Western Force Squad Announced for Brumbies Clash in Canberra

[PerthGirl]

Drew's pretty crap at fullback, all the talk about how he can play fullback is rubbish

[Scotty]

And I agree...where is Scotty?

I'm here and I'm wondering why Spanner isn't playing. I was really looking forward to seeing (and hearing) him colliding with Mortlock at inside centre...

[normie]

No mention of spanner being injured...

[laura]

What Jehna said.


I know the West is pretty dodgy for rugby info but their presumption of the team looked much better. Shep at 14 and Drew at 15 and no Spanner I thought (after last week) Spanner was closer than Junior to being back in the squad. I can't help but feel that the match committee is maybe being a little complacent by mixing it up so much.

[WF2404]

What the hell is going on!!! Bring on Spanner!!!!

[WF2404]

What the hell is going on!!! Bring on Spanner!!!!

Umm this is what's going on...

"While Tom Hockings and Richard Stanford have been preferred ahead of O'Connor, Staniforth misses out due to a lack of match conditioning.

"While he's (Staniforth) medically fit and that has been an outstanding effort, he's not fully match fit and we need to be convinced of that to be confident he can go the 80 or have a starting position," Mitchell said.

"It's important that he does get some footy the next few weeks to establish some confidence through going 80."

Full article - Mitchell opts for experience
http://sportal.co.nz/rugby-union-new...perience-65711

[Burgs]

Not too sure how much footy he will get if he's not on the bench as there is bugger all else in Perth, but I would agree he didn't look 100% last week.
I don't think it helps to be trying to keep making his "old" legs those of a Winger anymore either. 20 minutes at #12 each week would be better IMHO.

[Cookie]

Should players be selected if they are not 100% fit.......

[JediKnight]

20 minutes at #12 each week would be better IMHO.

In an ideal world, yes. But what would happen if he has to come on after only 10 minutes due to injury and is faced with 70 minutes to play?

IMHO, all players on the bench should be fit enough to play all 80 minutes, if required.

[sandgroperrugby]

No they shouldn’t be selected if they aren’t 100% Cookie (IMHO) and unfortunately that is what landed Spanner in this mess to start off with!!

[goony]

Well apparently they wanted spanner to start last week but he took the safety option and found himself on the bench. Maybe they are punishing him for not doing what they wanted, it happens all the time in everyday life - someone with a bit of authority gets shut down so they use their powers and give it straight back to the person. I heard Spanner's pretty gutted

[zimeric]

I thought he looked like a eager puppy when he came on last week.. he was in their faces from the moment he ran on the field and the wry smile when he was caught being naughty was a gold moment!

im very dissapointed hes not playing this week. Aaah well hopefully he'll be flying over to NZ on monday to join the crew...