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No criticism of Miotti at all, and splitting hairs perhaps, but I wonder if Ian Prior should take kicks at goal when he's on the field. I can barely remember seeing him miss one in 2 or 3 years. He was an amazing kicker in the NRC. Maybe there's a reason we don't know about
I thought the same thing, although more because Miotti has a natural fade to the right on his kicks, whereas Prior has more of a draw to the left so would've been better suited to the kick given its position.
I also think Taefu is a better kicker than McIntyre and should've taken the kicks for goal before Prior came on.
Taefu had another very strong game I thought. Used as a battering ram a lot and made metres through contact almost every time. Really made a difference with giving us some go forward. Kyle also had an excellent game at 13 with some more elusive running.
Taefu played a game that was very much like the sort of game Kuridrani was playing before he got suspended, nothing flashy or spectacular, but lots of hard yards, a heavy defensive load and one or two flashes of brilliance. I'm sure Kyle looked much better playing outside of Taefs than he would have with somebody else there.
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I thought that Godwin had a fantastic second half.
Exile
Sydney
"Pain heels. Chicks dig scars and Glory lasts forever." Shane Falco
As did I, but I though he was also afforded a lot of space by the hard work that Taefu did on the inside. Previously it was Kyle and Tevita doing pretty much the same thing. I think I prefer Taefu and Godwin, because we haven't really lost anything, but we've gained the elusiveness of Kyle Godwin into 13
C'mon the![]()
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I thought the kicks on goal were actually the least of the Force's problems. Kicking out of hand for a New Zealand team to run at you remains a dumb option, and I'm not sure a single one was contestable. There were a couple of key line-out losses, one that should have cost a Force try, one that did cost a Chiefs try. And penalties to touch seemed to oscillate between 'could throw it further', and long but the opposition keeping them in.
But all that aside, it remains the backline running and difficulty making any positive ground that is the biggest problem. The Force should see if they can get a copy of that game, isolate the Chiefs backline moves, and look hard at how they pass along the line while still moving forward, enabling them to hit individual tacklers hard, which enables them to get the offload away. Then drill those moves until they become second nature, because defence only gets you so far and the team is always going to struggle without the ability to bend and break lines. I hope I'm wrong, but I have a nasty feeling they're really going to find that out this coming game.
At the start of the season, I was critical of Prior. I did not believe that he was capable of playing Rugby at a Super Rugby level. Since watching him during Super Rugby AU and the first match in Trans Tasman. I believe my original assessment of Prior was wrong. His position as a Replacement player is his perfect spot in this current team. His calm approach is exactly what the Force needs in the final 15-20 minutes of the match.
Exile
Sydney
"Pain heels. Chicks dig scars and Glory lasts forever." Shane Falco
Absolutely. There's been minimal backline attacking breaks all year.
If you typically watch head on where it's our ball, almost every player in the line is crabbing/drifting sideways, presenting easy meat for the defence and passing to the next guy in no better position than themselves.
Too often they make no ground on several phases, or even lose ground, and then either get turned over or rush a pressured rubbish kick.
I agree with the comments above about Taefu at least making some impact. The team needs to change what they're doing. Upgrading at flyhalf for next year should also be priority one.
Taefu at 12 and Godwin at 13 should have been our centre pairing from early on in the season. Persisting with an out-of-form Kuridrani was a mistake. I hope the Force hang on to Taefu beyond this season. It would be an error of judgement not to re-sign him. A hugely underrated player, in my opinion.
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
It's surprising Jono hasn't been given more of a go, as attacking the line, not crabbing and short passing are exactly what he's great at. We're not exactly playing a game that requires long passing, which is not his strength.
Miotti and McIntyre have done far too much shoveling and telegraphing passes which is only transferring pressure to those they pass it to. Would be great to either see them change that (which I'm not holding my breath for because they've had plenty of opportunities), or Jono should be given a go.