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Western Force coach John Mitchell has challenged his players to carry the intensity with which they finished the weekend match against the Crusaders into the start of next Saturday’s home game against the Sharks.
Mitchell noted the Force had a tendency to go flat when returning from foreign tours and wants his players to set a high tempo from the start at Subiaco Oval in round six.
Last year the Force won two of three matches in South Africa, yet fell apart in the second half of their first home game of the competition to lose to the Crusaders. They subsequently won two matches in New Zealand, only to slump to a 16-point loss to the Stormers when they returned home.
It continued a trend from the previous year when the team won two matches in South Africa but played poorly to fall to the Lions, 25-24, in their first game back in Perth.
“People don’t realise how tough these road trips are,” Mitchell said yesterday. “They take it out of you. The challenge is to get back home and play well. In the past we’ve tended to lack intensity in our first game back home.
“I’m proud of the fantastic way the guys fought back after a slow start last Saturday and we can’t afford to drop our standards against the Sharks.”
The Force play four of their next five matches at home and the ability to capitalise on their home ground advantage will determine whether they can rise into the four from eighth place and a 50 per cent record.
The Force have a dismal record at Subiaco Oval. Of their 21 matches at the AFL ground since they entered Super 14 in 2006, they have won eight and drawn one. Scrub the find-the-feet first season and the Force’s home record improves to mediocre only — eight wins and seven losses.
The Force will learn tomorrow which of those who returned with injuries will be able to play on Saturday. Winger and leading try scorer Cameron Shepherd will have a scan on his injured ankle today but the medical staff will wait 48 hours for swelling to subside before making a decision.
Shepherd said yesterday the ankle he broke in a Test match last July was sprained when a number of players fell across it after he had been tackled.
“It got caught in the one position I didn’t want it to be and I hyperextended it,” he said. “Because there’s lots of scar tissue from my last problem, a small tweak causes more damage than it would to others.
“It’s still sore today but hopefully there’s no major ligament damage.”
The other starting winger, Nick Cummins, has a hamstring strain and if neither can play, Scott Staniforth can expect a recall.
Prop Ben Castle hurt his shoulder and scrum-half Josh Valentine his foot against the Crusaders, but neither are expected to miss the Sharks match.
DAVE HUGHES
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ntentID=130282
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Originally Posted by Burgs
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