Looks like you've had some good match ups so far Tashara
Would be interested to know your thoughts as to where you saw the strengths in the teams you've come up against so far
Hi Gary,
Yes we were told before the gradings that we would be put against some of the best teams because they wanted to see if we would be competitive in the Brisbane comp before they allowed us in.
Interesting hit-out first up against Souths. I think both teams were finding their feet in the first half - after all, it was the first game of the season and both teams found it hard to string phases together, but that's only natural at this stage.
Souths had us at the breakdown. They were really committed to getting players there fast and really punished Nerang with that speed. I honestly think it was a wake up call for our forwards as they weren't use to this pace in the GC comp.
Having said that, Nerang forwards looked better with the ball in hand and were able to cross the advantage line much easier than Souths. I think Souths struggled across the park with making ground and relied on penalties and blind side play to make metres. Souths half back was also all over our 9 and put a great deal of pressure on him which resulted in some good turn over for the black and white.
Second half really opened up for Nerang. They started to move the ball out wider and were able to string phases together which makes them really dangerous. I have a feeling Souths were told not to go wide because they were significantly beaten out there and working blind seemed to work better. Their number 9 is a very classy player and can and will sneak through when there is even the slightest of opportunities.
I'm not sure how Souths felt after that game, but they definitely didn't make it easy for us and full credit to their forwards around the breakdown.
Riverside: Interesting game this one in the wet heavy conditions. They have a massive pack where all eight players and reserve forwards know how to play. I noticed a player in this team who played for Sunnybank last year and I've been told (although not confirmed) that a number of players did move from Sunnybank to join RVS - but I'm sure someone else knows more about that than me.
But what I can say is that this team looks like a full rep team. Very few weaknesses on or off the bench. Clever coach kept a full subs bench rotating in the heavy conditions and I'm also sure he noticed that we only had one reserve. Unfortunately we had two front rowers missing and it really showed in our scrums. RVS totally dominated our scrum and won a bunch of tight heads in a row which saw them score their try.
It was a hard match to really put into perspective for later games as it tended to be forwards bash-out and RVS simply had the depth to win that battle on the day. With the RVS forwards going forward, RVS were also able to brake the line in and around the 10 and 12 zones with some good footwork.
Going out wide wasn't the order of they day. We very rarely chose that option but looked dangerous on the few times we did (a couple of sticky hands lost us some good attacking opportunities). And RVS meet some solid hits by Nerang 13 when they tried to do the same.
RVS had the greater possession and their forwards were awesome. By the end of the game our big boys could barely walk let alone run and we unfortunately had a few in there that are not up to this level of rugby - so not a good day for them (but full credit to RVS).
I would be very mindful of the speed out wide with RVS. Their 13 is super quick. I saw him at the State Champs last year for Brisbane Yellow and had a bunch of Ice Watches up his forearm from receiving MoM so many times. He loves the outside - and I mean loves it. Our 13 knew this and wasn't going to give it to him. So that will be a very strong attacking option for them, they just didn't get it to work on this day - not only due the heavy conditions but also thanks to Nerang 13 who was aggressive in defense and seemed to be minding both their 12 and 13.
So basically RVS can win it in the forwards and then also have options to attack with their 10 and 12 or go wide to their speedster. I haven't seen all the teams this year but this in my mind will be the team to beat. They have size, depth and speed.
Ipswich:
Ippy were coming off two good wins so we knew they were going to be good. We also knew our boys have learn't so much from the first two games and our forwards really had to pick up their speed to the breakdown and not just rely on 3 or 4 players to do all the work. Our deadly backline was also demanding more ball - we haven't seen much of it yet but that was about to change going into this game (which turned out to be a 7 to 2 try victory).
Ipswich have an extremely fast #8. In fact I'm sure he played on the wing for Met West in the Schools State Champs last year. He's fast and has great agility. Scored both their trys, one from a scrum and one from a quick tap. I think both from about 30-40m out from our try line. A very good player - not overly big but is tough, fast and elusive.
Poor Ipswich though. It was just bad luck that we had a point to prove this game and it was all about attacking options. Forwards played better (but then again they didn't have the RVS forwards smashing them) and this gave the backs front foot ball - it was basically good night from there. I think Ipswich will also learn a lot from this game - in particular their backs just seemed reluctant to move up. I don't blame them as Nerang 10 got his game back which then meant that 13 was able to get ball in hand and go on to score 3 trys.
I think Ipswich were a bit in shock but they never gave up. They definitely looked to slow the game down once it got away from them. It was pretty hard for Ipswich to get across the advantage line due to some good defense which lead to some panic and bad choices. But Ipswich are a better team than how they played on that day, but as I said; they just happened to meet a pumped up Bulls team on the day. Oh, I will say that Ipswich had a very good line out - some typical 'not straight' throws at this age group, but they have more options than the simple 'throw it to the second player' mode.
All in all, each game was completely different to the other. So it says a lot about how different each of these teams are. I'm really looking forward to playing the remaining teams throughout the season and also meeting up against the three we have already played.
I was planning on doing some more highlights of these games but things got held up a bit. There was some talk that I wasn't to post anymore highlights due to privacy issues. This has since been dismissed and the coach is very mindful of not wanting to give to much away about our team. It does give other teams somewhat of an advantage to visually see parts of our game and structure (and our opposition may not like me advertising them either).
I have many options when I do my highlights.
1. One option is to put together an unbiased game review highlights reel.
2. Continue to do our Bulls highlights of all the cool stuff we did (which is what I have been doing for years). or
3. A modified version where I am mindful of not showing too much in the way that could give other teams that advantage e.g. lots of slow-mo close up footage and individual skills etc - which wouldn't give away the team structure.
But I'm very interested in hearing what other teams think about it. My intention is to never offend or upset anybody and sometimes this can happen unintentionally.
I remember the 1st XV GPS highlights were stopped a couple of years ago because teams felt that it gave the other teams a distinct advantage. But this isn't 1st XV.. but it is still pretty serious business out there ladies and gentlemen
Anyway, I hope I haven't crossed any lines by posting the above information and just hope to promote our rugby as I love it as well. We can't wait to play this year in Brisbane and feel very privileged to be allowed to do so.
Cheers
Tim
