NRC 2016 - Grand Final - NSW Country Eagles vs Perth Spirit

[Shaker]

Yes boys!!

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Go you good thing! What a win for WA rugby.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Richard Hardwick wins the MOM award and receives the Phil Waugh Medal.

Deserved it.

 

[Micheal]

Stoked for the Spirit and stoked for the Force by extension.

Hopefully this gives them some momentum and confidence going into next Super Rugby season.

A lot of up'n'comers in that team.

How good.

 

[amirite]

The Eagles just couldn't go forward. Looked like boys against men, with the exception of Figg and Ryan.

Richard Hardwick wins the MOM award and receives the Phil Waugh Medal.

Deserved it.

Looks promising. A bit of a notter, in the sense that he doesn't fit any one back row role, but those guys go fine at Super level.

 

[NTT]

Great result for the rusted on faithful. The intensity of the rugby from halftime to the 70th minute was great. Wave after wave of Eagles attack was repelled by the bumblebee brick wall. Great result for some long serving guys like Pek Cowan and Dwayne Nestor. Nestor has overseen the elite junior program in Perth since 2006 and did a lot of the groundwork for the Future Force. Great too for the guys coming through the pathways of premier gradeU/20s -> NRC -> Super Rugby. The current Wallabies have had a few NRC finds put their hands up as generation next. NRC 3.0 has thrown up some future stars who have been able to test themselves against Super rugby talent.

Up the pigs oink oink oink!

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Agreed, NTT. For me this is an endorsement of the NRC and something to be positive and hopeful about. It's been an excellent pathway for our young WA blokes to progress through and should pay off for the Force down the track too.

 

[Beer Baron]

Bit worrying that everyone is hoping for NRC to pick up steam with the general public yet the grand final only generates a handful comments on a dedicated rugby site. I think the NRC is great but is going to be s slowly slowly. I also think a national club championship to working in tandem would only help some of the nrc stars improve the profile.

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[Rugbynutter39]

Was hoping for bigger crowd. But was very good tight final and showed that these rule changes can still see great defence win games as Spirit showed.

Was not sure whether Billy Meakes could be top shelf for force this season but his performance last night showed why Force recruited him. Hopefully this provides good impetus for Force to have a very good season as they certainly have much better squad and depth (latter most important as this is where they have fallen down with bench options) I have seen for a while.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Yes Beer Baron

I am working through this club championship idea but something may be in something in that which could work alongside it and maybe provide ideas for best of both to create better 3rd and 4th tier rugby levels.

Like to see situation eventually where don't have to rely so heavily on Super Rugby for professional player pathways but of course very long term goal.

 

[NTT]

Bit worrying that everyone is hoping for NRC to pick up steam with the general public yet the grand final only generates a handful comments on a dedicated rugby site. I think the NRC is great but is going to be s slowly slowly. I also think a national club championship to working in tandem would only help some of the nrc stars improve the profile.

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A big distraction has been the 3rd Bledisloe and the whole post match fall out. This brings me to question the timing of the Grand Final. If it was a stand alone game and not trying to piggy back tv ratings off the Bledisloe, it may well have generated a bigger attendance and more forum noise, but less tv ratings. Coupled with the big talking points from the Test Match, Owens one of them, and the disappointment of losing to the All Blacks again set up the potential of anticipation of the NRC to diminish leading into the GF.
That and the fact the bad guys won, if NSW had won then an eastern states centric forum would have been a bit busier.
Also, some of the production around the coverage of the GF needs improving. The player introductions were ok but needed to be done faster, losing the National Anthem CD was a disaster, the stage falling apart during the presentations.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

A big distraction has been the 3rd Bledisloe and the whole post match fall out. This brings me to question the timing of the Grand Final. If it was a stand alone game and not trying to piggy back tv ratings off the Bledisloe, it may well have generated a bigger attendance and more forum noise, but less tv ratings. Coupled with the big talking points from the Test Match, Owens one of them, and the disappointment of losing to the All Blacks again set up the potential of anticipation of the NRC to diminish leading into the GF.

That and the fact the bad guys won, if NSW had won then an eastern states centric forum would have been a bit busier.

