Counting the cost

[jombi]

but hes not playing 7's......

But he is FROM Sevens, like all the greats.

Where do you think Jane/Habana/Robinson/Cullen learned the trade?

Coming from Sevens (like O'Connor) gives him the basic skill set needed for fullback, which frees up O'Connor for the inside backs.

But if you want Harry/Tatupu at inside then I can't knock you for having a masochist streak!

[jazza93]

Despite line outs, Pek was VERY impressive tonight. Lots of useful tackles and big hits that put us on the front foot.

[gustafsl]

Let's just admit it now and say this season is going to be shit. But whatever, I know I'll be turning on every week and cheering for that next win.

[Fullback]

What a crap start... At least the only way is up.....right..Right

[jombi]

Let's just admit it now and say this season is going to be shit. But whatever, I know I'll be turning on every week and cheering for that next win.

That's a very QLD attitude!

[skid_box]

I have no doubt that mitch's great winning record with the AB's was a direct result of excellent cattle and a good assistant in robbie deans. the players banded together and sacked him from sale, the players tried to do the same here but the force couldn't afford to pay him out of his ridiculous extended contract. He got rid of mulvihill who was the only sane person on the coaching staff and now has townsend (who couldn't coach a dog to S#!T) having more input. the only good thing he has done is get rid of that ranga defensive coach tom fearn who will do a good job at club level but was well out of his depth at the force. i certainly hope richard grahme is doing a large chunk of the decision making or we are in for a long haul.

yes there was a lot of drop ball tonight, but if skill execution under pressure isn't being hammered at training it's not going to just magically appear in the games. the coaches determine what happens at training which ultimately reflects what happens in the game. He must be a terrible communicator with the team, listen to his interviews with the media.... he uses random phrases like "we took belief out of tonights game" that don't make sense but people think he is a terrific speaker because he makes you think. you have to think about it because it doesn't make sense!!!

scrum held up well, backrow was excellent, quick precalled lineout options worked well but will be heavily analysed if they get overused. we made some awesome tackles but im a bit worried about our depth..... hope some of these young fellas can stand up and make a name for themselves when their time comes!!!

[CJ69]

New laws are great,
Ref Steve Walsh back behind the whistle, great
Mortlock passes 1000 pts, great
Matt Dunning looks fit and no longer resembles a "Puffer" fish,
James O'Connor radar was on, great
Mitch requires less baby oil on the dome and botox for the frown lines,
There's some positives from last nights game, don't bother becoming frustrated with the Force, there's no hope for them this season.
10th on the ladder at end of 2010.

[jazza93]

Well, if you gave any coach that force squad last night i doubt any would consistently win that game against the brumbies.

[pieter blackie]

New laws are great,
Ref Steve Walsh back behind the whistle, great
Mortlock passes 1000 pts, great
Matt Dunning looks fit and no longer resembles a "Puffer" fish,
James O'Connor radar was on, great
Mitch requires less baby oil on the dome and botox for the frown lines,
There's some positives from last nights game, don't bother becoming frustrated with the Force, there's no hope for them this season.
10th on the ladder at end of 2010.

The only thing I do not agree with is Matt Dunning!! he did nothing apart from complain and gave away penaties
Hopefully he won't start again until he realises that it is a stupid thing to do to upset the REF if you are a prop !!!

[slomo]

I have no doubt that mitch's great winning record with the AB's was a direct result of excellent cattle and a good assistant in robbie deans. the players banded together and sacked him from sale, the players tried to do the same here but the force couldn't afford to pay him out of his ridiculous extended contract. He got rid of mulvihill who was the only sane person on the coaching staff and now has townsend (who couldn't coach a dog to S#!T) having more input. the only go !

Can't argue with that, mitch gets the contract extention and the $$, and the fans get what was on show last night.....
Posted via Mobile Device

[shasta]

We went into this season losing a lot of strike power (next year could be a whole lot worse). I and plenty of others hoped the coaches had cobbled together at least a tradesman like midfield to use the ball won by a dominant pack.

