Round 6: Reds v Brumbies

[Marce]

It was a very entertainment game. I have to say, it was 2 or 3 steps above Tahs-Rebels game in terms of pace and quality

 

[griffins]

They didn't come away with nothing though. A losing bonus point is in the bag. It was a missed conversion away from a win. A bit of perspective.

As for average, some of the front row and the centres are definitely average. Swain, he's just a disappointment.

Reckon they're happy winning neither of those games?

Beyond my subsequent comments on the teams being basically evenly matched, I was pretty happy with Swain topping our tackle count and leading a lineout which unsettled the reds to the point they had to throw almost exclusively to the front. I.e his core roles. I don't love the dumb penalties and I'm not saying he's a world beater but he's a solid workhorse that gives us the luxury of bringing Frost on at the back end of games which he's more suited too. The attacks on him, particularly from qld fans, need a bit of perspective.

 

[molman]

It's not only this game, but for a genuine Wallaby like McDermott, it's still pretty amazing how often his left to right pass misses the mark. It all starts from there

He bounces out a little too much too. I'd like to see more crisp passing from the base. Vintage Aaron Smith was the gold standard for a nice crisp from the base. Put some people into lovely holes over the years.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Huge Aussie 9 issue. We don’t have the bullet pass from the ground. They all take a 2 step grape vine before it. Let’s the defence get a start. I get it engages the first defender but it a pet hate of mine.

 

[molman]

I think it was a hell of a lot better and (the hated here) Swain had a very good game. Tate annoyed the hell out of me by standing at the back of the ruck and pointing - thus killing any chance of taking the game during the last 15 mins.

I thought their pressure came from their blowing the Reds away at the breakdown. They always stuck 3 in there and had the reds on their arses several times. I thought scrums were about equal but it was the speed and defence that capped the effort they put into the breakdown.
Stupid play by the Reds and poor hands makes me think Les Kiss should have them doing passing under-pressure drills all this week!

I don't think you can say it was a hell of a lot better when you still leak a similar number of points and where a missed kick away from loosing the game, but yes, my use of the word little probably wasn't correct either.

Maul defense wasn't as good as it's been in the past. Whilst I feel they had the better at the breakdown once things settled, there is a trade off to flooding it with over-committing also possibly leading to space in the line. If the Reds hadn't been so error prone, there was space out there for them to exploit because the Brumbies did become a little compressed or over spaced at times. Their ability to slow it down was crucial and then the fast press of the defense which made it hard for the Reds to find the edges generally worked well.

 

[Derpus]

From the little I have watched this year, he looks like (frustrating) Petaia from a couple of years back - occasional moments of very good interspersed with loose, high-risk rubbish. Checked out to League mentally.

Yeah he's 100% half arsing it.

 

[Derpus]

Reds not looking so sharp now at 3/6. Losing to the Force really was terrible.

 

[Tomikin]

Yeah he's 100% half arsing it.

I'd take Petaia, Toole, Wright, Kellaway on the wings before him ATM. There's some loyalty beat on test performance but also counteracted that his leaving..

 

[PhilClinton]

I know I’m a broken record with this stuff but why was HMP rotated out of the side? Creighton was a huge step down. As an outsider obviously I think HMP has been handled really well in terms of minutes, he’s had a good mixture of extended play, a start and short bursts and clearly has confidence and ability.

I understand he’s young but the Reds have a bye week ffs now.

Can’t help but feel the Reds win that game if he’s leading the show during the final 20 instead of Creighton.

Obviously if he’s injured or something none of my rant is relevant.

 

[Brumby Runner]

The Red's maul is their best weapon this year, it's been largely unstoppable and obviously they have worked very hard at it

Having said that, pretty clearly the refs have just stopped caring about the lifters obstructing and getting in front of the ball carrier to setup the maul. That was the flavour of the month this time last year wasn't it?

I agree that there have been instances, including in last night's game, where the lifters have immediately sealed the catcher from the defensive maul, but that it seems that no action is being taken on some/many instances this year. On another note, the Brumbies were penalised for pulling the Reds maul down (not the penalty try time) but the head-on shot failed to show any Brumby on the ground or pulling Fraser McReight (ball carrier) to ground. I reckon it looked for all the world that Fraser had mistaken the 5m line for the tryline and had gone to ground thinking he had scored a try. Anyone else see this?

 

[Brumby Runner]

Think he's referring to Noah's work returning kicks, and I agree with him. In general play at first receiver Noah has been better at playing flat when appropriate and picking his options, though our attack still lacks a bit of subtlety.

Precisely.

