QLD Reds 2010

[RugbyReg]

Link is over there and reckons its a good signing. As does Bob Dwyer.

I'd prefer him than Braid openning up an import spot for someone good.

 

[TOCC]

Lei Tomiki always looks overweight, back when he was with NSW he looked overweight as well, i think he just has one of those Blake/Houston type bodies.

 

[Lee Grant]

Good signing and nice to see one that got away returning to the fold. Tomiki can fetch, hit and carry so helps a team in a number of departments. My only reservation is that the only time I saw him play for Castres he looked overweight and down on form, so I have no idea if he's regressed or improved in his 4 years overseas.

Saw him play 3-4 times for Castres last season and agree with TOCC: that he's always looked like a bowling ball, even when he was at school, but having not seen him for a while, I had forgotten. I was deliberately looking at his form and it looked OK in 2 of those games; but it's pretty hard to make an assessment of players on such small samples with certitude. The players for bigger clubs are easier to judge as their games are offered more for viewing.

As naz said, it's good to see players coming back.

Tomiki isn't the only one. When Rory Sidey went away I didn't think he would be back so soon. He wasn't a dud either because as the season went on he became 1st choice, as his selection for the Dragons for the Heineken Cup attests. I reported a few weeks ago that he was trying to decide if he should take up his option for the 2nd year, but, according to scuttlebutt, he wanted a shot at the new Super team but the Dragons wanted him for an extra 2 years not one.

And if his Tahs contract is for 2 years as mentioned on one site, he won't be going to a 5th Super team in Year 1. Short term he will take Tahu's contract sport though his longer term employment may be to replace Carter. The Dragons aren't best pleased though as they have lost other midfielders as well. It's not just Oz clubs who are retention challenged.

Oops this is Tahs stuff.

A couple must go elsewhere, the reds can't sign them all, they don't have the space.

The challenge for them is picking the right units.

A skill which Tahs officials have been poor at over the years, though better now than at the beginning of the Super12 when they helped to set up the Brumbies - though, to be fair, they would have done better down there than in Sydney.

But the first thing the Reds should do is to sign up PAE for their Academy.

If the Reds rationalise their propping stocks as Nod proposes, and let some go, the 5th Oz Super team, if we get it, should have a prop or two who have started in Super games before.

 

[TOCC]

Hardman has announced he is on the verge of signing a one year deal to remain at the Reds

 

[naza]

Oops this is Tahs stuff.

Don't apologise - its the first ray of light this thread's seen in eons.

 

[Lindommer]

Lei Tomiki always looks overweight, back when he was with NSW he looked overweight as well, i think he just has one of those Blake/Houston type bodies.

And this is why it's essential the Reds get a good strength and conditioning coach to get these slackoes fit as well as reducing the too many injuries they've suffered the last few years. Macqueen pinched Steve Nance from mungoland when he set up the Brumbies took over the Wallabies, how about the Reds doing something similar.

fixed, thanks Scotty

 

[Scotty]

I don't remember Nance being involved with the Brumbies, thought it was just the Wallabies? Anyway, being a PE teacher at my old school Ipswich Grammar (where he used to train the first XV with Dave Wilson's brother Pete) you could argue he had a union background, so was just lured back from the dark side, not pinched.

 

[Scotty]

Is it correct that Hardman is a board member of the QRU?

 

[RugbyReg]

I think he's the players' rep. Like Croft and Tune before him.

 

[fatprop]

Lei Tomiki always looks overweight, back when he was with NSW he looked overweight as well, i think he just has one of those Blake/Houston type bodies.

And this is why it's essential the Reds get a good strength and conditioning coach to get these slackoes fit as well as reducing the too many injuries they've suffered the last few years. Macqueen pinched Steve Nance from mungoland when he set up the Brumbies took over the Wallabies, how about the Reds doing something similar.

fixed, thanks Scotty

There was some great before and after shots of the Wallabies once Nance got at them.

Lots of somewhat undefined torsos became pretty ripped

 

[RugbyReg]

yeah, but he got a lot of guys who were from the amateur era. Guys like Jason Little and Willie O who had never lifted weights in their lives

 

[RugbyReg]

The Reds have added Australian Schools fullback Simon Morahan and flanker Liam Gill to a talented QAS Reds Academy lineup for 2010.

Both have come through the Queensland and National Talent Squad development programs and have been on Reds scholarships at school.

The Southport School's Morahan will step into the Academy spot left open by his 20-year old brother Luke's elevation to the QR Reds.

A highly talented winger or fullback, Luke Morahan rejected attractive offers from other provinces to take up a QR Reds rookie contract in 2010, after making an impressive Investec Super 14 debut in 2009.

Gill, from Gregory Terrace, was Qld U15 captain in 2007 while a member of the then Reds Regional College. He was Qld U16 captain in 2008 and player of the tournament at the 2008 national U16s, won by Queensland, and earned selection for the 2009 Australian Schoolboys with his performances at this year's national championships, won by Queensland for the fourth year running.

