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Waratahs vs Crusaders 2014 Super Rugby Grand Final

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Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
The back handed bit about ANZ from Crusader land is that we are doing it to chase the money. Georgina Robinson tweet earlier today
 

Crashy

John Solomon (38)
But if we're at 50k then the decision to play at Anz is justified isn't it? I would dearly love the game to be at the Sfs the Tahs need all the cash they can get don't they?
God that's a Sydney view on life! All about the cash. But as nswru gets a percentage of the waratahs profit, the more money earned the better for grass roots.
 

TahDan

Cyril Towers (30)
But if we're at 50k then the decision to play at Anz is justified isn't it? I would dearly love the game to be at the Sfs the Tahs need all the cash they can get don't they?
God that's a Sydney view on life! All about the cash. But as nswru gets a percentage of the waratahs profit, the more money earned the better for grass roots.
Ideally you'd want the crowd to by 65k+ if you're playing it at Homebush. It's pretty awesome being there when it's full, even if the view and noise is still better at the SFS.

To be honest I reckon it's pretty disappointing that the Tahs won't fill the place out. I mean for fuck sake, if a random glorified brand from the UK can get 90k in Melbourne to play a game that means absolutely nothing, then Sydney is kidding if it can't get 80k to this thing.
 

ACT Crusader

Jim Lenehan (48)
What I was more implying there was that if one team treats a game like a grand final and the other treats it like any other match, then the one playing for more often gets the win, simply because they want it so much more.

I don't think the Crusaders will be playing this with anything like the calm that you're suggesting, but if they were you'd definitely install the 'Tahs as favourites because you'd know that they'd leave absolutely nothing out there.

Just on the crowd, it might not be fashionable to say this, but I'd love to see Blatchy's Blues get their crew going for this. It would add a bit of colour and added parochialism to the whole thing if you could get them on board.

I'm not talking about effort out on the park TahDan, it's all the "other pressure" that seems to be floating about regarding the "biggest game ever for the Tahs", "it's been 18 years we've been waiting" "it's not just about the Tahs but for the good of OZ rugby" etc that can build in the minds of players as the occasion gets closer.

If those things are true for the Waratahs, those are potentially extra burdens (or motivators) for the players.

As for the Crusaders, the "good of NZ rugby" is not going to be a factor based on any result come Saturday night.
 

TahDan

Cyril Towers (30)
I'm not talking about effort out on the park TahDan, it's all the "other pressure" that seems to be floating about regarding the "biggest game ever for the Tahs", "it's been 18 years we've been waiting" "it's not just about the Tahs but for the good of OZ rugby" etc that can build in the minds of players as the occasion gets closer.

If those things are true for the Waratahs, those are potentially extra burdens (or motivators) for the players.

As for the Crusaders, the "good of NZ rugby" is not going to be a factor based on any result come Saturday night.


You hit the nail on the head when you say burdens or motivators. It really depends on the mindset of the guys. They've been handling the pressure alright this season, and so hopefully it'll be purely a motivator for them.

That said, the Crusaders have a lot of talent at their disposal and a more precise game than the Waratahs, so we'll likely need more than passion to win in any case.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
I reckon the Tahs should be disappointed with a crowd of anything under 100,000. I mean they got that for the Opening Ceremony back in 2000 which was just some 12 year old girl singing and some runner carrying a torch.

Sure the capacity is only 80,000 now but fuck why can't they sell tickets for $5 for people to stand in the aisles! They would go like hotcakes (which are also around $5, incidentally).
.
 
M

Moono75

Guest
Strong corporate suite sales with 195 of the 230 sold. Of course 185 of those were bought by HSBC.......sponsorship blunder 101. Volvo must be laughing.
 

Hawko

Tony Shaw (54)
That said, the Crusaders have a lot of talent at their disposal and a more precise game than the Waratahs, so we'll likely need more than passion to win in any case.

Have you watched the precise play of the Crusader backline this year? If the Waratahs backline played like that at training you'd hear Cheika's abuse out at Penrith! I assume the precision referred to is the ability to achieve precise play at speed. On any measure the Tahs have shown that in spades this year.

If you take Nadolo out of their backline the Crusaders have looked totally pedestrian. Nadolo is just imitating Lomu. Remember what happened to Lomu in the WC final in 95? He got gang tackled and rendered harmless. Same will happen to Nadolo. Take him out and the Crusaders are totally lacking in penetration. Their back play can be best summarised by the sentence "Slade, Carter and Dagg kick well."

In the forwards you would say that their set piece is very good. If that's enough to claim a win, good luck to them. But everywhere else I reckon the Waratah forwards at least break even. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Crusaders handle the physicality and pace of TPN, Kepu, Douglas, Jackpot, Hooper and Palu. I don't think they've played against that level of physicality yet this year; welcome to ANZ guys, it ain't gonna be no picnic!

The Crusaders are better at the scrum, lineout, field and goal kicking. Will that be enough to win? I don't think so.
 

qwerty51

Stirling Mortlock (74)
No one has mentioned the shit Allianz surface which curtailed the Tahs running game last week too and would've played right into the Crusaders hands. There's an NRL game on the Friday before at ANZ but the surface there is much better.
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
The Tahs set piece is poor compared to the Saders.

The Reds and Brumbies both dished them up.

Both backlines are great.

IF the Tahs can get some parity from 1-8 then they will win. If not then YUK

Looking forward to a great game with the Tahs to win (I hope).

Just hope NSW supporters come along in droves, support their team and create an atmosphere that lifts the boys that extra 5%.
 

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
The Tahs set piece is poor compared to the Saders.

The Reds and Brumbies both dished them up.



Well, having not seen the Reds game, I'm of the opinion that the Brumbies had moments of dominance but the Tahs finished over the top of them, particularly in the scrum. We shoved them off the ball twice, while they could only get a decision from the ref - the first one of which was utterly dodgy, and the second of which was bullshit owing to Fardy joining the front row.

Yes its asking a lot of Joubers to make sure things are done right, but at least he'll listen to his ARs, unlike Peyper.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
The Tahs set piece is poor compared to the Saders.

The Reds and Brumbies both dished them up.

Against the Brumbies we lost two lineouts on own throw and pinched one of theirs.

We won two scrums against the feed (although one we knocked on).

Our lineout was certainly under pressure but over the course of the game I don't think our set piece was beaten overall.
 
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