 

[liquor box]

They didn't come away with nothing though. A losing bonus point is in the bag. It was a missed conversion away from a win. A bit of perspective.

As for average, some of the front row and the centres are definitely average. Swain, he's just a disappointment.

or take shots on penalties and Reds would have won

 

[liquor box]

I know I’m a broken record with this stuff but why was HMP rotated out of the side? Creighton was a huge step down. As an outsider obviously I think HMP has been handled really well in terms of minutes, he’s had a good mixture of extended play, a start and short bursts and clearly has confidence and ability.

I understand he’s young but the Reds have a bye week ffs now.

Can’t help but feel the Reds win that game if he’s leading the show during the final 20 instead of Creighton.

Obviously if he’s injured or something none of my rant is relevant.

I don't believe it was a rotation, he has been too impressive to rotate out of the team.

I would actually give him another start soon, he was pretty impressive in every outing this season.

 

[TSR]

Chalk and cheese Mr Fromage. RV completely outplayed Harry this game.

Genuinely interested- how do you reach that conclusion?

Not saying Valetini was bad on any measure. Just don’t see why it isn’t possible both players had very good games in a game where one team lost by 1.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

There are still players to return for the Brumbies. Ikitau, AAAA, Debz, Muirhead. That will iron out the elements of average

Only the first two. The other two are the definition of average (guys every squad needs but should never really be in contention and never talked about for a Wallabies gig).

 

[Slim 293]

Genuinely interested- how do you reach that conclusion?

Not saying Valetini was bad on any measure. Just don’t see why it isn’t possible both players had very good games in a game where one team lost by 1.

Wilson had a couple of positive contributions early on, and won a lineout steal… but…

He missed a lot of tackles, and his carries were largely ineffectual.

He also doesn’t have any presence at the breakdown.

 

[TSR]

Wilson had a couple of positive contributions early on, and won a lineout steal… but…

He missed a lot of tackles, and his carries were largely ineffectual.

He also doesn’t have any presence at the breakdown.

His carries certianly weren’t ineffectual at all. His work rate is almost peerless, it was quite evident at the grounds how he constantly got the Reds over the gain line and he consistently delivered quick ball. He did miss 36% so a negative there.

I don’t agree with your assessment on his effectiveness at the break down either but that is much harder to pick up live, so I’m not going to swear he was good in this area last night. He has been very good this year though except last week when the whole Reds team was terrible.

I get club loyalties/rivalry but it seems like we’ve got to the point where some supporters seem to go out of their way to bag both Valetini & Wilson in some sort of way to pump up their own favourite.

I’ll repeat my earlier comment - it’s quite possible for both of them to have had a good game and both did last night. Some of the comments on here honestly seem far more petty than objective.

 

[cyclopath]

His carries certianly weren’t ineffectual at all. His work rate is almost peerless, it was quite evident at the grounds how he constantly got the Reds over the gain line and he consistently delivered quick ball. He did miss 36% so a negative there.

I don’t agree with your assessment on his effectiveness at the break down either but that is much harder to pick up live, so I’m not going to swear he was good in this area last night. He has been very good this year though except last week when the whole Reds team was terrible.

I get club loyalties/rivalry but it seems like we’ve got to the point where some supporters seem to go out of their way to bag both Valetini & Wilson in some sort of way to pump up their own favourite.

I’ll repeat my earlier comment - it’s quite possible for both of them to have had a good game and both did last night. Some of the comments on here honestly seem far more petty than objective.

I'd agree with this. As someone who didn't give a flying fuck who won last night, I thought both were good, albeit with some differences in their strengths. Not the same type of player, but both offering plenty of upside.
Just quietly, I reckon if Wilson had Valetini-hair, he'd stand out more!
Good to see some options there anyway.

 

[Ignoto]

I'm finding it hard to believe we're hearing about ineffective ball carriers by the Reds when it's 708 vs 413 metres made by the Reds.....

 

[Red Twist]

Reckon they're happy winning neither of those games?

Beyond my subsequent comments on the teams being basically evenly matched, I was pretty happy with Swain topping our tackle count and leading a lineout which unsettled the reds to the point they had to throw almost exclusively to the front. I.e his core roles. I don't love the dumb penalties and I'm not saying he's a world beater but he's a solid workhorse that gives us the luxury of bringing Frost on at the back end of games which he's more suited too. The attacks on him, particularly from qld fans, need a bit of perspective.

Of course they'd be happier to win. BUT, a bonus point isn't nothing. Is it? Don't care about Swain, I'm glad he's went south to become a Brumbee.