B
Bobby Sands
Guest
It sounds as if I am in the minority here, but this is my take, and I am quite bullish to be honest.
As someone who has been involved with rugby quite intimately for a long time, and have in recent years almost deserted the sport, I think that the Reds are in a better position now than they have been for a very long time, minus the Premierships years.
Sound crazy?
Hear me out.
Positives
-Brad Thorn has brought in an uncompromising change of attitude to every facet of preparation & attitude. This has upset the apple cart because we have had piss-poor standards as an organisation for most of this century.
-In all projects and companies, change (executive) always involves more change (of staff). If a new c-suite comes into an ASX-100 company, people inevitably leave, its human nature. Whether they not suit the new structure, be unwilling to change their ways, or because they have a personal issue. Not unique here.
-I believe for the most part that the change we are seeing and hearing about there is "good" change.
-We have a generational amount of young talent at the Reds currently. Blokes like Tupou, Hockings, Korch, Timu, Paenga, Rodda and many more in the wings are genuinely talented young forwards, that have the talent to become world-class. All of them.
-What better forwards mentor than Thorn for both mentality and approach.
My concerns
-Thorn has many strengths, but he also has obvious weaknesses. He style of play is un-nuanced, to say the least and he was badly let down by having Carozza as backs coach this year (his own choice). Carozza is not an elite rugby coach. He is a development coach, and has a decent record in that position of a long-period of time.
-We need an attack / broken play coach (not necessarily a backs coach) that can teach our team to play un-structured rugby to capitalise on the opportunities that present themselves from the core foundations of our new identity (scrum, tight-play, defense (in theory) etc).
Premier Rugby
-Is currently in a very good spot. Ready is a great example of a player who has gone back and been genuinely dominant. Should absolutely come back into the Reds 23.
-Matt Gordon is a very interesting 12 in the Australian landscape as he is excellent in contact (both sides) but also has a deft ball-play and kicking ability. Rare. Sign him.
Other obvious concerns
-We need a 10, and its not going to be Hamish Stewart this early. I also don't think its QC (Quade Cooper), despite liking him personally and appreciate his efforts this season and over his career. Despite what people say, he is actually a very loyal, humble person. But not the answer in my opinion.
-Who is? To'omua would have been perfect. But someone I would seriously be looking at is Sam Greene. He was terribly developed in QLD and has an enormous scope.
-Liam Wright is a very talented player, but he is a 6. So is Korch, so is a lot of our young backrow talent. QLD rugby identity relies on having a quality 7, its in our DNA. Michael Gunn is not that player.
-I would love to see Liam Gill come back, because he is QLD to his core when he is not drinking like a fish, but we need to scout the land for a quality young 7. Kibble may be that man, Fraser McReight might be another, but I am not certain. We need to find one, as we have missed on our last few attempts.
Summary
We have the nucleus of a VERY good side here, our young tight 5 talent alone is quite incredible. Our backrow talent is unbalanced, but at the same time littered with talent. The backline is much more of a concern, but our halfback talent is encouraging. Hamish Stewart is an excellent prospect, but it would be a disservice to him to hand him the keys to the ship right now in his career as they did to both Berrick Barnes and QC (Quade Cooper). Its not what good teams do.
Our talent in the centre is great. Duncan, CFS, and Petaia are all very good prospects. I am not sure what Kerevi is doing, but he obviosuly has world-class attributes, but I also feel his game has stagnated a bit in terms of becoming a world-class centre. Be that 12 or 13. His ball-playing is non-existent, he doesn't understand space and makes poor reads in defense.
Our back three talent is poor to be honest. Maranta, Daungunu (controversial), Nabuli etc are not up to it in my opinion. Perese is a genuine talent, but if his heart is not in it, he can't be there. QLD was once stacked with back three talent so I can't make sense of this dearth of available talent. I am sure they are out there, lets bring them home. Tom Banks, Muirhead, Jesse Mogg even, come to mind.
I have not re-read this, and won't have a chance because this has already taken too much time from my work day, but feel free to pick this apart or do whatever it is that people do on forums. But overall I am bullish about QLD rugby, but think we are in an unusual spot. We have the makings of a great pack, and have a poor backline which is weird, but this inverting of protocol is easier fixed than the opposite. Don't lose sight of that.
