Super Rugby AU Grand Final - Reds v Brumbies - Saturday 8th May 2021

[TSR]

I didn't have a dog in the fight
I thought the ref succumbed to the pressure of the moment.
Reds get held up.
He says no try, but I was secretly playing advantage for an offence by a player that I won't nominate.

Not good enough, in my view.

Watch the replay. He puts his hand up as ASY (Angus Scott-Young) picks and you can clearly hear him giving multiple warnings to stay onside and then he calls offside. The confusion is because it is all in a two second window BUT he was playing the advantage. It is very clear in the replay.

 

[TSR]

One of the great things about the game was how much the Wallaby aspirants stood up.

McReight, Tupou, Valetini and White all had great games but plenty of others right alongside them. I thought it was notable how Wilson nailed Valetini in defence several times (right up to the point where he knocked himself out trying to get him again.) Stewart also made a lot of critical tackles. I thought all 4 locks were great and Frost also did very well in the unfamiliar 6 position. Special note too to Ala'alatoa - the Brumbies struggled a bit at scrums, but Ala'alatoa’s a round effort is so impressive. Lonergan has some work to do on his set piece (all of the hookers throwing needs some work) but he was excellent in his general play.

 

[dru]

Like many others I thought Berry had a great game, but when someone like McKellar suggests that Ref performance should be considered I think we should listen up. At the end, that advantage was not picked up by Mckellar, nor the Stan commentary. The penalty count, and card count was lop-sided.

I think results of an analysis Berry's performance will show:
x he was even handed
x the Reds were that much more disciplined than the Brumbies
x the advantage was justified
x it was a decent performance from one of our better Refs.

Though I understand there are others who strongly disagree.

 

[Adam84]

Watch the replay. He puts his hand up as ASY (Angus Scott-Young) picks and you can clearly hear him giving multiple warnings to stay onside and then he calls offside. The confusion is because it is all in a two second window BUT he was playing the advantage. It is very clear in the replay.

This is true, Simone

And it’s because Stowers and Simone mainly were both past the last feet, extremely difficult situation to defend noting the obstruction of the goal posts

 

[Finsbury Girl]

Close game but the best team in the comp won.

Not surprised the ACT are the most penalised team in the comp. A load of off the ruck shit which they were extremely lucky to get away with. In my day when Swain knocked over McReight he would received a few I can you tell you. What a dog.

McReight easily the best player in the tournament. Absolutely immense. ASY (Angus Scott-Young) proved why he deserved the 6 jersey.

Bring on the kiwis.

 

[Adam84]

In my day when Swain knocked over McReight he would received a few I can you tell you. What a dog.

Come on now, there was nothing in it and McReight played it up. No need to call a player a dog, unnecessary chat

 

[Finsbury Girl]

Come on now, there was nothing in it and McReight played it up.

Nah mate it was deliberate dickheadedness. Deserved a few love taps in the least.

 

[TSR]

I loved the exchange. We want this guys to be into each other.

Darcy Swain is looking increasingly likely to get Wallaby time. I want him out there pushing his weight around and not backing down.

There really wasn’t much in the actual incident. I have no idea whether Swain heard the ref or not. But I want to see him and Salakai-Loto not give an inch.

 

[Adam84]

Nah mate it was deliberate dickheadedness. Deserved a few love taps in the least.

Yes deserved love taps which he got from LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) and that passion is good to see, doesn’t require someone on the internet calling him a dog, Tupou did the same shit for years.

 

[Up the Guts]

Close game but the best team in the comp won.

Not surprised the ACT are the most penalised team in the comp. A load of off the ruck shit which they were extremely lucky to get away with. In my day when Swain knocked over McReight he would received a few I can you tell you. What a dog.

McReight easily the best player in the tournament. Absolutely immense. ASY (Angus Scott-Young) proved why he deserved the 6 jersey.

Bring on the kiwis.

McReight had a dive after being tackled legally by Swain. Glad that new gen QLDers like Fraser have wisened up to trying to milk penalties rather than getting themselves binned for Neanderthal shit off the ball. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto)’s little outburst after the tackle is why he won’t be playing much test footy till he can keep his cool.

 

[TSR]

Crap. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) handled it perfectly. Got straight onto him to let him know the Reds wouldn’t by pushed around. Didn’t do anything that could potentially cause a reversal of the penalty.

Fuck me - do we want our locks to be in physical or not.

 

[dru]

Nah mate it was deliberate dickheadedness. Deserved a few love taps in the least.

Nope. He simply did not hear the whistle.

 

[Up the Guts]

One of the great things about the game was how much the Wallaby aspirants stood up.

McReight, Tupou, Valetini and White all had great games but plenty of others right alongside them. I thought it was notable how Wilson nailed Valetini in defence several times (right up to the point where he knocked himself out trying to get him again.) Stewart also made a lot of critical tackles. I thought all 4 locks were great and Frost also did very well in the unfamiliar 6 position. Special note too to Ala'alatoa - the Brumbies struggled a bit at scrums, but Ala'alatoa’s a round effort is so impressive. Lonergan has some work to do on his set piece (all of the hookers throwing needs some work) but he was excellent in his general play.

