Super Rugby 2023 Rd 2: Force v Reds, Sun 5th Mar

[GaffaCHinO]

I wonder if Force need better recruiting, I wondered a little with getting Chas Tiatia, a player who tries, but was very much a bench player for the Canes and Chiefs. Perhaps chase a starters etc?

This is the biggest issue. Recruitment has always been at the top of the pile. The issue is that there isn't an incentive to come to Perth given the salary cap. All the top tier players stay on the east receiving top ups from RA along with their club payments. The second tier playwrs also stay because of the convenience of remaining home and being in a successful team which increases their profile. For the force to get quality players via recruitment they always have to pay overs. the AFL understood this issue and introduced the COLA payments for the Sydney Swans hence Buddy Franklin which has turned out alright for everyone. Everyone always talks about Twiggy and his money but he isn't allowed to spend anything on players as it all got to be done under the salary cap.

 

[Tazzmania]

The red mist has finally cleared, that performance was totally unacceptable and hopefully the players own it, learn from it and move forward again.

We were totally outplayed both physically, mentally, skill wise and every which way.

The Reds style of play appears to be an archilies heal for us, last year and in the pre season trial they used similar tactics and tore us apart all three times, this week being the worst. In soccer terms it looked like an A league team playing and English Premier league team, the gulf between the two was enormous.

A lot of negatives and too many to list all but here are two that we probably knew would come back to bite us from the start of the year:

* Lack of depth at outside centre
* Lack of big body forwards

Positives are few and far between but here are three:

* We need to clone Jermey Thrush, you cannot buy that sort of heart and determination.
* Felix Kalapu keeps on trying and trying giving his all.
* Jackson Pugh despite his yellow card showed grit and determination when he came on.

We all have bad days at work, unfortunatly for sports teams its more visible and more open to critism. If we have a bad day at work we do not give up the job, we go home refocus and try and start again the next day, the team needs to the same.

I will be there and I am sure many more sea of blue fans will be as well to support and get behind the team on Saturday and make sure in this dark time they know they are supported and they still have us to back them up irrespective of what happened and help them move forward.

 

[Equalizer]

We'll get there. I think the coach is an upgrade. We have some better players and a but of depth but we really need a couple of superstar players who can take over a game. Maybe the younger Mataele will get a run sometime . Koteka and Pasitoa will be welcome returns eventually. A bounce back is imperative against the Pacifica although I have some concerns about what the crowd size might be.

 

[Boof1050]

Considering Ed Sheeran is on the same afternoon/night i'm not holding out much hope!

 

[Tazzmania]

Considering Ed Sheeran is on the same afternoon/night i'm not holding out much hope!

Thankfully he is on Sunday night, we play Saturday.

 

[Boof1050]

Thankfully he is on Sunday night, we play Saturday.

Yeah my bad I just checked that!

 

[Tazzmania]

Siosifa Amone issued a Warning

In his finding, Foul Play Review Committee Chair Michael Heron KC ruled the following:
"Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, including all camera angles
and additional evidence, including from the player and submissions from his legal representative,
Michael Tudori, the Foul Play Review Committee found the foul play did not breach the Red Card
threshold."
"With respect to sanction the Foul Play Review Committee deemed the act of foul play merited a
Warning as it was close to, but did not breach the Red Card threshold. The Foul Play Review
Committee deemed that the tackle was low force and additional players being involved within the
tackle, mitigated the sanction to a Warning.

 

[Lightblue]

I wouldn’t think having one of his most solid and longest performances for the Reds is the end of it…

For a top class NRL winger he is hugely disappointing. If you call his last game a challenge to any of the 5 or 6 wingers ahead of him you are dreaming. Off the ball he does nothing. He looks lost often and even in his try he was only going 3/4 pace and pulled up with cramps. Seriously. Paying him all that money and to think we let a bloke like Mack Hansen slip out.?

 

[Derpus]

For a top class NRL winger he is hugely disappointing. If you call his last game a challenge to any of the 5 or 6 wingers ahead of him you are dreaming. Off the ball he does nothing. He looks lost often and even in his try he was only going 3/4 pace and pulled up with cramps. Seriously. Paying him all that money and to think we let a bloke like Mack Hansen slip out.?

Its hard to predict when an injury will derail someone's career. Could've happened to MK too.

I doubt we were ever likely to throw Vunivalu money at Hansen? Or do you mean we would be better off dispersing that kind of money amongst the broader player base (I would agree with this).

Throwing wads of cash at league players will ultimately only provide a small boost to the prospects of the Wobs and has a pretty poor return on investment overall.

 

[Wilson]

Covid also played a major role in Vunivalu's shaky conversion as it saw the amount of Rugby available to him massively reduced - the NRC was scrapped, bio-bubbles limited his ability to go play club rugby and there was no EOYT for him to join initially in the way that Koroibete did.

Potentially it also saw an increase in training volume to fill the development and fitness void, but that's probably a more tenuous argument. Certainly the plans that had been in place for his transition were thrown into disarray.

 

[Lightblue]

Its hard to predict when an injury will derail someone's career. Could've happened to MK too.

I doubt we were ever likely to throw Vunivalu money at Hansen? Or do you mean we would be better off dispersing that kind of money amongst the broader player base (I would agree with this).

Throwing wads of cash at league players will ultimately only provide a small boost to the prospects of the Wobs and has a pretty poor return on investment overall.

“Or do you mean we would be better off dispersing that kind of money amongst the broader player base (I would agree with this).”

Yes. Definitely. You can imagine some players in the squads seeing what Vunivalu has been paid and what they are on, and being a little annoyed… not sure if annoyed is the right word, but you get my drift.

More players may take Hansen’s option and take a gig overseas for the cash if they also get more games to hone their craft.

Also agree that paying league players exorbitant amounts is ridiculous.

Having said all that I was looking forward to Vunivalu killing it but alas he has not!

Glad we secured young Jorgenson! He looks quality.