Round 4 : Rebels v Reds. Friday Night (Melbourne)

[TSR]

Sitting 4th & 3rd respectively one of the teams gets a chance here to consolidate a good start to the year and go 3-1 for the first 4 rounds. Makes it a pretty significant opportunity.

Won’t be surprised if a couple of Reds (in particular Lynagh and Fa’agase) struggle to back up (especially with a day less turn around) while I assume Leota is in doubt for the Rebels.

With Uelese finding his throwing form both lineouts were pretty good last outing.

Reds scrum was good yesterday, but Rebels scrum is humming so they will be really itching to have a crack through the pack.

Then, of course, there will be the Tupou factor. Nella will be keen to make an impact and if should be remembered Salakai-Loto, Mafi (available?) & Daugunu will all be keen to show the Reds what they are missing.

Kiss will be keen just to keep the team on the up. I wonder if he’ll want to continue with the theme of consistency in selections as much as possible or he’ll feel he needs to freshen the team up with guys like Blyth waiting for his crack and McLaughlin-Phillips keen to back up his 80th minute heroics.

Should be a cracking game. Plenty on the line. Pre-season is in the rear vision mirror and teams need to start building consistency to take them through to the back end.

 

[drewprint]

Sitting 4th & 3rd respectively one of the teams gets a chance here to consolidate a good start to the year and go 3-1 for the first 4 rounds. Makes it a pretty significant opportunity.

Won’t be surprised if a couple of Reds (in particular Lynagh and Fa’agase) struggle to back up (especially with a day less turn around) while I assume Leota is in doubt for the Rebels.

With Uelese finding his throwing form both lineouts were pretty good last outing.

Reds scrum was good yesterday, but Rebels scrum is humming so they will be really itching to have a crack through the pack.

Then, of course, there will be the Tupou factor. Nella will be keen to make an impact and if should be remembered Salakai-Loto, Mafi (available?) & Daugunu will all be keen to show the Reds what they are missing.

Kiss will be keen just to keep the team on the up. I wonder if he’ll want to continue with the theme of consistency in selections as much as possible or he’ll feel he needs to freshen the team up with guys like Blyth waiting for his crack and McLaughlin-Phillips keen to back up his 80th minute heroics.

Should be a cracking game. Plenty on the line. Pre-season is in the rear vision mirror and teams need to start building consistency to take them through to the back end.

I’m hoping it’s Les Kiss and the Reds who show Tupou, Mafi etc what they are missing.

 

[TSR]

Definitely. Me too.

But I don’t think it’ll be a specific focus of Kiss, whereas I assume Nella would have this game circled in his diary.

 

[liquor box]

Definitely. Me too.

But I don’t think it’ll be a specific focus of Kiss, whereas I assume Nella would have this game circled in his diary.

I think he will get a yellow or red card trying to prove himself, probably from a shoulder charge

 

[NCT]

I think LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) is the ex Red to watch, seems very active and strong.

 

[Sully]

It has to be remembered that none of these players were sacked by the Reds. They all left of their own accord.

Having said that, the Rebels are clearly the better side and should win by 12.

 

[Dctarget]

Very sad to not be able to attend in person but comfortable knowing the packed stadium of Melbourne fans will carry the boys home, Rebels by 20+.

 

[Ignoto]

Hopefully we absolutely roll these tax dodgers.

Just think of the stadium rebuild we could do if the Rebels actually paid the tax man. Les should tell the boys, the Rebels are the reason why they had to use 1 Ply until the Reno!

 

[PhilClinton]

If Thorn was still at the Reds I think there would be a bit more venom involved in this game. He was played up as the big factor in a lot of the QLD based Rebels leaving.

I can’t see Taniela, Mafi etc being overly worked up about this. I mean they still spent their off-season back at their homes in Brisbane and hanging out with most of their ex-teammates.

 

[KevinO]

Hopefully we absolutely roll these tax dodgers.

Just think of the stadium rebuild we could do if the Rebels actually paid the tax man. Les should tell the boys, the Rebels are the reason why they had to use 1 Ply until the Reno!

Rebels are Mexicans, so of course they are Tax dodgers.

