Written Friday 26/02/2010

SUPER 14 2010,  THE SAGA CONINUES.

Plenty of folks noting a quiet 15man this week,  just been a bit tired and a bit busy to be too concerned with it.  Thought every day that I should put fingers to keyboard,  and as the week wore on,  decided that combining last week's observations with this week's thoughts might be best.  Even had one cheeky individual suggest that I would have to change my tune on the Reds.  He was explained to quite abruptly why he was wrong.  Anyway,  I am on the writing trail right this minute,  while I do some washing,  so check back for the link,  before this arvo's first game.

OK,  to the true believer who thought I needed to change my views on the Reds.  We are a long way from that.  They have lost one,  and won one,  and shown a bit of ticker in both games.  Mistake rates are still high,  there is no ruthless edge,  and both the Waratahs and the Crusaders have shown to be quite ordinary,  as much as the Reds defence was not too bad,  the Crusaders were very untidy,  and the Waratahs,  against my predictions also,  were shown to be quite inept against the Stormers.

The Reds did play OK,  but still showed plenty of moments of vulnerability,  and lots of mistakes,  and in one case,  Quade Cooper again,  some ordinary defence to allow Ellis in for a try.  Sure one has to ask where the 7 was,  but gee Cooper was wide on a play like that,  and then made a pretty sloppy attempt to stop Ellis.

I thought Rod Davies did his level best not to score that try,  running in a direction that I felt was more intent on showing u show fast he could run,  more than what seemed a direct line to the tryline,  for one as fast as him.

However,  they did play with some belief,  and some mettle,  and this needs to continue,  and if it continues,  then by the end of the season I may have lifted the Reds a notch or two on the very long ladder of respect.  They have a long way to go,  and have to perform consistently week in week out,  on the road,  and against the front running sides,  that I would currently put as the Bulls and the Stormers,  and the different styles that will be encountered,  for example when they play the Chiefs.

One thing that did surprise,  was comments from the very harsh judges in the 15man team,  that the Faingiaa twins "went alright".  My strategic adviser for all things corporate said this on a number of occasions,  and I had to have it repeated a number of times,  as I never thought I would hear him say it.

We took along a friend of my corporate adviser,  and he made the comment midway through the second half that the Reds should offer him membership,  he has never seen them lose live,  and that is saying something;  we have taken him to at least three games,  and they haven't won  many more than that.

I don't mind Daley's development,  but gee I wish he would get rid of the headgear,  front rowers do not wear the stuff.  Plenty of set piece work to be done,  but he seems like he might just be a bit hard,  and digs deeper when the going gets tough.  That's a good thing.

I too thought the twins were excellent,  Hynes at the back very good,  Genia a special,  and Braid continues to offer plenty.  Davies,  another we weren't overly excited about is playing better rugby than we thought him capable of.

I was not excited about Higginbotham's game,  would like to see his stats,  didn't see alot of punishing ball carries or a great amount of defensive work.  However,  the Courier Mail saw it differently and had him in as having a blinder.

Cooper still has along way to go to be a convincing runner of the game.  If I were giving out advice,  I would be telling him to stay away from the break down as much as he can,  his work is ineffective,  and that if he is going to cheap shot someone,  Brad Thorne in the back of the head is probably the wrong man.  I am sure Brad has noted the video of the elbows to the back of the head while he was pinned,  sitting in a ruck.  Don't think it hurt too much.  Cooper needs to perform against the big front runners as an individual as the Reds need to perform against them as a team.

And to the debutante,  Jake Schatz.  This young bloke was always destined for big things,  and we did not see the whole Schatz repertoire last Friday night,  but I am sure it will come as time moves on,  remember not 20 until July.  He dealt with a number of pretty tough situations on Friday night,  some slow ball passed to him with heavy defence all over him and he handled it very well.  It was sensational to see some blood on his face when he was replaced,  some of these young blokes need to scar up.  Expect to see Schatz become one of the country's best ever loose forwards as time moves on.

As for this week,  I think the Reds will win,  there will be a fair bit of emotion tied to playing at Ballymore,  and the Blues are not traveling that well at the moment either.  The Reds do however have to overcome the big loss of Horwill,  who has been very good,  since becoming captain,  for the most part.  Really,  van Humphries only replaces the lineout of Horwill,  doesn't bring a big ball carry to the table,  maybe a little leadership,  but certainly not the abrasive edge that they could so well miss.  They will have to change the way they play a little bit,  and maybe introduce Houston into the fray for some running game a little earlier than they otherwise might.

And for Marto,  Rob Simmons I believe comes from Theodore,  500 odd kilometres from the Tambo option given,  when Marto said he comes from out west,  the Tambo Theodore area.  I believe his family runs a feedlot,  which for those that don't know,  feed cattle so that they can be turned into meat for eating,  Meat and Bone Meal for feeding other animals like chickens and pigs,  and tallow,  for all your soaps,  toothpastes,  animal feeds and other ancillary stuff we all know about.

I think the Brumbies will be dismantled by the Stormers,  I like the Stormers at this early stage,  very impressed with their defence,  choking,   brutal,  suffocating style.  The Brumbies after two rounds are the big disappointment,  so many superstars,  and very stop start performances.

The Waratahs should also get gored by the Bulls,  Bulls should be too big,  too  physical and the Waratahs,  who I liked earlier,  seemingly have no idea.

Enjoy your weekend.