James O'Connor

[Reddy!]

Watched the Force v Brumbies game tonight and was impressed with the composure O'Connor shows, not only for a 19 year old, but as the "star" player of the entire team. Because of injuries and player departures, he is now the single most important player in the Force backline, and burdens most of the responsibility to make things happen...and he is doing it from fullback!

I think it will be interesting to see how he continues to handle this situation with little to no experience around him on field. The other question is: where do you play him? Since Cameron Shepherd looks to be gone for part of the season at least, he could stay at fullback which would provide the Wallabies with an option. But on the other hand, Sam Harris was so incompetant at flyhalf, that John Mitchell doesn't have any other choice but to play O'Connor there. And then there is inside centre where he can alternate as the play maker.

In any case, I think James is in for a big season (and career), but that'll be the only shining light in a long season for the Force.

 

[louie]

Why? because he kicked goals?

i thought it was the forces' back row and kept them alive tonight.

 

[Gagger]

There could be an element of relativism (I mean, who was around him? - Cross, hang your head) but he did look a bit more mature. Very happy to see his boot developing

 

[waratahjesus]

his last line of defence at 15 is still shocking though, he puts more effert in when he is defending at 12, but his hit on edmunds was disgraceful, if there going to keep him at 15, he needs some lessons from a fullback on going round the bootlaces.

 

[aussie1st]

His kicking was much improved, the rest was so so. Needs to move to 10 or 12 because this Force side is only heading for the spoon with their makeshift 5/8s.

 

[fatprop]

I thought JOC (James O'Connor) looked a level ahead the rest of the Force, unfortunately he thought he had to create everything because he only had meatheads around him.

 

[Spook]

JOC (James O'Connor) looked good with ball in hand - kicking out of hand was great as well. Bad missed tackle though.

 

[GC]

I thought JOC (James O'Connor) looked a level ahead the rest of the Force, unfortunately he thought he had to create everything because he only had meatheads around him.

I no way was JOC (James O'Connor) better than the backrow, particularly Hodgson and Pocock. He was much better than the rest of their back line though.

His kicking was good and running OK, but that 'tackle' on Edmonds was pissweak

 

[DPK]

his last line of defence at 15 is still shocking though, he puts more effert in when he is defending at 12, but his hit on edmunds was disgraceful, if there going to keep him at 15, he needs some lessons from a fullback on going round the bootlaces.

i was suprised how poor his effort to tackle edmonds was, i thought he was a good 1 on 1 tackler because of his trysaving tackle on spies at newlands (?). i think the tackle is in the james o'connor 2009 highlights video. in any case he should have made the tackle last night as a fullback.

 

[Scotty]

I feel that with his size, his long term future is at 10, sometimes 12 if he has a good defensive flyhalf inside of him (eg Barnes).

Pocock and O'Connor were the Forces best players, and looked a level ahead of the others. In fact out of both those teams, there weren't many that stood out and said 'I'm a Wallaby'.

 

[en_force_er]

In all honesty I thought Sharpe and Pek both looked handy. Obviously Pek's lineouts were scrappy.

The Force could do ok if they play seriously boring footy this year.

 

[waratahjesus]

was very drunk, but did pek throw short most of the time? 2 ball and such, i dont remember them going to the back, may have been cos i was starring though a glass though.

is there any free agents floating around that could fill a 10/12 spot for them?

 

[DPK]

sharpe still has the problem of getting hit, falling laterally and gaining next to nothing.

 

[louie]

In fact out of both those teams, there weren't many that stood out and said 'I'm a Wallaby'.

Moore?
I thought he was pure class

 

[fatprop]

I thought JOC (James O'Connor) looked a level ahead the rest of the Force, unfortunately he thought he had to create everything because he only had meatheads around him.

I no way was JOC (James O'Connor) better than the backrow, particularly Hodgson and Pocock. He was much better than the rest of their back line though.

His kicking was good and running OK, but that 'tackle' on Edmonds was pissweak

I meant his fellow backs, you know those show pony parasites who live of the success and effort of the workers ie forwards.

 

[Ishmael]

Yeah, poor attempted tackle aside I thought he looked really good. His kicking out of hand was particularly impressive. He managed to get the Force some good field position at times, despite them being constantly dragged back by Sam Two Left Feet Harris. His couple of chip-kicks looked a little desperate but that's to be expected when the entire rest of the backline were just standing around shoveling shit to one another.

Basically, if he gets his bomb-defusing skills sorted he looks like a real option at 15 for the Wallabies.

 

[Scotty]

was very drunk, but did pek throw short most of the time? 2 ball and such, i dont remember them going to the back, may have been cos i was starring though a glass though.

is there any free agents floating around that could fill a 10/12 spot for them?

Hopefully the Brumbies will find it in their heart to donate one of theirs. Or the Tahs for that matter.

 

[Scarfman]

There are about a dozen Aussies playing flyhalf in Europe. What's Dan Parks doing? Seems to be out of favour with the Sweaties.

Larkham would be handy. Actually, I'll go start a thread now.

 

[Viking]

Moving JOC (James O'Connor) to 10 at the Force should be good for JOC (James O'Connor)'s game development and understanding of the game. Should give him a new perspective/view of the game whether he succeeds or not. Will be good for his own personal game development. He should be pushing for the 10 jersey. However in terms of whats best for the Force he may not be the best option, IMO he'll best serve the team at 12.

 

[Ash]

The forwards were the Force's best played, followed by J'OC. The Brumbies' best player just may have been Sam Harris. Anyway, the way the Force's forwards counterrucked all night was impressive. Shame their backs were completely useless most of the time they had the ball going forward.