Reds 2014

[Hell West & Crooked]

Digby Ioane had a year remaining on his Reds contract but his ARU contract had finished. As a result of not being signed to the ARU he could leave the Reds without penalty but he wasn't allowed to sign with another Australian franchise.

its a bit of a mess then... I am surprised that Hawker & Pulver would allow a current wallaby to slip away like that - particularly given 2015 looms, and we have two struggling clubs... i understand his problem was with regard to the ARU top-up?

 

[Braveheart81]

its a bit of a mess then. I am surprised that Hawker & Pulver would allow a current wallaby to slip away like that - particularly given 2015 looms, and we have two struggling clubs. i understnad his problem wa with regard to the ARU top-up?

No. It had nothing to do with the Wallabies. He had a falling out with the Reds.

Ioane claimed it was over them not coming good with a third party deal causing him to lose out on money he'd been promised. The Reds denied that.

Whatever the truth was, it made Ioane want to leave the Reds.

 

[Hell West & Crooked]

Another question... I saw the big fijian in his civvies on the bench on the weekend - and it caused me to wonder... (disregarding injury) If you are a Super 15 player, and not selected for the match 22, what do you actually do? Do these blokes just get the day off? I often see players down on the bench in their civvies - I am sure some are on the injured list - but if you are not in the '22' can you go and play for your club? What is the protocol?

 

[Braveheart81]

Another question. I saw the big fijian in his civvies on the bench on the weekend - and it caused me to wonder. (disregarding injury) If you are a Super 15 player, and not selected for the match 22, what do you actually do? Do these blokes just get the day off? I often see players down on the bench in their civvies - I am sure some are on the injured list - but if you are not in the '22' can you go and play for your club? What is the protocol?

If you're talking about Samo, he did play for his club the weekend before and I assume he was going to on Saturday as well (the day after the game).

He has gone on the South African tour I think.

If you aren't injured or in the matchday side you generally play club rugby.

 

[Hell West & Crooked]

Thankyou... It will be good to see him back on the pitch... I would love to see him go out with a title.

 

[No4918]

Samo did go to SA. They only took the 3 locks from the 22 & left AWH at home. So my guess is we will only see Samo if lock cover is needed and he is more versatile than AWH in case of another injury crisis.

 

[Jets]

Ben Lucas and AWH came off the bench for the Reds and both came off the bench for Sunnybank on Saturday. One of the upsides of Friday night Reds games at home.

Most of the non playing Reds play club rugby when not injured. At the ground they will visit corporate boxes before the game too for a bit of PR.

 

[Scotty]

If you're talking about Samo, he did play for his club the weekend before and I assume he was going to on Saturday as well (the day after the game).

He has gone on the South African tour I think.

If you aren't injured or in the matchday side you generally play club rugby.

And the reds guys attend sponsors functions for home games.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Jarod Butler came off bench for Easts v Gold Coast - about 20 minutes - blitzed 'em

 

[Hell West & Crooked]

I know no-one is talking abou this - and I don't want to appear to get carried away on the strength of a few good games - but seriously:
- with his combination with Genia and Cooper,
- the impending departure of Mitchell and Ione,
- and the comparitively lesser form of Cummins - what chance Davies being a bolter for some Wallaby Games this year... He will not have gone unnoticed on form, and whilst he is a very different type of player to Ione and others, he certainly seems to be a finisher - not too brittle in defence, and who do we have who is as quick?

 

[youngone]

what chance Davies being a bolter for some Wallaby Games this year.

Wouldn't surprise me. Deans has picked him before (Samoa) when he wasn't in that good a touch (gametime etc). Dingo is a firm believer in the adage that nothing beats speed so who knows... I doubt Mitchell will get a look in anymore with being injury-prone and no point investing in him much more for the Wallabies long term cause.

 

[Ignoto]

- and the comparitively lesser form of Cummins - what chance Davies being a bolter for some Wallaby Games this year. He will not have gone unnoticed on form, and whilst he is a very different type of player to Ione and others, he certainly seems to be a finisher - not too brittle in defence, and who do we have who is as quick?

Chance of Davies being in Gold again? 0.1%

You've forgotten Speight, Tomane, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), JOC (James O'Connor), Folau, Shipperley, McCabe and probably CFS who are all ahead of Davies on the peaking order. Hell after the World Cup, Samo is probably higher up on the chain in Deans's eyes.

Unfortunately, Davies debuted at the wrong game and in the wrong conditions. So Deans will never pick him again.

 

[TOCC]

Davies is a good super rugby winger and when playing on the end of the right back-line he really gets to display what a good finisher he is, but he is still short a few attributes to make him a test match winger.

