Reds 2016

[RugbyReg]

Hey Reg
does anyone know how much Dales raised frim the sale of his game day headgear?

I DO think it was a great idea

no, lots of the donated head gear was used for silent auctions by the respective charities.

 

[Troy]

Just on the Turner thing, I may have missed the announcement but what I read had him signed with Toulon for 4 months as cover for Drew Mitchell & Bryan Habana while they were on RWC duty.

Has he actually been let go by the Reds?

 

[No4918]

Just on the Turner thing, I may have missed the announcement but what I read had him signed with Toulon for 4 months as cover for Drew Mitchell & Bryan Habana while they were on RWC duty.

Has he actually been let go by the Reds?

He has been told there may not be a spot for him. Great idea to get into France early and get some good performances on the park.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Some of the quotes being attributed to RG in the Reds Pressers are almost Deansesque. Not because of gobbledegook language but because of the sheer lack of connection to anything approaching reality and conventional rational thought.

"This is an opportunity for him to earn some money and play some rugby" about Lochie Turner to Toulon.

"Off course we can make the Finals" about the Reds 2015 chances.

"No place in the squad for Lachie Turner"

"I'll be part of the process to be reappointed for 2016" about whether he will apply to get his old job back after being the most losingest coach in Australian Rugby history since John "Looser" Hebblethwaite's efforts with the Boggabilla Bilbys from 1949 - 1962 where they only won 2 games, both by forfeit.

 

[Troy]

Ok thanks for that - so he could be at Toulon, could be at the Reds as well...

 

[suckerforred]

I would say "Could be at Toulon. Not likely to be at the Reds."

 

[Troy]

I would say "Could be at Toulon. Not likely to be at the Reds."

Exactly SFR, but given the last few pages you'd could be forgiven for thinking otherwise!

The way I see it, at least they've been honest with him, whether that's good for the Reds or not, they've at least told him where he stands rather than stringing him along.

 

[nick_]

Just on the Turner thing, I may have missed the announcement but what I read had him signed with Toulon for 4 months as cover for Drew Mitchell & Bryan Habana while they were on RWC duty.

Has he actually been let go by the Reds?

I mentioned a while ago that he wouldn't be staying - Cordingley wouldn't even talk to him in the hallways at Ballymore...

 

[neilc]

I mentioned a while ago that he wouldn't be staying - Cordingley wouldn't even talk to him in the hallways at Ballymore.

He's not in the squad announcement so I take that as not being in the plan. Is Cordingley a problem with the players? The finger has been pointed at RG for recruitment - coaching definitely but is RG responsible for the recruitment/retention or has the loss of players who we didn't want to lose been a Cordingley issue? Not speaking to Lachie at all sounds like very poor man management skills.

 

[Marcelo]

I'm looking for cheap Reds jerseys. Where I can buy it?

 

[Strewthcobber]

He's not in the squad announcement so I take that as not being in the plan. Is Cordingley a problem with the players? The finger has been pointed at RG for recruitment - coaching definitely but is RG responsible for the recruitment/retention or has the loss of players who we didn't want to lose been a Cordingley issue? Not speaking to Lachie at all sounds like very poor man management skills.

If I have my contracting years right I think it's probably come down to JJT or Lachie for a spot in the squad. JJT was a foreign development player previously but not from 2016 (I think!) so now counts in the limits. They may have just made the decision to keep JJT a long time ago based on potential.

The likes of O'Connor an KHunt have another year to go on contracts, Kurindrani, Magnay and CFS are guys they'd want to keep (cheap and lots of upside potential). Have I forgotten anyone?

There are 3 spots left open, so it's hard to jusdge the squad until we see who they are.

 

[redstragic]

I'm looking for cheap Reds jerseys. Where I can buy it?

Just wait a month or 2 and they'll be on sale on the website. Have done this last few years.

 

[daz]

I'm looking for cheap Reds jerseys. Where I can buy it?

Suncorp Stadium. Ask for Richard.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mr Pilfer]

I think you guys are dreaming if you think O'Connor will still be there next year. He definitely does not seem to be the guy to stick around when the going gets tough and with no World Cup to play for. Not sure of the intricacies of his contract but I would bet on him going overseas or 7s

 

[Gillys_ghost]

hes been announced in our squad for next year so until told otherwise hes playing or us next year.

 

[Getwithme]

Wow I think that from all the information from a wide variety of source the best coach is Richard Graham. His wide variety of coaching strategies which range from losing by 10 and losing by 40 are tactical nous not seen anywhere else in Super Rugby, let alone the world.

I am looking forward to however CFS actually fulfilling his incredible potential.
Btw,
Up the magpies!

 

[RedsHappy]

Quade Cooper caught in limbo at dysfunctional Reds
THE AUSTRALIAN AUGUST 03, 2015
Wayne Smith

It must have been an emotional night for Quade Cooper at the Queensland Reds Ball on Friday night, watching his good mates James Horwill, Will Genia and James Hanson farewelled from the team.

