Western Force 2012

[Lee Grant]

It looks like Wing is another kind of notter in rugby terms: not an Aussie because he doesn't want to give up his Asian status for his Japanese club in the 2012/13 season, and not a foreigner. Curious.

Robbie said that the midweek Scotland game will be primarily Force and Reds because we both have the bye.

This makes sense but it could be another Samoa banana skin, even though the visitors will probably play a lot of their dirt trackers midweek as part of Scotland development.

One thing I liked about the Samoa selection, at least before the game, was that it would give marginal players a chance, including ex-Wallabies. Again, I have a bit of interest along those lines, and I know enough about Super Rugby to know that the names of the players I would like to see in the team from the Force and Reds, will change between now and selection time. Who knows who will be putting their hands up then?

With the lengthening of the season in Super and 4N rugby, Oz players and fans will get a bit of the feeling of the schedule in Europe, whereby one competition flows into another, into another, into another, and back to the first. Their squads are bigger than ours and they routinely use players from their academy or borrowed from feeder clubs during the period when their international players aren't available.

I think we will see that the EPS players will get more and more play as the years go by.

 

[Forcefield]

I guess the banana skin depends on the team that runs out. I think it would be a pretty top side. Assuming they are available and its only Reds and Force and you could have:

1. Pek Cowan
2. Saia Fainga'a
3. Salesi Ma'afu
4. James Horwill
5. Nathan Sharpe
6. Scott Higginbotham
7. David Pocock
8. Radike Samo
9. Will Genia
10. Quade Cooper
11. Digby Ioane
12. Ben Tapuai
13. Winston Stanley
14. Nick Cummins
15. Ben Lucas

16. Nathan Charles
17. James Slipper
18. Rob Simmons
19. Matt Hodgson
20. Justin Turner
21. Mike Harris
22. Cam Shepherd

Can't say it doesn't have a pretty good look to it. Although it could seriously use guys like Benn Robinson and TPN or Moore if we are scrummaging against someone like Euan Murray.

 

[suckerforred]

Not a bad looking team, but I would expect that you would need to take out the mainstream WBs. Would like to see Charles get a run.

 

[Slim 293]

Pek Cowan?

Winston Stanley?

And I'm the one about to take out the Cyclops award...

 

[Hawko]

Pek Cowan?

Winston Stanley?

And I'm the one about to take out the Cyclops award...

Its a team selected solely from Reds and Force players. You'd guess that Slipper would start at LHP with Cowan on the bench and Fainga'a at 13 though.

 

[Slim 293]

Its a team selected solely from Reds and Force players. You'd guess that Slipper would start at LHP with Cowan on the bench and Fainga'a at 13 though.

At the very least...

Anyways, the Scottish pack would demoralise that frontrow.

It would be so brutal that I wouldn't allow children to watch...

 

[Forcefield]

Pek Cowan?

Winston Stanley?

And I'm the one about to take out the Cyclops award...

Pek Cowan played for the Wallabies in 2011. Yeah you could swap around Slipper and Cowan but you can't criticise Cowan being in the 22. Slipper will be playing mostly 3 this year anyway, won't he? But then again I could make a great argument to start Nathan Charles over Saia Fainga'a.

Winston Stanley is a speculator. I don't rate Fainga'a that highly at 13 and I reckon Stanley will be great if fit.

At least I am not as bad as some people coughmudskippercough on the Brumbies thread.

 

[Lee Grant]

Someone posted that Deans said the Wallabies team v. Scotland would be primarily players from the Force and the Reds but he didn't rule out using other players. The Brumbies play the Rebels in Melbourne on the previous Friday; The Tahs play on Saturday in Sydney; so you would think some players from these three teams would be chosen as well, even if only as reserves.

That is a consideration and another is: will Deans allow any of his likely starting XV for the Wales test, 4 days later, start on the Tuesday? You doubt that many forwards would start in both games but some outside backs may. Whatever - the Scotland match will be a great chance for players from the Force or Reds who are uncapped, or nearly so.

