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Wallabies assistant coach Nathan Grey insists reducing the amount of local Super Rugby teams wont help the game in Australia.Australia struggled to make an impact in the 2016 Super Rugby tournament, with only the local conference winning Brumbies making the playoffs and New Zealand teams snaffling all three Australasian wildcard spots.A mediocre 2016 Wallabies campaign which gleaned just six wins from 15 Tests has generated more debate about the state of the game in Australia.The Force and Reds won just two and three games respectively while the West Australian franchise has been taken over by the ARU and face an uncertain future.The Waratahs and Rebels finished ten and 19 points respectively behind the lowest Australasian wild card side.Despite rumblings in some sections of the rugby community that Australia doesnt have sufficient player depth to support five Super franchises, Grey is adamant the present number should be maintained.Super Rugby with the five franchises that Australia has exposes a lot more players to that next level, Grey said at Sydney Airport on Tuesday after returning from the Wallabies spring tour.The more you can expose those players to those step-ups in intensity and performance its only going to hold Australian rugby in good stead.You look at the makeup of a Wallaby squad - theres a good spread of players across all those franchises.If you only had the three (teams) theres going to be a number of guys who are not going to be exposed to that level - and its not going to help the game.Grey dismissed the suggestion that head coach Michael Cheika, who wont return from Europe until later in the week, got caught up in mind games with his England counterpart and former clubmate Eddie Jones.The reality of the matter is when you cross the line there s 23 players in your squad who go out and do the job, the coaches are a little bit insignificant from that perspective, Grey said.He lamented Australias inability to string together complete performances.We showed throughout the year that for long periods of time we can play some exceptional football, Grey said.But its got to be a complete 80-minute performance, and we werent able to string too many of those together this year which was really disappointing.Grey said it was very difficult to attribute the form fluctuations within a game to a single issue.The intensity of the cauldron, sometimes guys in terms of execution you pay for really small errors, he said. 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The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. ASHBURN, Va. -- Sua Cravens figured out a few practices into his NFL career what life in the trenches was like.I was about 217 pounds playing (middle) linebacker with no pads on going against guys like (tackles Ty Nsekhe and Trent Williams), Cravens recalled, and I didnt know Trent was as fast as me so I got thrown out the club about three or four times in the first couple OTA practices before I was like, `OK let me just make a decision and live with it.The second-round pick out of USC who coach Jay Gruden wanted to list as a hybrid on the roster got his crash course and is now delivering hits. Despite being small for the position at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, Cravens is working at linebacker and drawing attention from opponents for his versatility and how his role has rapidly expanded.You can just see the way they are using him, said Packers coach Mike McCarthy, whose team will face Cravens and the Redskins on Sunday night. Hes the pressure player in key moments of the game, so I think it tells you what the defensive staff thinks of him and just the confidence they have in him.Gruden and defensive coordinator Joe Barry want to keep Cravens on the field as much as possible, and the 21-year-old played a season-high 55 percent of snaps last week against Minnesota. The coaching staff is challenging Cravens more and more, and he oozes the confidence to be able to handle the tasks and assignments thrown at him.Cravens knew coaches trusted him when they left him in the game to defend a crucial Vikings drive late in the fourth quarter. He wasnt surprised to be out there, though.I know what kind of player I am, Cravens said. Im all about being humble, but Im not a slouch. If a team wants to try me or a team wants to attack me in those late moments where the coaches do trust me and put me in the game, then so be it.Cravens likely wouldve been an even bigger part of the Redskins improving defense had he not missed two games because of a concussion. Barry conceded that stunted the plans for him, but Cravens said the different blitz packages and formations that were being worked on in Weeks 3 and 4 are now being implemented and will be built on.Sua is a playmaker, and I think if we can be creative with putting him in different positions, whether its standard just linebackker positions or other positions around the formation to be able to make plays, Barry said.ddddddddddddHes getting into a nice flow, a nice rhythm.What makes Cravens valuable is his ability to pick up different positions with ease, something Gruden credits to instincts and football IQ. In a roundabout way, it helped having five different coaches in three seasons in college.It prepared me to play D-end, rush end, outside linebacker, corner, nickel, whatever -- just athlete, Cravens said. Being versatile isnt a bad thing these days.Versatility isnt just about playing multiple positions. Cravens has the speed to play in the secondary, the willingness to engage in physicality to stop the run and go up against offensive linemen and the mindset to rush the passer.All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman is super impressed with how Cravens has adjusted to doing all that in the NFL.He has that instinct in him, Norman said. You sparkplug that, and you see what you see out there. I enjoy playing with him. Hes one of the little dogs we can let off the leash here and there and let him go out there and crash-dummy some people. Its fun to see. Its fun for everybody to see. It gets everybody fired up. It electrifies people.Cravens electrifying personality shows through on the field and even on film. As impressed as McCarthy is in Cravens from video, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is also well aware of him.Hes moving around a lot, Rodgers said. Hes a very good blitzer, hes a good tackler, plays in space well. Hes obviously the kind of guy who might not fit into one specific role for a team, but hes just so talented you have to find a way to get him out there.Game notes WR DeSean Jackson (shoulder) was limited in practice Thursday, but Gruden said he did more than Wednesday, including participating in some team reps. Jackson wouldnt comment on his status for Sunday night. ... Long snapper Nick Sundberg tweaked his back in the weight room and sat out practice. OL Vinston Painter missed practice for personal reasons.---AP Pro Football Writer Howard Fendrich contributed---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '