Reds v Force Thread

[The InnFORCEr]

Force two down for Reds clash

Nick Taylor
February 17, 2015, 7:47 am


Western Force have been hit by two crucial injuries ahead of Saturday's Super Rugby clash with the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.

Prop Pek Cowan and full-back Dane Haylett-Petty were both injured in the club's impressive round-one win that stunned reigning champions Waratahs on Sunday in Sydney.

Cowan is likely to be out for two weeks after injuring his neck when a scrum twisted and collapsed midway through the first half of the 25-13 victory.

Haylett-Petty broke two small bones in his left foot as he was tackled, lunging for the line in the second half. Force staff hope he will be ready for the two-game tour of South Africa that includes fixtures against the Bulls (March 21) and Sharks (March 28).

The Force have flown prop Chris Heiberg and winger Mitchell Scott to the Gold Coast as they prepare for the game at Suncorp Stadium.

Captain Matt Hodgson is already out for eight weeks with a hamstring injury.

Luke Morahan would be favourite for the No.15 jumper but coach Michael Foley has several options.

"A couple of our guys have played 15, Marcel (Brache) has played 15 and Zack (Holmes) and Sias (Ebersohn) played a lot of their younger rugby at 15. We'll have a look at the balance of the side," Foley said.

Foley expects the Reds to bounce back after their 47-3 trouncing by the Brumbies.

"It's a massive challenge. They've got an eight-day turnaround coming into a home game. We've got a six-day turnaround," he said. "We've got to dive into next week and be on our game because the Reds will be desperate. It's a big game for us.

"We've got to get ourselves physically right."

The Force put in a massive defensive effort against the Waratahs and produced 18 turnovers.

·Melbourne Rebels co-captain Scott Higginbotham can face the Waratahs on Friday after being cleared of stomping by a SANZAR judicial hearing last night.

Flanker David Pocock will be out for several weeks with a grade-one ankle injury picked up as his Brumbies beat the Reds.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...or-reds-clash/

[Alison]

Wishing them both a speedy recovery.

Reckon Chris and Mitchell are fine replacements.

My real concern is our place kicking. We'll need every point we can get this season and leaving so many on the field through wayward place kicking may bite us hard.

Thoughts anyone?

[brokendown gunfighter]

they should have been practising their place kicking in the off season--if they did,we are in trouble!

[The InnFORCEr]

A little bird has told me we actually have quiet a few that need to be "patched up" before the Reds, they really put in an awesome effort and gave it their all on Sunday

[GIGS20]

I really like the idea of Sias covering 15. put Zac at 10 and we don't lose all that much with the tactical kicking. I'm not so sure about Sias under the high ball, given that his bum is pretty close to the ground, but he has the field vision and kicking ability to make a bloody good show of it.

If I recall Marcel didn't exactly shine at 15.

The Reds will shuffle a lot around this week, hopefully that shuffling will have limited effect and they'll be the same debacle that faced the Brumbies with different faces in different positions. Concerned about Thompson, he doesn't strike me as lackadaisical and O'Connor will either be a triumph or a disaster, depending on whether he actually learned anything in Toulon.

It'll certainly be an interesting match, one which Foles can't adequately prepare for because the Reds HAVE to change virtually everything about their game.

[valzc]

Wishing them both a speedy recovery.

Reckon Chris and Mitchell are fine replacements.

My real concern is our place kicking. We'll need every point we can get this season and leaving so many on the field through wayward place kicking may bite us hard.

Thoughts anyone?

Yes the goal kicking is a worry again. Thought that was getting sorted end of last season or maybe Sias was having an off day. Not surprising with all that padding he was wearing, looked more like the Tahman than he did, am amazed he could move. Have no complaints on the replacements Mitchell looked red hot at trials, and Chris gives good grunt! Just hope they don't cop any further damage. Noticed Morahan and Charles seemed a bit iffy.

[UNCLE BOOG]

Haylett-Petty broke two small bones in his left foot as he was tackled, lunging for the line in the second half. Force staff hope he will be ready for the two-game tour of South Africa that includes fixtures against the Bulls (March 21) and Sharks (March 28).

you mean, when the Fox audio guy got cleaned up by HP? ITS A FOX CONSPIRACY! THEY PUT THEIR SOUND GUY THERE ON PURPOSE! haha.

[hertryk]

Sias...Please practice your kicking ...you were pretty woeful... get a grip... We need a Leigh Halfpenny...or a Jonny Wilkinson.. BAAAAA!!!

[shasta]

Say what you like about JOC, but on the paddock he's a potent strike weapon. Adam Thompson has been bludgeing in Japan for a couple of years so his 32yo frame should be good for at least the season - a year younger than Hodgo. He's just the type of grafter the Reds need. They also have Ant Finger to come back in. Should add some starch to the midfield, if selected. Hopefully Mr Cranium opts for JOC at 10. He'll be OK but would be more dangerous from 15 IMO. I think the rain might favour our blokes on balance. They'll either man up after last week or Richard Cranium will be well down the slippery slope. I expect them to lift.

[GIGS20]

Yeah, I never had a doubt about JOC's ability as a footballer, but when he was playing for both the Force and the Rebels his attitude made him pretty useless on the field.

He would consistently refuse to pass the ball to his teammates and repeatedly die with the ball. This made him a bit of a black hole in the end, because the double team ended up being the best way to stop him.

If his time in France has taught him how to use the blokes around him he'll be a handful for anybody in Australia, otherwise, he's been well worked out by everyone in the Southern Hemisphere.

Where he's best placed will depend upon his head. I personally hope he's at fullback for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if he's at fullback, we have the opportunity to stop the footy before it gets to him and that should be the focus of our entire defensive strategy (since it will also frustrate the inside backs into throwing looser and looser passes giving us more opportunities) secondly (and I'm aware this is a long bow with RG coaching the side) it might indicate that an astute coach has seen no improvement in his headspace and we'll just need to run him to the sidelines with a couple of defenders and he'll be taken care of.

If he's at 10 or 12 I worry that he might have fixed his issues and we could be in for a long night.

[G_Beard]

Sias...Please practice your kicking ...you were pretty woeful... get a grip... We need a Leigh Halfpenny...or a Jonny Wilkinson.. BAAAAA!!!

Hertryk, none of the kickers were on-song on Sunday.
Let's just put any blunders down to first game jitters.

[Alison]

Isn't Hunt their new No.10??

[jargan83]

He played the trial vs the Crusaders and the first game against the Brumbies at 10. Thought he threw some good passes and had a couple of good runs from behind a very badly beaten pack against the Brumbies.

I guess it depends on where King Dick wants to slot in JO'C.

[The InnFORCEr]

My guess is Mozza to fullback and Mitch gets a first up starting cap on wing, FWV to start at prop and Heiburg to the bench with rest from last week. Minimal changes IMHO

[GIGS20]

I guess it depends on where King Dick wants to slot in JO'C.

Given his propensity for blaming the players for a loss, he could target Hunt as the cause of the backline problems, even though he had nothing to work with. I thought Hunt looked pressured (OK that's not really a revelation is it) and shaky, but looked like a good option for fullback. You can't tell much about him at 10 with the platform he was given.

Logic would suggest that Hunt and JOC share 10 and 15 in some way, using JOC as a backup in case Hunt doesn't show enough, but we all know logic doesn't always factor into RG's actions.