Reds 2020

[RugbyReg]

I personally don’t think Lucas is a 10 at the professional level. He’s a talent and a half but his best attributes are support play, running into holes, isolating people 1 on 1 and been evasive, all perfect for a 15. Hegarty I think is the safer option at 10.

gee you've missed the one attribute that really is his standout talent - his ability to put someone into space. That's been the thing that sets him apart in my eyes. It's why I can't wait to see him play more with Petaia - one of the finest gap runners we've got.

 

[Adam84]

2020 season starts in 6 weeks, the squad they have is the one they’re starting the season with.

In that you have 4 fly-half candidates; Lucas, Hegarty, Stewart and JOC (James O'Connor).
Although Stewart is now been groomed as a 12, and despite the rumours I don’t consider JOC (James O'Connor) a 5/8.

 

[wamberal]

I hate to say it, but I reckon losing Kerevi could actually turn out to be a good thing. Mind you, I would like to see him come back. But he was totally overused in my opinion, and our attack (talking about the Wobs) was one dimensional.



I would love to see him in a decent backline alongside Petaia.

 

[Bobby Sands]

"I am definitely grateful for the year I have just had at the Broncos where it was all about learning and growing and getting my physical development in the gym up to date," he said.

"I couldn't be happier with where I am from a physical point of view. My legs were weak coming into pre-season last year simply because I had bad knees."


"I went to the strength and conditioner Ryan [Whitley] and told him I had bad knees and he said 'I don't care, mate. You are going to squat and squat heavy and we are going to get over that knee soreness'.


"At the start it rattled me because I had never done that before but now it is my strongest aspect. I enjoy it now."


Izzy Perese

 

[RugbyReg]

"I am definitely grateful for the year I have just had at the Broncos where it was all about learning and growing and getting my physical development in the gym up to date," he said.

"I couldn't be happier with where I am from a physical point of view. My legs were weak coming into pre-season last year simply because I had bad knees."


"I went to the strength and conditioner Ryan [Whitley] and told him I had bad knees and he said 'I don't care, mate. You are going to squat and squat heavy and we are going to get over that knee soreness'.


"At the start it rattled me because I had never done that before but now it is my strongest aspect. I enjoy it now."


Izzy Perese

interesting approach...

 

[Bobby Sands]

Kid looks better than Berrick Barnes. I don't recall peeps having a whinge about him playing straight out of school.

Hegarty has been around a while he is a solid player who didn't let us down last year. We are 100% fine with 5/8 at the moment.

Berrick had done a three year (maybe two) apprenticeship in the top squad at the Broncos playing hooker.

I never saw him play at Ipswich but apparently he was a genius, unbelievable keeper batsman too.

 

[Bobby Sands]

interesting approach.

mentality**

 

[Adam84]

Not surprising really, he was 19 and had an ACL injury when he was at the Reds.

Absolutely there are lessons which can be learned from NRL or the AFL in how they do fitness, however their fitness regime closer to that of 7’s then XV’s, a one size fits all approach focussed on high intensity cardio. They don’t have Tupous, Latus or Sio type body shapes to cater to, or the technical aspect of the tight 5 training. There’s no reason a XV backrower or back couldn’t be as fit as an NRL player though.

Crucially the NRL benefit from a longer pre-season then rugby, thats something that cant be replicated in Australia until a global calendar is effectively implemented.

 

[Braveheart81]

I personally don’t think Lucas is a 10 at the professional level. He’s a talent and a half but his best attributes are support play, running into holes, isolating people 1 on 1 and been evasive, all perfect for a 15. Hegarty I think is the safer option at 10.

Doesn't this also provide the opportunity that if he gets on top of the game management stuff, decision making and general play kicking he has the tools to be absolutely world class at 10?

 

[Finsbury Girl]

Berrick had done a three year (maybe two) apprenticeship in the top squad at the Broncos playing hooker.



I never saw him play at Ipswich but apparently he was a genius, unbelievable keeper batsman too.

I'm a bl**dy idiot. I just realised - whilst I typed "Berrick Barnes", I actually meant Flats.

 

[RugbyReg]

Not surprising really, he was 19 and had an ACL injury when he was at the Reds.

Absolutely there are lessons which can be learned from NRL or the AFL in how they do fitness, however their fitness regime closer to that of 7’s then XV’s, a one size fits all approach focussed on high intensity cardio. They don’t have Tupous, Latus or Sio type body shapes to cater to, or the technical aspect of the tight 5 training. There’s no reason a XV backrower or back couldn’t be as fit as an NRL player though.