Lose any teams 10 for the season a week out and then the second string on match day and they'd struggle against the likes of the Brumbies and the result would likely be far worse than 24-15. Even from clubs with far better back line depth. They'd be unlikely to be close enough to take the lead with 10mins on the clock if a shot at goal had gone the way of the previous 5 either.

It's very easy to come out swinging and criticise people left, right & centre after such damnable bad luck. Far tougher to suck it up and hope things can be turned around. To those regular posters who've questioned the coaching etc many times before - you may be on the right track and good on ya. But I don't agree, although I admit I don't have any inside info to make an informed comment and will probably have to read a book or two in the future to get the true picture.

To those of you who have just joined this forum and have come after the coach and players with virtual baseball bats - your hindsight is amazing. Get a dog up ya.

[GIGS20]

to be fair to Sam he was signed to be a defensive 12 not 10... Tough day for Sam, its a good time to stand by him...

We are standing by him.....but it's not fair to ask him to do that again, he doesn't have the game for that role.

[Garfiep]

we were one dimensional again last night. This has to be down to the Coach. - Fantastic AB record, but has not demonstrated capacity to have a fluid game plan that is adaptable to the situation facing the players. Mitch must take a serious look at himself. If this is the best he can produce after 4 years it is time for him to go. It's not about winning, it's about rugby and what I saw last night was very poor.

Like many of you I have been to every Force home game and shared the highs and lows. I have seen some great rugby played by the force when we have allowed our backs to run and run hard. Too often though Mitch restricts our back line to bit players. Yes up front we were great last night, but it was only in the last three minutes that the backs ran with the ball - MItch what were your instructions last night! -because same old same old is not good enough. 4 years in I expect a lot better

[GIGS20]

I have no doubt that mitch's great winning record with the AB's was a direct result of excellent cattle and a good assistant in robbie deans. the players banded together and sacked him from sale, the players tried to do the same here but the force couldn't afford to pay him out of his ridiculous extended contract. He got rid of mulvihill who was the only sane person on the coaching staff and now has townsend (who couldn't coach a dog to S#!T) having more input. the only good thing he has done is get rid of that ranga defensive coach tom fearn who will do a good job at club level but was well out of his depth at the force. i certainly hope richard grahme is doing a large chunk of the decision making or we are in for a long haul.

yes there was a lot of drop ball tonight, but if skill execution under pressure isn't being hammered at training it's not going to just magically appear in the games. the coaches determine what happens at training which ultimately reflects what happens in the game. He must be a terrible communicator with the team, listen to his interviews with the media.... he uses random phrases like "we took belief out of tonights game" that don't make sense but people think he is a terrific speaker because he makes you think. you have to think about it because it doesn't make sense!!!

scrum held up well, backrow was excellent, quick precalled lineout options worked well but will be heavily analysed if they get overused. we made some awesome tackles but im a bit worried about our depth..... hope some of these young fellas can stand up and make a name for themselves when their time comes!!!

I heard John Mitchell also took to the backline with an Axe for the last two weeks of preseason.

If Richard Graham is so good, how come the Wallabies skills coach coaches the Wallabies to skills like we saw on the spring tour.

I respectfully disagree. It wasn't coaching, it might have been conditioning, but let's look at the facts Pretorious out with a completely dodgy hamstring, you could call it bad recruiting, but remember he was probably our fourth choice for a marquee fly, Sheps out with a leg problem......Shep is Lachie ATM, Bart out with some unexplained back thing Cruz said he looked good when I was talking to him while MiniGIGS was passing into the box before the game......seemed to think Barty was a good chance of being back next week, Sammy Harris is not and never will be a S14 10, too much was asked of him tonight, but who would you use.

We didn't have the cattle, not our fault! If we'd taken it too easy on them in preseason they would've turned up not match hard and you'd be calling for Mitchell's head again.

Sure it was scrappy, you get that when key players are ripped out of the team at the last minute, you also get that first game of the season. George Smith dropped the ball like 6 times last night, nobody seems to be calling for his head!

[oxleymoron]

Bart likely to be out for 2 to 3 weeks.

Put the Shetland in 10, can't do much worse than Harris's shocker last night.