Reds 2017

[Luvmyrugby]

Ruptured Achilles confirmed for Slipper, Phil Kite called up to replace him.



Moore to take over captaincy - not sure what this will mean for his scheduled benchings?

and for our penalty count. The refs hate him.

 

[Luvmyrugby]

Courier Mail says he's the most yellow carded Wallaby in history with 6 (equal with Hooper) and 5 of the 6 are for bad tackles.



Most of those would be red under the current interpretations so Cooper is a real liability going forward unless he drastically modifies his technique. If he was in top form you might justify the risk but he hasn't really shown much so far this season anyway.

I love watching him play (2011 gave us some of the best attacking rugby ever seen) but I reckon he's a thug at heart. A mungo in rugby clothing someone once said.

 

[Luvmyrugby]

Yeah, it's the standard problem the Reds have had since about 2014 - no real go-forward in forwards or backs. As with last year most of the tries have been either from line breaks off set plays or Kerevi crashing over from close range, there is very little of what we see with other teams where they continually make small gains phase after phase and apply pressure. Part of that is just because they can't retain the ball for enough phases without either coughing it up or kicking it away - nearly every time they started to get some go-forward against the Lions they inexplicably kicked it, as even the SA commentators pointed out.



I'm not sure that Houston is the answer as he has slimmed down a lot compared to his NH bulk, and in the minutes he has played he hasn't shown the powerful runs he was famous for in the NH. But at this stage it's probably worth a try.



In the Lions game last week, at one stage the Lions got a penalty within their own 22 and instead of kicking it, they took a quick tap and ran. Three phases later and they were in the Reds 22 with about half a dozen tackle busts in between. That really struck home for me - you would never see the Reds try that, ever. If the Reds had tried that they'd have hammered away for five or six phases making no ground and then turned over the ball, and probably conceded a try. And the Reds know that which is why they keep kicking it away. Unfortunately their kicking game is nowhere near good enough, you need the Highlanders' kicking game to make that work.

Stiles should Ban the box kick

 

[Strewthcobber]

I love watching him play (2011 gave us some of the best attacking rugby ever seen) but I reckon he's a thug at heart. A mungo in rugby clothing someone once said.

And people wonder why we have an issue attracting more people to our game

 

[Scoey]

I love watching him play (2011 gave us some of the best attacking rugby ever seen) but I reckon he's a thug at heart. A mungo in rugby clothing someone once said.

I can tell you for a fact that this is not correct.

 

[liquor box]

I think teh Reds could really use Genia because the one thing he did reallllly well, and the one thing we are reaaaallly missing, is forwards direction. That guy, regardless of flaws, knew when and where to send the forwards as he balanced that with talking to quade to suss out when and where he wants it.

Hunt/Kerevi talk to Quade about what he is seeing, Quade answers that he has a plan. Quade says to Genia, keep pushing the forwards same way blind side, then I'll want it. Genia pushes forwards blind side. Quade calls, Genia delivers and Hunt/Kerevi etc execute their routes. That is an essential part of general play (set plays not produced from set pieces), forwards having a clear plan and direction about where they are needed and what they are needed for, whilst the backs sort their shit out. Right now, it looks like our forwards know where they need to be and what they need to do, it's just the wrong thing..in the wrong place. Then every back move seems like a set piece as the forwards have lost momentum and might as well be a scrum, so when the back move finishes and god forbid, not with a try scored!, then the whole team is like.sooo..we didn't score.box kick?

Is there a reason QC (Quade Cooper) cant say this to Frisby?

 

[USARugger]

Hunt/Kerevi talk to Quade about what he is seeing, Quade answers that he has a plan.

This was the alarming part of Hunt's recent "mic'd up" video - QC (Quade Cooper) sounded completely fucking cooked mentally and had no plan when Hunt tried to suss one out of him partway into the match.

 

[upthereds#!]

Is there a reason QC (Quade Cooper) cant say this to Frisby?

not that I'm aware of, which is annoying

 

[Beer Baron]

tuttle/jake mac. run on pairing. could be interesting

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

 

[bloodred]

tuttle/jake mac. run on pairing. could be interesting

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

Good luck to the new pairing, would like to see them go well. Tuttle is more a conventional half than Frisby plays more a team game. Frisby is similar to Gordon from the Tahs

 

[dru]

So. We started the year with an impressive team list but unproven coaching. Give the coaches a go we all thought.

