Super Rugby Rnd 1: Reds v Rebels

[TSR]

Some guys do get talked up and sometimes it is over the top. But there is also plenty of general positivity about the potential of young guys which appears to get mistaken for calling for them to be Wallabies. Which it often isn’t.

I’m not sure Australia has ever had such a promising group of 10s coming through. It doesn’t mean any of them will succeed at test level or that I think any should be pushed into the Gold 10 on future promise. I enjoy reading all the comments about each of them, though including, for the most part, some of the interstate rivalry inspired barbs (except when they rubbish the players themselves). It is sure as hell refreshing after 5-6 years of Cooper v Foley.

Personally I’m really looking forward to them duking it out this year and hope they all go gangbusters.

 

[Ignoto]

HMM. ACT, Vic, WA and NSW lucky to get a schoolboy in the teams, let alone start to laud them as world beaters.

Curious, how many ACT Schoolboys are actually in this Brumbies team? There's half a dozen Queenslanders in the squad from memory....

 

[dru]

Just a comment on Carter Gordon. Like so many other upcoming young players discussed here on GAGR, this guy was the next Wallaby 10 before he had played a game of Super rugby. I don't want to knock the kid, hopefully he will go on to be everything he's wrapped up to be, but he had a tough night at the office last night, it's a hell of a big step up to Super rugby. Let's just give him a chance to adjust before we put too much expectation on his shoulders.

Yeah, but, Lynagh. AND he had a father, you know!

 

[Adam84]

Yeah, but, Lynagh. AND he had a father, you know!

And he isn’t a Queensland schoolboy, so it’s ok to talk him up

 

[PhilClinton]

I actually think the Carter Gordon chat has been fairly measured of late by us QLDers.

A lot of people saw a very human side to his play in the QPR last year. He struggled at times. And that’s all part of the learning process.

 

[Pfitzy]

One State in particular

Another Qld Schoolboy SUPERSTAR.

"The defence rests, yer honour..."

 

[Set piece magic]

I actually thought Gordon played decently and his movement and distribution was good. He made a few errors but whatever. THis view also came about 6 rumbos in so may not be correct

 

[RugbyReg]

I actually thought Gordon played decently and his movement and distribution was good. He made a few errors but whatever. THis view also came about 6 rumbos in so may not be correct

his kicking game in the last 20 was pretty damn good, which is a big strength of his. But his handling in particular (including his distribution) was poor prior to that.

 

[Rebel man]

his kicking game in the last 20 was pretty damn good, which is a big strength of his. But his handling in particular (including his distribution) was poor prior to that.

Pretty unfair how he has been singled out. Players drop balls and it’s his fault for a poor pass. Growing up we were always told if you can get two hands to it and you put it down you have nobody but yourself to blame

 

[Adam84]

It’s part of the development process, give him a break, even if he was a Queensland schoolboy superstar

 

[RugbyReg]

Pretty unfair how he has been singled out. Players drop balls and it’s his fault for a poor pass. Growing up we were always told if you can get two hands to it and you put it down you have nobody but yourself to blame

also to be fair, I think Gordon does make a habit of really firing out his passes. You watch - he really it rips them out. Looks pretty and all but does make them much harder to catch, particularly in the type of weather they had over there.

 

[Pfitzy]

also to be fair, I think Gordon does make a habit of really firing out his passes. You watch - he really it rips them out. Looks pretty and all but does make them much harder to catch, particularly in the type of weather they had over there.

And if you're trying to launch every pass as a perfect spiral, it takes time away from the guy receiving it. Occasionally the old fingertip end-over-end is a lot quicker.

Takes a while to train that out
.

 

[dillyboy]

According to that link, albeit 11 years old, Terrace don't offer rugby scholarships. Clearly that stance changed in the years since, because I have met people whose sons were on scholarships at Terrace to play rugby and were not allowed to play for their clubs.

As a Terrace old boy I can tell you that they're "equity scholarships" not "sporting scholarships"

It's just handy then those who need the "support" of the school are also quite talented at either rugby or rowing.....

 

[Adam84]

4. Only lightly rained. Condition perfect first half. But whole game was average standard.

 

[RugbyReg]

yep it was pissing down.

 

[Cancelled Account]

I actually thought Gordon played decently and his movement and distribution was good. He made a few errors but whatever. THis view also came about 6 rumbos in so may not be correct

Not his best game. Definitely talented but he had no support from anywhere. He should have stayed in QLD for his development. After JOC (James O'Connor)’s performance on Saturday he would have started this week.

 

[LearningCurve]

Not his best game. Definitely talented but he had no support from anywhere. He should have stayed in QLD for his development. After JOC (James O'Connor)’s performance on Saturday he would have started this week.

So what are the alternatives to JOC (James O'Connor) at 10? I can't see Stewart being the right choice, even though he played in the trials. On the Reds website he is listed as a centre and the only other flyhalf other than O'Connor is Lynagh, which would be putting a lot of pressure on a very young guy. I know there was talk of Campbell at 10 but personally I thought he was the best back at 15 so would like to see him continue with that and really succeed there.

 

[Cancelled Account]

So what are the alternatives to JOC (James O'Connor) at 10? I can't see Stewart being the right choice, even though he played in the trials. On the Reds website he is listed as a centre and the only other flyhalf other than O'Connor is Lynagh, which would be putting a lot of pressure on a very young guy. I know there was talk of Campbell at 10 but personally I thought he was the best back at 15 so would like to see him continue with that and really succeed there.

Do you think we can get him back home before the Rebels destroy him? Is his contract up this year or next? I know we’ve got Lynagh but that’s not going to happen soon.

 

[KOB1987]

So what are the alternatives to JOC (James O'Connor) at 10? I can't see Stewart being the right choice, even though he played in the trials. On the Reds website he is listed as a centre and the only other flyhalf other than O'Connor is Lynagh, which would be putting a lot of pressure on a very young guy. I know there was talk of Campbell at 10 but personally I thought he was the best back at 15 so would like to see him continue with that and really succeed there.

Put tupou there.

 

[swingpass]

Do you think we can get him back home before the Rebels destroy him?

thats a bit harsh. its been one game and in patches the Rebels played pretty well, lots of their usual unforced errors and poor option taking, perrennial problems i'li give you, but without making excuses on their behalf, the team that played on Saturday was certainly not the team that trained on Tuesday morning when i watched, about 1/3 of the run on 15 were absent during that run - don't know why, but i suspect they had a pretty disrupted week. we will see what happens on Saturday, i'm not confident, but its early days for both Gordon and the Rebs.