Blues v Reds

[Ruggo]

Just bloody hopeless. My eyes and my head hurt after watching that.

 

[lewisr]

Go the Force!

 

[Blue]

Gee wiz those Blues back line players are scary.

 

[Ash]

Reds' breakdown accuracy is shocking, both on attack and defence.

Defensive line was less passive, but defensive system still has major issues. Way too many missed tackles.

Attack patterns are non-existant. Little cohesion in the backs. No runners or lines offering much threat.

Still have questions about the fitness.

Scrum average.

Bench offering zero impact (maybe Hanson aside).

Players lack confidence.

Apart from all that, the rest wasn't too bad.

Obviously all these are the players' fault.

Well done Blues. Comfortably the better side.

 

[Blue]

From a slow start the Kiwi conference is hitting its straps.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

ps how the ARSE does that Simmons twerp at lock get to be a starting Wallaby? Utter drongo. Some kind of cleft-faced powder puff power poof. Ill-disciplined. Dumb. Lazy*.

*Quadeland finally on attack, 18+ phases, and where is Simmons? Swanning about on the wing waiting for a crossfield kick! For minutes. WFT. Even Isaac Ross ddint stand out on the wing for that long waiting while his cohorts busted their collective bruised nuts trying to right the listing/half upside-down bloody ship.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Reds' breakdown accuracy is shocking, both on attack and defence.

Defensive line was less passive, but defensive system still has major issues. Way too many missed tackles.

Attack patterns are non-existant. Little cohesion in the backs. No runners or lines offering much threat.

Still have questions about the fitness.

Scrum average.

Bench offering zero impact (maybe Hanson aside).

Players lack confidence.

Apart from all that, the rest wasn't too bad.

Obviously all these are the players' fault.

Well done Blues. Comfortably the better side.

Good honest assessment there Ash. Not happy times for a staunch Reds man like yourself.

I must say that was probably Horwill's best attacking game in ages. Really put the head down and made some tough yards and took a couple of defenders with him.

But that was a small positive among a lot of negatives.

 

[ChargerWA]

Only caught the first half.

So if Nonu is killing it in super rugby does that mean he is going to be shit for the AB's? If he actually gets better in the internationals we are fucked.

Beaten by Dismal but just can't believe how many stupid penalties Simmons gave away. They were pretty soft penalties but it always seems to be him.

The Reds pack over achieved in 2011, this is about where the Reds pack is at minus Higgers and Samo. My biggest criticism of Graham at the Force was his his recruitment. He seems to have ridiculous over confidences in his ability to turn average players into world beaters. Do I need to remind that he turned out a back line at the Force around James Stannard, Paddy Dellit and Dave Harvey. I hope for the Reds sake they are casting the net far and wide at the moment for a new coach, but unfortunately it seems you CEO was complicit in this Farsical appointment and will mount a rear ground action supporting Dick to protect his own position.

 

[qwerty51]

I thought Horwill had a massive workrate but was quite ineffective at times. He's often found going past the ball and not impacting the breakdown at all. He missed a couple key tackles too.

 

[Ash]

The Reds pack over achieved in 2011, this is about where the Reds pack is at minus Higgers and Samo.

Really?

Practically the same Reds pack out performed a lot of higher rated packs, including while Samo was injured and Higgers lambasted by most as a seagull. Exactly the same pack last year took them to the finals - Samo bare played, mostly the odd game off the bench. Quirk and Schatz started every game in 2013.

On paper at the start of the season, I'd comfortably back the same pack over the Rebels and Force in the Australian conference. On paper, I still would back the Reds pack over those two teams.

But the Reds pack this year have been crap, you are right about that, and I wouldn't back the Reds pack over 8 plastic shopping bags. Going on the last four years from 2010, this year looks more like the outlier, until you realise that nearly the entire coaching staff - head coach, fitness, forwards, backs - has changed. Only Graham on defence remains the same.

The whole Reds team frequently looks like they have no idea what they should be doing - on attack or defence. A few times they fall back into the same patterns from a few years ago and look half decent, then they fall apart again.

 

[Brumby Jack]

James Slipper has been cited for the lifting tackle on Peter Saili that he got yellow carded for

 

[flat_eric]

Do we agree that Richard Graham is a large part of the problem here? A coach lives and dies by his team's results, and the Reds have gone from playing smart to just plain dumb rugby in the space of a season.

 

[I like to watch]

Reds' breakdown accuracy is shocking, both on attack and defence.

Defensive line was less passive, but defensive system still has major issues. Way too many missed tackles.

Attack patterns are non-existant. Little cohesion in the backs. No runners or lines offering much threat.

Still have questions about the fitness.

Scrum average.

Bench offering zero impact (maybe Hanson aside).

Players lack confidence.

Apart from all that, the rest wasn't too bad.

Obviously all these are the players' fault.

Well done Blues. Comfortably the better side.

If people are missing tackles the system is working.
If guys are strolling through untouched,then the system has failed.
Tackling is about desire.you can blame the coach if you like for poor culture.
But really good players still excel in a poor team.
Too many blokes with big scrapbooks that don't want to hear they are under performing IMO.

 

[qwerty51]

Do we agree that Richard Graham is a large part of the problem here? A coach lives and dies by his team's results, and the Reds have gone from playing smart to just plain dumb rugby in the space of a season.

