Reds' Frame of Mind

[Biffo]

An unfairly derogatory claim has been made about the Reds for many years now - that they think it's a good season if they beat the Tahs, regardless of all their other results.

Now that the Tahs game is out of the way in Round 1, what will the Reds and their supporters be thinking as reasonable benchmarks for this season?

 

[louie]

to get 25+ points. Four to Five wins. 9-11 on the table would be fantastic for them

 

[tranquility]

9-11 on the table would be fantastic?

are you purposefully patronising? what a load of rubbish.

Queensland will be hoping to finish mid table and win most of their home games starting this week against the saders.

 

[Lindommer]

I fear the Force, Cheetahs, Lions and Clan will be fighting them for the bottom spot.

 

[louie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Super_14_season#Table

It's being realistic. The question was what is reasonable, not what is ideal or what their aiming for.
Bulls
Sharks
Tahs
Brumbies
Blues
Canes
Saders
Stormers
Cheifs
will all finish above them. 25+ points (inlcuding an extrax win from last year) is fantastic when you look at whats happened in the last few years. The Force and The Highlanders are the only easy games they've got at home this year. They have to do well in South Africa vs Lions and Cheetahs. They should be looking at this with four realistic chances at getting four points. Succuess by your own temrs and what is possible. if they do all that, that's fantastic.

 

[tranquility]

righto mate.

 

[DPK]

righto mate.

A well structured argument with good grammar. It's what TYS is all about...

 

[PaarlBok]

Bliksem the S14 is a marathon not a sprint. The Reds have every change to still win the compo then any other team. One match at a time, its only round 2 this weekend. :

 

[Lee Grant]

Which proves DPK's point.



Sorry PB but I know you don't mind a bit of stick. Your English is heaps better than our Afrikaans.

You're right. That's only one game. I think that the coach's influence will get them a few more games than they got last year. I wish I could say the same about the Tahs, but I can't.

 

[Newb]

the reds will be more about confidence this year than anything (as in most years i suppose...). if they can move on and fireup consistently, they should be in for a good season. but if they have a few more of these heartbreakers and start to believe in their woes, it could go downhill fast. talent isn't the issue.

and i think they could easily finish better than the sharks and chiefs in addition to those stated by louie.

 

[Langthorne]

Better than the Sharks and Chiefs?!

I think the benchmark should be "better than last year", with "much better than last year" a bonus.

Will the Reds be confident going into the match with the Crusaders, because of their spirited performance against the Tahs? or will they be nervous because the let the game slip from their grasp?

 

[rsea]

The Reds have a shot at a couple of big teams over the next 2 rounds and those games will decide their final place on the table. I'd say 7th is the best the can hope to achieve if they win the next 2 rounds but I expect them to choke against the Chiefs regardless and from there only knock off other cellar dwellers

 

[Scotty]

I reckon they would have targeted 2 wins from their first 3 games, particularly when they are all at home. I doubt they particularly liked the fact they had two of the strongest teams in the comp at home, while playing weaker teams away, because it has the potential to turn out very bad or very good (if they can win at home).

If we can win this and next weekend, then I'll be looking for a top half finish. If we can't, then 8 or 9 is about the best we can do, I reckon.

 

[TOCC]

4-5 wins would be fantastic?

hell no, 4 - 5 wins would be a mediocre performance, 8-11 wins would be fantastic

 

[Scarfman]

I'm with PB - I'm sure that Link isn't thinking like this, or if he is, isn't letting on to his players.

OBSERVE THE GOLDEN RULE: ONE WEEK AT A TIME.

Gee, that's so good, I should put it in the coaching thread.

 

[Doc]

One thing that really annoys me as a Reds fan is the term 'rebuilding' and aiming for x number of wins or such. This is a PROFESSIONAL competition. The sole goal for the Reds, and every other team should be to win the whole thing, period.

How many team begin the NRL, NFL, A-league or AFL seasons with a mid-table finish as a goal? None. In fact teams routinely go from the bottom to top and vice-versa. Heck even in the Super 14 teams make big moves. Current champs Bulls went from 10th the year before. Tahs 2nd in 08, 13th in 07. They did similar in 04-05. Even the Crusaders finished 3rd last one year and won the next. These teams all have bad years but are always in the mix.

The Reds have been re-building for a decade now, it's just crap.

 

[en_force_er]

I agree with your sentiment that rebuilding is crap but not with your view that it plagues only rugby.

The example that comes to mind is Carlton. They are just coming out of a rebuilding faze (which may be set to continue now that Fev has gone north).

Hell, I don't think I've come across any in-depth statement by the organisation about the Reds rebuilding, I don't even know if there has even been any statement of the type made. I think rebuilding is more a fan-used or AFL term than anything else.

 

[El Barto]

I think the benchmark should be "better than last year", with "much better than last year" a bonus.

Will do me just fine, while not at rock bottom, we aren't far above it! :'(

 

[rsea]

I don't agree. The Reds will be aiming to finish as high as possible but they must realise they can't win this year. They should target key fixtures to win and identify games to experiment and rest key players if necessary. It sounds defeatest but it'll net the best ladder position and give opportunities to the bench

 

[Scotty]

rsea,

Targeting key fixtures says they aren't trying to win every game.

Of course they will try and win every game, but I suspect they have a minimum position in mind to consider it an acceptable season. That would have to be at least mid table. That position though would be reassess depending on the first 3 games.

If they are 2 from 3, then they should be thinking top 6 minimum. Just hope they can get over the Tahs loss.