Crusaders v Reds Prelim 1

[No4918]

Hell if Carter just shovelled it on , man I will be happy with calling him digger, thought he showed how a good 10 varies play, or perhaps you didn't notice his clearing kicks, or try he scored, or players he put in space.

You are of course right. Hedid those things well but a closer look and it's not so simple. As for putting players in space, a lot easier when multiple guys are coming at the line to give multiple options. Made to look better by a terrible defensive performance by the centres. Cooper rarely had more than one option. The try Carter scored he took the ball in the line out wide after Dagg played first receiver. This variation and creativity is something the Reds have lacked for much of the year. This is probably due to the outside men, gameplan and Cooper. Yeah, guess i didn't notice.

Cooper cleared fairly well tonight, Tapuai as the second option is not great. Saders are spoilt with Dagg and Carter.

 

[AngrySeahorse]

Chin up mate. There's always the Ashes.

Well there goes my smile

 

[Dam0]

Fark, that's some mean and ornery trolling, dude!!

I assure you that there isn't a non-Aussie reading this thread that wasn't thinking it. Besides, the lead isn't insurmountable yet. Still plenty of life in it.

 

[Scoey]

I assure you that there isn't a non-Aussie reading this thread that wasn't thinking it. Besides, the lead isn't insurmountable yet. Still plenty of life in it.

Just sinking the boot in further? That's what they said about the Reds at half time too! ;-)

 

[cyclopath]

I assure you that there isn't a non-Aussie reading this thread that wasn't thinking it. Besides, the lead isn't insurmountable yet. Still plenty of life in it.

I don't doubt it! It was a fair call. Harsh, but fair.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Just sinking the boot in further? That's what they said about the Reds at half time too! ;-)

Ha. Yeah hearing the words "still in it" from the comms just after halftime even brought a smile to my face.

 

[Sandpit Fan]

That game summed up the reds seasons. Didn't click all season and just did enough to get into the finals. And got touched up tonight by a far better and inform team.

And now my night gets worse as the fucken soccer in on the box where I am. Going to hide and lose myself in a bottle rum.

Could be worse biggsy, you'd need 2 bottles if the cricket was on.

 

[Ruggo]

Very very well played Crusaders. Congratulations Crusaders. They choked us right out of the game and we looked like shit. I can take losing but when your side goes down with a whimper, it hurts.

The less said about the crowd the better.

 

[Ruggo]

Very very well played Crusaders. Congratulations Crusaders. They choked us right out of the game and we looked like shit. I can take losing but when your side goes down with a whimper, it hurts.

The less said about the crowd the better.

 

[Scoey]

Very very well played Crusaders. Congratulations Crusaders. They choked us right out of the game and we looked like shit. I can take losing but when your side goes down with a whimper, it hurts.

The less said about the crowd the better.

Mate I'm not even certain we whimpered. Sad face.

 

[gel]

Very very well played Crusaders. Congratulations Crusaders. They choked us right out of the game and we looked like shit. I can take losing but when your side goes down with a whimper, it hurts.

The less said about the crowd the better.

Yeah, that is probably the worst bit - to go out like that is pretty unpalatable.

 

[Lindommer]

I assure you that there isn't a non-Aussie reading this thread that wasn't thinking it. Besides, the lead (in the Second Ashes Test) isn't insurmountable yet. Still plenty of life in it.

As Keith Miller once so accurately put it: "bet you 6/4 on we don't win this one".

 

[lewisr]

This is Ewen McKenzie rugby. He is the coach.

badabing59 my point is that it reminded me of a deans style of rugby. I wasn't blaming him so calm down haha.

And yes Franklind, I know that and that's why I wrote that last sentence in there about the fact that he has a shitload of work to do if he wants to beat your lot in the first bledisloe. However I do suspect Richard Graham is calling a lot of the shots these days.

 

[vidiot]

Crusaders were somehow brutal and precise all at the same time. Massive hits, swarming in attack with short balls to runners at a great depth.

Peyper gave them some latitude at the tackle/breakdown and they took every opportunity - tacklers lingering holding on, falling on the reds side, taking up the space well beyond the ruck area and then running through it. All stuff the reds just couldn't do themselves because they were physically dominated.

Mackenzie at half time mentioned the Crusaders slowing the ball down, but the Reds answer, often, seemed to slow it down themselves.

Frankly, I'm glad that the super season has ended for some of these guys - they need to freshen up for the RC. Horwill in particular.

