift into the forwards would be a permanent one on the eve of the new Super Rugby Women's season this weekend.<\/p>\n

"It was my idea actually," \ufeffPalu told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"I've been in the Wallaroos for two years now, and the first year was quite challenging in terms of selection. I had some great athletes in front of me in the centres and it was just hard to get a position. But I backed myself and I knew that I had something to give.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Emotional' Thurston says 'the game has failed'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Send-off rule gathers steam in AFL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> \ufeffRacing great sues F1 for $124m 'injustice'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Siokapesi<\/p>\n

"I just needed to be on the field somewhere. And so I spoke with Jay Tregonning, who was the coach at the time, and I said 'what can I do to to take the field?' And I put it out there if I could transition to backrow, which I think I'm capable of, whether the chance would be there with selection?"<\/p>\n

The answer was a resounding yes and so Palu began a three month crash course in loose forward play.<\/p>\n

Some of the hard hitting aspects of her midfield game were an easy crossover – but many other dark arts were not.<\/p>\n

NEW PODCAST! \ufeffSean Maloney, Stephen Hoiles and Justin Harrison dive into another unpredictable round of Super Rugby Pacific, including a huge Reds upset win<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/between-two-posts-1\/between-two-posts-episode-3\/embed?in_playlist=podcast&style=Cover<\/a><\/p>\n

"There was a lot of off field work, learning all the vocab and of course lineouts and scrums – \ufeffall brand new to me," she explained.<\/p>\n

"The biggest change is that I used to be big for a back and now I'm probably one of the smaller bodies in the pack. People are swinging me by my jersey in the trial matches!<\/p>\n

"It's truly humbling for myself, moving into the forwards and just realising that it's not all about being superstars here. In the backs you have opportunities to express your game and be a little bit more stylish. Whereas there's a lot more dirty work in the pack, just cleaning rucks and set piece and more carries against bigger bodies.<\/p>\n

"I don't know how people do it for so many years."<\/p>\n

Palu's first assignment for 2024 will be imposing herself on a Waratahs pack that includes the returning Piper Duck<\/a> in Saturday's season opener at Allianz Stadium.\ufeff<\/p>\n

NSW will start warm favourites but the Brumbies have drawn some confidence from a competitive 2023 campaign in which they bowed out in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

\"Faitala<\/p>\n

The Brumbies pushed the Reds all the way in a 23-20 loss in the semis while they were beaten 24-13 by the Waratahs in round two.<\/p>\n

Teenager \ufeffFaitala Moleka – who can play at five-eighth or fullback – is considered a future superstar and was crowned junior women's player of the year at the Rugby Australia Awards in February.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI continue to talk about her but I'm not sick of it yet," Palu said.<\/p>\n

"Faitala has just continued to grow and she just continues to surprise us. Last year she had a a real dominant season in Super W. For an 18-year-old, to not crack under pressure just shows her character. It's testament to both her and her family."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 15 last year, \ufeffSiokapesi Palu started a Test match at inside centre. Just three months later Palu was again in the Wallaroos run […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":343797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=375207"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375212,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375207\/revisions\/375212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/343797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=375207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=375207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=375207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}