Well hoping the Rebels can put in a good performance, maybe a whole 70 minutes will be enough, cause the last two games they have managed wins but have still not played well for enough of the game to really put their opposition away.

LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) I was never really that impressed with before, but I have noticed he does a lot of the grunt work of the pack and really took leadership when Leota went off last week. Hoping he is good to go this week as our back row depth is already tested.

 

[Wilson]

Interested to see if anyone is unable to back up/needs a rest for us. This will be our 2nd 6 day turn around in a row off the back of a very tough physical game. Smith has gotten through a mountain of work and Uru looked like he took a heavy knock at one point, with Blyth having had a few Academy games I won't be surprised he comes in and there's a bit of a rotation of the locks.

 

[PhilClinton]

With all due respect, these guys are professionals who are paid to get through a mountain of work and play in a relatively short professional competition. Unless they’re injured I would hope we aren’t rotating blokes out completely just for a rest.

 

[Ignoto]

I wouldn't call it a rest, but you still want to manage game time minutes / load on a player to ensure that they're able to perform across the season rather than load them up and wonder why they start breaking down.

Uru cramped up big time at the tail end of that game and it wasn't that warm on Saturday. I'd suggest he either needs to come off earlier or have Cormac start with Uru coming off the bench.

 

[PhilClinton]

I wouldn't call it a rest, but you still want to manage game time minutes / load on a player to ensure that they're able to perform across the season rather than load them up and wonder why they start breaking down.

Uru cramped up big time at the tail end of that game and it wasn't that warm on Saturday. I'd suggest he either needs to come off earlier or have Cormac start with Uru coming off the bench.

Whilst I don't want to go down this rabbit hole, there have been a number of load management/rest studies conducted over the past few years, particularly with the big money American sports.

Essentially the results found voluntary rest wasn't a factor over the course of a season when it came to increased major injury risk.

Points around minute management and how a players fitness might be a factor are obviously valid. But I don't like the idea of players missing full games simply for rest when we play such a short season.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

Talk about where players development goes to die. Alex Mafi firming for a Wallabies debut v France (2021). Got injured, moved to Melbourne never to be discussed again.

 

[PhilClinton]

Talk about where players development goes to die. Alex Mafi firming for a Wallabies debut v France (2021). Got injured, moved to Melbourne never to be discussed again.

Mafi's work around the park in 2024 has been really good, great support running. His lineout throwing has fallen off a bit though which is a shame.

Will be interesting to see how he goes this weekend when compared alongside Faessler who essentially flew through the ranks and leapfrogged Mafi for a Wallabies jersey.

 

[Confucius Say]

There’s always the mental side of a rest. Kiss seems very intense and that style of coach can test the guys who have to run out each week and do the physical work. Having said that, from the start of the season he has openly promoted the philosophy of players being able to play multiple positions and that it will take “all of us” to win. So I believe he will be all over it. He’s the most professional Reds coach since McKenzie.

 

[LeCheese]

From a player's perspective, the other issue with a rest is that the bloke replacing you has an absolute blinder. With the depth (and players with similar attributes) the Reds have in some positions, it's a real possibility. Just look at Henry sticking his hand up last week, making him difficult to ignore for at least a bench spot - and that's without even considering JOC (James O'Connor) probably slots in somewhere.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Rest is primarily an injury prevention thing though right? The more matches you play in a row, the higher your chance of being injured (or at least that's how previous coaches have justified it).

So if you don't rest players, they will get hurt and give up the the spot anyway

 

[LeCheese]

Rest is primarily an injury prevention thing though right? The more matches you play in a row, the higher your chance of being injured (or at least that's how previous coaches have justified it).

So if you don't rest players, they will get hurt and give up the the spot anyway

Quoting so not to steal Phil's thunder:

Whilst I don't want to go down this rabbit hole, there have been a number of load management/rest studies conducted over the past few years, particularly with the big money American sports.

Essentially the results found voluntary rest wasn't a factor over the course of a season when it came to increased major injury risk.

Points around minute management and how a players fitness might be a factor are obviously valid. But I don't like the idea of players missing full games simply for rest when we play such a short season.