I have a cunning plan. The squad for Scotland and Wales will meet in Sydney on Tuesday 29th of May. The Brumbies and Rebels players who will be under consideration for the Oz Squad (maybe not JOC (James O'Connor) and KB (Kurtley Beale)) should join the squad for training too and fly down to Melbourne on Friday morning for their game that night. They won't be able to train for their Super team during the week; therefore some effort could be made to match the numbers from the Brumbies and the Rebels so one team is not at a disadvantage for their Friday night Super game. Tahs players needed will be absent from their training also.

The Reds and Force Wallabies stay in Sydney and are joined by any other players needed in the squad for the Scotland and Wales tests as soon as they are available. Wallaby training will be disrupted as some players have to do recoveries, and/or come from Melbourne, but they bus to Newcastle on Monday afternoon and play the Scotland game on Tuesday night. They have a recovery on Wednesday morning in Newcastle. Some surplus players could go home but most stay and train walking through on Wed. afternoon, and train on Thursday and Friday morning.

On Friday afternoon they fly to Brisbane for the Wales game.

It's a busy schedule and you wouldn't have any Brumby, Rebel or Tah starting in 3 games in a week - and you would have to protect the starters for the Wales match.

This may be nonsense but it is the type of planning that Deans and his staff will have to come up with.

I have to get out more? Good point.

 

[Lee Grant]

PS

Scotland beat us last time and IIRR they beat Argentina away in 2010. If they play their best team against us they should probably smack us again with the scratch team we will have.

But they are taking 34 players with them and will be playing tests against Fiji and Samoa after they play us; so one hopes that they will play a fair share of dirt-trackers themselves.

 

[Slim 293]

Lee, the Tahs actually play the Hurricanes in Sydney a few days before the Scotland test...

 

[Lee Grant]

Oops - I was looking at the week before - have changed my cunning plan.

 

[Shiggins]

I don't know what the big deal is. By that time the wallabies will be mostly force and reds players anyway because the force players are going to be the best this year


Http://www.youtube.com/shiggins316

 

[brokendown]

Pocock has been named captain,taking over from Sharpie

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Pocock has been named captain,taking over from Sharpie

Has been? its only 7:36 am in Perth nothing official yet as far as i can see but just read this article http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/south-africa-pushes-southern-kings-bis-into-super-rugby/story-e6frg7o6-1226256681284 at the bottom it says that he will be named today.

If it is true I think it is a great move with Pocock out of contract at the end of the year. But i think he is happy in Perth and it is just another step to becoming the main man for the Wallabies.

I also hope and I’m sure it is the case that it has been passed on with the blessings of the Great One Sharpie. He is a true legend of the Force and Australian Rugby a true gentlemen of the sport.

 

[Slim 293]

Good move by the Force if true...

Best get the transition done now with Sharpe still around...

 

[GaffaCHinO]

It official.

http://www.westernforce.com.au/NewsEvents/NewsArticles/tabid/905/ArticleID/5285/Default.aspx

 

[Sully]

Now that he is captain he should immediately start calling lineouts. That's the rules for forwards who are captains.

 

[tigerland12]

BAMBAM BAMBAM!

Looks like the Force will hold onto him for a bit longer now

 

[Hawko]

Someone posted that Deans said the Wallabies team v. Scotland would be primarily players from the Force and the Reds but he didn't rule out using other players. The Brumbies play the Rebels in Melbourne on the previous Friday; The Tahs play on Saturday in Sydney; so you would think some players from these three teams would be chosen as well, even if only as reserves.

That is a consideration and another is: will Deans allow any of his likely starting XV for the Wales test, 4 days later, start on the Tuesday? You doubt that many forwards would start in both games but some outside backs may. Whatever - the Scotland match will be a great chance for players from the Force or Reds who are uncapped, or nearly so.

This may be nonsense but it is the type of planning that Deans and his staff will have to come up with.

I have to get out more? Good point.

Lee, you seem to suggest that Deans will actually use his squad and his bench. This is something he often talks about but he almost never actually does.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Interested in everyone’s thoughts on what’s next for Sharpie.

With one year left on his contract how do we see him this year as part of the Force/Wallabies, will he play on next year...move north to make some money...retire?

I think we might see him coming of the bench a few times this year with Sam and Toby also in the line up using them in a rotation with each other.

Thoughts?