Ali Barber
Allen Oxlade (6)
Quite literally Padua were not very good anywhere in play. The forwards although spirited for the first 20 ran out of gas and never challenged again. The backs were on the back foot and also ran out of options and to kick for touch within Penalty range was a mistake x 3 opportunities lost. A Nudgee old boy said DH was at a 2hr fitness session this morning at 7am. He can’t do that again and expect to be sharp by 2pm. Not very clever.The overall level of fitness from Padua was poor. Their forwards are nowhere near fit enough and this pretty much told the story of the game. They butchered all the early field advantage simply because they couldnt re-line quick enough and protect their own ball more than 3 x phases. A lot of willing “oomph” in a lot of early one out stuff - but outside some physicality in a few carries - the MCA forwards werent really seriously challenged.
Padua Rugby intel is low too . With all the penalty advantage why keep opting for the lineout when you were getting towelled ( great game by Jacob Heinke btw - assuming he was the MCA 5 jumping at the 2 spot)
Downes also eye catching as were Hogan ( 10 ) and McLeod ( 15 ) as MCA’s best
Got to agree with Kick and Chase - Hogan looked sharper than Heenan - passing mechanics , acceleration - overall movement. DH had a couple of nice tactical kicks in behind the defense in the first 15m , but outside of that I think Hogan looked more complete on the day - which didn’t really have much to go with the disparity in fitness and how well drilled the MCA forwards were
Didn’t really pick up Rozka much ( ?? )
I fear the AIC is going to be a one horse Minx race and MCA should be gifted a run in our GPS on a couple of Bye weekends. I did hear LTW will play against Pats. Is that a bit risky, I can’t see Pats coming within cooee of Ash at the moment.