I've deleted the recording, and never want to watch it again, but

What was Whitelock doing to Schatz at 43:02? I shudder to use the term stamping after the extravaganza last month, but - seriously?

 

[Dan54]

Must admit, I haven't noticed or seen it vid, but might see if I notice anything when I watch game again. The one thing I will say is that Shatz and Quirk were certainly outmuscled last night, that surprised me a bit as I thought not being Lions series they were 2 players I really expected to fire. I also thought that it was probably hard to mark because his tighties weren't overly flash, Todd certainly showed young Gill how to play 7.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

The one thing I will say is that Shatz and Quirk were certainly outmuscled last night...Todd certainly showed young Gill how to play 7.

Didn't really surprise me.
Bloody Read is t able to move from a tight game to a running game without missing a beat. The back rower who most influences most games? Not sure thats an official award (yet).
From the moment I saw Todd my working hypothesis was that he will be better than McCaw - we'll see.
Gill is something of a mystery. I like him. But he never has as much influence as his promoters predict he will have. He's young. But he needs to take the next step.
Shatz & Quirk are about Richard Brown standard, IMO: mind you, when he debuted for the Wallabies everyone thought that the next big thing had been uncovered.

 

[Ruggo]

badabing59 my point is that it reminded me of a deans style of rugby. I wasn't blaming him so calm down haha.

And yes Franklind, I know that and that's why I wrote that last sentence in there about the fact that he has a shitload of work to do if he wants to beat your lot in the first bledisloe. However I do suspect Richard Graham is calling a lot of the shots these days.

Link can take the wrap. The sun shines out of his arse when it goes right and nobody says Woody is calling the shots which just isn't right. Everybody in the group is smeared by the foul smell of that performance.

 

[wamberal]

Out-muscled, out-thought, out-played, you name it, the Reds looked like a schoolboy team up against grown men.

It is one thing for the Reds backline to struggle, given the bizarre centre pairing, but to watch what is supposedly a good foward pack get totally dominated is unpleasant to say the least.

Maybe some of the starry eyed optimists who predicted otherwise will remember this: the Crusaders are a franchise that knows how to win at the pointy end of the season. Don't forget, chaps, it will save you some heartache in the future. I shudder to think what the Blucks are going to do to us.

The only tiny little bright spot for me was seeing CFS starting to look at home at this level. Gill worked his butt off all game.


As for some of the others, they should be sent back to play park rugby. There must be better footballers around in Queensland.

 

[sneaker]

Well bit of an anti climax for the Reds. I was pretty silent all game, nothing to cheer about, only once or twice when they started to pick and drive and gain some momentum.

Quite interesting the stats looked pretty even there, the only thing I saw was a few more missed tackles from the reds, but when that happened the crusaders had a sniff and created a line break.

Reds had no fire power in the back line, they looked disjointed and lacked any combination, very little line breaks. I heard Will Genia say on Rugby HQ earlier on the week they were going to play a territory game, I was quite surprised he would actually say that, and then proceed to try and play that game (ok Crusaders here is our game plan 4 days out ) I was assuming they would say that and play the opposite (maybe i think too much).

But that game reminder me too much of a Wallabies Robbie Deans special, grind out a win, and look like we dont know what we are suppose to be doing.

The reds game plan was to play territory and back there deference which is the second best in the comp, all though it appeared they had no game plan by the way they played.

I was pretty sure if they played the game plan similar to when they played the lions, they would have better success, stay away from the set piece and get quick ball, but I guess if your forwards had a shocker its hard to do this.

Anyway I am link fan, I hope he has some good ideas up his sleeve, because if the wallabies play like this we could be in trouble

 

[lewisr]

Maybe some of the starry eyed optimists who predicted otherwise will remember this: the Crusaders are a franchise that knows how to win at the pointy end of the season. Don't forget, chaps, it will save you some heartache in the future. I shudder to think what the Blucks are going to do to us.

Jesus mate, you're positive aren't you!? We played like shit, but I don't think anyone was expecting the blowout that occurred last night. Those of us tipping the reds were probably a bit hopeful but in no way were we 'starrey eyed' dreamers. And as a matter of fact, the reds have shown in the past that they can come up with the goods against the Crusaders. So sorry for our misplaced optimism.

I mean why the hell did we even watch the game if they are so bloody godlike, hey? The reds were a genuine chance at winning that game and in no way was it stupid for us supporters to think they couldnt get the job done. In the end we were outclassed but the reds were not playing at their potential and the saders had a blinder. Take your negativity somewhere else because that's not what the game's about.