Reds vs Force Round 2 2016

[namtrak]

I feel like the Reds and the Force owe me 80 minutes of my life back. Who do I send the bill to?

 

[dru]

Foley and Graham, what a pair. Total bore-fest.

 

[biggsy]

That was hideous..

 

[Moono75]

All of the points

Don't forget to thank us for Pococks maul tries then

 

[Ash]

Ah it was Prior who knocked over the conversion. I stand corrected!

Prior was originally from the Reds.

 

[Marcelo]

They give a crowd number? Felt like 2007 in the stands.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

I'm not sure but definitly is a mortal attack against Aussie rugby. The most popular Super Rugby franchise is losing fans in a country where Union is fighting to survive.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

Prior was originally from the Reds.

Thus why I stand corrected.

 

[Forcefield]

Is that the year or the number of people?

I thought he was talking about the Reds' performance.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

It wasn't so long ago that the Reds were a toughened, canny unit that could travel just about anywhere and get the win. I distinctly remember the Kiwi commentators speaking in such respectful tones of our Reds. The answer seems fairly obvious, but I still find myself asking, 'how did it come to this?'

As incomprehensible as McBain's sacking in 2002, or Deans's extension before we even kicked a ball in anger at the 2011 RWC. Do administrators ever learn?

 

[redstragic]

Of all the clusterfucks tonight, it was the tactical kicking that was the biggest clusterfuck. fight so hard the get the ball only to kick like shit and give it straight back to them so you have to go and fight again to get the fuckin ball back.

 

[Gnostic]

The very sad thing is that the situation the Reds are now in was avoidable. In 2013 Redshappy warned about the lack of coaching credentials of Graham. Then followed one of the worst seasons I have ever seen from a Reds side in terms of performance, as bad as Eddie Jones "loss of the sheds" year, worse than Slack's caretaker year and far far worse than Mooney's effort which saw some scintillating rugby during the inconsistent year.

Then Knuckles came to the rescue to encourage a couple of wins but was obviously unable to counter the politics being played in a fashion that did the NSWRU proud, and they still re-signed Graham because apparently letting the players run around with no idea at all is some how worse than a coach who has NFI.

No crowd figure available for an Australian derby match, but to my eye (and the cameras pointedly avoided showing the crowd) would have been lucky to break $10. They would have been lucky to pay the lighting bill. The great foundation work of 2009-2011 has been undermined well and truly and at a time when Australian Rugby just can't afford it.

 

[redstragic]

Media conference just starting on website

 

[redstragic]

It's on the reds homepage

 

[Teh Other Dave]

Of all the clusterfucks tonight, it was the tactical kicking that was the biggest clusterfuck. fight so hard the get the ball only to kick like shit and give it straight back to them so you have to go and fight again to get the fuckin ball back.

Same as last week. It feels like watching Berrick Barnes all over again.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

We all seem to be saying this: Graham doesn't seem like a bad dude. He obviously gives a shit, he looks gutted. This press conference is really sad to watch.

 

[redstragic]

We all seem to be saying this: Graham doesn't seem like a bad dude. He obviously gives a shit, he looks gutted. This press conference is really sad to watch.

Mercifully it was short.

 

[ChargerWA]

He basically said he has no clue.

 

[galumay]

I do wonder whether its really all the 2 coaches fault. Does a coach really make both teams play as poorly as that? Can they really make such a huge difference and turn a team from that rubbish into a top flight team??

I remain less than convinced. There are other factors at play, Australia cannot possibly support 5 Super Rugby teams, too many teams also causes damage to the game in this country IMO.

The lack of a competition of the quality of ITM Cup or Curry Cup is another - and related factor. Then we have so little quality club rugby at the level below NRC. The whole structure and organisation of the game in this country probably need a re-think.

Thats not likely to happen, to many vested interests at play and it would mean a total restructure of the concept of Super Rugby. Anyway, discussion for another thread and time!

 

[redstragic]

He basically said he has no clue.

I just feel really really sad. Out of his depth and without a clue.

 

[Gnostic]

I am very interested that Foley has actually followed through and has attempted to play a ball in hand game. The forwards are struggling with the handling aspects and as the players tired they get narrow and stop working hard enough off the ball to create the overlaps and doubt in the defence and they fall back into the risk free grinding game plan. But credit where it is due, after all these years 5 at the Tahs and now 4 or 5 at the Force it has finally dawned on him that you can't win enough games to serious competition for the good teams by playing the risk averse game, even when you have basically a test side running out as he did at the Tahs.

It is just a pity it has taken so long for a bloke who was the best forwards coach in Australia for so long to realise this, because the damage it has done to the fan base is pretty significant with even the title win in NSW not enough to bring back a lot of fans. Its also the lost time that a Province like WA just couldn't afford when they are trying to build and become financially viable.