BS
As someone who has been involved with rugby quite intimately for a long time, and have in recent years almost deserted the sport, I think that the Reds are in a better position now than they have been for a very long time, minus the Premierships years.
Sound crazy?
Hear me out.
Positives
-Brad Thorn has brought in an uncompromising change of attitude to every facet of preparation & attitude. This has upset the apple cart because we have had piss-poor standards as an organisation for most of this century.
-In all projects and companies, change (executive) always involves more change (of staff). If a new c-suite comes into an ASX-100 company, people inevitably leave, its human nature. Whether they not suit the new structure, be unwilling to change their ways, or because they have a personal issue. Not unique here.
-I believe for the most part that the change we are seeing and hearing about there is "good" change.
-We have a generational amount of young talent at the Reds currently. Blokes like Tupou, Hockings, Korch, Timu, Paenga, Rodda and many more in the wings are genuinely talented young forwards, that have the talent to become world-class. All of them.
-What better forwards mentor than Thorn for both mentality and approach.
My concerns
-Thorn has many strengths, but he also has obvious weaknesses. He style of play is un-nuanced, to say the least and he was badly let down by having Carozza as backs coach this year (his own choice). Carozza is not an elite rugby coach. He is a development coach, and has a decent record in that position of a long-period of time.
-We need an attack / broken play coach (not necessarily a backs coach) that can teach our team to play un-structured rugby to capitalise on the opportunities that present themselves from the core foundations of our new identity (scrum, tight-play, defense (in theory) etc).
Premier Rugby
-Is currently in a very good spot. Ready is a great example of a player who has gone back and been genuinely dominant. Should absolutely come back into the Reds 23.
-Matt Gordon is a very interesting 12 in the Australian landscape as he is excellent in contact (both sides) but also has a deft ball-play and kicking ability. Rare. Sign him.
Other obvious concerns
-We need a 10, and its not going to be Hamish Stewart this early. I also don't think its QC (Quade Cooper), despite liking him personally and appreciate his efforts this season and over his career. Despite what people say, he is actually a very loyal, humble person. But not the answer in my opinion.
-Who is? To'omua would have been perfect. But someone I would seriously be looking at is Sam Greene. He was terribly developed in QLD and has an enormous scope.
-Liam Wright is a very talented player, but he is a 6. So is Korch, so is a lot of our young backrow talent. QLD rugby identity relies on having a quality 7, its in our DNA. Michael Gunn is not that player.
-I would love to see Liam Gill come back, because he is QLD to his core when he is not drinking like a fish, but we need to scout the land for a quality young 7. Kibble may be that man, Fraser McReight might be another, but I am not certain. We need to find one, as we have missed on our last few attempts.
Summary
We have the nucleus of a VERY good side here, our young tight 5 talent alone is quite incredible. Our backrow talent is unbalanced, but at the same time littered with talent. The backline is much more of a concern, but our halfback talent is encouraging. Hamish Stewart is an excellent prospect, but it would be a disservice to him to hand him the keys to the ship right now in his career as they did to both Berrick Barnes and QC (Quade Cooper). Its not what good teams do.
Our talent in the centre is great. Duncan, CFS, and Petaia are all very good prospects. I am not sure what Kerevi is doing, but he obviosuly has world-class attributes, but I also feel his game has stagnated a bit in terms of becoming a world-class centre. Be that 12 or 13. His ball-playing is non-existent, he doesn't understand space and makes poor reads in defense.
Our back three talent is poor to be honest. Maranta, Daungunu (controversial), Nabuli etc are not up to it in my opinion. Perese is a genuine talent, but if his heart is not in it, he can't be there. QLD was once stacked with back three talent so I can't make sense of this dearth of available talent. I am sure they are out there, lets bring them home. Tom Banks, Muirhead, Jesse Mogg even, come to mind.
I have not re-read this, and won't have a chance because this has already taken too much time from my work day, but feel free to pick this apart or do whatever it is that people do on forums. But overall I am bullish about QLD rugby, but think we are in an unusual spot. We have the makings of a great pack, and have a poor backline which is weird, but this inverting of protocol is easier fixed than the opposite. Don't lose sight of that.
BS
