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I know that when you play professional sport its all about the W, however, while a frustrating game for fans and players alike last night I still believe progress is being made.
Looking at the teams on paper before the game the Rebels are much stronger with a good dose of current Wallabies, even the bookies had them as favorites and the scoreline would suggests would have been a good result based on these factors.
The positives:
Our defense was outstanding, and defense is based on heart and the players showed there heart was in it.
Having a crowd at a sporting event makes a world of difference and the Sea of Blue were that again.
We are playing rugby, we are playing super rugby, despite the odds against this four years ago ( Thank you Dr and Mrs Forrest and Minderoo)
WA kids again have a real pathway forward in rugby. Kane Koteka again immense and a deserved MOM.
The negatives:
The line out was a shambles
The kicking for touch was terrible
The loss of Pulu who was showing signs of breaking the line, and re-jigging the backline without a proper wing did not help.
McIntyre had a shocker but one bad day at the office does not make a bad player, he will learn and get better.
The weakness of depth at lock showed, however Timani is just out of quarantine and will be more imposing at time goes on.
I have faith in the team, and I think a couple of games on the road will help without the pressure of winning at home as that seemed to be an added pressure on the guys.
Lastly most teams in their second game after a bye have a poorer match than usual, as in the bye week you build to the first game up and the second you have to recover and get going again fairly quickly.
Lets all keep the faith and support our boys they need us now.
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
McIntyre needs some goal kicking practice..
On a positive note on watching the replay it was great to hear Heath Tessman doing some commentary! We miss him 😊
Two bad games in a row, though; he wasn't great against the Tahs. Either let Miotti have a start, or if the Force think he needs more time, too, start Lance again. McIntyre was better when he came off the bench in the first match, so maybe he's better against a tiring defence where he can find more holes.
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
It's a short season and McIntyre's kicking is killing us.
Interestingly he kicks pretty well in general okay, it's just atrocious when we win a penalty.
If he's the flyhalf we want I'd suggest prior is the scrum half because he kicks well for post and accurate if not long for line.
C'mon the![]()
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If they won some set piece, they would have flooded the rebels. But without territorial pressure, you can't win. The poor kicks to touch and losing pretty much every line-up means that we had nothing to build pressure from.
I liked how they played, but lost the game from poor kicks to touch and terrible line outs.
This seems to be Australian rugby’s biggest problems atm is kicking. So Melbourne rugby is making sure RA (whatever) is aware that they have both out of hand and place kickers available and are therefore entitled to all top ups that were originally going to NSW or QL!
As teams /states have found in the past representation means $ in the bank,
Blood is probably fighting for his life and his family’s future so use what ever means and tactics to win.
May the FORCE be with you!
Toomua didn’t reslly kick well either- he missed both conversions and a penaly and I can’t recall any spectacular kicking he did throughout. Agree though that kicking strategy(or lack of) is an issue, especially when you have Robs, Ian’, Miotti and Jacks abilities on hand to utilise. But on field decisions didn’t help matters. The power cut gave the Rebels a breather as they were out on their feet at that stage and Force were all set to wrap it up. But then they shouldn’t have let it get tp that stage. Onwards and upwards! Smash the Reds and all is forgiven.
I'm taking the credit for toomuas misses in front of block e127, I delivered some classic sledges and he missed both time on the side I told him to.
After the second one I was hoping for him to take kicks in front of me.
C'mon the![]()
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Pretty much sums it up doesn't it.
Bad news about McDonald and Pulu's was a different injury
Crouch, bind, set.....penalty: Drama filled night ends on a sour note for Western Force
Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Sat, 13 March 2021 12:45PM
Melbourne Rebels were handed the winning ticket in the lottery of a scrum collapse in the dying seconds of the Super Rugby grudge clash with Western Force.
The crucial referee’s decision may have settled the result but the Force succumbed to self-inflicted wounds as they stumbled to a 10-7 loss to their arch rivals on Friday night at HBF Park.
With time ticking away local official Graham Cooper ruled Force prop Angus Wagner dropped a scrum on the second reset close to the Rebels line.
Why would a player deliberately infringe with his side in a position to snatch victory?
Only Mr Cooper can answer that but Force captain Brynard Stander was not prepared to point the finger of blame.
“The referee made his call. The call’s the call,” Stander said.
“It could have gone either way I believe.
“It didn’t bounce our way but we shouldn’t have put ourselves in the position where we had to hope for the bounce of the ball there.”
Force momentum was also halted when the lights went out for 10 minutes with a scrum about to be set and the Rebels on their own line late in the game.
Coach Tim Sampson said admitted his side’s error-riddled performance lost them them the game, not the blackout.
“Very frustrating. Simple errors,” Sampson said.
“We couldn’t get any momentum, missing touch three or four times is unacceptable after we’d worked really hard defensively.
“On the back end of working our butts off to get the turnover the line-out didn’t function properly.
“You get into a reasonably good field position, you have to hold onto the thing and we didn’t.”
Somehow the Force went into the break only five points adrift after a Lachlan Anderson try.
They went further behind to a Joe Powell try before Jack McGregor went over in the corner with Ian Prior’s conversion giving the Force some hope.
Meanwhile the Force cannot afford injury to scrum-halves Tomas Cubelli or Prior after former junior Wallabies No.9 Michael McDonald broke a foot bone in training and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks.
Sampson is also waiting for an update on winger Toni Pulu who suffered a leg injury midway through the first half of Friday night’s game. midway through the first half of Friday night’s game.
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For every opinion there is an equal and opposite opinion. And an lots of other opinions about which ones are more objective. No?......and I'll keep mine to myself.![]()
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
I'd have to agree with Tim and brynard, I thought the maul at the end of the first half and the scrum at the end of the second were atrocious calls but we shouldn't be putting ourselves in the position where shit calls like that cost us a game.
C'mon the![]()
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