The Reds do this kind of thing very well and it was a particularly emotional goodbye, especially from Horwill, who shed a tear.

Yet, for Cooper, all of his emotions would have been magnified because, as it happens, he too might very well have played his last game for Queensland. But where his three teammates were called forward and farewelled in style, Cooper remained in his seat. It wasn’t that the Reds were punishing him for failing to observe the etiquette governing late-night, or rather early-morning Twitter posts, but rather that no one knows whether in fact he has played his last game for the side.

Here we are in August and still we don’t know whether Cooper will escape from Toulon’s clutches after the World Cup. Certainly, he has only himself to blame for signing with them in the first place. Then again, he clearly regrets the decision and Toulon owner Morad Boudjellal must privately be questioning whether he wants to compel Cooper to come and play for his club when his heart isn’t in it.

Then, assuming Cooper can somehow come up with the cash to buy his way out of this mess, it remains to be seen how he would spend next year. The Olympic sevens program has been raised as one possibility and certainly a player of his ability should be there. Australia’s sevens coach, Geraint John, has suggested that only those players who are prepared to abandon Super Rugby for the entire duration of next season to join the sevens circuit should be picked.

But assuming Cooper did commit fully to the sevens program, the reality would be that he has played next to no Super Rugby over the previous three years — taking in the time he has been out injured — by the time the 2017 season comes around. That shouldn’t be a deal-breaker but it certainly is enough to make Super Rugby officials pause.

Still, let’s get to the heart of the matter. If Cooper wants to play Super Rugby next year, are the Queensland Reds interested in keeping him? If they are, then ways and means can be found, however expensive that might be for some parties. But if they are not, then why did they not give him the send-off he deserved?

If I had to nominate the players most responsible for the Reds winning the 2011 Super Rugby title, it would come down to Genia or Cooper. One couldn’t have done it on his own. That year, the two of them individually had the best seasons of Super Rugby anyone in Australia has ever had, across all the years of the tournament. It was just a fluke they both peaked at the same time and even more remarkable they had a coach in Ewen McKenzie who knew to give them free rein.

But certainly if the Reds felt that Cooper was finished with the organisation, they owed him a proper farewell, just as they owed him a farewell at Suncorp Stadium when the Reds played their final home match of the season, against the Chiefs. That they didn’t give it reflects the confusion they are in. The whole organisation remains in limbo while the process of appointing a head coach grinds its way to the inevitable conclusion of reappointing Richard Graham.

Seemingly, Graham can do without Cooper, who doesn’t stick to the game plan. Seemingly, too, he must have convinced those in high places because you don’t just cut a player like Cooper unless you have serious allies, especially if your winning record is 28 per cent.

Now Reds fans might be asking themselves why, in a year when the side has just lost Genia, Horwill, Hanson, Ben Tapuai, Adam Thomson, Beau Robinson, Ed O’Donoghue and possibly James O’Connor — although he, conspicuously, was listed as a member of next year’s side — Cooper too was regarded as a load to carry. Aside from the tight five and Pilecki Medal winner Liam Gill, Queensland has been gutted of good, experienced players.

True, a comprehensive review has been done and everyone will be held accountable for their area of responsibility. But an organisation is always made up of people and all the organisation charts in the world can’t make an unpopular person popular.

It may be, of course, that The Sunday Mail got to the heart of the problem by revealing breathlessly that the WAGs of other players had frozen out Cooper’s present girlfriend, Laura Dundovic. Apparently, too, it’s caused tension that Dundovic was invited to the CEO’s box during matches while the other girls were left to sit in the family section. Did anyone wonder, just as a matter of interest, whether Jim Carmichael may have invited Cooper’s girlfriend to perhaps talk her into persuading him to stay?

But has it really come to this? Is there no end to the dysfunction with the Queensland team? How long will it be before the first “player power” story surfaces following Graham’s reappointment?

The Reds on Friday delivered a wonderful tribute to Hall of Fame inductee the late Tom Richards, the 1908 London Olympic gold medallist who landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, and subsequently won a Military Cross on the Western Front. There was a military band, the Last Post, and a powerful speech delivered by Richards’ biographer, rugby journalist Greg Growden. It was perfect.

No one’s comparing Cooper with Richards. But on the heavy assumption that he is leaving or isn’t wanted, there was a small tribute owing to Cooper and unless the Reds in the next week take action that astounds everyone, it will never be given.

Unless, of course, it means that QRU officials have weighed up all possibilities and decided that this can all be resolved and Cooper probably will be staying at Ballymore.

 

[Gnostic]

What an absolute Cluster F%$#$

 

[No4918]

Interesting read. First in a while.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

This is only going to get worse before it gets better. Hang on tight, folks.