Reds 2014

[Ash]

Harris and Toua have played 13 for the Reds before.Harris was mediocre, Toua was bad. As @Brumby Runner said, Turner has played 13 in the Shute Shield, but I don't think it's his best position.

The only real option was Taps or Ant, but I think that Ant really needs to be playing club football right now to get back his match fitness.

Kerevi is the option in the EPS, but wasn't he in a moon boot a few weeks ago?

 

[something]

I dont know if this should be in the prem forum or not but does anyone know anything about Levi Aumua from reds u20's? GPS guys? I haven't seen him since school but he was a machine back then playing at 8. he is in the centres now. had a stint with broncos but must be back to union.

 

[USARugger]

If we brought Turner into 13 wouldn't that mean Shippers coming back onto the wing?

I'd rather just keep one under-performer at center than move one of our best performers so far into a position he hasn't played in a minute and then put an under-performer (so far, and the role he has been asked to play may be a factor) onto the wing.

@Ash

Agreed about Ant. He was visibly off the pace when he got some time the other week and made some pretty big mistakes for someone who is supposed to be the Reds' defensive captain.

 

[USARugger]

Was just thinking, why didn't the Reds ever go after Patrick Osborne (Fijian Winger who plays in NZ)?

He shredded us last year and seems to be the exact type of player we have been looking for to fill the 11 jersey.

Although he has played with 3 clubs (Cru, Chief, Highlanders) in the past 3 years it seems like he went from Cru->Chief after a non-renewal due to a broken collarbone and then from Chief->High to hunt for more playing time as the Chiefs have a classy set of backs and had just brought in Mils as well.

Anyone know anything more about the guy?

 

[emuarse]

IMHO the Sharks were better at the breakdown, but it was the ref that made them dominant in the first half some and of the second. All Coetzee had to do was touch the ball and he earnt holding on penalties, where he was supporting his own weight or instantly cleaned out was not important.

The scoreline flattered the Sharks at the end, I thought.

Thumbs up on that observation.
This sort of referee decision making is why the Safa sides don't play so well when they're touring i.e. they don't get the rub of the green.
It'll be interesting to see how Berry refs on Saturday night in the Lions/Reds game after his kafuffle re the Lions/Blues game and the threat of the chopping block for refs just around the corner.

 

[emuarse]

CFS is the 13, playing Turner there would be a massive mistake.


The current table isn't really a massive marker to go by, the Force have played two teams expected to finish bottom of their conference, Reds have played conference leaders

And even then they have played 3 of the top competition teams away from home. They've been given about as tough a start to a season as the administrators could conspire to bring on (conspiracy theory? )

Whereas the Sharks, Waratahs, and Brumbies have all had a high proportion of early games at home.

 

[TOCC]

And even then they have played 3 of the top competition teams away from home. They've been given about as tough a start to a season as the administrators could conspire to bring on (conspiracy theory? )

Whereas the Sharks, Waratahs, and Brumbies have all had a high proportion of early games at home.

lol, possibly there is a conspiracy out there...
But to be fair, QLD has had its fair share of good draws in the past, it was about time it had a shocking one.

 

[spectator]

It has been a tough early draw, so a win tonight has real significance, as it keeps the Reds in touch with the leaders, who arguably have most of their tougher games to come.

 

[gel]

Rightly or wrongly, the reds now have a reputation of infringing.

This is now up to the reds to fix.

People can complain about biased refereeing (not the point of this post), but the reds have chosen to adopt the cynical defensive tactic of deliberate infringing when on defence.

That has been their choice.

We can complain that other teams do the same (there are others), and even that it happens against us (it does), but it is now irrelevant; the referees are now watching the reds and that will now continue for SEASONS after this. Once a team gets a reputation for something, it is irrelevant whether they have fixed it or not, they will have that reputation for a very very long time.

The reds will continue to end up on the wrong side of the penalty count for a long time to come and they have no one else to blame but themselves.

It is up to the reds to adapt to this. They must learn to score points. They must learn to control themselves when under pressure (from the opposition or the referee). The must learn the value of ball security. They must start to defend legally.

