WOO! very good news to see. Thanks Sheps - now fingers crossed no more injuries :)
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WOO! very good news to see. Thanks Sheps - now fingers crossed no more injuries :)
Someone told me that they heard that Ripia was as keen as mustard but the Force can't table an offer until they get ARU clearance. If he did sign though it's not like he'd be locked in with the Wallabies- he'd still be eligible for NZ. The choice for him apparently comes down to either come to Perth and get a chance to impress two sets of selectors as a first choice 10 or stay in New Zealand and get few opportunities to impress behind Aaron Cruden. I'd say the chances were pretty reasonable at the moment.
Ripia and O'Connor would make a pretty interesting midfield in attack and you can always get Spanner to cover 12 in defense and move JOC to the blindside wing especially against the likes of Nonu and Olivier.
Ah the news i've been waiting for.
Love Sheps.
Good luck Cam - I'd say break a leg, but um on second thoughts - DON'T.
I thought they'd already spoken to the ARU about him?
I think the Force would be far better for Ripia than the Canes, he's not even seeing bench time there ATM and would be getting regular starts here. He would need to get a position in a kiwi province before playing for the AllBlacks, but if he can't start locally, how much chance of getting a national call up is he? really?
He could be doing a Fairbrother and cahsing international glory wherever he can get it.....some guys do that for varying reasons, he might want to show the NZRU what a big mistake they've made by overlooking him!
I still have hope, but like we saw last year, we don't need a superstar, we need somebody solid with a good head to distribute and kick, so if it's Ripia or somebody else, it's not like we're desperate for him to sign
Fingers crossed we do get Ripia then. :)
What about depth in the backline. how are the force looking?
Joelene, turner, swanpoel and barthy is all im aware of. The other ozzie teams seem to be stacked with backline players to warm the bench. will be pretty important to make use of the bench players next season. Losing one starting backline player could wreak havoc on us.
Good news on Sheps great player
I think you'll find we're lower in number but better in depth (we've lost some backs who haven't really cut it in recent times)
That. Is. Awesome news!!!
Yay for Sheps!
Its good news that Cameron Shepherd has re sign for another couple of seasons because he is a good player but seriously how many games will he play?
The last couple of seasons have been very injury plagued for him and once you start getting injuries they keep coming back, I reckon he'll play about 6 or 7 games out of a possible 16.
Scott Staniforth is another, I'll be very surprised if he plays 8 or 9 games next season.
Which begs the question, what about the depth for season 2011? The Force at the moment have not re signed David Hill, Ryan Cross, Sam Harris, Haig Sare, Josh Tatupu and Chris O'Young has retired and Justin Turner is going to miss a large chunk out of season 2011.
They have signed James Stannard and Gene Fairbanks???
I think its going to be quite a difficult 2011!!
Great to hear Sheps is staying. Lets hope he stays injury free because if he was a race horse..........................!:sarcastic:
Good on yer Shep.
David Hill can't be re-signed due to prior committments.
Cross has gone to the Tahs.
Sam Harris, Haig Sare, Josh Tatupu were all released.
I think Sheps and Spanner will play 16 games each and score 16 tries each, but thats just a stab in the dark.
:)
My bet is that they will be looking at blooding some of their academy players for the back line this year.
We still have Inman, Cullett, Oconnor and Barto.. added to that we have Sheehan and Stannard who can both play 10 at a pinch.. We have Fairbanks Sheps and Spannah who have signed/re-signed.
Hunt, Rapana, Haylett-Petty are still in the mix and then of course we have the Academy players like Kyle Godwin, Zack Holmes and maybe even Steve Pocock (as i think he is still a bit small for Flanker work at the top level..)