Reds 2018

[glass half full]

Reds are developing good winger stocks.

Petaia’s defense and positional sense have been impressive. Looks like a potentially good 13 for mine, but wing is probably the right place for him at the moment. Another full season of NRC will help Daugunu address his positional frailties, he needs more footy to develop his instincts, the potential is definitely there. Nowhere near ready for fullback at this level just yet. Perese showed plenty in pre-season and deserves a start, as defensively he will be better than Daugunu.

Thorne’s selections for the weekend will be interesting.

 

[SOLE334]

Filipo Daugunu is a member of the young brigade of rugby players in Australian rugby capable of performing the extraordinary feats in rugby that brings the fans to the games. He definitely has the X factor. But the recent exposure of his defensive flaws makes him vulnerable and a risk to his teams objective (score more points than the opposition). IMO, his manager and/or Reds coaching staff should seek out/invest in getting a good defensive coach for one on one lessons. Personally I believe his mindset in defense confuses his choice to act : (a) rush out of the line (b) hesitate and hold back. Maverick needs his wingman to mostly stay on his man and trust his inside center to take his opponent. A good defensive coach will discuss the many facets of being an effective defender.Scenarios such as His size vs the opponents size.; how a small man can take a big man down;trusting the defensive patterns being set and communicated. Both Filipo and Isaia have a tendency to rush out of the line more often then necessary.Its a bit of a russian roulette approach. This is a reflection of their immaturity not being able to control their adrenaline in pressure situations. I use to teach 12 yr olds to learn how to 'hold the line'. Perhaps cross into the dark side of the force and dare I say get a league coach to work with. Another good option is a wrestling coach. Samu K could benefit from attending a few D sessions as well.

 

[RugbyReg]

But you'd have to think Lance will remain 10 and Stewart should be in the team. I'd be more inclined to bench Petaia then. As a rookie it won't harm him.
Why would you bench the kid? All things being equal, fact hes only 18; fact hes been close to our best back line defender since he started. So unless youre saying its just because hes only 18 then thats a poor reason. BT said “if youre good enough youre old enough”. Me thinks he will keep selecting the best players based in form. Form means both ends A & D. Its why ASY (Angus Scott-Young) and young guns will keep getting selected.

You make a very good point about Petaia. THe stats I have seen show that he hasn't missed a tackle in Super Rugby which is quite incredible. And Thorn tends to pick defensive qualities over attacking qualities too.

 

[Zero_Cool]

You make a very good point about Petaia. THe stats I have seen show that he hasn't missed a tackle in Super Rugby which is quite incredible. And Thorn tends to pick defensive qualities over attacking qualities too.

FoxSports have him having missed two, but regardless it is impressive, however he's only making a tackle every 17 min, 16 if we consider tackle attempts. To contrast this Perese is every 13 (8) min, as is Ngamanu is 13 (10) with close to similar minuets games etc. Daugunu is making a tackle every 12 (8) min. So while he is being very effective with his tackles, he's not quite being tested as much as some of the other guys.

 

[Braveheart81]

Daugunu is being asked to make tackles more often because he misses so many.

Hard to accuse a winger of not attempting enough tackles. It's not like you want them drifting into the middle of the park to get their tackle numbers up.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Opta sports has Kerevi and Daganu tied for 4th most missed tackles in the comp with 29, slightly behind only a pride of Lions who have played 2 more games.

Kerevi has actually missed more tackles this year than last year at the same stage

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[SouthernX]

I’d love to see Kerevi tackle attempts/miss...

Dude has been horrible and has not shown much improvement as a defender in 3 or so years of service for Reds.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Daugunu is being asked to make tackles more often because he misses so many.

Hard to accuse a winger of not attempting enough tackles. It's not like you want them drifting into the middle of the park to get their tackle numbers up.

Pretty obvious game plan at the moment isn't it. Isolate and get your winger to run through Daugunu close to the line

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[Braveheart81]

Pretty obvious game plan at the moment isn't it. Isolate and get your winger to run through Daugunu close to the line

Like a Lam to the slaughter if you will.

 

[TSR]

I think sometime there is potentially more harm in persisting with a player than dropping him. Highlanders will be looking to target Daugunu this weekend if he starts. His confidence already seemed to drop last week.

No panic stations - just rotate him out so he can address some deficiencies and rebuild some confidence.

Given it is his first year at this level and he has had such a quick rise, it is not unexpected some flaws will come out. Just need to put the work into him.

 

[SOLE334]

"So while he is being very effective with his tackles, he's not quite being tested as much as some of the other guys."
or maybe, . . .just maybe, a coach with half a rugby brain would suggest 'you target' the weakness in the oppositions armor?? uuumm Aidan Toua has had his fair share of receiving the high bombs because he has a tendency to fumble? I know what I would do if I was the Highlanders. I wonder which wing side the attack wil target more?
Oooops ZC: boys have already answered the q of 'being tested' . . .

 

[Derpus]

I’d love to see Kerevi tackle attempts/miss.

Dude has been horrible and has not shown much improvement as a defender in 3 or so years of service for Reds.

Its fuckin perplexing. He's giant and reasonably nimble. Should be able to tackle blokes one handed.

 

[RedsHappy]

Strong rumours in London that Matt Taylor - key AC for the Reds in 2010-11 - is about to be appointed as Defence Coach for England under EJ (Eddie Jones):

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/england-look-north-not-west-gustard-replacement-reports/

Absolutely blows me away that this obviously very talented rugby coach has not been poached back to Australia given the paucity of elite rugby coaching talent - esp. with excellent track records - we so obviously suffer here.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Strong rumours in London that Matt Taylor - key AC for the Reds in 2010-11 - is about to be appointed as Defence Coach for England under EJ (Eddie Jones):

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/england-look-north-not-west-gustard-replacement-reports/

Absolutely blows me away that this obviously very talented rugby coach has not been poached back to Australia given the paucity of elite rugby coaching talent - esp. with excellent track records - we so obviously suffer here.

You say that like Tony McGahan is an awful coach? We don't need two defensive coaches at the Reds, McGahan has perviously been the Wallabies Defence Coach after a bad stint with the Rebels we are likely picking him up for pennies on the dollar.

Not saying that McGahan is necessarily doing an outstanding job with the Reds, nor that he's doing an awful job, I think it's kind of unfair to judge anyone too much by the Reds season this year (beyond specific player performances). We only have a limited number of coaching positions in Australia, obviously Taylor is growing and developing in Europe. Could be two years and a RWC as an English Assistant Coach and maybe he's an option for Wallabies Coach after the next RWC.

 

[RugbyReg]

I'd take Taylor over McGahan every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

I don't think he'd come back for a Reds assistant coach role though. Maybe national assistant coach role. Possibly the Reds HC role.

 

[dru]

Totality is not qualified to polish Taylor's boots.

Our expat problems start with coaches of this caliber way before we talk of lost players like LFG.

 

[gel]

I am not certain if you are serious or joking sometimes, zero_cool

 

[Linebreaker]

Hold you breath folks....if my sources are correct Australian Rugby & QRU will be in for some very disturbing news by the end of the day....

 

[SouthernX]

Hold you breath folks..if my sources are correct Australian Rugby & QRU will be in for some very disturbing news by the end of the day..

Can’t get much worse then it currently is

 

[Braveheart81]

Hold you breath folks..if my sources are correct Australian Rugby & QRU will be in for some very disturbing news by the end of the day..