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James Pettifer
Jim Clark (26)
So wish we hadn’t lost Woodward. Went back to NZ for a phantom All Blacks jersey
Tex
Greg Davis (50)
Well that was an old fashioned spanking. Old man NSW just put us over his lap and went to town with the leather belt.
Positives:
Positives:
- Mafi
- Jack D's defence
- DHP walking off
- more stupid penalties killing any semblance of momentum
- reliance on kicking despite having Genia and some really potent runners fielding the ball in our half
- defence patterns were unpicked at will in the second half.
Rock Lobster
Larry Dwyer (12)
Surprisingly quiet in here today. I was expecting much gnashing of teeth and venting from Rebels fans but so far, crickets.
Look, I don't post much in here these days as I have a very close "connection" to the Rebels which some have figured out and my bias is obvious however, I reckon a few points need to be raised from yesterdays match.
Wessels made some serious blunders yesterday and while the "supercoach" appears imune to any scrutiny it will be very interesting to see how he replies to this loss.
The selection of 4 locks was always going to come back to bite you on a stinking hot day. The policy of not playing a specialist 7 has to be addressed IMHO. RHP packed at 6,7 and 8 yesterday. Mafi packed at 6,7 and 8. Timani packed at 6 and 8. There are two quality 7's in Fainga'a and Hardwick, who are both better than Cottrel IMO, who both, incidently can cover 6 and 8. Pick one of them at 7 and leave the other on the bench as backrow cover. Their impact at the breakdown and in general play has been immediate when they come on and one of them MUST start.
The replacement of DHP with Meakes and moving Hodge to fullback was quite staggering IMO. When DHP went down I, and I suspect most were expexting Sefa to come on to the wing with Maddocks back to Fullback which would have been far less disruptive to the backline. Yes Meakes did well with his opportunity but that's beside the point. The thinking may have been they needed Maddocks on the wing to compete for the ball in the air with Folau but NOBODY beats Folau in the air.
I'm guessing Mafi must have been injured to come off the field when he did. When your backs are against the wall and you need to get back in the game your need your best player out there. It almost looked to me like Wessels had conceded the game by bringing Mafi off at that point.
And why oh why are they kicking soooo much ball away? If you look closely at most of the Rebels tries this year you will notice many of them have been very opportunistic, capitalising on opposition mistakes and turnovers but these tend to dry up against the better sides. Yes, the arguement could be made that they have won 3 from 4 so the tactic must be working but unless you have a Folau in your team who is guaranteed to win a contestable kick, continually kicking the ball back to the opposition makes life very difficult for you. You'll get away with the odd game with 40 odd percent possession but you will lose long term
Another worrying aspect from yesterday is it's clear if Genia is off his game the Rebels will struggle. He has been superb so far but was very ordinary yesterday and it had a trickle down effect on the rest of the team. He went back to meerkating at the back of rucks yesterday and the attack staggnated. After watching the Highlanders/Crusaders the night before and enjoying the speed of both halfbacks clearance work at the ruck, the difference was extreme.
Hey, 3 from 4 is probably more than most Rebels fans would have expexted and a solid base to work with but I reckon some changes have to happen, and quickly.
Look, I don't post much in here these days as I have a very close "connection" to the Rebels which some have figured out and my bias is obvious however, I reckon a few points need to be raised from yesterdays match.
Wessels made some serious blunders yesterday and while the "supercoach" appears imune to any scrutiny it will be very interesting to see how he replies to this loss.
The selection of 4 locks was always going to come back to bite you on a stinking hot day. The policy of not playing a specialist 7 has to be addressed IMHO. RHP packed at 6,7 and 8 yesterday. Mafi packed at 6,7 and 8. Timani packed at 6 and 8. There are two quality 7's in Fainga'a and Hardwick, who are both better than Cottrel IMO, who both, incidently can cover 6 and 8. Pick one of them at 7 and leave the other on the bench as backrow cover. Their impact at the breakdown and in general play has been immediate when they come on and one of them MUST start.
The replacement of DHP with Meakes and moving Hodge to fullback was quite staggering IMO. When DHP went down I, and I suspect most were expexting Sefa to come on to the wing with Maddocks back to Fullback which would have been far less disruptive to the backline. Yes Meakes did well with his opportunity but that's beside the point. The thinking may have been they needed Maddocks on the wing to compete for the ball in the air with Folau but NOBODY beats Folau in the air.
I'm guessing Mafi must have been injured to come off the field when he did. When your backs are against the wall and you need to get back in the game your need your best player out there. It almost looked to me like Wessels had conceded the game by bringing Mafi off at that point.
And why oh why are they kicking soooo much ball away? If you look closely at most of the Rebels tries this year you will notice many of them have been very opportunistic, capitalising on opposition mistakes and turnovers but these tend to dry up against the better sides. Yes, the arguement could be made that they have won 3 from 4 so the tactic must be working but unless you have a Folau in your team who is guaranteed to win a contestable kick, continually kicking the ball back to the opposition makes life very difficult for you. You'll get away with the odd game with 40 odd percent possession but you will lose long term
Another worrying aspect from yesterday is it's clear if Genia is off his game the Rebels will struggle. He has been superb so far but was very ordinary yesterday and it had a trickle down effect on the rest of the team. He went back to meerkating at the back of rucks yesterday and the attack staggnated. After watching the Highlanders/Crusaders the night before and enjoying the speed of both halfbacks clearance work at the ruck, the difference was extreme.
