Reds 2013

His goal kicking is sensational, his general play kicking does the trick as well but wouldn't be of the standard of Matt Brandon but with experience I imagine he will improve . He is also not afraid to take the ball to the line himself, which has earned himself decent try tally. From what I have seen which is only a handful of games he strikes me as a player who flourishes when and expansive game is being played before him but I think he loses his edge when the game has to be more direct and tight however with age again I am sure this will change. I would like to see Taumata for team like Souths or Norths which are teams that would force him to take more responsibility because lets face it in a team like the bank where you have players Matt Lucas inside and Ben Tapuai outside you it takes the pressure off and can sometimes mean that you can afford to be a passenger for a few phases. But I don't want to take anything away from Dion he is a fantastic player and has had a stellar season, however I want to see that steel character under pressure that every good flyhalf should have.

I guess this week against Brothers will be a real test of his maturity under pressure. Mind you, when he played Easts, and the forwards were having some sort of war between them, Dion looked pretty calm and I thought had a great game. He's got the size on him aswell to take the ball confidently to the line, good offload, good kick and didn't seem to do anything wrong defensively. I think Sunnybanks style of gameplay suits him aswell, looks to play expansive, but then plugs the corners if it isn't working.

I won't lie, I have been very very impressed by him.

So Guy Shepherdson, Van Humphries and Peter Hynes have been removed from the Reds Squad list on their website..

Nick Frisby has been added to the Reds Squad from the EPS squad, that leaves 1 vacant position which you would have to assume is going to a prop to replace Guy..

Is Jeremy Tilse still been tossed around as a potential recruit?

According to the Waratahs 2013 thread, Tilse is staying in Sydney.

I thought Anae replaced shep in the sqaud?

Would have thought they will go with a lock/6/8 as the last forward, and then have a prop in the EPS.

ah was he EPS in 2012?. That would make sense then..

Definetly need a new lock,6,8 to replace Higgers/Humprhies

I seem to remember some bloke called Hugh, who could fill in all of the above. I hope we still have his number in our little black book.

Anea was solid enough against the Crusaders. There are a few mixed opinions on him, and I really can't make up my mind on him either, but I think he should be given a shot. Can't be worse than Daley in the scrum.

I don't think we have really seen enough of him at Prop to make a good judgement. Most of his Reds game time has been at hooker

Just to clarify, Daley as an incumbent 22 prop deserves the right to get first crack next season, probably off the bench, but if he isn't up to it by round 3 I would be hoping Anea gets moved in.

Anyone know if the new rules will be in place next year? In that case, two props, one LHP and one THP, will probably be on the bench.

Probably depends how the ITM Cup trial goes?

If you're referring to a 23 man match day squad, that rule change is not being implemented in this years ITM Cup

I thought all the new laws were being trialled there? But I'm happy to stand corrected.

Currie Cup isn't it?

Some quick Googling has revealed that the ITM cup is trialling the new IRB Laws but NOT a 23 man bench as far as I can see.

http://www.itmcup.co.nz/itmCupnews/20133/Global-law-trial-FAQ

So I just got my Reds 2013 confirmation email.

Next year we get home games against Blues, Canes, Bulls and Sharks which should be very good games.

Then I started thinking about who we won't play. To do this I've assumed (dangerous I know, especially with SANZAR) a few things that hold true for te past 2 years.

1. That the home/away rotation has to continue, you can't play the same team at home 2 years in a row or either side of a year when you don't play them. e.g. we played the Cheetahs at home 2011, didn't play them in 2012 so will play them away in 2013.

2. The Kings will slot directly in for the lions.

3. All teams will not have played all other teams from other conferences once only with in a 5 year period.

4. Teams will miss other teams in groups of 3, 1 from each conference. e.g. last year the Reds didn't play the Cheetahs or the hurricanes who also didn't play each other.

From all this I've worked out we won't be playing the Crusaders next year as it should be home game for us.

From SA its either Stormers or the Kings as we missed the Cheetahs last year. If all the assumptions hold true it will be the Stormersa we don't play becasue the Crusaders didn't play the lions in 2011.

Nice if it happens but I can hear the cries of "the draw favoured the reds" already. Might go and get some red ear muffs for next year.

We won't be playing the Kings or the Saders. We actually play the Stormers away.

Blues at home
Canes at home
Chiefs away
Highlanders away
Bulls at home
Sharks at home
Cheetahs away
Stormers away

Does anybody have any thoughts on who will play at 8 instead of Higgenbotham?