The mighty reds are taking on some ‘team’ from Melbourne but that is just a sideshow to the main event. Tonight’s main event for me is Greg Holmes last match in red. 143 matches over 12 years at both tighthead and loosehead prop. 27 test match on top. There are other players playing their last game tonight but Holmsy’s my favourite and stands head and shoulders above the lot of them.
So here then, are the key matchups.
No bullshit: Liam Gill v Sean McMahon
As liam Fn Gill prepares to leave Ballymore he still has a points to prove and one of them is the fact that he’s a more complete player than Sean McMahon. Gill is the most complete openside in Australian rugby and the only Australian flanker who could fill his shoes is the ageing legend George Smith. Sean McMahon is an energiser battery fuelled notta. Notta six, notta seven and notta eight. It will be a great matchup and the contrasting styles will make it all the more interesting.
The Scrum: Holmes v the world!
One of the very few bright points in the Reds season is their scrum. In Holmes the Reds still have their rock that it’s built on but his frontrow partner, James Slipper, is missing this week and his replacement Sef Fa’agase is no slouch in the scrum but is not of Slippers calibre. This area of the game should be a clear win for the Reds
The Backs
There is no doubt the Reds back haven’t looked like a cohesive unit for years. The Rebels on the other hand have a big booting flyhalf, who admittedly can be a bit flakey at times, but still a real flyhalf who can run a back line! And of course young Wallaby superstar in the making Reece Hodge. Hodges main rival in the superstar stakes in Samu Kerevi. Who has more run metres than just about anyone (including Greg Holmes) and is the centre point of Reds backline play. (understatement of the year with the pass it to Kerevi plan the Reds employ)
Overall
Here are the facts! At the end of a disappointing season for both teams there’s not much to play for for either team except pride. This is the only game played this weekend that won’t effect the points table and the make up of the quarter final. Both sides are racked with injury but can still put on a good display of rugby. My hope is that the players, with nothing on the line, will break their shackles and go out and play free flowing, entertaining rugby. Come on guys as the young people used to say YOLO.
Who will win? Stuffed if I really know. But as always I’m going for the Reds.
Reds by 7
[one_half last=”no”]
The Greg Holmes Reds
1 Sef Fa’agase
2 Andrew Ready
3 Greg Holmes
4 Cadeyrn Neville
5 Kane Douglas
6 Hendrik Tui
7 Liam Gill (c)
8 Curtis Browning
9 Nick Frisby
10 Duncan Paia’aua
11 Eto Nabuli
12 Henry Taefu
13 Samu Kerevi
14 Chris Kuridrani
15 Tom Banks
Replacements:
16 Saia Fainga’a
17 Ben Daley
18 Taniela Tupou
19 Lukhan Tui
20 Michael Gunn
21 James Tuttle
22 Alex Gibbon
23 Campbell Magnay
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
The Rebels
1 Toby Smith
2 James Hanson
3 Laurie Weeks
4 Luke Jones
5 Culum Retallick
6 Sean McMahon
7 Jordy Reid
8 Colby Fainga’a
9 Nic Stirzaker (c)
10 Jack Debreczeni
11 Tom English
12 Reece Hodge
13 Mitch Inman
14 Sefa Naivalu
15 Paul Asquith
Replacements:
16 Pat Leafa
17 Cruze Ah Nau
18 Jamie Hagan
19 Sam Jeffries
20 Rob Leota
21 Ben Meehan
22 Sione Tuipulotu
23 Jack Maddocks
[/one_half]
