Mid season thoughts

Crew.

We're just past the halfway point of the season. A good time to evaluate the first part of the year. I know we've had it pretty tough with scheduling and injuries etc etc.

So, how do you guys & gals think were going?

Are we as good as you'd hoped we'd be pre season? A work in progress? With good signs starting to show?
Are we going to be back to square one when all the one year contracts possibly don't renew?
Thoughts on recruitment, coaching
Or, is it same old, same old? Nothings changed, we've been her before?????

And of course any other opinions on anything else....

The NZ trip was an better than I thought. After a reasonable start to the season I'm still uneasy about the shocker against the Reds. If the boys really are improving, they need to demonstrate that against the Tahs. A win should set them up for a run home of Oz based matches - with a real tester in Ch-Ch midway through. I have no bloody idea how to assess our chances. Some idea of who is on the way back from the rehab rooms would help! Pasitoa is probably still a month away at least. I think it is about 7-8 weeks out for Rodda now and the cone of silence is still down. ;)

v Highlanders 43 to 35 = 8 points diff
v Blues 30 to 17 = 13 points diff
v Hurricanes 45 to 43 = 3 points diff

Thats 91 points for and 105 points against for just 24 points difference in three matches on NZ soil. Not a bad tour for mine and I'll will bet there will be much worse results from other teams on a similar trip.

One bonus point should have been two, a good tour for mine :approve:

IMHO we started very rough, with a couple of easy games equalling a couple of victories, but the team was disjointed and the coaching plan was new, so plenty of gaps.

Added to this a brutal injury list and way too much chopping and changing between Captain's run and the match makes any kind of form impossible to assess.

The NZ tour was shaping up to be a disaster with the Highlanders our only possible chance of a win, a bit of ticker seeing us end up being close to competitive despite there still being some clear and obvious issues with personnel and confidence.

If I was going to call the rest of our season today, I'd say it'll steadily improve, because I can see the green shoots, but I can't suggest we'll be confidently looking at the finals without at least getting some big names back.

One of our biggest issues is that some of our key first pick players at this point in the season are on injury cover contracts and will not be able to play with us when the injured player gets back.
Simpson is replacing our third choice halfback and has been arguably our best player in New Zealand, we can't afford to lose him.
Warren-Voyasco is also an injury replacement and outplaying most of our contracted back row (Tim Anstee excepted)

Players like George Poolman are just way too green to be playing regularly at this level, I'd argue the same for Ollie Callan, but he's actually doing pretty well considering, you can see though that he's playing at his very top level to just maintain parity, I've said it before, another year in the gym and playing off the bench will do wonders for him.

The back three are good, we have 4 game breaking options so that if one is not fit, or having an off day, there's no pain in replacing him.

Jake Strachan, who knew he could play 10 so well, Why TF are we still playing Hamish out of position when he's around.

for next year, I believe there are some clear must keep players, struggling to find too many who are clearly to be released, but many who are starting need to be reserves or extended squad/academy members until their game catches up to the standard.

Ands we need to sort S&C out ASAP

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GIGS20

Simpson is replacing our third choice halfback and has been arguably our best player in New Zealand, we can't afford to lose him.

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Already signed in February by Saracens and was loaned to us:


SARACENS IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT GARETH SIMPSON WILL RE-JOIN THE CLUB FOR THE 2023/24 SEASON.

The scrum-half, who had a brief spell on loan in November will return in the summer on a two-year deal after impressing during his time at StoneX Stadium.

His try against Northampton Saints was the catalyst for the remarkable comeback victory, and before joining Sarries the 25-year-old made 45 appearances for Worcester Warriors during his spell at Sixways meaning he has plenty of Gallagher Premiership experience.

He is currently in Australia on loan at the Western Force for the remainder of the 22/23 campaign and will then return to North London in the summer.

Simpson is excited to have committed his future to the club.

“I can’t wait to get back into the environment at Saracens. It is a great club and I really enjoyed my time there. I am looking forward to continuing to learn and grow my game with some amazing players and coaches around me and am really grateful for the opportunity.”

I think Simon Cron and the boys should be proud of what they are achieving considering the significant disadvantage we at the Force have to operate under. I bet Sua'ali'i will head to either Tahs or Reds. If Rugby Australia were serious about growing the game at Grass Roots he, or similar should be drafted to the West. To reach the top 4 each year in Super rugby we need to invest more into the Future Force and create a nursery to give us depth in 2,3 and 4 years time.

I definitely think we are improving and growing in confidence. Some great passages of play mixed in with a few groan worthy moments! Be great to see more wins and what difference some of those injury returns would make.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hansie

I think Simon Cron and the boys should be proud of what they are achieving considering the significant disadvantage we at the Force have to operate under. I bet Sua'ali'i will head to either Tahs or Reds. If Rugby Australia were serious about growing the game at Grass Roots he, or similar should be drafted to the West. To reach the top 4 each year in Super rugby we need to invest more into the Future Force and create a nursery to give us depth in 2,3 and 4 years time.

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Sua'ali'i was announced as signing for RA and the Tahs.

not one person on the planet was surprised