Hmm, not sure Wilson really nailed Rob at all. He certainly made a couple of nice leg tackles on him but nailed, not sure? Thought Stewart was anonymous, Flook much more worthy of a callout in the end.

Rough that Lolesio didn’t rate a mention, if the Reds had knocked it on he would have been up there to receive MOTM. As good as JOC (James O'Connor) in that game.

 

[TSR]

I’m just imagining if that had have happened in front of Retallick, Itoje or Etzebeth.

 

[brumbiesrugby]

It was a very exciting game made more so by the fact that the scores were close. That was almost always going to be the case given the recent history between the two sides. That also meant it was likely to go down to the wire and that the referee would likely play a part in the match. In most sports but particularly sports like Rugby and Cricket there has been a definite attempt to avoid perceptions of bias by appointing neutral referees. Unfortunately in this case the appointment of a former player for Queensland in such a significant game fails the perception test. I struggle to think of any other major sport where a former player of one of the two teams participating in a match would be given the job of officiating. As much as it would be great for Nic Berry to have got the job because he was the highest rated referee it should have been clear that in this game it should and could have been avoided - particularly since he'd refereed both matches previously. Its not like there is a shortage of quality referees in the game at the moment - either of Damon Murphy or Amy Perrett could have done it - with Amy as a NSW based referee the obvious choice. In which case much of the flack would not exist. Nic did a good job but was put in a difficult position by the circumstances of the match which is what has led to the criticism. That could have been avoided.

 

[Up the Guts]

Crap. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) handled it perfectly. Got straight onto him to let him know the Reds wouldn’t by pushed around. Didn’t do anything that could potentially cause a reversal of the penalty.

Fuck me - do we want our locks to be in physical or not.

Oh miss me with the “we need to be aggressive” line when aggression is just throwing meaningless handbags. Aggression is not his issue, controlling his temper is, you can see how close he is to losing it in that exchange. Dane Coles et al. will goad him into yet another red card if he can’t keep his shit together.

 

[Adam84]

Oh miss me with the “we need to be aggressive” line when aggression is just throwing meaningless handbags. Aggression is not his issue, controlling his temper is, you can see how close he is to losing it in that exchange. Dane Coles et al. will goad him into yet another red card if he can’t keep his shit together.

Has he ever been red carded for hitting someone?

I know he tackles high and leads with a shoulder occasionally which is a technique issue, I don’t really think it’s an uncontrolled temper issue though?

 

[TSR]

Hmm, not sure Wilson really nailed Rob at all. He certainly made a couple of nice leg tackles on him but nailed, not sure? Thought Stewart was anonymous, Flook much more worthy of a callout in the end.

Rough that Lolesio didn’t rate a mention, if the Reds had knocked it on he would have been up there to receive MOTM. As good as JOC (James O'Connor) in that game.

On Wilson - I agree. When I said nailed I just meant that he cut him down on the spot which is significant in itself when you look at Valetini’s impact. From memory the only time he tried to go high and put on a shot was when he got knocked out.

I largely agree on Lolesio too. I didn’t quite have him in MOM territory, but I thought he was great. There were lots of outstanding players I didn’t mention - I left JOC (James O'Connor) & ASY (Angus Scott-Young) out too. It didn’t mean I didn’t think they played well.

Stewart made plenty of positives contributions. But he is the ASY (Angus Scott-Young) of our backline. When you consider the way the respective teams played, the ball control & the field position Qlds win was at about our defence and the contributions of ASY (Angus Scott-Young), Smith, Flook, Petaia & even McDermott in defence kept us in the position to win the game at the end. It’s been noted that the Reds backline barely fired a shot. But the Brumbies were firing shots all game and only managed 1 try off an excellent bit of attacking play and barely a line break. That’s where the game was won.

 

[TSR]

Oh miss me with the “we need to be aggressive” line when aggression is just throwing meaningless handbags. Aggression is not his issue, controlling his temper is, you can see how close he is to losing it in that exchange. Dane Coles et al. will goad him into yet another red card if he can’t keep his shit together.

Like I said - he got in his face but never did anything that would cause a sanction.

Your speculating that he was close to the edge but Salakai-Loto is always first into those exchanges and never does anything that will warrant sanction in those situations.

And yes, I do think aggression, assertiveness and not backing down is extremely important. Players talk about the need not to be pushed around all the time. Tell me which international lock worth his salt wouldn’t have run in then?

 

[Slim 293]

There was a moment that I felt highlighted how good both Wilson and Valetini are………….

Valetini made a charge that would’ve usually seen seen him drag along a few defenders with him, but Wilson rushed up and made a good shot on him that halted his momentum, but to Valetini’s credit he still managed to collect a couple of extra post contact metres.