He is clearly the problem, the Reds haven't experienced that much turnover especially in the packs from 2012 and 2013 and they've gone backwards drastically.

 

[Hawko]

Oh dear Slipper. Lifting a player past the horizontal and driving him into the ground. Very lucky to get off with a yellow. I can see a bit of time in the stands coming his way.

Kurtley Beale was picked up by three Blues players and piledriven into the ground right in front of the referee. The commentators were beside themselves about how good a tackle it was. I think that if Slipper gets cited he could do worse than give the judiciary a video of the Beale tackle. Agree Slipper lifted him slightly higher than the Beale tackle, about 5 degrees more, but the angle of contact with the ground was about the same.

But then that requires consistency from the judiciary process and the Sanzar judicial process, from referees to citings, is not noted for its consistency.

 

[Hawko]

Sorry Gwerty, once a player's knees have touched the ground he has been tackled and must release the ball before carrying on, I really not sure what set of laws you have read.

You maybe right about the rule book, I won't argue the point. But in practice 99% of similar incidents the referee calls not held and the play continues. Its a bit like the rule book says the halfback must feed the ball straight. Nobody does and its virtually never penalised.

 

[Swandive]

Well, well well. I used to really enjoy watching the reds play but they were oh so woeful tonight. I will not be tipping them again this year after such a let down tonight...in my tipping and for a Golden week holiday here in Tokyo.
They looked like they had no passion, no heart and looked flat (or 'limp' as the commentators said).

I guess there will be a lot of crowing for Richard Graham's head, and he must bear some of the blame, but he is not being helped by his players. Penalty magnet and bone-head Rob Simmons just doesn't get it and just keeps giving away needless easy metres for dumb things. Slipper's tip (once a fantastic tackle but no longer I'm afraid James) was just dumb. Then you have your two leaders in James Horwill and Quade Cooper, hopelessly out of form. They just didn't seem to be in the game and certainly lacked the passion I would expect from a leader in　my team. In the third try set up by Nonu, Horwill jogged beside Nonu and then could have reached out and tackled the guy Nonu passed it to but showed a complete lack of heart and passion...not someone to lead the team out of a slump in my book. Harsh? ...Maybe. I think he would only be 4th or 5th best lock in Oz at the moment (with Jones way ahead of him & even Neville played better than him tonight).

And Quade is a sorry shadow of the player he was in 2010/2011. The constant forward passes out to his wide men are getting a bit much. He seems bereft of ideas at times. I honestly cannot see him beating To'omua to No. 10 in the Aussie side. For Oz's sake I hope he doesn't.

Rod Davies is fast...but that's it. He has nothing.
And the mistake by the replacement half that led to an intercept try was a school boy error. No, that's being harsh on schoolboys. It looked like the kind of pass that would be thrown by a bunch of soccer players playing rugby for the first time.

The only positives for the Reds were the performances of Quirk, Gill, CFS (despite the short stint), and Harris. Defense was OK for the most part I guess but attack was poor. A special mention to Ben Daley. He had a great game when he came on...just a pity he has a rep. for being a poor scrummager. Genia was much better too but started to meerkaat in the second half.

One more thing...aren't the Blues good at taking up the space behind the ruck on the opposition's side? They got penalised for it a few times but got away with it quite a bit too.

 

[Swandive]

If people are missing tackles the system is working.
If guys are strolling through untouched,then the system has failed.
Tackling is about desire.you can blame the coach if you like for poor culture.
But really good players still excel in a poor team.
Too many blokes with big scrapbooks that don't want to hear they are under performing IMO.

I tend to agree with you ILTW. Some of the Reds are living in the past. They expect to win because they were once good. Resting on their laurels and all that. Tonight Quade was outplayed by a 19 year old. Hell, Bryce Hegarty played far better than Quade. I am not usually a Quade bagger and have loved some of his plays in the past but it seems to be a distant past and one that is only increasing.

As someone noted a page back, the Reds back five never get benched. Where's the incentive to strive to get better? A lack of depth may be the problem. Are Enever, O'Donoghue & Mc Duling just not good enough? Because I think Horwill and Simmons need a rocket put up them.

I find it hard to criticized the Quirk, Schatz, Gill back three as they always seem to be busy and bust a gut but there doesn't seem to be anyone pushing them...apart from Butler (who i haven't seen play this year so I can't judge).
How many new players did the Reds pick up this year. Not many at all from my reckoning. Perhaps they have all gone just a bit stale with a lack of fresh blood????

 

[Moono75]

FIRST NAME GRAHAM SECOND NAME HENRY

__________________________________

​

​

What did Graham Henry ever do........DAMN i hate it when your right OK my argument needs to be refined to coaches called Richard Graham....never trust them!

 

[Moono75]

ps how the ARSE does that Simmons twerp at lock get to be a starting Wallaby? Utter drongo. Some kind of cleft-faced powder puff power poof. Ill-disciplined. Dumb. Lazy*.

*Quadeland finally on attack, 18+ phases, and where is Simmons? Swanning about on the wing waiting for a crossfield kick! For minutes. WFT. Even Isaac Ross ddint stand out on the wing for that long waiting while his cohorts busted their collective bruised nuts trying to right the listing/half upside-down bloody ship.

Never rated Simmons....don't want him near the Wallabies.