Author: Scott Bryant

News of Hugh McMeniman returning to the 2009 QLD Reds Super 14 side for their clash against the Cheetahs at home…

A nerdy statistical analysis of the Australian, South African and New Zealand teams’ performances including for and against and bonus points over the first 2 rounds of Super 14 2009

Australian Super 14 team of the week round 2 2009

A preview of QLD Reds vs the Stormers in round 2 of Super 14 2009

Qld Reds media is reporting the signing of 20 year old Melbourne Storm player, Will Chambers, to the Reds for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

It had been rumoured fairly strongly at the start of the year that the Reds would chase the Nudgee College graduate and this signing continues the impressive pool of young talent that Coach Phil Mooney will have to draw on next season…..

Super 14 Australian team of the week from round 1 2009

Preview of NSW Waratahs vs Hurricanes in round 1 of Super 14 2009

A preview of QLD Reds vs Bulls match in 2009 Super 14 with the news Reds two game tour of South Africa could not have begun on a worse note as both Hugh McMeniman and Morgan Turinui will be missing from the squad to take on the Bulls

As part of his annual SANZAR pot-stirring, ARU Commander-in-chief John O’Neil gave flight to his favourite thought bubble, that of expansion. But rather than backing Melbourne as the next province, he turned his attention further afield….

QLD Reds vs Western Force 2009 Super 14 trial match review with score

Berrick Barnes and Morgan Turinui to play for the QLD Reds against the Western force in 2009 Super 14 trial match

The Force have signed former junior All-Black Ben Castle to their ranks in an effort to bolster the franchise’s meagre propping stocks.  Considering the Force were chasing the likes of Tim Fairbrother and the du Plessis brothers, this can only be seen as a fairly desperate attempt to cobble together some sort of front-row and a massive vote of no confidence in the existing props at the Force. Castle, who only joined Toulon at the start of the current Northern season, was unable to secure a regular first team spot, even though the team is rocketing toward relegation to semi-pro…

Media release – QR Reds lose trial 26-24 despite late fightback The QR Reds fought back from 26-14 down to match the Blues in the try count but not on the scoreboard, losing their Auckland trial 26-24.

Mooney ups the ante Reds’ coach Phil Mooney gave his clearest indication yet as to how the Reds’ will line-up this season by naming a near full strength squad to play Auckland this weekend. With the exceptions of the injured Berrick Barnes, James Horwill and Ezra Taylor, it looks as close to the real thing as we’ll get.  In the absence of both Barnes and Horwill, Greg Holmes will lead the side which is a fine reward for the young prop after a few winters of discontent. At the naming of new Reds’ sponsor Comscentre, Mooney was upbeat about the…

The Brumbies have always been flashy, show-ponies to some extent, so it has been rather sad watching the decline from Thoroughbreds to Cart-horses that has taken place in the nation’s capital over the last few years.  Retirements to key personnel and an injury plague of biblical proportions consigned our equine brothers to ‘also-rans’ in last year’s Super 14. As the Brumbies spiralled from contenders to mid-table speed humps, it was as if the post Gregan/Larkham hangover would never end.  This year however, with a new coach, a new captain and shrewd recruitment – we may finally see the Brumbies make…

It was with great gusto the Reds launched their season campaign this morning, a slick multi-media type show, which left several jaded press hacks pondering the impact Generation Y has had on the staid and clichéd world of rugby reporting.  Translation……there was not a party pie in sight. The thing that strikes you about the Reds this year is freshness and youth. “We don’t have baggage” Berrick Barnes, the interim Reds skipper, was heard to proclaim when asked about visiting Pretoria for the first round.  A bold statement considering the last game the Reds were there for, they were pantsed…

It appears as though the ‘invisible hand’ of the economy the father of modern economics Adam Smith once talked about, has given money hungry rugby players in England a swift kick in the ass. In a bid to insulate themselves from the effects of global financial crisis, club bosses in England’s Guinness premiership have agreed that all clubs will adhere to a maximum player wage bill of $A8.74M (STG 4M) for the 2009-10 season.  Players on average will now be paid less and in all possibility squad sizes reduced, despite the plans for more fixtures over the lucrative Christmas –…

An overview of the potential replacement coaches for John Mitchell at the Western Force

by Juan Cote If you were standing near the Ballymore exits at the end of last season you would have been in serious danger of being injured in a stampede; such was the exodus of players heading into either full-time retirement or semi-retirement on the European club scene. Although there was plenty of deadwood cut from the ranks, there still remains some massive holes that will not be filled this year – Latho, Squeeky Moore, Rodzilla and Cordingley the obvious names.  Add to that the retirements of John Roe and Crofty and you get some idea of the void left…