NRC Rnd 2: Brisbane City v Western Sydney Rams
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WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
Another blistering try by Felsman. Pass to set it up was marginal at best but finishing first class.
WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
Rams backs love the contact. Too bloody much.
WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
The difference if City wins this is Felsman's pace. Rams probably the better team otherwise.
WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
If the Rams had the backline to match their forwards. They'd be serious contenders. Too much searching for contact in numbers 9-15 when they should be looking to run at space. The Rams pack played all over their much fancied opponents for the most part. Frustrating.
Brumby Runner
David Wilson (68)
Skelton looks fitter than I've ever seen him. But as a fringe Wallaby, hasn't had the impact expected in this game.
Brumby Runner
David Wilson (68)
Felsman certainly has great pace. Very exciting. How'd he finish the game? Looked like a knee injury after the second try.
WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
Okay, calmed down a little now from the frustration of that loss.
To the game. Overall apart from some lets say odd refereeing in the first half in particular this was in general a pretty good game to watch. High tempo throughout though perhaps not as high paced as City would have liked it. Plenty physical and up until about the 55th minute mark pretty good battle in the set piece. Particularly the scrum.
As for players who impressed. I'll start with City. Houston had a better game. Much more presence and impact than last week. Pity Tui was KO'd in the first half as I could have seen him having a big say later in the game. Both the City props were menacing around the breakdown and possess silkly hands for big men when distributing. Frisby and McIntyre were good without wowing the field. Can't remember his name but 12 made good metres on most carries and Alex Gibbon was a handful all game. Finally for City, why wasn't Felsman not part of the original squad. Seriously. His express pace was pretty much the reason for the City victory. The big Fijian 6 also deserves and honourable mention.
Now the Rams. Lolohea again was good covering a mountain of work for a big man. Toleafoa had a much better game this week and Viiga was very good. But MOTM for me in a beaten team was Sapoaga. Best forward on the pack today. Overall the Rams pack were very good, dictated the pace and played an abrasive and physical style. If they had the backline to match the Rams could push deep this season. Unfortunately lost Goodall early to a broken Fibia.
To the game. Overall apart from some lets say odd refereeing in the first half in particular this was in general a pretty good game to watch. High tempo throughout though perhaps not as high paced as City would have liked it. Plenty physical and up until about the 55th minute mark pretty good battle in the set piece. Particularly the scrum.
As for players who impressed. I'll start with City. Houston had a better game. Much more presence and impact than last week. Pity Tui was KO'd in the first half as I could have seen him having a big say later in the game. Both the City props were menacing around the breakdown and possess silkly hands for big men when distributing. Frisby and McIntyre were good without wowing the field. Can't remember his name but 12 made good metres on most carries and Alex Gibbon was a handful all game. Finally for City, why wasn't Felsman not part of the original squad. Seriously. His express pace was pretty much the reason for the City victory. The big Fijian 6 also deserves and honourable mention.
Now the Rams. Lolohea again was good covering a mountain of work for a big man. Toleafoa had a much better game this week and Viiga was very good. But MOTM for me in a beaten team was Sapoaga. Best forward on the pack today. Overall the Rams pack were very good, dictated the pace and played an abrasive and physical style. If they had the backline to match the Rams could push deep this season. Unfortunately lost Goodall early to a broken Fibia.
WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
Have to agree. If I were a Wallaby selector watching the game today I would actually be leaning toward Tui over Skelton. He had a few moments here and there and his binning was bizarre but most of his involvements were more just flopping his big frame into contact.
He's a very frustrating player. He's big, he's strong and you can see he has the aggression. Hell, he played 50 minutes and looked comfortable with the pace but he lacks that explosive edge to make all those attributes really work.
WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
Hopefully it's nothing too serious. He finished the game so perhaps it was just a bump.
WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
For anyone wondering the final score was 44-36 to City.
Highlander35
Andrew Slack (58)
Small sample size, but I've enjoyed the neutral games far more than previous seasons. Is it just that the Rays and Rams aren't "easybeats" anymore, is it that the fitness is a little bit better overall, or am I imagining things
WorkingClassRugger
David Codey (61)
I have to say, I was a little worried about the fitness side of things with the Rams leading into this week. They seemed to tire a little last week though I also think the mass substitutions we saw also slowed their momentum as well.
I think its a combination of both. The consolidation appears to be working early on. All the NSW team appear to be much, much more competitive. I know the Rams have lost two but they could/should (maybe) have won today if not for the sheer pace and individual class of Felsman and despite the scoreline last week were very much in that game as well.
The Rays are the same. A much better outfit this season. Play an entertaining brand and not afraid to get physical.
On the fitness side of it. Yeah, in general the fitness side looks to be significantly improved. And that's shown up in the defence and the many just brutal hits we've seen in that aspect. Sure, lots of tries have been scored. That tends to come with the attacking nature of the competition but the defence has stepped up and that's helped by the improved overall fitness levels.
Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
In the first 2 seasons, the Rays employed a quota system with their selections - bascially an equal number of players from each of the 4 SS clubs in the squad. I understand the reasons behind this, in that it gave all 4 clubs and their supporters an equal stake in the team. Where it fell down was that one of the clubs played in the grand final in at least one of those years and another of the clubs was in the bottom 4 for those years.
This year they are just picking the best team regardless of where they come from.
Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
Couldn't help but notice that one of the BC props seemed to be sporting a manziere under his jersey.
Suspect it was this guy.
Suspect it was this guy.
Here's my review for those interested:
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/brisbane-city-hold-off-aggressive-rams/
Good shout out. He was fantastic. He was very close to being my selection as MOM but I ended up option for Paraka more because he was on the winning team. But Topou was fantastic.
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/brisbane-city-hold-off-aggressive-rams/
Good shout out. He was fantastic. He was very close to being my selection as MOM but I ended up option for Paraka more because he was on the winning team. But Topou was fantastic.
MungoMan
Sydney Middleton (9)
Did much immoderate clapping and cheering for Paraka when he went off. He had a damned fine game.
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