Also, some of the production around the coverage of the GF needs improving. The player introductions were ok but needed to be done faster, losing the National Anthem CD was a disaster, the stage falling apart during the presentations.

Got to try different things and they tried a prime time slot and after bledisloe game so hopefully people after that game switch in. As a new comp they have to keep trying things to see what might work to get more people to watch / introduced to NRC. I am ok as long as they keeping trying new ideas and learn from it as to what works and what doesn't. The foxsports viewer numbers would be interesting to see if it got better audience than last year.

NRC has had some success with increased crowds for last few games for Pacific Islander round games...but still struggles with things like any media coverage and dysfunctional rugby factions not aligned to support 3rd tier competition (re: the papworth and other clubs) which suspects damages support for things like NRC as lot of those factions want to only focus on negative of things like NRC. Probably for another thread but rugby is its own worse enemy with non aligned factions and until rugby grows up and accepts what that something like NRC as third tier is needed and how we can work together to create better 3rd tier (like NRC or any improved professional product / pathway between super rugby and amateur clubs that can be developed) and 4th tier (re: amateur clubs) it will hurt more than benefit rugby with this continued sectional interests playing out like the last rubbish we had last week.

 

[I like to watch]

Deegan off. Adams on for the Eagles.
? Off and McAuley on.

71 minutes. Spirit lead 20 - 8

if Coleman had done it 10 minutes earlier Country win.
For the first time all game,Country were getting over the ad line with ease.
Adams played well in surprisingly limited opportunities for country.

 

[Gnostic]

I watched it, knowing one of the starters for the Eagles since he was a youngster.

Everyone should know my thoughts of the NRC by now and really this final was at the intensity and skill level of the Shute Shield (or the Australian Super sides) this year. The fact it was the final and the two best sides made it a closer grind and tighter game. No doubt about the effort that went into the game though, both sides played to a standstill.

I was disappointed (but not surprised) at the size of the crowd with Armidale Uni just up the road (and the road being far better these days) I would have thought the College teams would have put a on few buses to go to the game. Disappointed not to see a Robb or Austin jersey in the crowd. No commitment these days, exams are still a week away, that means you don't start studying until Wednesday at the earliest.

 

[ForceFan]

Ruck Involvements - NRC Final - 22 October 2016

An absolutely fantastic win by the Perth Spirit over the NSW Country Eagles.​

There is no doubt that the full team rock solid defence and hard work at the breakdown won the day.​

The Ruck Involvements stats show just how much it was a XXXIII man effort.​

Big rucking efforts from both Back Rows but a mighty effort from the Spirit's Backs who made 32% of the team's Defensive Ruck Involvements (DRIs). The Eagles' Backs made only 7% of their team's DRIs.​

Richard Hardwick was a worthy MOM with a massive effort to have 26 DRIs.​

I lost count of the number of penalties that he forced by his timing and strength against the Eagle's ball carriers.​

Hardwick's average prior to this game was 27 Total - 19 Attack/8 Defence.​

Remember:​

1. Early means 1st or 2nd of player’s team AFTER the ball carrier will be close to the has been tackled and brought to ground.​

2. Impact means active engagement: strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out, protecting ball etc. (more than hand on someone’s bum or arriving after the hard work has been done). Yes it’s subjective - but as I collect all data at least it’s consistent.​

3. Impact DOES NOT equate to Effectiveness. I’ve concluded that coming up with an effectiveness measure is just too hard in the time that I have available – but open to suggestions.​

Ruck Involvements over Time​

The Spirit had 47 rucks; the Eagles 143.​

This indicates a likely 30-35% Possession by the Spirit.​

The Spirit stood off ~40% of the Eagles' rucks.​

The Spirit averaged only 2.5 players per Attack ruck (supporting their own ball carriers). (Same as SR2016 average)​

The Spirit averaged 0.9 players per Rays' ruck (slightly above the SR2016 average of ~0.75).​

The Eagles stood off ~50% of the Spirit's rucks.​

The Eagles averaged 2.6 players per Attack Ruck.​

The Eagles averaged only 0.6 players per Spirit ruck.​

Hardwick once again the leading ruck involvements with most Defensive Ruck Involvements (DRIs).​

