The "horse racing guy" grew up playing and loving rugby league in Wollongong. He has been a well known identity in the sport for ever and of course he has deep experience in other sports. I have not seen any new ideas from him, but he does have a lot of clout and very good connexions.lol… why not have a fresh set of eyes? Looks to be working in rugby league with “the horse racing guy”
Whoever got the role would have a wealth of knowledge to lean on with Rugby Australia filled with rugby ppl.
if we keep with the same blinders on/narrow vision we will never pull ourselves out of this mess.
After watching the Reds trial, my primary concern this year I think is going to be lack of ‘star power’ for lack of a better term in the backline.
Very early days obviously but I feel the Reds are lacking that level head from the bloke who knows it’s time to roll the sleeves up and take things upon himself for a couple of phases when the game gets a bit scrappy. And also knows they can execute that. A couple of hero plays from blokes yesterday showed they lack that awareness, still.
Feels like a lot of the Reds backs are still unsure about their actual position and/or whether they even make the 23. Obviously competition for spots is great, but it’s always nice to have that bloke (or two) who are set in stone and reliable.
Tate probably the closest we have in terms of that player, unfortunately though being halfback he’s at the mercy of a decent forward platform to be influential.
I’ve got Flook pencilled in for the Wallabies this year but yesterday was a good reminder that he’s still young.
The "horse racing guy" grew up playing and loving rugby league in Wollongong. He has been a well known identity in the sport for ever and of course he has deep experience in other sports. I have not seen any new ideas from him, but he does have a lot of clout and very good connexions.
The question you really need to consider is, who would want our job, other than somebody from a rugby background who loves the sport?
This all seems incredibly irrelevant to Horwill's appointment as a player rep.
Isaac Henry seems decent size on the TV. How And probably one of our more skillful backs and seems to run a good line. Whether he is overall good enough to force himself into the starting team remains to be seen. Thoughts on him?Watching the players warmum it’s interesting to see that Petaia is the only player with any real bulk in the backline, Vunivalu is a big unit and tall but not in the way that he will carry bodies over the advantage line.
If the Reds then play JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor) and Paisami in the centres as rumoured, it starts looking like a pretty small backline. Which is fine if they have the style to reflect that, they aren’t going to be crashing through teams and need to use speed and ball movement better. I didn’t really see a whole lot of that in the trial yesterday(especially not with Lawson at 5/8), and if Petaia/Vunivalu are injured then the substitutes are Campbell/Ryan, smaller again.
Edit: i think i heard Annan will be in next week and given a decent amount of time, he might be one to help in this department
Isaac Henry seems decent size on the TV. How And probably one of our more skillful backs and seems to run a good line. Whether he is overall good enough to force himself into the starting team remains to be seen. Thoughts on him?
Agreed. The heat and humidity certainly appeared to take its toll and first round trials are rarely pretty but given the amount of pre-season work done I was hoping to see a better performance around the field. The breakdown and ball security is a concern and the lack of attacking flair remains for mine. This week against The Tahs in Roma will be a real test and it will be interesting to see how Les approaches the team selection/s. Lots of work to be done and lots of improvement required to give the fans some hope.Just can’t see Qld matching it with the top half of the comp
Without knowing specifics, who's to say the Reds had a heavy load leading up to the Force game knowing this week and next are the last opportunities to cram extras in before it gets too hard during the season?but given the amount of pre-season work done I was hoping to see a better performance around the field
There's been some people on these forums get VERY defensive of Henry. Can only assume some family/friends.he has big wraps every year… the issue is his health.
Last year preseason form indicated he was destined for wallabies bolter status.
I do agree - decent build for the 12 & 13. He’s built for super rugby.
also the other outside centre (Frankie Goldsborough) I think he is currently a brick shithouse and will be a even bigger unit once he sheds the teenager status in a couple years time.
I think you are on the money with your comments here BUT would like to see HM-P get some more time this weekend at #10. I liked what I saw last weekend.I’m leaning towards
10 Lynagh
11 Petaia
12 Paisami
13 Flook
14 Vunivalu
15 Campbell
with O’Connor and Lawson off the bench.
I’d like to think Grealy is next in line because he was excellent for us late last year and is showing real development.