Hey, 3 from 4 is probably more than most Rebels fans would have expexted and a solid base to work with but I reckon some changes have to happen, and quickly.
swingpass
Peter Sullivan (51)
the Rebels just after half time were very passive in both attack and defence. stopped running at the gain line, kicked (and not all that well) and allowed the Tahs to run at them and get momentum, then unable to wrest control of the game back. the defensive pattern of allowing lots of room on the outside was shown up badly, the Reds, SunWolves and Brums also made lots of metres in these channels but couldn't finish off, fortunately and also because the front line defence missed fewer tackles than they did yesterday. The Tahs moved the ball very quickly to the left flank getting beyond the compressed defence (tired tight five ?) and on the right hand side kicked for Izzy. This game was eerily similar to the one at AAMI last year. i thought Wessels erred in bringing on Meeakes (who played really well) and moving Hodge to fullback, would have thought putting Maddocks back there and bringing on Sefa was the more appropriate call. i don't think the Rebels were complacent or overconfident, just met a team who did everything right for about 20 mins and had some fortune (i thought the pass from Fitzpatrick to Foley that lead to the first try after halftime was forward). Defensive set up may need re jigging. Hopefully a big wake up call.
swingpass
Peter Sullivan (51)
agree with all of the above. i was very surprised about the selections, MAFI at 8 obviously but one of Timani or RHP at 6 and one of Fainga'a or Hardwick at 7, the other two on the bench. the game plan has been to defend aggressively turn the ball over and counterattack, the stats show this is the most effective matchwinning strategy in Super but i dont think it works all the time or against every team.
I reckon Hardwick has to start. He's an excellent player and really adds a lot of pace to the team.
Rock Lobster
Larry Dwyer (12)
Exactly. It's not rocket science but most modern coaches try to make it so for some reason
Rebels3
Jim Lenehan (48)
Agree with almost everything here, i posted similar in another thread about this. Our worst player yesterday was Wessels (i still think he is going to be a good coach). On a 40 degree day the selections were naive and staggering. Im confident it would of been a completely different game if this was managed well. We needed a forward that could go the full 80 to at least combat the smaller Tahs forwards that were obviously going to survive longer in the heat. 3 locks to start was silly, it meant we didn't have any fresh legs in the engine room to replace someone and make a difference. The front row was kept out way too long, Gibson made earlier changes and it paid off. Even taking Koroibete off was the wrong decision, his experience in handling the high ball while playing in the NRL could of been used to at least minimise Folau's impact. Hardwick can on to late, changes should of been made early in the second half, especially when it was clear the Tahs were just getting around the park that little bit quicker. Agree with the Meakes thoughts, he played well but it massively impacted the way the team played, Hodge had the 12 channel secured and also offers an ability to get over the ad line, Maddocks is also a far superior fullback, if Meakes was to come on Hodge should of gone to the wing.
Still fairly confident about this week
Rock Lobster
Larry Dwyer (12)
Agree with this. I don't think English was the issue in defence yesterday and think he has done enough to hold his spot there for the time being.
D
daz
Guest
Just for the record, yes, it appears the coach made a few significant tactical errors yesterday, but while some think he is the saviour let’s just remember that he is still a young man and a very young coach. This won’t be the last time he moves a chess piece in the wrong direction. It sure as shit won’t be the last game we lose either.
He will learn week by week, just as most people do. By all means we should challenge his thinking and critique accordingly, but I’ve seen more positives building in this team in a few months than an entire season with Tony last year.
This game was always a danger game. Forget the weather, both teams had to play in it, and the Tahs had a lighter and more mobile team. To quote the old knight in the Indiana Jones movie, we chose poorly.
Onwards, Rebel Army!
He will learn week by week, just as most people do. By all means we should challenge his thinking and critique accordingly, but I’ve seen more positives building in this team in a few months than an entire season with Tony last year.
This game was always a danger game. Forget the weather, both teams had to play in it, and the Tahs had a lighter and more mobile team. To quote the old knight in the Indiana Jones movie, we chose poorly.
Onwards, Rebel Army!
T
TOCC
Guest
Any word on a new sponsor, are the Rebels overvaluing themselves?
D
daz
Guest
Why are you pushing this? It’s not like anyone here knows, or is willing to say. Ring 13REBELS and ask them.
I’m guessing that since the VRU and RA are underwriting the Rebels for this year at least, a major sponsor is in the “nice to have” category for season 2018.
The only people overvaluing the Rebels are the ones who think we are going to win the comp with one hand behind our back. I’m not one of those; I think we are going to need both hands.
stoff
Trevor Allan (34)
Rebels still the only one of those two who don’t have a government review into the legality of the sponsorship, with a finding it was probably illegal so not as awkward as it could have been I guess .
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
D
daz
Guest
Yes, they had the WA government. We’ve got the Vic government. How is that awkward? Because the Force had the name on a shirt and we don’t?
T
TOCC
Guest
Why are you acting like this is an issue which shouldn’t be discussed?
ARU aren’t underwriting the Rebels for 2018, why should they?
VRU don’t have the financial capacity to underwrite the Rebels, hence them handing back the license last time. Rebels received a cash injection from the Vic Govt to provide working capital, and from memory that was in vicninty of $2million, at the current rate the will be gone by the end of the season. Then what?
Financial sustainability of our clubs is a massive issue and it’s not one which should be ignored,
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