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Go for it young man
Western Force young gun Byron Ralston to face off against his former side the Queensland Reds
Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Thursday, 16 July 2020 4:50PM
Young winger Byron Ralston will go down in Western Force history as the club’s first try scorer in the new edition of Australian Super Rugby.
The junior Wallaby, snatched from under the nose of the Queensland Reds, retains his place against his former club in Friday’s clash at Suncorp Stadium.
Coach Tim Sampson has kept faith with the starting side that went down 23-14 to the Waratahs last weekend.
Raston, 21, blew away early nerves last week to cross in the corner after a swift handling move. “It was a bit surreal. It’s always nice to get over the paint,” he said.
“It’s going to be a bit strange being back home with lots of mates family coming out to watch hopefully.
“I’m sure the nerves will kick in again and the adrenalin will be running high.”
Ralston received a surprise call from Sampson last year - after finishing top try scorer in the Queensland competition with the Brothers club - inviting him to play against Tonga in a World Cup warm-up match.
He then joined the Force’s National Rugby Championship winning team.
“To live out a childhood dream of playing Super Rugby, to have that ticked off, is pretty surreal. I’ve had to pinch myself a few times,” he said.
The Force were unable to maintain their momentum in the second-half of the loss to the Waratahs.
“That was a big learning curve for us. We just have to stay composed in those moments when we don’t have momentum and go back to what we do well,” Ralston said.
“We have to be in the moment. We know we have to wait for the momentum shift and when it comes our way be ready and clinical.
“Being switched on for the full 80 minutes is one thing that we have to keep that in the back of my our minds.”
The only change Sampson has made for tonight’s match is in the reserves where second-rower Ollie Atkins, who returned to the Force last month from Exeter, replaces Johan Bardoul.
“Ollie has played high level football for a number of years, just want to see something different off the bench,” Sampson said.
He resisted throwing new signing, former All Blacks centre Richard Kahui, and other recent acquisitions like scrum half Nick Frisby into the squad.
“...not putting them into the storm too early. You can’t underestimate what four months without playing does to the body,” he said.
“The bonus this week is keeping continuity which is important.”
Just found this one too
Western Force need to put pleasantries aside against Queensland Reds in pursuit of their first win
Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Wednesday, 15 July 2020 5:48PM
Nick Taylor
When Western Force enter the bowels of Suncorp Stadium Friday night there is one instruction they will need to remember — head for the right change room.
There are 15 players in the Force squad with Queensland connections, including captain Ian Prior, prop Greg Holmes, fly-half Jono Lance and scrum-half Nick Frisby — along with coach Tim Sampson and assistant Van Humphries.
Holmes joined the Reds academy from school and was part of the club for a decade, making 144 Super Rugby appearances for the Queenslanders.
“That’s one thing that did cross my mind during the week. I’ve never been to the visitors’ change room,” Holmes said
“Suncorp is very special place for me, a lot of fond memories. It will be very different. A new experience.”
But once out of the change room old loyalties will be forgotten.
“I spent so long there but it would be great to knock up a win against them,” Holmes said.
“It’s almost sort of reinvigorated me a little bit. It’s a new challenge. It’s just something to look forward to, it’s driving me through the week playing against the Reds.”
The Force front row are expecting a big challenge against a huge Reds pack.
“Up front they are tough,” Holmes said.
“We’re going to try and nullify that. If we can do our job there it will go a long way to winning the game. It will be a big challenge.”
Forwards coach Humphries, who played 54 game for the Reds, said going back to Suncorp would bring back plenty of memories.
“There are few places in Australia to play like Suncorp. It’s got an emotional touch for us going back as opposition rather than the home team,” he said.
Humphries, a rugged second-rower in his playing days, knows what the Reds will bring.
“They are pretty clear with their message up front. They’ve got a big pack and they like to muscle up. It’s a contest we’re looking forward too,” he said.
The Reds turned over five line-outs in their 18-all draw with the Rebels last weekend and the Force throw was not at its best in the 23-14 loss to the Waratahs.
It’s not consistent with their (Reds) form. I don’t see it as a weakness,” Humphries said.
“We discussed our line-out. We were a week behind with the bye in the first round. It was effectively our first match.
“We had not played any trials and if you had asked were we happy with that in our first trial we would be, but we we need to hit the ground running and be better.”
Interestingly, this week we have 15 Queensland's, last week we had 22 new south Welshman and were primarily WA developed, we should win because we haven't changed our team therefore we'll be running out about 45 players![]()
C'mon the![]()
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Cant wait for Greg Clarks history of all things Non West Australian.
He's so obvious it's truly pathetic. Must have spent quite some time vetting WA developed players to find out where they were born - without back grounding a single one of them during the match last week - so as to inform us that KBomb is the only WA born player. OTOH he trotted out a full life history of every non-WA developed Force player.
A total wanker who unfortunately is not alone at Fox Rugby.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
It is not even accurate anyway, which is a fair indictment of any supposed journalist. Jooste is Perth born.
Clark mentioned it Friday night Jooste the former brumby! I think its his favourite saying "the former'.
Well here's something different. A headline from the Canberra Times
Ex-Western Force star Issak Fines bolstering ACT Brumbies' Super Rugby AU charge
Sent to......
feedback@foxsports.com.au
I'd like to suggest that Fox to look into Greg Clarke's continual portraying of the Western Force as an outfit that does not develop home -grown talent.
His commentary is inaccurate and reinforces a negative perception of the team among Eastern States Rugby supporters. One could be forgiven, relative to the obvious amount of backgrounding involved, that these selective comments are deliberate rather than sloppy. This perception has been harmful in the past, when the team was cut despite about half the squad being locally developed players at the time. Here are a few comments from a supporters web site...
* Cant wait for Greg Clarks history of all things Non West Australian.
* Must have spent quite some time vetting WA developed players to find out where they were born - without back grounding a single one of them during the match last week - so as to inform us that KBomb is the only WA born player. OTOH he trotted out a full life history of every non-WA developed Force player.
* It is not even accurate anyway, which is a fair indictment of any supposed journalist. Jooste is Perth born.
* sure they will remind us that Jooste played 7 games for the Canberra Vikings
.* Clark mentioned it Friday night Jooste the former brumby! I think its his favourite saying "the former'.
* Yet funny how he never refers to James O'Connor as the former Force player
*Well here's something different. A headline from the Canberra Times....
Ex-Western Force star Issak Fines bolstering ACT Brumbies' Super Rugby AU charge
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David