Trial - Rebels vs Hurricanes - Saturday 8 February 2015 7:30

[swingpass]

so a few observations about last night.
defence certainly has improved can't remember too many (?any) one on one missed tackles and some of the offensive tackling lead to turnovers.
still getting a bit monstered at the breakdown on occasions
the set piece, and in particular the scrums very solid, although as in past years we lost 3 crucial lineouts, i think pat leafa's throwing needs work.
a few poor passes under pressure.
burgess / hegarty combination still not that fluid.
we kicked poorly a couple of times turning over possession, the first one leading to the canes opening try.
ellison in his brief cameo looked right at home and threw a couple of beautiful passes
we won because we took our shots at goal
a better looking team than in the past years but still work to be done

next week against the reds will be the real comparison i think

edit, oh and we gave away a shitload of penalties at the breakdown and in defence, not certain it was us or the ref at fault

 

[Ash]

Rebels' missed tackle rate was decent last year, not the worst by far. Their defensive problems were more alignment and structural, working hard to get into the right positions and get a line set, rather than tackling.

If they had the right structure and worked harder to get back into alignment on defence I think that the Rebels' defence would be pretty good.

 

[wamberal]

edit, oh and we gave away a shitload of penalties at the breakdown and in defence, not certain it was us or the ref at fault

Good teams adjust to meet the referee's requirements. So if the Rebels did not adjust, it was their fault.

Referees are never at fault. That's rule one. Rule two is, when in doubt, read rule one again.

 

[swingpass]

i was being facetious

 

[wamberal]

i was being facetious

Furry muff.

 

[oztimmay]

My hazy thoughts are starting to come back to me now. From what I remember;

• Thought the pack in the first half was awesome. I'm really amazed at Max Lahiff's strength. I think i counted at last three wheels from his in the first half. When you see the man up-close you can understand, he's built like a beast. Think LHP (and our scrum in general) won't bee a concern for us this year and could become more of a weapon (in time).
• I was rather happy with he general ruck defense and it looks like and areas we've tightened up on over the break. It was certainly a problem last year
• As swinpass mentioned earlier I think Pat needs to work on his throwing; perhaps it's his timing with Pyle/Jones or something else. Having said that I thought his work around the ground was good.
• Was pleasing to see Kingston and Woodward have some good runs from last defense. I think a back three of Woody and the two Toms would be menacing with potentially lachie coming on as a impact player.
• think Bryce has the starting 5/8 sorted over Gus - poor Gus had some poor moments again last night. Bryce seems more comfortable organizing the back line.
• Burgess has good moments and will be good seeing him start for us

Spoke to Stirzaker after the game, says his done ligament damage to his ankle, which explains the 4 - 6 weeks. Poor fells is running around in a CAM boot too. Caydern isn't too far off from returning either. Good news there for those two boys.
Was REALLY good to see all of the players meeting with the fans after the game and signing autographs. Saw a ton of kids walking away with massive smiles on their faces.
Only one gripe for the night was the person who only organised one Bar open in the new stand. Nearly missed the entire second quarter waiting in the bloody queue. Might need to address that for future matches down there (watching Rugby is thirsty work).
Anyone heading up to Ballymore?