Crucially the NRL benefit from a longer pre-season then rugby, thats something that cant be replicated in Australia until a global calendar is effectively implemented.

and their sole focus is crash and bash. "Run fast into someone strong" and "tackle someone running fast at you".

Rugby has many more aspects to their game (across positions) that need specific S&C, skills and training.

 

[Rebels3]

Doesn't this also provide the opportunity that if he gets on top of the game management stuff, decision making and general play kicking he has the tools to be absolutely world class at 10?

Could do. I just think he’s far closer to been a world class 15 than 10. He shares far more in common with Ben Smith, Le Roux, Beale, McKenzie, Liam Williams than he does with Mo’unga, Pollard, Farrell, Biggar and Sexton. Barrett been the outlier because he’s an athletic freak.

He’s going to be a good player no matter where he plays. I just wouldn’t want to see him pigeon holed into something and become good at it because there is a necessity to fill a position, than if he played somewhere else in the team he could become great. Once again DMac as a perfect example.

 

[Adam84]

and their sole focus is crash and bash. "Run fast into someone strong" and "tackle someone running fast at you".

Rugby has many more aspects to their game (across positions) that need specific S&C, skills and training.

Exactly, NRL is closer to rugby 7s then it is to XVs in the range of skill sets they need to train.

Not saying one is right or wrong, but if you remove the need to train certain technical areas like the set piece 6-8 hours a week then you can place greater emphasis on other areas like fitness and tackling.

 

[SouthernX]

I really wish rugby union had what the NFL does and that’s the combine.

They bring in a bunch of prospects and test their measurables to see how they’d fair at next level.

There’s a lot of great young players coming thru but I don’t know how to compare them to a guy a couple years older.
If I could see how fast, how high, how strong a player is and then use that to gauge him with data from a player from a previous season I think we’d have a better understanding of what kind of trajectory we can expect from a player.

 

[Adam84]

Reds have confirmed their 2nd trial:

St.George Queensland Reds v Melbourne Rebels
Friday 17 January – Marley Brown Oval, Gladstone @ 2:45pm

St.George Queensland Reds v New South Wales Waratahs
Friday 24 January – Dalby Leagues Club, Dalby @ 7:30pm

 

[TSR]

Great to see the country locations. Assume Santos would have had some say in that - but there seems very clear intent by the current Reds admin to reconnect with Regional Qld.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

Reds have confirmed their 2nd trial:

St.George Queensland Reds v Melbourne Rebels
Friday 17 January – Marley Brown Oval, Gladstone @ 2:45pm

St.George Queensland Reds v New South Wales Waratahs
Friday 24 January – Dalby Leagues Club, Dalby @ 7:30pm

17/01 in Gladstone FML. QLD Summer heat never heard of her.

 

[Braveheart81]

17/01 in Gladstone FML. QLD Summer heat never heard of her.

They'll need drinks breaks to recover from the drinks breaks.

 

[Purce]

NO.

But there is a lot of chat ^^^ that our 10 stocks are fine. Honest, right now, hogwash. They might build during the season but we are not in solid shape here and now.

The real issue isn't about bringing in an international, it's about our ability to build 10s. The example here is Stewart, who is a fine rugby player but at the end of 2019 was not a good 10's nat-hole.

Reds are rocking fantastically in most areas, but 10 is to be proven.

Exactly. Basically the point I was making for bringing an experienced, skilled and level headed 10. To help develop these younger playmakers. Oz rugby has proven recently that we have an inability to develop these young talented 10s into super/intl standard playmakers. Grab one of these intl standard 10s and let them pass on knowledge and experience they have gathered over a lengthy career. Certainly can't hurt. No idea who they could actually get as it was my answer to a hypothetical question.

 

[Purce]

Lucas is good. Very good. His brothers always said he would be the best of the bunch. Lived and breathed rugby from the time he could walk. Hence he has pretty damn good awareness in games. Which suite him to 10 or 15 imo


The strength, as some have said, he has shown the most is in his ability to find space around the edge/corner of a defensive line. He clearly plays eyes up and spots these opportunities. I agree that he makes a fine 15 now however I think he lacks genuine top end pace to be a star 15. The skills/vision/perspective he will gain playing super rugby at 15 before being thrust into 10 will certainly improve his all round game when he does shift into 10. The best 10 oz has had for the past 30 years spent some time at 15 and he credits it for his vision.

I like hegarty at 10 for the start of the season. He is safe and after finally being given some consistent time there has shown improvement. Allows lucas/stewart to battle it out for 15. Competition for spots should bring out the best in them.