 

[USARugger]

Even with Mitchell and Ioane gone Rocket Rod is still pretty far down the pecking order for wingers. He's one of the few guys who uses his speed as a weapon but the problem is that this is the only thing he does particularly well. Entertaining as hell to watch but he is missing many attributes which would make him into a 'test' winger. He also does things like butchering that try by tracking infield v. The Blues way too often.

 

[Hell West & Crooked]

Chance of Davies being in Gold again? 0.1%

You've forgotten Speight, Tomane, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), JOC (James O'Connor), Folau, Shipperley, McCabe and probably CFS who are all ahead of Davies on the peaking order. Hell after the World Cup, Samo is probably higher up on the chain in Deans's eyes.

Unfortunately, Davies debuted at the wrong game and in the wrong conditions. So Deans will never pick him again.

TOCC mat be right but - as far as I know, Speight cannot play for the Wobblies this year, Tomane - I would not rate him decisively ahead of Davies, although he definitely has a future - Shipperly is certainly not having a great season and Davies seems to be getting game time ahead of him, (in fact I think Shipperley is far from proven, at that level), Folau will definitiely be picked at FB in my opinion when he is finally chosen - (despite my own belief he should be at No. 13) - AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) & McCabe will likely be concentrated in the centres - of those I think only AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is at all assured of a spot - I am not sure who CFS is - I am sure I will recognise the initials later -

It also depends how many specialist wingers Deans decides to chose... Remember, I am not saying he Will or Should be chosen - only that on form, he makes an interesting case... My own belief is that Deans is likely to retain Cummins wherever he can... It is also my belief that Deans may have nothing to do with Selections at the end of the Lions Tour.

 

[qwerty51]

Speight will be eligible for the EoYT

 

[youngone]

I am not sure who CFS is

Chris Feau-Sautia (Reds)

 

[Ignoto]

TOCC mat be right but - as far as I know, Speight cannot play for the Wobblies this year, Tomane - I would not rate him decisively ahead of Davies, although he definitely has a future - Shipperly is certainly not having a great season and Davies seems to be getting game time ahead of him, (in fact I think Shipperley is far from proven, at that level)

Speight will be eligible come the Spring Tour. He's arguably been the inform winger in the Australian teams all season long.

Tomane weak in defence? From the past two seasons he's seem to be pretty solid in defence.

Rocket Rod is not known for his defence, especially against a certain Togan winger.

He won't be anywhere near the Wallabies 22 pending catastrophic injuries. He's got pace to burn, but that's about it. He isn't a line breaking winger like Digby, he doesn't have a boot on him like JOC (James O'Connor) and he relies on a ball player to put him in a hole.

When you think of wingers who are pacey, ala Doug Howlett and Rockothco, they all had this amazing knack of breaking the first tackler and had amazing speed. Rocket just has massive speed and needs space to get around players.

 

[Hell West & Crooked]

I am pleased to see Speight will be available for the End of Year Tour - and deserves to be chosen - He has been THE in-form Winger so far this year...

I agree totally that Davies is not a great line breaker - i think I alluded to that in my previous comment.. as for JOC (James O'Connor)- He picks himself, but I will be a bit surprised if he finds himself on the wing this year - under any coach....

 

[East Coast Aces]

Davies has bulked up since his Test debut against Samoa. Every year he is improving his positional play as well as his ball handling skills. It should be noted that his 2nd try on the weekend was scored on Digby's left wing. He obviously anticipated that there would be an opportunity on that side of the field and put himself in a position to get the ball and finish. He also held on to the ball after an awkward bounce for the first try.

Whilst there is no chance of him playing for the Wallabies against the Lions, he can definitely play for them in the future if he sticks around and continues to add to his game. And I would say that the thought of being a 1 test wonder being dominated by Tuialagi is enough motivation.

The All Blacks for sometime have realised the need for 2 wingers that have a point of difference that ask difference things of defenses. They were reluctant to pick Sivivatu and Rocokoco in the same team and they moved Jane to wing despite him originally being a fullback for the canes.

I would categorise Spaieght and Davies as out n out speed finishing wingers so they probably wouldn't be in the same team. So in the future (i.e. EOYT) we will probably more likely have JOC (James O'Connor) or Folau on the other wing, as a creative, catching, kicking option.

I would be interested to know what the preferred side all our wingers have. I know Digby prefers left and Mitchell prefers Right. But other then that I have no idea. Folau played right side in league and alot of his breaks and tries seem to be runningtowards the right side.