The Reds Academy lineup for 2010 already includes exciting 18-year old Brothers' wing Dominic Shipperley, 20-year old Gold Coast prop James Slipper and 18-year old Easts flanker Ed Quirk, a 2008 Australian Schoolboy and a "Bronze Boot" award winner from the trans-Tasman schoolboy test between Australia and New Zealand, who are all currently playing at Queensland Premier Rugby level.

Slipper went on the 2008 Reds Development Tour of Europe and was the tighthead prop for the Australian Under 20s at the iRB Junior World Championships in Japan.

Australian Sevens player Shipperley scored the match-clinching try for the Reds in their 24-17 win over Japan in mid-year.

QR Reds Head Coach Phil Mooney said Reds Academy Program Co-ordinator and Academy Head Coach Paul Carozza and his team have done an outstanding job putting together the next generation of Reds.

"Paul and his team have done an outstanding job identifying talented schoolboy players like Luke and Liam early in their career, coaching them along and developing a close relationship with their families and the players themselves. As the Reds move into a winning cycle again it will be Paul who Queensland will thank for bringing them and other talented young players into our system and keeping the best of them here," Mooney said.

Mooney said Simon Morahan and Liam Gill both had tremendous potential.

"We can't get too far ahead of ourselves as it can take two to three years or more to develop a schoolboy star into a Super 14 standard player - if they make it to that level at all," Mooney cautioned.

"However I can say that Simon is a talented and versatile player who can play wing, centre or fullback. And like his brother Luke, he's a very composed young player.

"Liam was one of the best players at this year's schoolboy trials and, like Simon, has been rewarded with selection in the Australian side to play Tongan schools in Sydney next month. He's a genuine open side flanker with tremendous potential."

 

[Lee Grant]

I take it that these two young blokes are in the professional Academy and if so it is good to see them signed up. Gill will have some professionals in charge of his gym work and that should fill him out a bit. Gill is like a young Simon Poideven and like Poido, has the heart of a lion.

Morahan is a good young fullback and no doubt can play on the wing as well. He had a quiet start to the Oz Schools tournament a few weeks back but by the end did better than brother Luke in the same tournament 2 years ago.

No news of THP PAE being signed up but I suppose that he's not going to league - or Aussie Rules.

But he's a long term project and IMO eventually a long term player for the Reds. There are folks out west who may come sniffing.

 

[Lee Grant]

PS - Jim Tucker said that wingers Kimami Situati and Chris Sautia are also signed up.

No mention of who is in the professional group but I suspect all of the schools players this year are not in it. Sautia is only 15 and is back at school next year.

 

[TOCC]

I take it that these two young blokes are in the professional Academy and if so it is good to see them signed up. Gill will have some professionals in charge of his gym work and that should fill him out a bit. Gill is like a young Simon Poideven and like Poido, has the heart of a lion.

Morahan is a good young fullback and no doubt can play on the wing as well. He had a quiet start to the Oz Schools tournament a few weeks back but by the end did better than brother Luke in the same tournament 2 years ago.

No news of THP PAE being signed up but I suppose that he's not going to league - or Aussie Rules.

But he's a long term project and IMO eventually a long term player for the Reds. There are folks out west who may come sniffing.

act and the force have already approached PAE, the offer from the Reds is on the table at the moment

 

[TOCC]

did anyone read the Couriermail yesterday, apparently there was a article in there about Rodzilla returning to the Reds in 20010 or 2011?

Also in regards to the BSHS, i read a article which said that the team has had players signed up by ACT, Western Force, Reds and the Broncos.

 

[RugbyReg]

Yep read both of those. Was it Tomeki or a current Red who said they had talked to Blake about coming back? He was apparently keen to.

Here's an interesting one. Spoke to a mate who knows Berrick's manager well. Apparently they are already talking to the Reds about 2011.
Happy about it, but I can't understand it for the life of me. Except that it corresponds with the end of Mooney's contract???

 

[TOCC]

i thouth Blake returning had to do with Ioane, apparently Ioane got onto the phone to him or something, im not entirely sure, i heard it through a mate and didnt read the article myself, but good news none the less

 

[disco]

Here's an interesting one. Spoke to a mate who knows Berrick's manager well. Apparently they are already talking to the Reds about 2011.
Happy about it, but I can't understand it for the life of me. Except that it corresponds with the end of Mooney's contract???

I think Barnes signing a one year deal with the tahs may be him saying to the QRU "get your shit togther & I'll be back otherwise I'll stay south"

Barnes going for a season may just be the kick in the pans the QRU need.

 

[TOCC]

to be honest, if someone stands up in 2010 and plays well i would like the QRU to turn around and say to Barnes they dont want him back, QLD has been treated like the bridesmaid to many time, albeit it has been as a result of there own shortcomings, but playing for QLD should be a great reward, it shouldnt be something that you only want to do if they are winning.

Doing that might also give some other players a second thought on initially leaving there home state, the thought of knowing they wont be allowed to play in qld again might be enough.

In saying that, its a professional rugby comp these days and wins are really the thing which count