NRC Round 9: Rising v Stars

[oztimmay]

Righto, the equation is fairly simple here.

• We win - make it to the finals
• We lose with a BP - likely to make it, hoping other results go our way.
• We lose with no BP - we're out

Hoping that we have a full squad to pick from because it's going to be a torrid battle. They will bring a good back and have some flashy OB's in their team.

We're coming off a hard fought win, the stars coming off the bye. Previous to that the Stars were spanked silly by Brisvegas (58 - 0).

Kick off is at 1:30pm in Frankston. Remember there is a 7's comp before the big match.

Rising by 8.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

vs

Melbourne Rising v Sydney Stars

When: Sunday 18 October. Kick-off 1.30pm AEDT
Where: Frankston Oval, Frankston
Match Referee: Will Houston
Assistant Referees: Damien Mitchelmore, Oli Kellett

Broadcast Information: foxsports.com.au and FOX SPORTS Now

2015 Melbourne Rising Form Guide: WLWBWLLW
2015 Sydney Stars Form Guide: WWWLLWLB

Last Time They Met: 31 August 2014; Sydney Stars 13 were defeated by 45 Melbourne Rising at Leichhardt Oval, Sydney

Match Notes: Any win for the Rising or Stars will guarantee a finals berth. The Stars travel to Victoria having only won one away game in their franchise history while the Rising have only lost one regular season home match since the competition started in August 2014.

Finals Prospects:

Sydney Stars (Current Position: 3rd)
Win: The Stars qualify in third spot.
Lose: They need at least a bonus point and require NSW Country Eagles to be denied a bonus point win against North Harbour Rays
Draw: My head is full but they will qualify.

Melbourne Rising (Current Position: 5th)
Win: The Rising are guaranteed a finals spot.
Lose: The Rising need a bonus point, and will require the North Harbour Rays to beat NSW Country Eagles.
Draw: My head is full but pretty sure that Rising will qualify provided Eagles do not get a bonus point win, and that win must be by less than 22 points.

G&GR Preview says: (@RugbyReg) http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/nrc-round-9-preview/
The final match of the preliminary rounds of the 2015 NRC is also the culmination of the Frankston Festival of Football which involves high quality international 7s rugby over the weekend with the finals on the morning prior to this vital NRC encounter. And vital it is with plenty of finals implications possible.
For the Rising it’s pretty pure and simple. A win over the Stars will see them into the finals. If they do lose, however, they will have had to rely on the Rays to down the Eagles whilst still securing a bonus point of their own against the Stars. For the Stars, it’s similar. If they win then the Stars secure third spot. If they lose though, they will then need to have secured their own losing bonus point and have relied on the Rays to have denied the Eagles of a bonus point win.
Plenty of ifs and buts, but it will all become a lot clearer for both teams come Sunday morning.
Key Matchups:
Ben Meehan has filled the boots of Nic Stirzaker more than capably this year and has been one of the Rising’s most dangerous and consistent players. Meehan loves a snipe and his attacking forays have created many a try for the Melbourne based team. Similarly for the Stars, Jake Gordan has been one of their most consistently high performing players in an inconsistent season. One final fling to secure their finals spot is key.
Jonah Placid and Tom Kingston have been two of the stars of the 2015 Buildcord NRC as counter attacking kings for their respective teams. As far as we know Kingston is still playing for a professional rugby contract and his form this year, including half a season as captain, indicates he shouldn’t be waiting long for it. Placid is on the cusp of going from prodigy to performer and Rebels fans should be enthused with his showings for the Rising this year.


Teams:

Melbourne Rising
1. Cruze AH-NAU
2. Pat LEAFA
3. Duncan CHUBB
4. Sam JEFFRIES
5. Lopeti TIMANI
6. Luke JONES
7. Jordy REID
8. Colby FAINGA’A (c)
9. Ben MEEHAN
10. Jack DEBRECZENI
11. Stacey ILI
12. Sione TUIPULOTU
13. Dom SHIPPERLEY
14. Justin MARSTERS
15. Jonah PLACID

16. Mitch ANDREWS
17. Mike TYLER
18. Tom MOLONEY
19. Steve CUMMINS
20. Pom SIMONA
21. Maradona FARAO
22. Lloyd JOHANSSON
23. Filipe VILITATI

Sydney Stars

1. Jeremy TILSE
2. Tolu LATU
3. Kirwan SANDY
4. Loma KAVENGA
5. Matt PHILIP
6. Rohan O'REGAN
7. Jordan TUAPOU
8. David HICKEY
9. Jake GORDON
10. Angus ROBERTS
11. Harry JONES
12. Tom CARTER
13. Jim STEWART
14. Guy PORTER
15. Tom KINGSTON

16. Todd PEARCE
17. Alasdair KING
18. Liam McGRATH
19. Senio TOLEOFOA
20. Jake WAINWRIGHT
21. Richard DRAPER
22. Jordan McGREGOR
23. Andrew ROBINSON

 

[oztimmay]

Melbourne Rising team is unchanged form last week. Continuity is a good thing.