Last year, particularly toward the end, we dominated possession but were unable to do anything with it. "Simmons leadership", I pondered. Doesnt work now.

One common denominator? Anyone else thinking coaching?

Quade might make a difference but he's one bloke. I'm still loving Paia'aua and Hunt (DP a hit quiet though in Argentina) and of course Quade (even if not at 2011 performance). But that trio does not appear to make enough difference.

Coaches can take a bow with how the team played when down to 13. And for our possession stats. Are there many here who think it's enough?

 

[amirite]

One common denominator? Anyone else thinking coaching?

Your starting XV is 50% or more different to last year, and your coaching staff are very different to last year.

I don't think there's any common denominator.

 

[Sully]

I can see great performances from players and a game plan. What's letting us down is accuracy in many areas and because of that we can't build pressure.

 

[dru]

I can see great performances from players and a game plan. What's letting us down is accuracy in many areas and because of that we can't build pressure.

Sully, I'd suggest "great" is overstated in the main.

We have possession stats that are predictable/good, presume this is from a low-risk game plan to put pigs on pigs and backs on backs. It's coupled with an unproven ability to do something with the possession.

Ignoring that accuracy would have a coaching element to it - what am I missing in this game plan? Maybe this inaccuracy has me missing it.

 

[gel]

Who is the Reds skills trainer?

 

[RugbyReg]

Mick Byrne.

Shane Arnold as attack coach is fast discovering his ain't U20s nor club rugby any more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[neilc]

Mick Byrne.

Shane Arnold as attack coach is fast discovering his ain't U20s nor club rugby any more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Reg, do you mean discovering in terms of how to work with his players or the skills of the opposition he is facing?

 

[Teh Other Dave]

So basically we're playing to all bar one KPI - scoreboard. Despite the benefit of most of last season, and a summer, we're still on a learning curve. This morning's lesson was keeping one's head up. After two close losses, a dribbing on the high veldt, and injuries.

The difference this morning was the two tries scored while we were depleted. The fact that we weren't bending their line is a bit worrying, but remember that McIntyre is still developing (let's be honest, he was never really eased into super rugby), and he wasn't helped by either of his halves.

Despite our off season signings, we're still developing - that includes our coaching staff. Unfortunately, the awful run of ACT and NSW has drawn attention to the Australian conference; I'm more optimistic about us pulling it all together than them.

 

[Joe Blow]

There appears to be a distinct lack of direction and of a common understanding of what the game plan is when we have the ball.

The Reds had enough ball on the weekend to win two games. 9 & 10 are problem areas, even with QC (Quade Cooper) fit.

The set piece and forward grunt is there, as is the firepower in the backline. It is just not being directed well which comes down to leadership, coaching and the halves.

 

[Ulrich]

I have said it repeatedly, Australia's forwards need to front up more often. They are capable of it they just seem to do it in patches rather than consistently. I'm not talking so much about scrummaging here, rather, running hard at blokes and setting up phase play with quick ball (the golden word here is quick) so the backs can look good.

It's so much easier for the halfbacks to look amazing when your opposition defense is back-tracking in their steps and trying to keep their defensive line under pressure. This sort of go-forward from the forwards give the one thing that makes all the difference to backline players - TIME. A little bit of extra time to make decisions while their opposition is temporarily in disarray.

Running into gaps also work as more yardage can be made this way, but you also need some guys that require 2 or 3 defenders to be sucked in from time-to-time so your backs have more space to play the ball and players into.

Kerevi pulls in several defenders and so does Folau, but it helps for little if they receive the ball on the back foot due to forwards not dominating collisions.

You could play at a tremendous pace if you achieved that. You can play at a tremendous pace without all that go-forward sometimes, but as the Stormers showed against the Sunwolves (after initially getting run ragged) your forwards can win the game by slowing the game down and using the pick & go to suck the life out of your tenacity.

It is when you intend to play with your forwards that your kicking game should be really good because you can't expect the fellas to pick `n go the entire length of the pitch all game long.

It's simple for us all to see and understand.