Match Review: Western Force & Queensland Reds

[jargan83]

The one time Sharpie opted for a scrum in front of the posts we bungled the try and came away with nothing.

The Reds defender (forget which one) had more to do with the try saving tackle on Shepherd
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[Hoolly Doolly]

Most has already been said. I agree with robyn in that brett sheehan was extremely impressive with quick delivery and tough defense around the fringes. The way he got davies yellow carded was a classic. few years ago it wouldve been likely sheehan would throw the punch. Unfortunately imo stannard was a bit slow at putting the ball out and took a few to many snipes that i would expect in such a short time. when he picked up the loose ball on the wing in our 22 he should just give the ball up to david smith.
In attack we seemed to not be linking well between 12 and 13 due to some bad passing and some bad catching. Inman seems to be a bit of a mr fumble bum. Hope that doesnt continue. WOuld like to some some variation utilizing dave smiths abilities. Maybe have him come in now and then to receive a few short balls running inside lines much in the same way digby and chris ashton are used.
I wont rehash whats been said about the pack. They did a great job but our severe lack of depth in the second row is a very big worry.

[James]

i thought the ref played well, nothing too significant... i would have liked to see some talk about the number of penalties in their red zone, other than that, not too bad.

Saw Sharpie through a nice punch in a ruck or maul, so all in all nice game

We got stung when Nick Cummins legitimately picked up a loose ball and was called offside. He was under the posts for sure. Scott Higginbotham did the same thing later on in the game and a few phases later the Reds were in for a try. I thought the ref was average but then I always do when we lose so go figure.

[BeeJay]

The Reds defender (forget which one) had more to do with the try saving tackle on Shepherd
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From the ensuing 5 m scrum the ball was turned over and kicked downfield. So we came away with nothing....

[jazza93]

The ref had a pretty good game. Didn't make any big mistakes. Cummins was offside because he never fully retired behind the advantage line.

As for Sharpies decisions. He had a pretty good game but will regret not taking the points in the 2nd half. The risk seemed worth it at the time so i wont say he made the wrong decision, but another scrum didn't seem like the best option. A quick tap or line-out may have been worth a try.

Anyway, if we get this standard of decision making all season long we will start getting good rolls of the dice.

[GIGS20]

Sharpie has to be bolder with his on-field decisions. Opponents are happy giving away penalties in their own half, as they know Sharpie will call for O'Connor to kick. The teams which consider themselves contenders would go for the line and back themselves to win the line-out and drive for a try. Why don't we do this? Kicking may keep the scoreboard ticking over, but wouldn't exerting yourself over the opposition be better?

if we had kicked one of the three or four penalties which were on offer when we decided to go for it, we would have won. It could be argued that sharpie was TOO bold.

At least one of those penalties were right in front.

The ref had a pretty good game. Didn't make any big mistakes. Cummins was offside because he never fully retired behind the advantage line.

did you look closely at the replay? He was off by about 5cm, you can't tell me the ref kept that standard up all game, he was about half a boot in front of the last foot.

I'm sure higginbotham, being a backrower would have been further off than that!

As for the line out throw, yeah I had my questions about it being 5, but where was Nathan Charles? Surely it's his job to mark the thrower, even if it means arriving late to the maul.

[jazza93]

But he was offside. There isn't much more too it. I'm not going to say the ref should let it go, because if it was a QLD'er i would probably be here calling him lazy for not just retiring behind the gain line properly like every else.

[Sheikh]

apart from the endless calls pro-reds and the "crouch............................................ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. touch............................................. .................................................. .................................................. ...............................................pau se................................................ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .............................engage"

In the Six Nations the refs have been much quicker and more consistent with their timing. Let the boys at least start the scrum - they can fight it out once the ball's in.

[brokendown gunfighter]

I'm glad i decided not to go over to brissy this time
I would of slashed my wrists(after a all night session at the pig & whistle of course)

[joblot]

I thought the ref was KRAP

[jargan83]

From the ensuing 5 m scrum the ball was turned over and kicked downfield. So we came away with nothing....

Yeah but the initial scrum saw Shep almost go over, well go over although held up

I wouldn't call it a bombed try, the Reds defender did well to roll him partially over getting the ball off the ground before the in goal

I would of slashed my wrists(after a all night session at the pig & whistle of course)

Only so you avoid the resulting hangover Gunny

[slomo]

The ref had a pretty good game. Didn't make any big mistakes.

Apart from turning an 80 minute game in to a 52 minute game, he took forever to get the scrums right......

[jazza93]

Compared to the other round 1 games the ref handled the scrums well. A lot of the super14 refs are letting the pause do itself before announcing it now, and i think it has improved the scrum call.

I don't know why people automatically assume long call = bad. Everyone complained last year when they were calling it faster and now that they may have found an improvement they are still getting it wrong...

Overall if you cut down the number of scrum resets with a better call, you will cut down the overall time spent on scrums.

ETA: Unless your saying that there were too many resets. In which case i disagree. I haven't checked the stats yet but this game seemed middle of the road in terms of scrum resets for round 1.

[Happy]

Wykes has 4.47 votes so far??? WTF ?

[shasta]

As for Sharpies decisions........... The risk seemed worth it at the time so i wont say he made the wrong decision, but another scrum didn't seem like the best option.

That was absolutely the right decision by the captain. They were still a man down and our pack was dominant.

When that scrum went down the first time the assitant clearly called "Blue three no bind" and Pek was warned about that and told to touch on the shoulder. The second set the ref blew it up at the "touch" stage and warned Pek again as well as explaining to (I think) Sharpie. Third time he had no option but to blow the free kick.

That was schoolboy stuff from an experienced player like Pek and he should be wearing a dunce's cap until the next game.