Good support from Meakes (12), Stander (11) and Ross H-P (11).​

Tessman had a similar work rate to Hardwick for his 28 minutes.​

Most rucks by Backs: Meakes - 24 Total (12 Attack/12 Defence); Brache - 13T (6A/7D).​

For the Eagles: Godwin - 23T (23A/0D); Newsome - 18T (18A/0D).​

​

The season leading stats for the NRC show why these teams were in the Final"​

​

Leading Team Stats:​

Eagles​

Tries - 46​

Line Out Catches - 110​

Carry m - 4.986​

Tackles - 1,135​

Spirit​

Carries - 1,026​

Off Loads - 142​

​

Leading Individual Stats:​

Jake Gordon - 9 Tries
Brynard Stander - 16 Off Loads
Kyle Godwin - 97 Tackles

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Ruck Involvements - NRC Final - 22 October 2016

An absolutely fantastic win by the Perth Spirit over the NSW Country Eagles.​

There is no doubt that the full team rock solid defence and hard work at the breakdown won the day.​

The Ruck Involvements stats show just how much it was a XXXIII man effort.​

Big rucking efforts from both Back Rows but a mighty effort from the Spirit's Backs who made 32% of the team's Defensive Ruck Involvements (DRIs). The Eagles' Backs made only 7% of their team's DRIs.​

Richard Hardwick was a worthy MOM with a massive effort to have 26 DRIs.​

I lost count of the number of penalties that he forced by his timing and strength against the Eagle's ball carriers.​

Hardwick's average prior to this game was 27 Total - 19 Attack/8 Defence.​

Remember:​

1. Early means 1st or 2nd of player’s team AFTER the ball carrier will be close to the has been tackled and brought to ground.​

2. Impact means active engagement: strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out, protecting ball etc. (more than hand on someone’s bum or arriving after the hard work has been done). Yes it’s subjective - but as I collect all data at least it’s consistent.​

3. Impact DOES NOT equate to Effectiveness. I’ve concluded that coming up with an effectiveness measure is just too hard in the time that I have available – but open to suggestions.​

Ruck Involvements over Time​

The Spirit had 47 rucks; the Eagles 143.​

This indicates a likely 30-35% Possession by the Spirit.​

The Spirit stood off ~40% of the Eagles' rucks.​

The Spirit averaged only 2.5 players per Attack ruck (supporting their own ball carriers). (Same as SR2016 average)​

The Spirit averaged 0.9 players per Rays' ruck (slightly above the SR2016 average of ~0.75).​

The Eagles stood off ~50% of the Spirit's rucks.​

The Eagles averaged 2.6 players per Attack Ruck.​

The Eagles averaged only 0.6 players per Spirit ruck.​

Hardwick once again the leading ruck involvements with most Defensive Ruck Involvements (DRIs).​

Good support from Meakes (12), Stander (11) and Ross H-P (11).​

Tessman had a similar work rate to Hardwick for his 28 minutes.​

Most rucks by Backs: Meakes - 24 Total (12 Attack/12 Defence); Brache - 13T (6A/7D).​

For the Eagles: Godwin - 23T (23A/0D); Newsome - 18T (18A/0D).​

​

The season leading stats for the NRC show why these teams were in the Final"​

​

Leading Team Stats:​

Eagles​

Tries - 46​

Line Out Catches - 110​

Carry m - 4.986​

Tackles - 1,135​

Spirit​

Carries - 1,026​

Off Loads - 142​

​

Leading Individual Stats:​

Jake Gordon - 9 Tries
Brynard Stander - 16 Off Loads
Kyle Godwin - 97 Tackles

Given cottrell out for the season Hardwick might get some opportunities from the bench this season for the force if continues with that sort of form


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[RugbyReg]

Good quoting!

 

[cyclopath]

Good quoting!

Like.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

So stoked to see Dickie Hardwick get the MotM award. Good Uni man and he coaches one of the teams at my boy's school ;-)

He had an immense game on the weekend and looks to be a like for like replacement for Hodgo when the time comes.

 

[Brumby Runner]

So, in 47 minutes Rowan Perry hit 39 rucks. That's pro-rata about 64 rucks in an 80 minute period. I know that players who don't have the full 80 can go gang-busters while they're on, but Perry was there from the start so couldn't be sure he would be replaced or when.

That is a very solid performance.