Force V Reds

[force addict]

tatupu is fabulous but i think Spanner deserves all the game time he can get with us. he has worked so hard to get back to super14 fitness and definitely does not deserve the bench. sure, he is leaving but that doesnt mean we just drop him for that reason. we gotta put our 100% every time.

[BDAVEY]

Bugger it, I'll go out on a limb and say if the Reds go in pretty much unchanged and the Force are basically at full strength then it'll be the Force by 15+.

The ONLY thing stopping an absolute landslide will be the ability to get the ball to our outside backs quickly and cleanly enough.

Force by 4

[laura]

Yeh I agree but we want the lads staying on to feel they are wanted and give them a go...... Playing club rugby here is not really going to motivate them to stay on if they are watching. This Josh Tapapu seams to be engertic give him a go

I agree with that too, but just because they are staying doesn't mean they should be handed a position on a platter. Like every player before them and every player after them, they need to earn their position. No player should assume that they will get a place just because they're staying or just because they're paid the most or just because they're the biggest name in the team. Don't get me wrong, I think the likes of Tatupu, Daruda, Longbottom are a tremendous asset to our team and we should try and keep hold of them but the aim of the game is winning and we need the 15 players who are most likely to get that for us.

[Burgs]

I want to see what our two Academy Forwards are like.
Hopefully they will get a shot on the SA tour.
Manu looks like a real hard bastard and Whittaker doesn't appear to be a shrinking violet either.

[BDAVEY]

Dont u think Crossy is playing on his past at the moment. On Friday Laura u watch Crossy when he gets tackled or tackles someone he meanders around doesnt get straight back up and get into position..... Gits tackles gets up and looks for the next victum. I hope Spanner has a blinder...... same with cUMMINS but we must get the ball out to them.

[Darren]

Agree Laura but Spanner is off OS so really he should be benched and play the lads who want to stay. Good to see the back end of Horuia is not up the grade. I hope Josh stays cant see who would pick him up maybe the Reds?

I reckon Horua is on an upward swing in form - tipping we'll miss him come the end of the season.

I agree a little with the 'leavers' being on the bench, but the in form ones should still get some significant game time, but depending on the game bring on the bench - fresh legs and enthusiams can often match age and experience...

[Burgs]

Crossy has a bit of a look of being partially concussed in most matches this season

[travelling_gerry]

Blair Connor won't blow second chance with Queensland Reds


Wayne Smith | April 02, 2009
Article from: The Australian


REDS winger Blair Connor knows he deserved to be dropped for tomorrow night's match with the Western Force in Perth, which makes him all the more determined to pay back coach Phil Mooney for showing faith in him.

The brutal assessment of the Reds' 50-26 loss to the Chiefs last weekend is that three of the New Zealanders' tries resulted directly from Connor's poor positional play.

But Mooney, showing signs he is maturing into one of the best coaches in the game, figured there was not much point in Connor and, to a lesser extent fellow winger Rod Davies, being taught a tough lesson if they were not given the chance to show what they had learned.

"I guess we had two lines of thought -- stick with the same guys and give them the opportunity to perform better or we make mass changes," Mooney said. "I prefer to stick with the same group."

What would have made Mooney's decision a whole lot easier was his realisation that the only thing Connor, 20, and Davies, 19, are guilty of is being young and inexperienced. As much as things went wrong for them against the Chiefs, they showed glimpses of rare ability that almost yielded tries.

Still, his close brush with the axe has the hairs on the back of Connor's neck standing up. "It would have been easy for them to move the team around and put me on the bench and give me more time to learn," Connor said. "But I'm really glad to be given another opportunity to prove what I can do."

If the truth be known, the Reds' coaching staff should also have taken a hard look at itself. As Connor said yesterday, he positioned himself against the Chiefs -- often up in the line when he should have been back covering kicks and then standing too close to the sideline, leaving fullback Mark McLinden with too much ground to defend -- precisely as he had in his previous appearances for Queensland.

"When you're new, there's not a lot of footage of you and I was pretty much doing what I had been doing for the past four games. But the Chiefs caught on to it and I got exploited on the crossfield kicks," Connor said.

