Awesome!
The biggest thing I liked about the Link era was how we played to suit the opposition.
I remember a Reds v Shorks game from then being played with a totally different style to how we usually played & us coming away with the W.
I think it's a major component of what we've been missing since Link moved on
(This is missing at a Wallabies level too unfortunately)
Canterbury have been focusing on their history quite a bit recently at the same time the seem to be really pushing back into providing elite teams kits. With the way the Reds marketed this announcement I'm pretty hopeful we'll see a classic jersey re-released for heritage round. That's the exact sort of thing I'm happy to pay the exorbitant jersey costs on.
I thought Dobbins and Oates both had great games, and the Bond centre pairing of Campbell and Boardman were great in the first half.Great game of rugby.
you’d think Fittock and Anderson are halfway there to booking their tickets to Japan. They were great this afternoon.
Who do we all think were the standouts in the president XV? Was one way traffic second half for the reds development squad.
Agree Also Eli Pilz and Ben Navvo with decent outings.I thought Dobbins and Oates both had great games, and the Bond centre pairing of Campbell and Boardman were great in the first half.
Massive shame - surely we can't have an injury toll like '22 againHoopert out for Super Rugby which is a huge blow.
No more stuffing around with Zander at 3 now. He needs to step up.
Who else could we consider? Sef probably first choice? Does anyone know what Emosi Tuqiri is up to? I guess Liam Usher or JP Tominiki come into consideration. I do like Alex Davies too. Do we consider Richie Asiata as a LHP with plenty of hooker depth (and a contract for Dobbins!)
Hoopert out for Super Rugby which is a huge blow.
No more stuffing around with Zander at 3 now. He needs to step up.
Who else could we consider? Sef probably first choice? Does anyone know what Emosi Tuqiri is up to? I guess Liam Usher or JP Tominiki come into consideration. I do like Alex Davies too. Do we consider Richie Asiata as a LHP with plenty of hooker depth (and a contract for Dobbins!)
Terrible new for Hoopert, but it definitely opens the door for the props turning out in the Challenger series. I'm guessing the initial will be Zander and Fa'agase as the looseheads with Tupou and Nonggorr covering tighthead.Hoopert out for Super Rugby which is a huge blow.
No more stuffing around with Zander at 3 now. He needs to step up.
Who else could we consider? Sef probably first choice? Does anyone know what Emosi Tuqiri is up to? I guess Liam Usher or JP Tominiki come into consideration. I do like Alex Davies too. Do we consider Richie Asiata as a LHP with plenty of hooker depth (and a contract for Dobbins!)
Hope they back a local developed product in preference for looking offshore.Terrible new for Hoopert, but it definitely opens the door for the props turning out in the Challenger series. I'm guessing the initial will be Zander and Fa'agase as the looseheads with Tupou and Nonggorr covering tighthead.
Lots of options to then round the squad out, I'd like to see 2 players added for cover - 1 prop and 1 hooker (ideally Dobbins) to free Asiata/Nasser/Blake to cover prop if needed. We did end up using 5 hookers this year anyway, so having that coverage again couldn't hurt. Not sure who they'll go with for the prop though, the two I would've most like to see looked at are Francis and Van Nek, and neither of them are in the challenger series. I guess it will come down to next weeks performance to get a seat on the plane to Japan and then they'll go from there. The alternative is signing someone like Shambeckler Vui from Japan, but I think I'd prefer to see them focus on challenger series options, unless there's an absolute star loosehead available.
Yeah, I'd be looking for some experience with the void of Hooper. Again, with Worcester going under hopefully there's a loose head up there that would be keen to fill an emergency contract?Terrible new for Hoopert, but it definitely opens the door for the props turning out in the Challenger series. I'm guessing the initial will be Zander and Fa'agase as the looseheads with Tupou and Nonggorr covering tighthead.
Lots of options to then round the squad out, I'd like to see 2 players added for cover - 1 prop and 1 hooker (ideally Dobbins) to free Asiata/Nasser/Blake to cover prop if needed. We did end up using 5 hookers this year anyway, so having that coverage again couldn't hurt. Not sure who they'll go with for the prop though, the two I would've most like to see looked at are Francis and Van Nek, and neither of them are in the challenger series. I guess it will come down to next weeks performance to get a seat on the plane to Japan and then they'll go from there. The alternative is signing someone like Shambeckler Vui from Japan, but I think I'd prefer to see them focus on challenger series options, unless there's an absolute star loosehead available.
Potentially all of them - no problems with any of them but it'll take more time to tell.Any of the the rule changes worth keeping?