Round 2: Rebels v Force 8pm - 1st March
- Thread starter KevinO
- Start date
Yoda
Cyril Towers (30)
Donaldson had more touches with the ball tonight than 3 seasons with the Waratahs. Except for the intercept which is always a 50/50 I thought he played great.
dusk
Vay Wilson (31)
I think this proves that playing outside Gordon makes it extremely hard to stand out and play your own game...
Dan54
David Wilson (68)
Look fellas, I admit to going to bed at oranges (11pm here) a bit late for an oldtimer. But I have one main question, did Taniella Tupou do anything in 2nd half? I know he scrummed well, but rest of his game seemed to involve jogging around field behind play, and occasionally leaning on side of rucks. Or am I being harsh on him?
Sir Arthur Higgins
Dick Tooth (41)
I think the momentum is really moving towards 3-4 Australia teams with the talent better concentrated domestically.
hard to make a case for Melbourne outside of potential really.
More games and Brumbies play 3 in Melbourne?
I think less teams with better quality and more games is needed.
Anyways. Not for this thread but we just aren’t gonna be competitive again
wamberal99
Jim Clark (26)
He was woeful.
Tomikin
David Codey (61)
He told the commentary team he was fucked (tired) his not match fit.. guess he was injured during pre season
Wilson
Phil Kearns (64)
Coxon has pulled up ok:
Good to see after he was stretchered off.
Good to see after he was stretchered off.
Silverado
Dick Tooth (41)
Williams was causing havoc in the lineout early and they lost their structure. Carter was very good. Forming a great partnership with Kellaway
molman
Jim Lenehan (48)
I actually rather enjoyed that match, but I agree with the sentiment that both these teams are going to struggle against the NZ teams at this stage. The bench from the Rebels provided a lot more punch and you can see how much they were riding the emotions vs. The Force who I thought were a lot calmer, especially in that first half, looking much more clinical and assured of what they were doing. The Rebels in comparison were disappointing in the nuts and bolts with their ruck work being poor often and their defence looking rather passive at times. Add in some handling errors and a poor lineout and they were really struggling to string things together.
For The Force, that scrum became a real liability for them, but I actually thought, especially in the first half that they were doing a lot right. You could see the detail in their breakdown work, the way they were backing up in tight, short offload game, their defence looked good with nice detail, including their chop tackling hard on the ball approach with a good press that cut out the wide space reasonably well. Donaldson was entirely on song with the boot and put in a really good performance, Burey looked threatening at times and likewise had a good game overall. I thought they were actually really starting to look like a well functioning team. If it hadn't been for the one man Kellaway show in the first half I think they (The Force) might have run away with things. That Potter pass goes backwards and the mountain might have been a little too far, but an intercept (Gordon) and fortuitous bounce (Daugunu) and the Rebels had a nice little swing that they rode it all the way to the end.
Overall I like what Cron is doing with The Force, but I fear he might be a few cattle short of what they'll need to truly compete in this competition. His bench depth isn't there and the loss of Rodda is a rather big blow. They really haven't gotten a lot out of him in his tenure with all his injuries. The Rebels in comparison have a pretty handy roster, lots of individual talent and ability, some really big powerful players, but they just look sloppy in many elements of their game and seem to lack the focus and discipline (most evident in their defence) that I think will mean they'll be really on and off in games. They don't look as well coached and/or able to bring the consistency that the top of the table teams will have. Hopefully they can tighten up and I suspect this win will be important for the team, but lots of work to do.
For The Force, that scrum became a real liability for them, but I actually thought, especially in the first half that they were doing a lot right. You could see the detail in their breakdown work, the way they were backing up in tight, short offload game, their defence looked good with nice detail, including their chop tackling hard on the ball approach with a good press that cut out the wide space reasonably well. Donaldson was entirely on song with the boot and put in a really good performance, Burey looked threatening at times and likewise had a good game overall. I thought they were actually really starting to look like a well functioning team. If it hadn't been for the one man Kellaway show in the first half I think they (The Force) might have run away with things. That Potter pass goes backwards and the mountain might have been a little too far, but an intercept (Gordon) and fortuitous bounce (Daugunu) and the Rebels had a nice little swing that they rode it all the way to the end.
Overall I like what Cron is doing with The Force, but I fear he might be a few cattle short of what they'll need to truly compete in this competition. His bench depth isn't there and the loss of Rodda is a rather big blow. They really haven't gotten a lot out of him in his tenure with all his injuries. The Rebels in comparison have a pretty handy roster, lots of individual talent and ability, some really big powerful players, but they just look sloppy in many elements of their game and seem to lack the focus and discipline (most evident in their defence) that I think will mean they'll be really on and off in games. They don't look as well coached and/or able to bring the consistency that the top of the table teams will have. Hopefully they can tighten up and I suspect this win will be important for the team, but lots of work to do.
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Adam84
Rod McCall (65)
I enjoyed the game to watch, both teams have some glaring deficiencies though. I thought the Force did more with less, there’s some high quality players in the Rebels they shouldn’t be chasing from behind as much as they are.
On paper Rebels should have lead start to finish and strolled in, but the Force did really well in comparison, especially the forward pack in the first half. Scrums excluded, obviously.
On paper Rebels should have lead start to finish and strolled in, but the Force did really well in comparison, especially the forward pack in the first half. Scrums excluded, obviously.
Shiggins
Simon Poidevin (60)
Looked like 500 people but it's a big stadium so it's deceiving. Probabaly 2-3k
Wilson
Phil Kearns (64)
Crowd was apparently 10,582, down ~5000 from the Friday last year (which also had the Rebels game):
www.theguardian.com
That said, organisers are also claiming interstate and overseas visitors were up in 2024, so crowds may improve over the weekend and the Victorian government might be interested in renewing beyond this year which is the final in the current contract. If they've got the data to back that up it should at least help getting other governments to bid more for it going forward.
Debts and debacle cloud rugby’s Super Round, but 10,582 find reason for hope
Enthusiastic and committed crowd provides optimism as 12 teams gather in Melbourne weekend of matches
www.theguardian.com
That said, organisers are also claiming interstate and overseas visitors were up in 2024, so crowds may improve over the weekend and the Victorian government might be interested in renewing beyond this year which is the final in the current contract. If they've got the data to back that up it should at least help getting other governments to bid more for it going forward.
Yoda
Cyril Towers (30)
Please … Super round needs to go to Brisbane or Sydney. That is all.Crowd was apparently 10,582, down ~5000 from the Friday last year (which also had the Rebels game):
Debts and debacle cloud rugby’s Super Round, but 10,582 find reason for hope
Enthusiastic and committed crowd provides optimism as 12 teams gather in Melbourne weekend of matches
That said, organisers are also claiming interstate and overseas visitors were up in 2024, so crowds may improve over the weekend and the Victorian government might be interested in renewing beyond this year which is the final in the current contract. If they've got the data to back that up it should at least help getting other governments to bid more for it going forward.
Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
To an interested outsider, Donaldson was better than Carter in the first half, and Carter got better as the game wore on. I thought Kellaway was actually the best for the Rebels. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) was also very busy but must have some issues in the lineout on the evidence of yesterday's game.
wamberal99
Jim Clark (26)
I think the problem was that he was pretty much the only jumper from what I could see.