Rebels 2015

[Tex]

I am usually in the camp wanting Burgess to start over Stirzaker. But I agree with Dumbledore he was rubbish on Friday. He ran the ball approx 3 times and instead of taking the tackle and laying ball back he tried to throw miracle passes. One of those was the turnover that led to match winning try for Lions. Definitely not what was called for given circumstances of match.

Yep, and the passes he did get out to Harris were noticeably slower than Little Red's.

 

[daz]

Having now gone something like 9 games in a row at AAMI without seeing a win, I'm starting to think I need to attend all the away games in 2015 if I want to see the boys do a victory lap.

The Stockade is not much of a fortress right now, and another season full of early hope is fading fast if the boys don't pull their fingers out.

We debate the reasons why to death, but I'll be up front; I have no idea what can be done, or even exactly what the problem is, apart from the fact we follow a good win with a handful of shockers. There is a team full of ability, and I'd be the first to admit progress is visible this year, but something is still not clicking at Visy Park during the week.

 

[I like to watch]

I reckon they play too much percentage footy.
You have to be physically dominant,or rely on the opposition not turning up to win with that philosophy.

 

[KevinO]

Daz it is very disappointing, if we can't beat the Reds next week the wooden spoon will be ours. Really only Reds, Force and Blues we should be knocking off from hear till the end of the season.

Since Hill left our attack has been dreadful, at least we could put a score on the board we he was in charge. For all the haters he still managed to have a good record against the Kiwi sides at home. TT just seems to set in his ways and they are not working and needs to find a way through, we have a decent squad that with the right coaching could develop into Finals contenders yet we are looking at another bottom 3 finish.

 

[swingpass]

hard to tell whether it's the cattle or the cattle dog at the Rebels. i certainly don't think TT has got the best out of his playing group so far. the, "we are a young side", "its a steep learning curve", "there were many lessons learnt from today's game" mantra is beginning to wear thin. they are certainly an improved outfit, but as i posted elsewhere they are still not really good enough to trouble the better teams on a regular basis. still too many unforced errors, poor execution and bad option taking.

 

[daz]

As much as the ball handling and occasional poor decisions get to me, it's the (lack of) attack that drives me to drink.

The Lions game was a classic - Wave after wave, and phase after phase of flaccid, non-threatening, unimaginative attack, to make 2 meters of gain inside the Lions half, and then cough the ball up and have it returned in spades to our 22.

Infuriating.

 

[swingpass]

As much as the ball handling and occasional poor decisions get to me, it's the (lack of) attack that drives me to drink.

The Lions game was a classic - Wave after wave, and phase after phase of flaccid, non-threatening, unimaginative attack, to make 2 meters of gain inside the Lions half, and then cough the ball up and have it returned in spades to our 22.

Infuriating.

yes the mid portion of the second half last week they held on for umpteen phases and got about 5 metres forward before an "unplayable" maul call.

 

[Tex]

We lacked brute force in the piggies in the second half. Timani went off and with him went our penetration.

Higgers is playing tighter but doesn't have quite the same impact, McMahon makes busts and works his heart out but is a bit underweight for the collision area.

 

[KevinO]

^^^^
Need Jones to fire up, seems to have lost a bit of that impact he had last year.

 

[Tex]

I'm no positional guru but might that be because of the shift from blindside to lock? Eg different on-field roles?

 

[swingpass]

i have decided it is both the cattle and the cattle dog

 

[Tex]

Yeah you're not wrong. I'm used to supporting successful teams, so this is proving a challenge.

I guess life's about contrasts, right? Through that lens, all these dismal losses will surely make the wins all that much sweeter.