 

[Dctarget]

What happened to Fereti?

 

[oztimmay]

What happened to Fereti?

He's injured. Not sure what he's got. Source: Zane's blog.

Kind of worrying having two less props to pick from. Nature of the beast I guess.

 

[qwerty51]

Is Dave Dennis going to make an appearance? Just disappeared..

 

[Hugh Jarse]

He's been podcasting with Fox Sports or some such crowd.

Is it possible he has reached his RUPA mandated maximum number of games per year?

 

[oztimmay]

So a few changes in the Stars lineup. Tom Carter and David Hickey return.

I think the front rows are fairly even, but I think the Rising are stronger in the rest of the pack.

Tom Carter will give Sione Tuipulotu a decent lesson in tough Rugby, but overall I think the Rising have a strong back line. Look for JacK D to give Gus Roberts a lesson in positional kicking. That Harry Jones fella is a decent winger, so he will give Justin Masters a fairly decent go.

Overall, still think the rising will take this one.

Rising by 11.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

That is a pretty strong Rising outfit up against what looks like an injury depleted Stars that are almost unrecognisable from the Stars that competed so strongly in rounds 1-3.

Dave Dennis, Pat McCutcheon, Chibba Hanson, Tom Coolican, Tom Robertson, Andrew Leota all missing from the piggies (injured, or assigned to other duties). That is a lot of talent missing and the Stars piggies will struggle to get parity with a classy looking Rising pack. Without a dominant Forward Pack, the Stars have looked very vulnerable in the scoring department resulting in blow out scores, like the Stars of 2014 but worse, against the Competition Leaders.

If they can assert dominance in the pack, the Rising will cruise into the finals with a W, and the Twinklers may even miss out on the losing BP they need to guarantee themselves a slot in the Finals next week. Rising by 10-15+.

 

[kiap]

Dave Dennis, Pat McCutcheon, Chibba Hanson, Tom Coolican, Tom Robertson, Andrew Leota all missing from the piggies (injured, or assigned to other duties).

Yep. And given this,

the Twinklers may even miss out on the losing BP they need

I'd probably rather see the Eagles giving it a shot in the semis anyway.

But one good Stars' showing can turn that on its head. Hopefully some more good rugby today.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Farking pox bastard sh!t foxtel on demand decides to crap itself today and play silly buggers and I miss the entire game. The most unhelpful help desk was about as useful as a motorbike ashtray.

Looks like it is game over and Rising have held on to a 18 - 10 win which gives Stars a losing BP and means Country are Goooooone.

Rising into 3rd place to play Vikings on Friday night and Stars to go to Ballymore on Saturday night for another whipping unless they dramatically improve their playing roster.

We could see the Prince ending up with 20 tries this season if the Stars continue with this form.

Melbourne Rising 18 (B. Meehan (7), J. Marsters (31), S. Ili (37) tries: J. Debreczeni (32) con) defeated Sydney Stars 10 (H. Jones (13), J. Stewart (40) tries)
No cards
Losing BP to Sydney Stars

 

[TOCC]

Rising win 18-10


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Scooter]

Rising into the semis. Had a very enjoyable afternoon at Frankston. It was a gripping contest with plenty of running rugby and glad the Rising were able to hang on for the win.

Some bad news is that Dom Shipperley tore his hamstring and will miss the finals. I assume Leo Taliu will come into the 23 for the semi.

Some other injury news Tom English has his knee in a brace for another two weeks and should be back running in two months. Tim Metcher has started cycling and is aiming to be fit for Round 1 of Super Rugby season.

 

[Scooter]

Also forgot to mention Cruze Ah-Nau was limping after the game and had his knee heavily taped. He injured the knee midway through the first half and played out the game. So hopefully the fact he was able to play on is a good sign for Friday night.

Duncan Chubb went off in the first half. Not sure what is wrong with him and didn't see him after the game. So let's hope he is ok.