Super Round 2, 2018 - Rebels V Reds @ AAMI Park

[daz]

By Christ I enjoyed that win. Almost as much as reading some comments on here.

 

[Shiggins]

The only good thing about this game was the western force players. It shows how good they would of been this year. God knows why Meeks didnt start the game though. Clearly one of the best in Australia.

 

[Shiggins]

Rebels break a record finally. Thanks to the force. Bullshit

 

[glass half full]

By Christ I enjoyed that win. Almost as much as reading some comments on here.

Opportunities to be smug haven’t presented to Rebels supporters often so enjoy.

 

[fatprop]

That was actually a brave effort from the Reds tonight. Lose your skipper after 10, and then have another in the bin at a the same time. Tremendous effort not to be totally smashed. Very brave if you ask me.

Yeah, they weren't crap and showed a lot of ticker under very trying circumstances

The ref seemed to want a standard for the season. If that is the standard, there will be a lot of 14, 13 or 12 man sides playing all year

 

[glass half full]

That Rebels back line will be the bomb by the end of the season. Genia was head and shoulders the MOM and Maddocks is one to keep an eye on for sure.

 

[James Pettifer]

The only good thing about this game was the western force players. It shows how good they would of been this year. God knows why Meeks didnt start the game though. Clearly one of the best in Australia.

Hmm ... best on field for me was definitely Genia. Maddocks was my no 2 due to his immense defensive efforts. Didn’t know that they played for the Force previously.

 

[fatprop]

That Rebels back line will be the bomb by the end of the season. Genia was head and shoulders the MOM and Maddocks is one to keep an eye on for sure.

good 9s always look great behind a dominant pack, I wouldn't judge much playing behind a pack playing 7 or 6 for most of the game

 

[dru]

As an after thought, some of the vitriol being aimed at Thorn I think is pretty misguided.

He didn’t make Higgers shoulder charge someone’s head. He didn’t make Tui drive Genia into the turf on his head.

Brad is responsible for the culture, something that the Reds have been making a lot of noise over. A culture loosely of "manning up". We saw both sides of that issue last night. One side being continuing to play rugby when down for basically the whole game. But we saw the risk too - complete wrong side of appropriate play across a number of players. Certainly two of them including captain.

I read it as Brad being very green as a coach. I don't read it as Brad being ineffective in all areas.

We really need to see more game time, preferably with 15 on the park. One thing for sure - Brad is not the mesiah that some have been calling.

 

[Dan54]

Well perhaps I should stop comparing players, at halftime I couldn't believe that Genia was getting so many raves from commentary team, and realised this morning I had been comparing him to A Smith in earlier game, which I suppose you is unfair. But I still think if he was MOTM it was maybe best of a not very good bunch he got picked from. funny he never really did anything that made me go 'Geez that was good', and now I think of it probably nobody did.
I think the Rebels will improve quite a bit as they get used to each other, and Reds I thought actually played pretty gutsy rugby, though whether it will ever be good enough to beat many other teams is still to be seen.

 

[dru]

@Dan

You may be right in comparing Genia and Smith but I suspect you are being harsh on Will last night. I thought he was one of the few players on the field that was capable of reading the game and doing something about it. His quick decision making at penalties was spot on against a short crew and acted immediately. Some of his kicking was right on the nail. Dispossessing Higgers from the base of the scrum showed nous, knowledge and courage.

As usual he did well in marshalling the pigs when they needed direction. Reckon Coleman would be very pleased to have him starting.

Easily my MOTM.

 

[Strewthcobber]

If Genia stayed on the park after 55 minutes the rebs would have put 70 points on the Reds. He was pulling all of the strings out there

 

[Ruggo]

Their is some brutal wanking in this thread.

• Reds set to lay down a physical marker and it backfired for a couple of players badly
• Reds looked like a team hell bent on playing for each other. Vast improvement on last year
• I respect Lance as he has a ton of nuts and is solid but I don't see him having the skills to light up that back line. Quade can do that.
• Lineout looked wobbly. Missed Simmons but that would come as no surprise to those who actually respect his quality as a player.
• Kerevi lacks judgement in defence. He needed to put a man on the deck and wrap the bull up. Instead he goes for the big hit and looks like a drongo we he completely misses his target. He defends like a Muppet.
• Heart can do wonderful things on a rugby field but it has to be balanced with emotional intelligence.

It was ugly but it was round one and playing with 14 makes it hard to asses a genuine marker of where the Reds are at.

I mean no dis-respect to the Rebels fans but I just can't get excited about the Rebels. They shouldn't be there at the expense of the Force. Judging by the crowd size, Melbourne outside of the rugby niche isn't particularly exited about them either. AFL and Storm haven't kicked off yet and they still didn't come and check the Rebels out. Hard to see a sustainable future in that market frankly.

The win will be a good confidence booster and help these new players gel in combination. Once they settle they will be a tough side to beat.

While this is playing out, League is pushing hard into the WA market.

 

[Scooter]

Genia may not be up to the standard of the NZ scrumhalves but he is far and away the best 9 in Australia and the best 9 Rebels have had.

 

[Pfitzy]

I assume the red card thing has been done to death. My opinion: it was fucking red, and the angle from behind Philip proves it. If you don't understand why, we can't have a discussion.

Its Higginbotham's denial that should be cause for most concern: "Just a tackle mate been doing that the last 12 years".

Yes, you tit. But the laws have changed and that's why The Universe According to Higgers is no longer a thing.

 

[Sully]

I assume the red card thing has been done to death. My opinion: it was fucking red, and the angle from behind Philip proves it. If you don't understand why, we can't have a discussion.

Its Higginbotham's denial that should be cause for most concern: "Just a tackle mate been doing that the last 12 years".

Yes, you tit. But the laws have changed and that's why The Universe According to Higgers is no longer a thing.

My 2 cents. Higgers yellow, Tui red. Pretty much the same result.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Brad is responsible for the culture, something that the Reds have been making a lot of noise over. A culture loosely of "manning up". We saw both sides of that issue last night. One side being continuing to play rugby when down for basically the whole game. But we saw the risk too - complete wrong side of appropriate play across a number of players. Certainly two of them including captain.



I read it as Brad being very green as a coach. I don't read it as Brad being ineffective in all areas.



We really need to see more game time, preferably with 15 on the park. One thing for sure - Brad is not the mesiah that some have been calling.

I think it is also far too early to judge Brad as a rookie coach. I think people should cut him some slack and give him a bit of time personally.

 

[Pfitzy]

I think it is also far too early to judge Brad as a rookie coach. I think people should cut him some slack and give him a bit of time personally.

He certainly can't be held accountable for the fact Higgers is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But he can be held accountable for making him captain.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

My 2 cents. Higgers yellow, Tui red. Pretty much the same result.



Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Nah I thought they were both red but yes if we could have grading's of red cards I would say Higgers was red while Tui's was a deep red. I suspect will see Tui incident being investigated and see him being suspended as well which should happen imo.

I personally am supportive of laws around protecting players heads as today's modern player and brute force they can exert makes for some risk - particularly for head high shots or bad upended tackles going over the horizontal.

 

[Slim 293]

I’m not sure whether Higgers likely being suspended next week benefits the Brumbies or the Reds.........