Not what I was implying!Originally Posted by choice
An absolutely fantastic win by the Perth Spirit over the NSW Country Eagles.
There is no doubt that the full team rock solid defence and hard work at the breakdown won the day.
The Ruck Involvements stats show just how much it was a XXXIII man effort.
Big rucking efforts from both Back Rows but a mighty effort from the Spirit's Backs who made 32% of the team's Defensive Ruck Involvements (DRIs). The Eagles' Backs made only 7% of their team's DRIs.
Richard Hardwick was a worthy MOM with a massive effort to have 26 DRIs.
I lost count of the number of penalties that he forced by his timing and strength against the Eagle's ball carriers.
Hardwick's average prior to this game was 27 Total - 19 Attack/8 Defence.
Remember:
1. Early means 1st or 2nd of player’s team AFTER the ball carrier will be close to the has been tackled and brought to ground.
2. Impact means active engagement: strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out, protecting ball etc. (more than hand on someone’s bum or arriving after the hard work has been done). Yes it’s subjective - but as I collect all data at least it’s consistent.
3. Impact DOES NOT equate to Effectiveness. I’ve concluded that coming up with an effectiveness measure is just too hard in the time that I have available – but open to suggestions.
Ruck Involvements over Time
The Spirit had 47 rucks; the Eagles 143.
This indicates a likely 30-35% Possession by the Spirit.
The Spirit stood off ~40% of the Eagles' rucks.
The Spirit averaged only 2.5 players per Attack ruck (supporting their own ball carriers). (Same as SR2016 average)
The Spirit averaged 0.9 players per Rays' ruck (slightly above the SR2016 average of ~0.75).
The Eagles stood off ~50% of the Spirit's rucks.
The Eagles averaged 2.6 players per Attack Ruck.
The Eagles averaged only 0.6 players per Spirit ruck.
Hardwick once again the leading ruck involvements with most Defensive Ruck Involvements (DRIs).
Good support from Meakes (12), Stander (11) and Ross H-P (11).
Tessman had a similar work rate to Hardwick for his 28 minutes.
Most rucks by Backs: Meakes - 24 Total (12 Attack/12 Defence); Brache - 13T (6A/7D).
For the Eagles: Godwin - 23T (23A/0D); Newsome - 18T (18A/0D).
Last edited by andrewg; 24-10-16 at 01:50.
Who was responsible for the pre match player introduction. After watching 3 live games it put me to sleep.
Me too, although that might have had something to do with the previous 5 hours in the pub.
Thanks for the stats, AndyG. Interesting tactic for the final, the back row all hitting more defensive rucks than attacking rucks; I don't think that has been the case for any of the previous matches.
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
Not sure if anyone else has noticed the lack of information, articles, news etc from Rugby Heaven and Georgina Robinson since our win, all they have posted is a short video clip.
I have tweeted her this morning and expect to get the same response.
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
Imagine they're all sulking in their wheeties this morning! And there's a lot of feet to be surgically removed from gobs over east, Haha!
Bastards!
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
I haven't found a single mention of the result on any of the international rugby websites.
I expect they're biding their time before they work up the "righteous anger" about how the mighty NSW rugby nursery has been pillaged by rich one town teams who need players.
THey will skillfully avoid the facts about the origin of players, when questioned about the majority of the Eagles players being NSW based with one boy hailing from Perth, as opposed to the Force having only Billy Meakes (I think) hailing from NSW, (They didn't want him anyway)
Sure we have a fair few Saffers and Queenslanders, with a sprinkling from the Islands, but we're surely not raiding any young players from Sydney, we've seen how well that goes when they get skilled up here through a full time professional program then run home as soon as the money is offered.
Even our Queenslanders would be considered fringe players at theur signing, with any genuine success coming from playing extra minutes of rugby (Luke Morahan)
C'mon the
Piggies Piggies Piggies, Oink Oink Oink
Well done on bringing home the bacon in 2016
80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?
Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!
Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!
Congrats to the Perth supporters who got behind the team. It was an amazing effort to get to and win the GF considering all the travel that was involved. I hope it is a springboard to success next year (recognising it wasn't for Brisbane City - QLD Reds this last couple of years) and that the Force go from strength to strength.
As part of the evil eastern staters, I will state my case, I don't want the Force to go. I strongly believe we have the talent for 5 teams but we need to get more from the ARU to support them (not just $$) and more from all of our coaches. In short, I don't think we have a playing issue, but a coaching issue.
Anyway, congrats to the Spirit.
Love your work Andrew. Hardwick really did have a monster of a game and has been great for the Spirit all season.
Going to be hard to pick our starting backrow next year. Hard to leave Hardwick out of it, but hard to squeeze him in as well!
It was an impressive performance by Richard Hardwick in what has the potential to be a turning point for him - particularly after his being signed on as a full squad member at the Western Force.
Hopefully this performance enables him to stamp his mark on more regular Back Row selection for the Western Force.
Just as impressive as his efforts at the breakdown (including many forced penalties/TOW) was his tackling and strong ball carries through traffic.
To put the breakdown effort into perspective:
Hardwick has generally been behind Koteka in his breakdown work.
Averages in the NRC 2016 prior to the Final:
Koteka - 35 Total (26 Attack/9 Defence). Best 39T (33A/6D).
Hardwick - 27 Total (19 Attack/8 Defence). Best 35T (24A/11D).
Hardwick's efforts in the NRC Final - 37 Total (11 Attack/26 Defence) takes his breakdown work rate to another level.
It has to be a great confidence booster. It lifts his NRC average to 28T (17A/11D).
The next challenge is to consistently present this work rate at SR level.
In raw numbers his NRC Final effort is comparable to Pocock against the Pumas in the SF at RWC2016 - 43T (17A/26D).
In SR2016, Pocock averaged 35T (22A/13D). Hodgson - 37T (27A/10D)
In 2016 Tests, Pocock has averaged 40T (22A/18D). This has been boosted by his Boks1 - 54T (34A/20D).
The Western Force will continue to improve with competition in every position.
Our stocks of Back Rowers is impressive.
But the attrition rate of these breakdown warriors has been high.
Just look at the injuries to Hodgson, Cottrell, McCalman, Alcock and Koteka over the past 2 years.
As stated previously, I expect Hardwick and Koteka to get a lot more game time in 2017 as their full game skills and performance at the higher level of SR continues to improve.
It's an exciting prospect to be able to watch this competition for the starting OSF position develop in 2017.
Last edited by andrewg; 24-10-16 at 17:38.
I'd be inclined to think that Hodgo will be doing the succession planning thing this year. probably start some early in the season, playing fewer and fewer minutes as the understudy shows that he is coping with the requirements of the position. I would think that by the end of things (not sure how long that will be, it'll depend upon how quickly they plan to get Hodgo coaching) he'll be the bench/injury cover for whoever they have selected as the next option.
Hardwick and Koteka would be well advise to bust every cell in their body at preseason, because the first bench flanker picked will have the starting spot pencilled against his name and it'll be his to lose!
C'mon the
South African rugby site Rugby365.com had an article straight after the match:
http://rugby365.com/countries/austra...al-cliffhanger
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
