WESTERN Force captain Nathan Sharpe has labeled Friday's Australian Super 14 derby against the Queensland Reds as a "desperation game".
Both the Force and the Reds are languishing near the bottom of the ladder on 12 points.

Sharpe said there were always strong feelings between Australian sides when they faced off, but he saw the game as an opportunity to climb back up the ladder after the disappointing loss against the Sharks a fortnight ago.

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The skipper, who was recruited from Queensland as a Force foundation player, said last week's bye had given the side time to assess the aspects of its performance it needed to change in order to make up the 10 points on the third and fourth placed sides.

"That 10 points can be claimed back pretty quickly," Sharpe said.

"At the moment a lot of teams are knocking teams off that you might not expect each week.

"This year's one of the most even competitions that I've been involved in and those 10 points can turn around pretty quickly the way things are going at the moment.

"There might be a couple of teams that shoot away but certainly third and fourth spot are very attainable."

Sharpe said there had been a complete focus on Friday night's game at Subiaco and no talk among players about Wallaby spots.

"It's all been about how we can progress up the ladder in Super 14," he said.


http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...005403,00.html