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Reds 2017

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RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Some interesting Higs news have trickled to my ears.

I'll leave it to official channels but a bit more detail on what actually occurred and what has been happening with training shows a good chance of a positive outcome sooner then later.


Nice tip. And here we are:

The ARU Integrity Unit has concluded its preliminary investigation into an incident involving Scott Higginbotham in Brisbane last weekend.

Upon assessment of the preliminary findings of the investigation, Higginbotham has been allowed to return to training and will be available for selection for the Reds' upcoming trial match with the Melbourne Rebels in Brisbane tomorrow.
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
And more:

An ARU Integrity Unit spokesperson said: "After finalising our initial investigation the ARU is comfortable to allow Scott Higginbotham to resume his training and playing commitments with the Reds, until such time as the Police matter is resolved.

"Scott has cooperated with the investigation and has been reminded of how seriously the ARU takes off-field behaviour. There is a Police matter which is ongoing and no determination on any sanctions will be made until that reaches a conclusion."


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TOCC

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St.George Queensland Reds side to play Melbourne Rebels
Pre-season match, 6:30pm, Tuesday 14 February, Ballymore Stadium
1. James Slipper (C)
2. Stephen Moore
3. Sam Talakai
4. Rob Simmons
5. Kane Douglas
6. Hendrik Tui
7. Adam Korczyk
8. Leroy Houston
9. Nick Frisby
10. Quade Cooper
11. Eto Nabuli
12. Duncan Paia’aua
13. Samu Kerevi
14. Izaia Perese (uncapped)
15. Karmichael Hunt

Reserves
16. Andrew Ready
17. Markus Vanzati (uncapped)
18. Sef Fa’agase
19. Lukhan Tui
20. Michael Gunn
21. James Tuttle
22. Jake McIntyre
23. Chris Kuridrani
24. Izack Rodda (uncapped)
26. Scott Higginbotham
27. Henry Taefu
13. Tyrone Lefau (uncapped)
14. Lachlan Maranta (uncapped)
15. Jayden Ngamanu (uncapped)


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Micheal

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Yeah nah nah yeah thats a pretty juicy starting XV.

My thoughts:

- Talakai is sturdy but surely Tupou would replace him in the starting XV come the proper season (and the end of Tupou's sentence).

- I don't see the need to play Tui. Surely Stiles knows what he offers (a hell of a lot IMO) and hes just come off a season in Japan. Give him some more time off.

- The backline is exactly how I'd pick it. If Nabuli and Perese can fire we will see some absolute magic from those blokes.

- Pretty promising bench with Tui, Tuttle, Higgers (!), Taefu etc.
 

The torpedo

Peter Fenwicke (45)
I don't see Tupou starting over Talakai just yet, still needs to work on his set piece and technical proficiency.


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Props are like fine wine - the get better with age. Dan Crowley said that you only learn to get better and beat opponents by constant scrummaging
 

amirite

Chilla Wilson (44)
Pretty promising bench with Tui, Tuttle, Higgers (!), Taefu etc.

I largely agree, but I think that Rodda is actually a better player than Tui.

Sure, he isn't as physically impressive, but he's still big by professional lock standards and gets through plenty of work. He played the lineout jumping LH lock role for the Aus 20s last year, and was just about the biggest LH lock I've ever seen.
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
Happy with the side.

Tui gave us go forward last year. He'll do me at 6 and doesn't seem to mind running hard in traffic. I really don't want my 6 seagulling on the wing.
 

amirite

Chilla Wilson (44)
Happy with the side.

Tui gave us go forward last year. He'll do me at 6 and doesn't seem to mind running hard in traffic. I really don't want my 6 seagulling on the wing.

But that's a systems thing and doesn't have anything to do with a player's personal preference.

Unless they're going off-book they're generally told "this is your channel in this situation, that is your channel in that situation".

That's why all that Higgers hate was funny way back when, I wanted to say "do you not understand that's what he's told to do?".
 
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TOCC

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If only players did everything their coaches told them to do...

So CFS, Magnay and Timu are the ones still in Team Rehab


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upthereds#!

Peter Johnson (47)
Smash bros Mafi and Timani causing grief already...Nabuli got totally gassed by Mafi

Douglas, Houston & co need to lay down some heat at the coal face before we swing it wide, losing the ball at the breakdown..
 

Happy to Chat

Nev Cottrell (35)
It's good to see that the Reds have depth this year. The standard of play when the reserves came on, stayed on point and in some cases was better than the first XV. Frisby was a little off target with his passing last night and IMO Tuttle looked more polished and a lot quicker. Can only get better. Bring on the season.


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TSR

Andrew Slack (58)
I thought there was a lot to like about the trial. Suddenly we are back playing closer to the line, and we employed a reasonably effective kicking game. I noticed our discipline was much better as was our kick chase. The selection of the back row will be very interesting. Korcyzk is certainly trying to put himself in the run on side, but Tui, Higgers and Houston all showed their wears as well. I thought our forward pack looked pretty energetic and effective. Not as dynamic as some packs, but a step up from last year.

Paia'aua & Hunt were both good IMO and helped open up our attack. Our scrum seemed to lift another level when Ready & Fa'agase came on.

There was still plenty of dropped ball - but personally I'll accept that to a degree early on from a team looking to play a more threatening game. We can still expect Cooper to be picked off for a few intercepts - his game is one of inches at times.

Off the top of my head the only one who I thought struggled was Maranta and, to be honest, I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was just trying too hard. He certainly seemed to try and get involved.

Overall I thought the trial showed a lot of promise.
 

Happy to Chat

Nev Cottrell (35)
Agreed Ready showed he could add value off the bench for Moore. Maranta's odds this year are slim as there are a number of outside backs that are showing promise with Magnay still in rehab. Even Jake surprised me when he came on for Quade.


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TSR

Andrew Slack (58)
Oh - and the commentary was good too Reg.

How good was it to watch live rugby on a Tuesday night. I did miss the end of MKR, but these are the sacrifices one makes.

February optimism is alive and well.
 

Ignoto

Peter Sullivan (51)
For those that watched, how were we with kicking? Previous years we've kicked for the sake of it and without purpose. I'm hoping with Quade and the new national skills coach that the franchises may actually develop the ability to kick more than 20 metres!
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
agree Sully. It was strange with McIntyre. Lots of little dinky kicks, not many too effective.

I can't recall any box kicks from us? More distance and positioning. But again, it was a trial so who knows what we will see next week.
 

emuarse

Chilla Wilson (44)
Don't stand up. I'm back now that we're no longer talking about the colour of the jerseys.
My pick for the starting side against the Sharks is:
1. James Slipper (C)
2. Stephen Moore
3. Sam Talakai
4. Rob Simmons
5. Kane Douglas
6. Hendrik Tui
7. George Smith
8. Scott Higginbotham
9. Nick Frisby
10. Quade Cooper
11. Eto Nabuli
12. Duncan Paia’aua
13. Samu Kerevi
14. Izaia Perese
15. Karmichael Hunt

These players largely select themselves with the possible exceptions of 12 & 14, although I thought Duncan P had a cracker of a game outside of QC (Quade Cooper) last night.
The remaining 8 are a bit trickier to pick.
 

TSR

Andrew Slack (58)
Quade did a kick pass to Nabuli that created a line break down on side and arguably should have produced a try.

Frisby also produce some good kicks. He put one out on the full when he probably should have passed (we had just made a line break) - but then if he had executed the kick better I think it actually would have been a good play.

Importantly we mixed our kicking game up and regularly found space.

And we chased our kicks. From my memory, our kick chase was very solid. That is an enormous change from the last 2-3 years.
 
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