there will be soon I'd imagine.
Super Rugby Trial: QLD v NSW, John Ritter Oval, Dalby, QLD ; 24 Jan 7:30pm KO (local time), 8:30pm AEDT
- Thread starter Finsbury Girl
- Start date
there will be soon I'd imagine.
TSR
Mark Ella (57)
I didn’t think it was a great game really, but I still think that Brad & the coaching staff will be pretty happy at the end of our trials.
Positives for me -
- No injuries
- Zander & Tupou got through 60 quality minutes on top of good minutes the week before
- McDermott & Lucas partnership seems to be clicking, with O’Connor & Hegarty also providing good shape to our attack
- Sorovi, Uru, BPA, Stewart & Paisami have all been good off the bench
- Ball retention was generally good in greasy conditions
- Rodda, Smith, Hoopert, Salakai-Loto & Daugunu all to come back in at various points
- Harry Wilson
Areas for concern -
- lineout
- driving maul (defending & attacking)
- still a couple of discipline lapses
Brumbies have a very strong & balanced team. I figure we are going to struggle next week and we look particularly vulnerable to their maul. It’ll be very interesting how we build over the next 2 months.
Positives for me -
- No injuries
- Zander & Tupou got through 60 quality minutes on top of good minutes the week before
- McDermott & Lucas partnership seems to be clicking, with O’Connor & Hegarty also providing good shape to our attack
- Sorovi, Uru, BPA, Stewart & Paisami have all been good off the bench
- Ball retention was generally good in greasy conditions
- Rodda, Smith, Hoopert, Salakai-Loto & Daugunu all to come back in at various points
- Harry Wilson
Areas for concern -
- lineout
- driving maul (defending & attacking)
- still a couple of discipline lapses
Brumbies have a very strong & balanced team. I figure we are going to struggle next week and we look particularly vulnerable to their maul. It’ll be very interesting how we build over the next 2 months.
ArmchairGeneral
Ward Prentice (10)
Red! Red! Red!...sorry just getting too optimistic.
dru
Tim Horan (67)
Reds 1st half line out was poor due to a YC in the row and Simmo having a champion stanza in the line for Tahs. understandable and will rebound without cards and with a full quota of starters.
Zander had a whole lot of scrum pain and learning going on but lived through it and shaped up. He’s on a work-wind tour of improvement and looks promising. Very.
I’m liking our starting halves but they don’t imo provide great game plan. We need JOC (James O'Connor) for that and the result is a bit bumpy. They will have time to settle and work through things but it’s hard not to be impressed by Harrison especially when his helping hand, Beale, was pants. In the mean time we are not stronger with Stewart at 12 until the halves experience builds in mapping through whole games.
The Reds approach to kicking is fab but less line kicking in the 25 by Lucas please.
There are some solid foundations here for Red fans, bring on the Brumbies.
PS: BPA was better than Mafi and showed better leadership than Toupo in the scrum - just based on the prepack chat.
PPS: got to do better with discipline
Zander had a whole lot of scrum pain and learning going on but lived through it and shaped up. He’s on a work-wind tour of improvement and looks promising. Very.
I’m liking our starting halves but they don’t imo provide great game plan. We need JOC (James O'Connor) for that and the result is a bit bumpy. They will have time to settle and work through things but it’s hard not to be impressed by Harrison especially when his helping hand, Beale, was pants. In the mean time we are not stronger with Stewart at 12 until the halves experience builds in mapping through whole games.
The Reds approach to kicking is fab but less line kicking in the 25 by Lucas please.
There are some solid foundations here for Red fans, bring on the Brumbies.
PS: BPA was better than Mafi and showed better leadership than Toupo in the scrum - just based on the prepack chat.
PPS: got to do better with discipline
Brumby Runner
David Wilson (68)
Agree on pretty much all counts Dru. I'd just add that I think McDermott is being a little over-hyped by many Reds fans. He certainly can be a threat with ball in hand, but his decision making in the trial v the Tahs was disappointing. Often didn't seem to know what to do. Maybe just a bit of disconnect with Lucas at 10 at the moment. Early days.
Adam84
Nick Farr-Jones (63)
I must admit i didn’t think his game control was disappointing... If anything i thought It was actually quite good and he set a good tempo in attack, his clearing kicks were a big improvement on 2019, an area they had been working on in the off-season with Dave Alred. I did think Berry let the the rucks get quite messy and his forwards weren’t securing the ball as they should have, and that made a bit of extra work for both halves in getting the ball out.
In either case, Tate is up against a tough opposition next week against Powell, allegedly the best halfback in the country and wallaby 9 in waiting... Tate has his work cut out for him.
In either case, Tate is up against a tough opposition next week against Powell, allegedly the best halfback in the country and wallaby 9 in waiting... Tate has his work cut out for him.
yeah I thought Tate's game management was excellent, as was his option taking. Really varied things up around the base there. Varied the options wonderfully. A strong bugger too. Hard to put down.
As for his box kicking, he's getting mentored by Brad Free so I think the credit flows more his way than Sir Dave's
As for his box kicking, he's getting mentored by Brad Free so I think the credit flows more his way than Sir Dave's
TSR
Mark Ella (57)
I thought there was very good flow generally in the attack and that flow started with the halves. And I thought O’Connor played a vital role as well without ever looking like he and Lucas were getting in each other’s way or stifling the other.
Certainly at times I thought the Reds attack broke down a bit - but I’m happy to put that down to be long a second trial off a relatively short off season. I am really happy with their intent. Players are looking to support each other and run good lines to challenge the defence. They are mixing up the kicks and both halves have shown that they can and will punish the defence if the drift off them too quickly. I will he really interested in what impact Uru has as a finisher. He is a different style player, but I wonder if he can have a Bobby Skinstad type impact coming off the bench when defences are a bit tired.
I’m still not convinced that Lucas & Hegarty aren’t best suited swapped around, but clearly they are staying put and I’m not unhappy with how the backline is going so I’m looking forward to seeing how it rolls out.
I did think the Reds lineout issues & maul issues were evident even before Blyth got binned, so I don’t think it was just the 1 man disadvantage. If anything I thought the pack stepped up when he was off but, from memory, they controlled a lot of the possession for that period so their maul didn’t get tested too much.
I haven’t read why Salakai-Loto didn’t play. Was he injured or just rested?
Certainly at times I thought the Reds attack broke down a bit - but I’m happy to put that down to be long a second trial off a relatively short off season. I am really happy with their intent. Players are looking to support each other and run good lines to challenge the defence. They are mixing up the kicks and both halves have shown that they can and will punish the defence if the drift off them too quickly. I will he really interested in what impact Uru has as a finisher. He is a different style player, but I wonder if he can have a Bobby Skinstad type impact coming off the bench when defences are a bit tired.
I’m still not convinced that Lucas & Hegarty aren’t best suited swapped around, but clearly they are staying put and I’m not unhappy with how the backline is going so I’m looking forward to seeing how it rolls out.
I did think the Reds lineout issues & maul issues were evident even before Blyth got binned, so I don’t think it was just the 1 man disadvantage. If anything I thought the pack stepped up when he was off but, from memory, they controlled a lot of the possession for that period so their maul didn’t get tested too much.
I haven’t read why Salakai-Loto didn’t play. Was he injured or just rested?