Reds 2011

[TOCC]

Ben Lucas is not a viable option at 5/8. If he was an option anywhere, he would already be in it. Who else is there if Quade goes (which I understand from an Eels insider won't happen).

Ben Lucas has demonstrated that he could make a more then viable option 5/8, he has played it extensively at club level with some very good performances and has slotted in at 5/8 numerous times throughout the Super14.

 

[Spewn]

Yes, but he is not good enough for the Reds to win a super 15.

 

[TOCC]

Yes, but he is not good enough for the Reds to win a super 15.

statements like this confuse me... does that insinuate with Quade Cooper we will win a Super15, or with Morne Steyn or Dan Carter we would win a Super15?

Im not convinced with any of those players we would win a Super15, so yes, i guess the same would also apply to Ben Lucas...

 

[Spewn]

But surely TOCC you would agree the Reds would struggle if Lucas was in fact their 5/8. Useful utility but that's about it.

 

[TOCC]

no spewn, as ive already said, Lucas has demonstrated that he would be more then just a capable fill-in, in the times that Lucas has filled in at 5/8 the Reds have not struggled..

Lets not forget that Ben Lucas is a 5/8 first and foremost, however due to the lack of halfback depth at the time, and the seemingly abundant depth at 5/8 in QC (Quade Cooper) and Berrick Barnes, Lucas was pushed to 5/8. John Connoly almost took Ben Lucas to the 2007 RWC over Berrick Barnes after watching his 35 point haul during the 2007 QLD Premier Grade GF.

 

[Ruggo]

Only problem is if it came down to this, we would be kicking ourselves for letting Kingi go.

 

[Lee Grant]

Point - there is a certain malign precision in hindsight. We would be better without it.

 

[Spewn]

TOCC

As an inerstate Queenslander I am going on super rugby games I have seen Lucas in. I think he may have been affected by having to play half and 5/8 and never being in the position to nail any position down. And now he can't because of Cooper and Genia.

 

[Spewn]

Why was the Reds backline so good this year? Was it because of:

A. A new coach
B. Barnes going south
C. Genia and Cooper being together for a good run of games
D. Cooper taking the lead at directing the game
E. A Finger being at 12 and running hard and straight
F. The discovery of Will Chambers
G. The blistering speed of Rod Davies
H. The power and inside running of Digby
I. The reliability of Hynes
J. Good ball from the pigs
K. All of the above
L. None of the above - something else like the alignment of the planets

What can the Wallabies learn from this apart from the obvious - select all the Queenslanders?

 

[TOCC]

TOCC

As an inerstate Queenslander I am going on super rugby games I have seen Lucas in. I think he may have been affected by having to play half and 5/8 and never being in the position to nail any position down. And now he can't because of Cooper and Genia.

fair enough, im basing my opinion on the club rugby matches and the other levels of rugby he has played at the 5/8 position.
He isn't a naturally flamboyant player like Quade, his strength is in his ability to read and control the play.

 

[tranquility]

Yeah, he is a good player Benny Lucas.

 

[tranquility]

a friend of mine just told me that Aidan Toua was signed by the Reds just after he got home from the U20s. So I don't know how that works with the squad numbers - but that is what I have been told on reasonably good authority.

 

[Slim 293]

Why was the Reds backline so good this year? Was it because of:

A. A new coach
B. Barnes going south
C. Genia and Cooper being together for a good run of games
D. Cooper taking the lead at directing the game
E. A Finger being at 12 and running hard and straight
F. The discovery of Will Chambers
G. The blistering speed of Rod Davies
H. The power and inside running of Digby
I. The reliability of Hynes
J. Good ball from the pigs
K. All of the above
L. None of the above - something else like the alignment of the planets

What can the Wallabies learn from this apart from the obvious - select all the Queenslanders?

Yes, we'd better select them all for finishing 5th... BELOW the 'woeful Tahs'...

How Australian rugby standards have dropped...

 

[jim]

not true, he hasnt signed anywhere yet.

 

[tranquility]

Interesting, I am very interested to know where he goes. Oodles of potential

 

[Red Rooster]

They have when the Western Force have such a large % of the squad

 

[TOCC]

They have when the Western Force have such a large % of the squad

this comment doesnt make sense?



anyway, transplanting this comment from another thread

Very droll Brucie.

And I would repeat for the benefit of others what you said about McDuling earlier in the thread: McDuling is 196cm but has a massive wing span of about 204-206cm which makes his effective height much greater. At 115kg his VJ of 70 is virtually off the scale.

Crikey that's a big vertical jump.

Thanks for the news about the Reds Academy signing McDuling. The system doesn't always work but it may have this time.

So Reds have signed Dave McDuling to the Reds Academy for 2011, makes sense really considering the Reds dont exactly have any young locks coming through the system ATM.

 

[tranquility]

yeah we get him, but we lose PAE. travesty.

also the highlights from the Premiere grade finals are on the QRU website. Worth a watch for sure, Morahan and Jono looked particularly lethal for Uni.

 

[TOCC]

PAE is definetly a loss, but at the moment the Reds is full of young props like Daley, Slipper and Anae(half hooker) with Greg Holmes holding down the 'veteran' position, looking at it from the angle of a coach, Shepherdson fits better into the puzzle for 2011 granted he can recapture past form.

 

[tranquility]

yeah, but the thing that irritates me is that PAE only signed a rookie contract with the force - not a senior contract. First of all how did we not match that? and secondly if we did match that, why did he want to leave QLD?