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I don't know if anyone is making this argument. I think it would be crazy to draft out 18/19 year olds- they are too young. You'd be looking at underutilised guys in their early 20s. But it also does happen. Jack Payne joined one of then Welsh teams (Scarlets maybe?) from the 2014 U20s. We...

I don't agree with that. Things are changing. What is being offered in the last few years by the NRC and national U20s will provide the pathway forward. It is just frustrating that this didn't all happen 5 to 10 years sooner. The Force simply need to survive another 5 years to truly reap the...

How about the travel turn around for the Chiefs? We play them next Saturday. They've flown RSA to Arg and will need to fly on to NZ. They play the Chiefs at 4am Monday NZ time. If they get on a flight on the same day as the game, which surely must be bad for recovery, they get into Auckland on...

A draft is a stupid idea. It will never work. A draft would only serve to benefit the Force and the Rebels and frankly there are better ways of doing that. We need more local talent. I feel a bit irritable about Nick Jooste going to the Brumbies. If the ARU want to be useful, they should be...

Its a bit of a grim weekend for Aussie rugby.

Bookies have the Force at over 6-1. Considering the two teams it is very hard not to take those odds. 3 or 4 to 1 you could understand but 6 says it is a forgone conclusion. I wouldnt say it was based on the Canes' form.

Hope that poor form from England continues. We are in the same pool as they are.

Yeah, I'd consider losing by less than 20 points as a win for us. We don't have the firepower of the Brumbies and on the rare occasions we get some steam up in the opposition half you can expect the Brumbies to give away a penalty.

I hope Coleman gets that opportunity. The player drain will really, really impact on all franchises in 2017 and Coleman is someone I feel we need to hold on to longer term. In the medium term the NRC should soften the blow of the NH player drain but in the short term we are struggling and it...

Timana Tahu.

I thought he was talking about the Reds' performance.

Sometimes the sun goes round the moon, Sometimes the snow falls down in June. Just when I thought the chance had passed, Morahan went and saved the try for last....

DHP and Adam Coleman for the Force. Cottrell hasn't been too bad either.

Even though our set piece is a pile of pooh, our offloads are haphazard and handling hasn't been flash, I am enjoying the intent.

And Richard Graham will take one step further from the abyss. I get the really strong feeling that Reds fans, win or lose, will feel very miserable after this game. It reminds me of the tag line of Aliens vs Predator: Whoever wins, we lose.

I get the really strong feeling that, win or lose, I am going to feel very miserable after this game.

I think you misinterpret that statement. I don't mean mitigate risk by playing conservatively. I mean mitigate risk by creating attacking structures where your backrow is better able to secure the breakdown. Keep on playing with width, but do so where you have players positioned to support the...

I guess that is the downside of playing with width. You need to commit fewer players to the breakdown and the ball moves away from your forwards a bit. I am confident we will learn from the experience and change the structures to mitigate the risk. Charger- I think for the first few years...

Reece Hodge played 10 at U20 level. I thought he was a truckload better than McIntyre in the 2013 JWC. I think it is naive to assume that those skills and structures will come overnight or even from one pre-season. It took a few years for the Reds to turn what they had into the complete...

Couple of fairly soft penalties against the Reds. Not that I am arguing with them but it would be pretty frustrating.