If Chiefs five-eighth Stephen Donald cottoned on to the fact there were wide open spaces to exploit to his left, there is no doubt whatever Force playmaker Matt Giteau will punish any lapses tomorrow at Subiaco Oval.

Peter Hynes may well have saved Connor from embarrassment in his earlier games by directing him around the field. While the Wallabies Test winger again will be missing from the Queensland line-up tomorrow as he completes his recovery from minor knee surgery, he has spent this week drilling critical positional information into Connor's head. "It's quite easy to fix," Connor insisted. "You've just got to remember to do it."

Mooney didn't show faith just in his wingers but across the team, retaining the same starting line-up used against the Chiefs. That means Scott Higginbotham has again been relegated to the bench, with Van Humphries retaining his place in the second-row alongside captain James Horwill.

"It's always tough when you're playing well and you're not getting selected," said Mooney of Higginbotham, who has been one of his most consistent forwards.

"We'll probably give him more time off the bench."

Horwill made a promising, belated start to his season last weekend, going strongly for 60 minutes in his first outing since the Bledisloe Test in Brisbane last September, after which he underwent foot surgery.

In his absence, Force skipper Nathan Sharpe re-established himself in the Wallabies pack, just when it seemed he might be slipping from favour.

Indeed, so well did Sharpe perform on the end-of-season tour of Europe that Horwill now has a battle on his hands to win back his place -- although it is possible the two will end up as Australia's second-row combination this season.

"He's playing very well," Horwill said. "It's one versus one, so we'll have a crack and see who comes out on top. I've got to try to knock him off his perch."

The Force, meanwhile, has strengthened its pack by reinstating Test number eight Richard Brown, who has recovered from an AC injury. He comes into the backrow in place of Tamati Horua who has signed a two-year deal with Irish side Ulster.

Hopes Test winger-fullback Cameron Shepherd would overcome his lingering ankle problems in time to play for the Force in the derby have not materialised, prompting coach John Mitchell to reinstate Drew Mitchell at 15, switch teenage Wallaby James O'Connor from fullback to inside centre and bring Nick Cummins on to the wing.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html

[Burgs]

He comes into the backrow in place of Tamati Horua who has signed a two-year deal with Irish side Ulster.

Had to get one mention of movements in there didn't you Wayne...

[GIGS20]

What else can he talk about when the Quokkas remain unmolested Burgs?

[travelling_gerry]

Former Western Force winger Digby Ioane has warned his former friends and fans in blue he intends to quieten any barbs about his controversial move east by ending their Super 14 finals hopes on Friday night.

The likeable Ioane became anything but two years ago when he walked out on the Force in favour of the Queensland Reds, just three weeks after verbally agreeing to stay with the club that launched his Super 14 rugby career.

Ioane will be back in Perth later today as part of the Reds outfit that could all but end John Mitchell's hopes of a finals berth, while adding to their impressive improvement under coach Phil Mooney.

Speaking to WAtoday.com.au., Ioane said he would not be fazed by any adverse reaction to his return - and was looking to do his own talking on the park.

"I am not surprised if they boo me - I have just got to focus on my game, put that to one side and move on," Ioane said

"It is always a big game between the Australian teams, and particularly between the Force and the Reds there is some Queenslanders in that team.

"It is all about winning this week, and just performing."

Ioane's 2008 was littered with first injury and then a three-week suspension for a dangerous tackle on Brumby Stephen Hoiles, prompting one report that he would consider a return to Perth.

But the 23-year-old said he was loving life under Mooney - whose move to turn Ioane into a centre this season has reaped huge dividends.

"The Reds had a bad year last year, and I did not play much footy last year with my injury and then getting suspended," Ioane said

"This year is a new team, we are young and this week is really important to us.

"It is good to have family around, and I am just enjoying footy at the moment - I am enjoying it big time.

"I have not played there (centre) since schoolboys. I had a crack in the Force in a trials match and I have been there most of the time since.

"On a wing you go looking for it, but in the centres it comes to you."

John Mitchell admitted the Reds were the most improved of the Australian teams in 2009, thanks to a new way of thinking brought by Mooney.

"They are playing it real quick, they are playing it wide, they are looking to offload a lot.

"There's a real change in their mentality and thinking compared to previous years where they've always just been direct."

http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/ioan...0401-9jm8.html