Round 2 - Force vs Reds, NIB Stadium, 2nd March @ 6:30pm (AWST)

[neilc]

Thursday night rugby needs to be shit canned ASAP. The crowd was robbed of numbers by people working late, connecting to Africa for business and the local clubs being right in the middle of preseason preparations with trial matches starting shortly. Still it was pleasing to see hundreds of youngsters there in their local clubs colours, it really gave me an appreciation of why the Force is integral to Australian rugbys future. Its about the youngsters coming through the system and having the chance to follow their rugby dreams.

I think I read that this was the last Thursday night game - maybe both games (last week and this) were due to other events?

Your team did well and great to hear the crowd getting in behind them at the end, that was very evident on the tv broadcast. How many WA developed players got on the field last night? Must have been quite a few with Rona, Peni, Hardwick, Koteka and the HP brothers. That's a really promising sign for Australian rugby and a key reason why the Force need to stay so that in years to come they can have a team that is predominately locally developed players and that can encourage other local players of the pathway.

 

[The torpedo]

FIXED

We'll all be needing an absolute shitload for the year ahead

 

[Melchior]

Mr Stiles gives his team a big uppercut for their performance v the force...or did he just call the game in general atrocious...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...s-coach-stiles-unleashes-after-atrocious-game

 

[NTT]

When is the losing coach ever happy?

 

[The torpedo]

Mr Stiles gives his team a big uppercut for their performance v the force.or did he just call the game in general atrocious.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...s-coach-stiles-unleashes-after-atrocious-game

Considering the 2 dot points above the 1st picture, I would say unleashing @ the team.

They damn well deserve to get ripped a new one

 

[dillyboy]

As a Quade fan it's hard to say, but when has he been better than this since 2012? He stil trades on his 2011 reputation.

2013 EOY tour?

I do agree something is off with him at the moment though

Edit: oops, already said - maybe I should have read the whole thread before replying

 

[todd4]

Yeah, the ball looked like it was an absolute bar of soap, but the handling errors were maddening. Don't know the temp or humidity, but the front-rowers were absolutely drenched with sweat after about 20 minutes.

At home about an hour after the game I checked weather app on my phone and it said humidity was 91%.

 

[The torpedo]

I do agree something is off with him at the moment though

I think his confidence is shot from having 3 shoulder area related injuries in 12 months.

Did he have any injuries while @ Toulon?

 

[cyclopath]

I'm sure Shiggins thought he was fine.

The thread is conspicuous by the absence of Shiggy. Perhaps the unexpected humidity fritzed his Galaxy 7; or it self-immolated.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

A really shit night to be a spectator with the 6:30 start on a Thursday and buckets of humidity. A bloody exciting night to be a Force fan though!

We showed more adventure than I've seen in a long time and it was fantastic. More of that boys. Plenty of ticker too, when our two best players left the field and we still won. I really like the look of that backline now. Meakes, Peni and Rona are jets.

 

[gel]

PS
Of course the Referee was shit as well

That one brightened my day. The delivery was perfect.

Thank you.

 

[No4918]

The thread is conspicuous by the absence of Shiggy. Perhaps the unexpected humidity fritzed his Galaxy 7; or it self-immolated.

First home win in 700 odd days, he is still celebrating. Give him another 24 hours then someone better file a missing persons report.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Fair enough the team deserves as new arsehole, some players more than others,

Stiles should then retire to the other room and give himself an uppercut. Thought his use of the bench was poor and the decision not to replace Moore earlier equally as poor.

 

[Nipper]

At home about an hour after the game I checked weather app on my phone and it said humidity was 91%.

Jeez, you guys were swimming in it!

 

[Nipper]

Out for most, if not all of the season - ACL injury in the last game of the 2016 season

Wow - I hadn't realized it was that bad. Thanks for the update @chiraag.

 

[Simon.]

I think the main reason Stiles is mad is that when they interviewed him about what they spoke about at half time he said "we played too much ball in our half in these difficult conditions" and that the plan for the second half was to play up their end.

And the team then proceeded to completely ignore him and play exactly the same as they did in the first half. Even when they kicked it was box kicks which weren't contested so the Force just got the ball on halfway and ran it back over the 10m line.

If you want to play territory you need to make those kicks go DEEP and preferably OUT to force a lineout. Uncontestable box kicks just ensure you're still playing in your own half, only this time the opposition has the ball.

It's something the Reds have never managed to get over from the Graham days. I'm struggling to understand why it's so difficult. If you box kick, it must be contestable. If you can't make it contestable, use a different kick!

 

[neilc]

I think the main reason Stiles is mad is that when they interviewed him about what they spoke about at half time he said "we played too much ball in our half in these difficult conditions" and that the plan for the second half was to play up their end.

And the team then proceeded to completely ignore him and play exactly the same as they did in the first half. Even when they kicked it was box kicks which weren't contested so the Force just got the ball on halfway and ran it back over the 10m line.

If you want to play territory you need to make those kicks go DEEP and preferably OUT to force a lineout. Uncontestable box kicks just ensure you're still playing in your own half, only this time the opposition has the ball.

It's something the Reds have never managed to get over from the Graham days. I'm struggling to understand why it's so difficult. If you box kick, it must be contestable. If you can't make it contestable, use a different kick!

What I don't understand is since they can get messages out to the team pretty readily why they don't get an instruction along the lines of 'we talked at half time that we weren't going to do x anymore, so STOP doing it or you will be replaced'. Why whinge after the game - execution of the plan is one thing, but not trying to execute it is different.

 

[Scrubber2050]

^^^^^^

Great post neilc

 

[dru]

I think the main reason Stiles is mad is that when they interviewed him about what they spoke about at half time he said "we played too much ball in our half in these difficult conditions" and that the plan for the second half was to play up their end.

And the team then proceeded to completely ignore him and play exactly the same as they did in the first half. Even when they kicked it was box kicks which weren't contested so the Force just got the ball on halfway and ran it back over the 10m line.

If you want to play territory you need to make those kicks go DEEP and preferably OUT to force a lineout. Uncontestable box kicks just ensure you're still playing in your own half, only this time the opposition has the ball.

It's something the Reds have never managed to get over from the Graham days. I'm struggling to understand why it's so difficult. If you box kick, it must be contestable. If you can't make it contestable, use a different kick!

Not being able to win a line out might have an impact too.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

How about Jonno Lance? Was he injured or did he just get a rest? He looked like he was wincing a bit on the bench.

Also, does anyone have any info on Cottrell? I hadn't heard anything about him being injured, although I may have missed some off-season news.

Cottrell injured and out for the season.