SRP 2023 Round 10 - Reds v Force

[.X.]

Is it just something that I am noticing for the first time, or has it happened previously.

Every match this year we have had one or two players that are late changes on game day.

Its weird.

[chiraag]

Definitely a new thing this year. Have to wonder what they're doing in the warm up.

Very tough for us to get into games when we have no one with a decent boot. As soon as we get into a kicking battle, it is pretty much a given that we'll lose the battle and just get stuck playing rugby in our half.

Our rolling maul offense and defense seems to be rather deficient this year also.

[Tazzmania]

Injuries should not define a season, but we sure appear to have had a rough patch this year and in particular to players in key areas with key characteristics. This week it was our front row that took the biggest hit, and while the youngsters gave it their all, the gap was a bridge too far. On the positve side we have blooded a lot of younger players and while our depth has been sorely tested the boys have not shirked away and as the stats show keep trying and trying, we cannot ask for more.

This week it was welcome home Carlo and he certainly announced his arrival, even more impresive is that he only arrived a week or so ago in WA and was up against a on fire Frasser Mcreight. For me he was our man of the match.

He was backed up by workman like performances from Mataele, Spink, Hegarty Stewart, Kalapu, Horton, Wells and Williams.

Attack Stats:



Defence Stats:



Tough week coming up with Crusaders away from Home, but a good time to get processes right and probably leave behind those with niggles to get them fit for the three home games left.

[shasta]

As usual, stats only tell part of the story. Tizzano should have won more turnovers or been awarded some penalties. He was hard on the ball all night.

[GIGS20]

As usual, stats only tell part of the story. Tizzano should have won more turnovers or been awarded some penalties. He was hard on the ball all night.

I was planning on posting about this issue sometime this week, but was scared it'd be seen as typical "the ref cost us the game" bullshit.

I don't believe the ref called a single penalty in favour of the pilfer all night. He also seemed to pretty much ignore the traditional not supporting bodyweight interpretation and was pretty liberal in determining when the ruck was formed. This all added up to a situation where, if you tried putting your hands on the ball in the ruck you had to make bloody sure you had the strength and position to maintain the contact and not get blown off by cleaners barrelling in to knock you off it. Don't, at all costs, even touch the ball a second time after you were taken out and be aware that the tackled player could still fight for the ball as hard and long as he liked waiting for the aforementioned cleaners to come.

The fact that there were only two turnovers in the entire game when Force were clearly looking to pilfer and certainly getting their hands on the pill plenty.

The thing that makes this not a criticism of the ref is that he called it absolutely consistently the whole night (pretty easy to blow zero penalties consistently I guess) but the Reds figured it out on the field and turned it into an advantage, the Force did not.

Towards the end of the game, you can see Fraser McReight's solution to the problem, winning several turnovers in quick succession by putting his elbows on the ground either side of the ball and holding that strong position until the pressure was released long enough for him to effect the turnover, No penalties at all were blown, not for off feet, not for holding the ball, a couple for entering the ruck from the side, but not enough to make any determination of fairness. The breakdown simply wasn't on the list for the ref to interfere with that night and the Force didn't adjust as well as the Reds.

[Garry Owen]

Yes some of those decisions were head scratching. I am happy that a player is penalised if they put their hands past the ball on the ground before pilfering but Tizzano got done for 1 or 2 where the ref claimed he had 2 shots at it, but he was never cleaned out so I don't see the issue

[WFDom]

Sir definitely appeared a little wet behind the ears!

[chiraag]

I've been very impressed by Amone so far this season, but he was shown to be a bit green starting this game. Probably best he sticks to a bench role for the remainder of the season. Had forgotten about Abra however, and he seemed to solidify the scrum once on, as well as doing well around the ground.

Pugh took a while to get into the game, but was appeared quite prominent in the last 20 or so. Really think we need to be getting more game time into him as he appears to have a big future.

Poolman has had more than enough chances and needs to go back to the training paddock unfortunately. Time to give Tapine, Ala, Makara or Cummins a go. Tapine was looking very handy in the pre-season games, so somewhat surprising we haven't seen him since this year.

[boof1050]

I too thought Pugh was really effective when he came on. Certainly some positives to take out of the game.
A genuine question though is are we the most penalised side?