Marbig
Chris McKivat (8)
Still really needs to cut out the dumb penalties. From the side directly in front of the ref and diving at the knees with a shoulder. Hoping he can finally start to rein it in this year
Waratahs v Highlanders, Rd 1, Fri 14 6.35pm 2025
- Thread starter Sully
- Start date
A mutterer
Chilla Wilson (44)
great to see porecki put in some big minutes, glad to see him back. our pack looked way hungrier than recent years. gleeson putting his hand up for a lions spot, hard graft all game.
as expected a tahs first game, lots of clunkiness. big difference is we took the win. great work by a debutant with the confidence to take it in tight and win the game. we would have choked most years in that situation.
re: crowd, no industrial action, valentines, and rain and you'd expect more for next game.
as expected a tahs first game, lots of clunkiness. big difference is we took the win. great work by a debutant with the confidence to take it in tight and win the game. we would have choked most years in that situation.
re: crowd, no industrial action, valentines, and rain and you'd expect more for next game.
Froggy
Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Good to get a win but it was pretty uninspiring. We were really lazy at the breakdown, a lot of kicking that didn't really seem to have a purpose to it, and periods of just not thinking. I've seen some criticism of Gleeson here, but I thought he was one our our best. Bell was an absolute monster, Gamble worked really hard and I thought JAS and Jorgo were both good. Amatosero is huge, but he adds very little in both attack and defence, I thought Leota was a bit disappointing, probably showing signs of having been out of the game for a fair while, and I thought Kellaway was very poor in defence.
Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
With some time having passed, I'm more sanguine about the game. A lot of the second tier stepped up, the Wallabies returning probably need more edges ground off, and we got pooched hard by a couple of absolutely weird refereeing decisions TBH.
So did the Clan, but the outcomes were different.
We killed several scoring opportunities with poor kicks, and a couple of silly errors let them stay in the game.
I thought our breakdown work was generally accurate and fairly robust, but we had situations were we had a runner isolated and got turned over.
Vailanu was fucking massive. Sure Amone scored the try, but Mahe nabbed a couple of key turnovers in the leadup that kept us in touch. His lineout throwing is now great as well: core tasks first and add-ons later.
JAS moves like he's in bullet time with no cooldown.
So did the Clan, but the outcomes were different.
We killed several scoring opportunities with poor kicks, and a couple of silly errors let them stay in the game.
I thought our breakdown work was generally accurate and fairly robust, but we had situations were we had a runner isolated and got turned over.
Vailanu was fucking massive. Sure Amone scored the try, but Mahe nabbed a couple of key turnovers in the leadup that kept us in touch. His lineout throwing is now great as well: core tasks first and add-ons later.
JAS moves like he's in bullet time with no cooldown.
Curious as to what they were...
Crashy
Nicholas Shehadie (39)
TSR
Andrew Slack (58)
After last year good for the Tahs to kick off the year with a win. Especially given they had to show composure at the end. Congrats Tahs fans - the season where no Aussie team won any super rugby game over NZ teams still haunts me so personally I’m happy to get one under our collective belts.
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Hawko
Tony Shaw (54)
I was at the game and thought that the Tah performance wasn't all that good. I thought the Highlanders were defensively excellent and some other teams will find them very tough to beat. Their midfield is colossal and the whole team is very hard to break down.
After I got home I watched the replay and from that I thought my opinion at the game was too harsh. The Tahs played pretty well in patches and the Highlanders, although limited in some of their play, were very good at taking advantage of Waratah mistakes. As Lindommer said to me we are weak in the centres and at lock and I would add at openside too. But some patches of play were really good and as the season progresses I expect those patches of good play to extend out much further. We are not yet a top four side but I think we should be able to go on and solidify ourselves in the next tier and then with a bit of luck and a fair run with injuries anything could happen.
After I got home I watched the replay and from that I thought my opinion at the game was too harsh. The Tahs played pretty well in patches and the Highlanders, although limited in some of their play, were very good at taking advantage of Waratah mistakes. As Lindommer said to me we are weak in the centres and at lock and I would add at openside too. But some patches of play were really good and as the season progresses I expect those patches of good play to extend out much further. We are not yet a top four side but I think we should be able to go on and solidify ourselves in the next tier and then with a bit of luck and a fair run with injuries anything could happen.
KOB1987
John Eales (66)
My son and a couple of his mates went to a pub in Newcastle to watch it, they had to convince them to put it on instead of whatever league preseason game was on, into the second half the whole pub was right into it and supporting the Tahs.
TSR
Andrew Slack (58)
Yes - sorry. I really should proof read my posts better. I’m corrected now.
Dan54
David Wilson (68)
Was a good game, and although there were plenty of mistakes and team I was supporting lost, I thought it was a great way to start season.
Don't underestimate how much winning in last minute of game will do to a; get Tah's people back at games for the excitement and b; get them switching on their tvs.
I think the Tahs would/should be happy with win, but feel maybe they should of done better with their line up, but a few weeks will see them operate smoother no doubt.
The Clan I thought would also be happy even if they would of been disappointed with result. They basically got 2 test players only in that squad, that includes Fakatava who will probably never make ABs again. So they would be happyish with a bloody young team, but need to get some more locks to give Holland and Dunshea rests at some stage.
