We woz flogged!!
Still very much on the canvas! Was hoping the ref would stop the contest!
Great game, Fucken battled right through to the 80!
I think Sheryl Cow sums it up best and as a Force supporter this may have to become the Western Force Fans club song:
" No one said it would be easy
But no one said it'd be this hard
No one said it would be easy
But no one thought we'd come this far ...."
We were out played, out muscled, out thought, out enthused.
They were too good, too strong, too big, too fast, too skilled.
That said while we were in different leagues there was some hard graft done and my usual stats to follow.
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
The Force made 159 tackles with a 83% conversion rate.
Tizzano and Princep again led the way.
Stewart again best of the backs.
Horton, Medrano, Harris, Franklin workmanlike.
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
The attack appeared to be disappointing as again we just could not convert procession and plays into points.
The team had 92 carries for 332 metres.
12 Defenders beaten and 4 clean breaks.
Donaldson and Beale again featuring with Princep and Williams best amongst the forwards.
As I said last week and the week before we need to get Princep signed for next year ASAP.
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
One of the few positive spins I managed while watching was that Jumbuck Joe could do worse than have 16. Horton, 19. Williams, 20. Tizzano and 22. Stewart on his Bench, to bring in if/when the attacking mindset Starters start to lose contact on the scoreboard!
While all have attacking capabilities as well, their defensive work is exceptional and will have had far more exposure than for candidates from the other four teams.
I will admit to have been a bit each way on Stewart in previous seasons, but has grown on me in the Nathan Grey style.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Shout out to Robertson too on debut, didn't look out of place I thought.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
After watching the top kiwi teams this weekend they all had 1 thing in common in attack, their first receiver is generally closer to the ruck, whereas we’re as our receiver is much further away allowing the defenders to get up on us well before the gain line. It’s been a bad Australian rugby trait for a long time now.
did ok,especially when your team was strugglingOriginally Posted by Burgs
I still think Cron is a good coach and the right man for the job. It does take a coach a good 2-3 years to shape the squad he wants.
This year he brought in quality in White, Donaldson, Potter and Harris. Next year we have Paenga-Amosa, Swain, Dolly and Porter (rumoured) plus Robertson back. The squad is looking better on paper and better depth but injuries have killed us.
That's what we need to keep in mind. There have been a few frustrating performances this year but it's been a season where the coach has had to do a reshuffle just about every week. The only area of stability is the mid-field - and they've been OK. If I were a betting man - and I am- I'd have a punt on the Rugby gods being a little kinder to us after the plague & pestilence of the past couple of years.
It's always a sore point when the "experts" always seem to highlight the "injury Crises" of our opposition but rarely recognise the carnage among our squad.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
I think Simon Cron's comments after the Chief's game were insightful for where they need to go moving forward.
"Physically, we were dominated in the contact zone. So, the games where we leak that many points are very much contact zone dominance. They got it, we didn't, on both sides of the ball, so as a result of that, we were going backwards most of the night there."
How do you move forward from there?
"Look, I think there are three teams in the competition at the moment that physically can do that to us; the Canes, the Chiefs and the Blues, they are all very tight, dominant carriers, big bodies. We're fine with the rest; we've just got to go to work, fix the things on the field that we didn't do well and go again"
I'd argue the Rabble also did that too, and looking at what Fiji did to the Brumbs on the weekend, they'll be out to do the same to the Force this weekend.
I hope/ suspect we'll see some more signings that are consistent with the squad becoming increasingly "very tight, dominant carriers, big bodies"
Gareth Chilcott after his last game for Bath in 1993
“I thought I would have a quiet pint… and about 17 noisy ones.”
I would like to see IFL start more often …. I believe he is a confidence player and was definitely Wallaby standard last season. Henry had a solid debut ( Well played !! )but given license to express himself with more game time he’ll be an absolute menace …. Let’s hope…
Yeah, Tahs have a moratorium on sympathy for Front Row injury excuses
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
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