Waratahs v Force, round 1, Sunday 15 February

[Scrubber2050]

It would be fantastic for the Force to lay an ambush and beat the Tahs.

I am sure everyone not being a Tahs supporter would like to see that.

Will that happen? No, Tahs just have too many good cattle

 

[I like to watch]

I reckon the Force will never get a better opportunity for an upset.
Let's remember that most of the Tahs have had one hitout against the Chiefs B team.
I took the 5.25.

 

[Wilson]

The force scrum should have the upper hand, but it'll be interesting to see if how much they've lost without Longbottom. Hopefully not too much, Tet Faulkner going well would be very good in a world cup year.

 

[Brumby Runner]

The force scrum should have the upper hand, but it'll be interesting to see if how much they've lost without Longbottom. Hopefully not too much, Tet Faulkner going well would be very good in a world cup year.

Like the prospects of the Force scrum against the Tahs.

Robbo has been going backwards in recent years and will need to turn things around to be competitive. TPN is a head knock away from being sidelined. Kepu is the best THP in the country but he could suffer if Big Will plays TH lock especially with Hooper on the same side.

Expect a Force pushover try in this match.

 

[A mutterer]

Like the prospects of the Force scrum against the Tahs.

Robbo has been going backwards in recent years and will need to turn things around to be competitive. TPN is a head knock away from being sidelined. Kepu is the best THP in the country but he could suffer if Big Will plays TH lock especially with Hooper on the same side.

Expect a Force pushover try in this match.

Bollocks. Robbo never moves backward - be it away from the counter at MacDonald's or in the contest.

He just is wary of this whole running business.

Tahs by 10 and a bit of salt over some ref decisions going our way.

 

[Hawko]

Not much comment here on Godwin to 13. It could be:

1. Foley knowing nothing about back play and therefore making a howler.
2. An absolute masterstroke to take advantage of a weak defensive Tahs 13 (ha ha).
3. A hope that Godwin will be able to put his winger away well enough that they can put some metres on before getting smashed. Good luck on Horne's wing, but maybe it will work against Big T, who can sometimes be a big turnstile.

The more I think about it, the more I think it'll be a clusterfuck. Godwin's best chance to make metres is down the 10/12 channel, no living centre has ever beaten AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) head to head. Its almost a Totality Tony selection. (To understand this comment, see the Rebels starting pack this week.)

Those expecting Palu to fall over injured should look back to last year. Palu was on the park for almost every game, and only injured for the EOYT. The two major injuries last year were Chapman and Dennis. I think you can put the low number of injuries down to three factors:

1. The Tahs back-office fitness program that tailors gym work individually seems to work a treat.
2. The Tahs running fitness means that there will be few teams who are fitter than they are.
3. When you run aggressively into tackles or when you tackle aggressively the likelihood is always that the other player is the one to be injured because your momentum will put his body parts into a poor position. Going in soft is more likely to cause injury than going in too hard.

When I look back now, some of our disappointing years were a result of poor conditioning and attitude.

 

[Bobby Sands]

I believe it is actually Cheika's directive for Godwin to play 13. He said pre-season his best chance to play for the Wallabies was at 13.

 

[brokendown]

Godwin may alternate between 12 & 13 during the game

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I would expect that the centres will switch around during the game for sure.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Both link and Cheika viewed/view godwin as a 13. If you watched the games last year he always set up at 13 on defence. I have always seen him as a Conrad smith type player he seems to do alright at 13.

 

[Pfitzy]

Anyway Sunday: I'm coming down with the dreaded lurgee so I might not be my usual charming self.

I plan to be at the Clock at around 1PM. you have been warned.

And I regret to inform everyone that Powerball has, once again, eluded me. So bring your own bitchez n blow.

 

[cyclopath]

Both link and Cheika viewed/view godwin as a 13. If you watched the games last year he always set up at 13 on defence. I have always seen him as a Conrad smith type player he seems to do alright at 13.

I reckon he might well be. With time. But is it best for the Force? I doubt Foley would play him where he did not want to play him, despite any request from Cheika.

 

[Forcefield]

Maybe some of Godwin's attacking potency was diminished from all the defending he did last season. I am a fan of the idea of Godwin at 13. It is worth a try at the very least.

 

[ChargerWA]

I always naturally saw Godwin as a 13 and think his move to 12 was to try and fill a weakness in our backline. He isn't the distributor some think him to be and his unsuccessful stint at 10 is evidence of this.

Either way, I'm less concerned about Godwin at 13 as I am with Rasolea at 12. He's going to be a Nonu like 12, but I'm not sure he has the bulk to pull it off like Nonu.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I'm happy to see Godwin in 13 but I lean to him being more of a 12. He certainly looked a natural there to me over the last couple of seasons.

 

[Forcefield]

He isn't the distributor some think him to be and his unsuccessful stint at 10 is evidence of this.

And what unsuccessful stint would that be? We've only seen Godwin at 10 at U20 level and he was fine. Better than all of the U20s 10s since.

 

[qwerty51]

I thought Godwin was atrocious at u20 level, so did many. It made his Super rugby rise all the more impressive. He was coached by Nucifora however..

 

[Forcefield]

I reckon people blame him for a shit game in wet conditions (Argies) and generally poor goal kicking. The wet game was poor selection by Nucifora. It didn't help that both the Argies and the French completely outplayed our forwards. I think Godwin only played one half at 10 at the end of the 2012 season and he was very good. There might have been a few minutes at the end of a couple of other games.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

When I look back now, some of our disappointing years were a result of poor conditioning and attitude.

Some?

 

[cyclopath]

Some?

Well, there's always Jonathan Kaplan to factor in!