One thing I did notice and really like was when a Highlanders player was taking pillar spot at breakdown, that they won, Gus penalised him. When I read this tweek in law wasn't sure about it, but only time in both games it cam into play, I really saw it's purpose!!
Don't underestimate how much winning in last minute of game will do to a; get Tah's people back at games for the excitement and b; get them switching on their tvs.
I think the Tahs would/should be happy with win, but feel maybe they should of done better with their line up, but a few weeks will see them operate smoother no doubt.
The Clan I thought would also be happy even if they would of been disappointed with result. They basically got 2 test players only in that squad, that includes Fakatava who will probably never make ABs again. So they would be happyish with a bloody young team, but need to get some more locks to give Holland and Dunshea rests at some stage.
One thing I did notice and really like was when a Highlanders player was taking pillar spot at breakdown, that they won, Gus penalised him. When I read this tweek in law wasn't sure about it, but only time in both games it cam into play, I really saw it's purpose!!
TSR
Andrew Slack (58)
That of itself is a nice little win.
Heavyd
Arch Winning (36)
I reckon the RTBU knobs cost the Tahs about 2-3k crowd with them holding Sydney to ransom. Also Valentine’s Day another sub optimal date so 16000 whilst not ideal is a good start. Would hope to see that figure nudge to 20k against the entertaining Drua in a fortnight.
The Tahs review session will be tough to watch for some players with stupid kicks being the theme of the night.
The Tahs review session will be tough to watch for some players with stupid kicks being the theme of the night.
Adam84
Rod McCall (65)
Not a bad figure given the train strikes… but would have been hoping for much more given the pre-season hype around all the new players
Yoda
Bill McLean (32)
Both Edmed and Bowen didn’t play well. Rudderless.
Dismal Pillock
Michael Lynagh (62)
This was a good, keen match. Way better viewing than Razor's 2024 Gold Watch Farewell Tour for The Slow Men of Yesteryear.
Sam Gilbert must drive Landers fans around the bend. Bloke seems to constantly overestimate his own abilities which leads to fuckup after fuckup
Auckland Blues squaddie Tangitau with a match-winning double. You cannot stop the Auckland Blues, you can only hope to contain them.
Sam Gilbert must drive Landers fans around the bend. Bloke seems to constantly overestimate his own abilities which leads to fuckup after fuckup
Great night with Hawko at the SFS, how good is it to snag a win in the 80th minute? Met up with John at The Shakespeare (where I sprung fatprop doing his bit to improve the publican's financial wellbeing) before the game. If there's a better pre-game experience than meeting in a Sydney pub I haven't found it.
Not much I can add to what's been posted above. I stand by my remark to Hawko about the second row and centres. Sinclair is an honest toiler who never shirks the hard stuff, but, he's not big enough; Hugh will never be a rock shifter at the breakdown. Miles Amatosero is carrying that Christian name under false pretences; it should be yards, or feet! For a bloke of his height and weight he looks like Tarzan but plays like Jane. If any of the other big blokes who can play 4 or 5 feel like putting their hands up, pull yer fingers out! Same for the centres: Walton simply isn't big enough to truck the pill up into heavy traffic.
Two things must be addressed before the next match:
1. The kicking overall was execrable. Three Clan tries came from stupid box kicks, two directly and the other indirectly. If anyone from the Tahs' brains trust reads this, NO MORE BOX KICKING! The other out-of-hand kicking by the Tahs wasn't so flash either.
2. All Tahs players have to be much more urgent, and accurate, supporting the ball carrier at the breakdown. To give away so many penalties due to an isolated ball carrier is sloppy (and lazy) in the extreme. On a positive note this should be relatively easy to fix on the training paddock.
A parting observation: as a former referee I can tell you refs subconciously concentrate on something that gets their attention early in a match. Last night Gardner pinged a coupla breakdowns for holding the ball very early on, and then hammered it for the rest of the match. Smart teams adjust, the Tahs didn't.
Not much I can add to what's been posted above. I stand by my remark to Hawko about the second row and centres. Sinclair is an honest toiler who never shirks the hard stuff, but, he's not big enough; Hugh will never be a rock shifter at the breakdown. Miles Amatosero is carrying that Christian name under false pretences; it should be yards, or feet! For a bloke of his height and weight he looks like Tarzan but plays like Jane. If any of the other big blokes who can play 4 or 5 feel like putting their hands up, pull yer fingers out! Same for the centres: Walton simply isn't big enough to truck the pill up into heavy traffic.
Two things must be addressed before the next match:
1. The kicking overall was execrable. Three Clan tries came from stupid box kicks, two directly and the other indirectly. If anyone from the Tahs' brains trust reads this, NO MORE BOX KICKING! The other out-of-hand kicking by the Tahs wasn't so flash either.
2. All Tahs players have to be much more urgent, and accurate, supporting the ball carrier at the breakdown. To give away so many penalties due to an isolated ball carrier is sloppy (and lazy) in the extreme. On a positive note this should be relatively easy to fix on the training paddock.
A parting observation: as a former referee I can tell you refs subconciously concentrate on something that gets their attention early in a match. Last night Gardner pinged a coupla breakdowns for holding the ball very early on, and then hammered it for the rest of the match. Smart teams adjust, the Tahs didn't.
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