It will be interesting to see how the reds react to what happened on this tour. The easy path is to just blame the referees (with some justification), but really I think the more mature approach is to look at what it is we are doing and fix those things. The australasian referees are not going to referee us kindly either so work on those matters we actually have control over.

It is now up to both the coaching staff and the senior players to be the mature ones. It would be easy to lose your shit and just go willy billy for the rest of the season and win some spectacular victories and lose some horrible defeats with abandon, or realise that it isn't the end of the season and that you can still make finals with the right mindset.

 

[Penguin]

Tapuai is 13 again this week

And went pretty well I thought.

 

[suckerforred]

Rightly or wrongly, the reds now have a reputation of infringing.

This is now up to the reds to fix.

..........

Funny.... I just made this comment on the match review blog........

 

[No4918]

And went pretty well I thought.

Yep, one of our best.

 

[USARugger]

Tapuai kind of faded out of the game but he was easily one of our best players into the 30 minute mark.

I was so sure he was going over for that try when he stepped two Lions' defenders from 10m out!

We really did get bent over a barrel today/yesterday though, huh?

 

[Tip]

Cooper, Genia, Tapuai, Horwill, Simmons, Quirk

All very good against the Lions, in the case of the first two names; excellent. I watched all the Aus games this week and I thought Genia and Quade outplayed each and every one of their countrymen. (Cooper justttt shaded To'omua)
I hope this continues for the rest of the season.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Toua and Gill are both 'unlikely' for the Stormers game.

Tooua injured a pectoral muscle and Gill a hamstring.

 

[No4918]

Gill - 3 weeks, CFS - 2 more weeks, Toua - ??

 

[No4918]

To make the finals:
2013
Cheetahs - 10 wins, 6 losses, 6 BP = 54 points (46 points adjusted for byes)
2012
Sharks - 10 wins, 6 losses, 11 BP = 59 points (51 points adjusted)

Currently with 2 wins and 2 BP the Reds will need to aim for an 8/3 record to finish the season. If that happens it is hard to imagine they will not pickup at least 4 BP. 7 home games remaining and probably only 1 of these can be dropped to be a serious chance. With the Hurricanes, Blues, Rebels and Force the remaining away games you would imagine the Reds are reasonable chances of getting 2-3 of these.

Too easy, I won't be writing them off until they lose that 4th remaining game. Go Reds!!!!

 

[twenty seven]

I am not impressed with the lack of respect shown towards the Ref. Whether you feel justified or not in arguing a point with the Ref his call is final. Chat with him concerning issues and his interpretation but arguing with him is not going to help.
The Reds would do well to have a look at the Cheetahs last game. Their respect of the Ref's decision is admirable and it is hard to pick if they are pissed with his call.
You won't change his mind so adapt accordingly or suffer the yellow cards to follow!

 

[RugbyReg]

I am not impressed with the lack of respect shown towards the Ref. Whether you feel justified or not in arguing a point with the Ref his call is final. Chat with him concerning issues and his interpretation but arguing with him is not going to help.
The Reds would do well to have a look at the Cheetahs last game. Their respect of the Ref's decision is admirable and it is hard to pick if they are pissed with his call.
You won't change his mind so adapt accordingly or suffer the yellow cards to follow!

what disrespect have the Reds shown? I haven't seen much to be honest. Graham had a pretty reserved few comments both game, but most have been from the common punter, journo (not just Aussie) and a few former players.

 

[Ash]

Could you imagine the presser if Cheika was the coach?

I posted in the Stormers thread about Toua - he's a great attacker, but he loses the ball way too much in contact. He seems to make loads of halfbreaks, but seems to just lose his feet as he's in the clear. Loads of potential, but he's still a very rough diamond, especially when you add in kicking and defending.

Who will be the new fullback? Turner? Harris? Lucas? Taps deserves another start; either at 12 or 13 depending on where Harris plays. And someone needs to tell Harris to quite with the short kicks, he's done them quite a lot this year and turned over cheap possession every time.