 

[swingpass]

after last years disappointments, i promised myself not to expect too much/anything really from the Rebels. just be content to watch some good quality players and teams live and have someone to barrack for and get really excited if they play well and go beserk when and if they win.

however, i have fallen into the trap of believing they could be quite competitive this year after the early efforts. the last three weeks have shown that to be false hope, to dominate possession and territory in theses games for long periods for absolute no points is bewildering. TT keeps saying that developing attacking combinations takes time, but apart from Ellison and i think Naivalu and probably Placid, none of the others have any attacking skills to beat a man ono on one or take advantage of any half break.

but it's the fact that as a team they continue to make the same mistakes week after week that upsets me most. not straight at the lineout, ineffectual clearance from the 22 after restarts (had been better till last night), one out stationary runners, absolutely no variation or subtlety in attack from the backs, poor option taking (why did Inman come back in and not out after the break last night, why did Harris with two men outside him cut back in ?), Higgers is a great leader but not a great tactician or manipulator of the ref, and we get no favours from the officials, not that we should rely on that, but an occasional 50/50 call our way would be nice.

just really really frustrating. from the outside its hard to tell wether it is the coaches game plan or the limitations of the players at his disposal.

 

[Dumbledore]

Yeah you're not wrong. I'm used to supporting successful teams, so this is proving a challenge.

I guess life's about contrasts, right? Through that lens, all these dismal losses will surely make the wins all that much sweeter.

... You support Hawthorn don't you?

 

[Tex]

Nah mate, let's just say i've been keeping a very low profile in AFL land in recent years.

 

[Dumbledore]

Ah righto, I think we might be in the same boat then.

As for the Rebels, want to know why we lost?

These are the top 10 passers for the match.

Stirzaker - 91
Perenara - 44
Debreczeni - 23
Smylie - 18
Marshall - 15
Nonu - 10
Jane - 7
Vito - 7
Smith - 6
Harris - 6

These are the top 10 carriers

Higgers - 19 (five passes)
Jones - 17 (one)
Vito - 13 (seven)
Inman - 14 (four)
McMahon - 13 (four)
Debreczeni - 12 (23)
Leafa - 11 (one)
Woodward - 11 (five)
Smith - 10 (six)
Shields - 10 (three)

So what's the takeaway? Nothing we didn't already know. We're playing an incredibly narrow game that involves everyone staying as close to their support players as possible, never getting isolated, never taking a risk. We're playing a blindside flanker at 12, and Debreczeni doesn't have enough of a passing game to make things happen by himself. He gets badly flustered if he doesn't have an immediate option he can go and reverts to trucking it up. We might as well not be playing with wings and an outside centre, that's how much use they are at the moment.

In a way it makes me feel better, at least I know why Totality Tony won't play Veainu. He's fast, agile, and willing to chance his arm to try and make things happen. Much better to pick a big fella who can hold up in defence and knows to turn back inside if, god forbid, he gets his mitts on the ball.

Can't fault the effort of the players, there's a few - Higgers, Jones, McMahon, PAE, and Inman - who put in enormous shifts. Just a shame they're playing under a coach who seemingly hates rugby.

 

[swingpass]

thanks for the insight, puts into figures what we can se from the sidelines. the Hurricane players pass the ball about 50% of the time and we hang on unless absolutely forced to pass.

the only excuse is that TT thinks that in the longterm (2016, 2017, 2018 ?) by learning to crawl well, the Rebels will eventually be able to walk and one day even run. hope by then the franchise and its supporter base still exist.

Kevin O and the other Irish were absolutely right about McGahan

 

[swingpass]

not that he distinguished himself on Friday, but it is interesting that Caderyn Neville is still in the Wallaby invite group , but can only just get into the Rebels match day team after 5 rounds and when all else has failed.

 

[Average Outside Center]

Just a theory but TT generally put players leaving Aus rugby either on the bench or out of the squad could be the reason for Caderyn being on the fringe

 

[Dumbledore]

I reckon that Wallaby invite group was made before the season. Probably the reason Neville got a start last week was that Cheika wanted to have a look at him. He really wasn't very good though. He's big and strong and no good at rugby. Has an almost preternatural ability to get nowhere near the ball.

AOC, definitely could be something there.

Placid is on U20 duties this week isn't he?