Western Force 2014

[en_force_er]

He had to take the dosh. He was a mature beginner to the pro leagues, and there was no guarantee he would ever make that kinda dosh here. Hope he comes home after a few seasons in the mud.

Decent foreign players make extra in Europe in WC years because the Kiwis, Aussies, and to a lesser extent, South Africans, all go home.

He'd be making squillions. As would Douglas.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

 

[RugbyReg]

Cummins tackle on the weekend was one of the plays of the year in my eyes. Fantasist stuff.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Fuck he's a legend. And I agree Reg, that was one of the plays of the season on the weekend.

 

[USARugger]

What more does the guy need to do to be added to the Australian Living Treasures list?

 

[ChargerWA]

One of my non rugby watching friends (so basically the rest of WA) was telling me about some story where HB while on tour with the Wallabies to a poorer country (im guessing it was Argentina). Apparently he wandered off from the hotel and went to a fast food joint, ordered 100 hamburgers and then proceeded to wander about the streets handing them out to those he thought looked like they needed a feed.

Did anyone else get this story?

 

[Bairdy]

One of my non rugby watching friends (so basically the rest of WA) was telling me about some story where HB while on tour with the Wallabies to a poorer country (im guessing it was Argentina). Apparently he wandered off from the hotel and went to a fast food joint, ordered 100 hamburgers and then proceeded to wander about the streets handing them out to those he thought looked like they needed a feed.

Did anyone else get this story?

That story was told by Sias in that TT video above.
Did it in South Africa, apparently.

 

[D-Box]

From a internal trial on Tuesday REF CAM: Western Force style:

Alby is back but apparently playing 8

On a bad note though - don't expect to see Godwin before the NPC

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[GaffaCHinO]

From a internal trial on Tuesday REF CAM: Western Force style:

Alby is back but apparently playing 8

On a bad note though - don't expect to see Godwin before the NPC

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

What have you heard about Godwin?

 

[D-Box]

Was still in a brace at Soaks on the weekend and said he wouldn't play till NPC

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[D-Box]

Was great to see the Force players down at Brittania Oval today reffing and helping teams out.

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[en_force_er]

From what I saw against the Reds there were plenty of knees being dropped into guys by the Force on the weekend, and from at least 3 different players by my count.

Pretty suss, I'd go so far as to say they might have been coached on it or at least discussed it.

I have a soft spot for the Force (as per my user name), but it wasn't pretty whether it was planned or not.

 

[Bairdy]

From what I saw against the Reds there were plenty of knees being dropped into guys by the Force on the weekend, and from at least 3 different players by my count.

Pretty suss, I'd go so far as to say they might have been coached on it or at least discussed it.

I have a soft spot for the Force (as per my user name), but it wasn't pretty whether it was planned or not.

So you think Michael Foley sat them down before the game and instructed MMM, Charles and whoever else to knee Reds players? Quite a long bow to draw.

Telling the players to be physical, to not take a step back and be dominated like against the Blues is one thing (especially if they go about it the wrong way); telling players to go out to deliberately maim or injure is another thing entirely.

 

[en_force_er]

So you think Michael Foley sat them down before the game and instructed MMM, Charles and whoever else to knee Reds players? Quite a long bow to draw.

Telling the players to be physical, to not take a step back and be dominated like against the Blues is one thing (especially if they go about it the wrong way); telling players to go out to deliberately maim or injure is another thing entirely.

Not at all, in fact it's fair to say you're drawing a long bow but inferring so much from so little.

If they brought in an MMA coach during the week (or more likely over the break) and discussed using weight on your knee to get up and keep opposition players on the deck, that's certainly possible given how much value professional teams place on being on their feet. Wouldn't be the first team to do a martial arts session or two of some nature.

Honestly, I rarely see even dirty players dropping knees (not that they don't do other things that are equal or worse) so it strikes me as odd to see so many occurrences in one game.

 

[ForceFan]

Fantastic to see Matt Hodgson selected in the SuperSports SuperWrap SXV 2014 team as their best/most consistent No 7 in Super Rugby for 2014.

Pleased that his skills are at least appreciated in South Africa.

His stats speak for themselves:

No 1 in Tackles (42 more than any other No 7, 53 more than Hooper)
No 1 in Turnovers (6 more than Hooper)
No 1 No 7 in Lose Ball Gets (1 more than Hooper)
No 1 No 7 for Passes (32 more than Hooper)
6 Tries (4 more than Hooper)

Interesting to see also his 5 Turn-Overs against the Waratahs in 2014.
In the same 2 games Michael Hooper made ZERO turnovers against the Western Force.

Yeah I know that that it was Waratahs 59 : 49 Force for the year but wins were shared.

Rapt to see Hodgson selected in the Wallabies for the Rugby Championships.
Maybe he'll even get some game time..........

Would like to see Hodgson and Hooper on the field together to see what the combination has to offer.
Both tough as nails. Hodgson at the breakdown/defence and Hooper's running game/defence would be great to see.

 

[Braveheart81]

Sure the Force won that game against the Tahs but the Tahs had 70% possession.

Hodgson had an amazing season but if you look at all the top tackle count players in the competition they came from teams that played with little possession.

There were games during the season where the Tahs made around 50 tackles total in the entire game whereas the Force made closer to 150.

Statistics only tell part of the story.

 

[ForceFan]

Sure the Force won that game against the Tahs but the Tahs had 70% possession.

Hodgson had an amazing season but if you look at all the top tackle count players in the competition they came from teams that played with little possession.

There were games during the season where the Tahs made around 50 tackles total in the entire game whereas the Force made closer to 150.

Statistics only tell part of the story.

I agree, one has to also look at consistency over the season.

Maybe it's also worth looking at your own Bob Dyer quote re playing as a forward.

Does "tightness" include seagulling on the wing?

 

[Braveheart81]

Oh come on. When does Hooper seagull on the wing?

Hooper also topped the Tahs tackle count pretty much every week. There were normally just a lot less total tackles made.

Hodgson is certainly a worthy choice as the Super Rugby openside of the season and I'd say he was the difference between the Force winning and losing quite a few of their 9 wins but I think it's pretty clear that Hooper is far and away the first choice for the Wallabies which was further cemented by being made captain.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Whilst I agree that hooper is and should be the starting 7 I don't think it's a clear cut as a lot of ppl think.

I think it all has to be about balance.

With a player like Fardy at 6 there is no need for a breakdown dominate player like Hodgson (not saying that hooper isn't good at the break down) because he offers so much at that aspect we can afford to have a player like hooper who is fantastic in open play.

However if he played a player like Higgers or Rocky like we have in the past at 6 I could see the need for a player in the mould of Hodgson or Pocock being needed.

Either way we have 2 top line 7s with another in Gill in the wings and Pocock who will hopefully make it back we are well covered at 7 and it would all depend of the type of game link wants to play.

 

[ForceFan]

Hooper also topped the Tahs tackle count pretty much every week. There were normally just a lot less total tackles made.

The good thing about stats is that you can always refer back to them.

Hooper topped the tackle count for the Waratahs for 9 of the 16 regular games (56%).

He was out-tacked by Backs on 4 occasions (Phipps x 2, Foley & Horne) + Palu, Potgieter & Hoiles

Hodgson topped the tackle count for the WF for 13 of 16 games (81%).

He too was out-tackled by Backs (Godwin & Burton) + Stander.