Western Force set to throw everything at visiting Sharks

[travelling_gerry]

Justin Chadwick

March 21, 2009 12:37pm

SOUTH African sides are renowned for their physicality but Western Force coach John Mitchell says his team aims to dish out the punishment tonight.
Mitchell said a bye for the Force next week meant his team could afford to go all out against third-placed Sharks at Subiaco Oval, with less concern for the toll it takes.

"We'll just throw everything at it on Saturday night knowing we are going to get a bit of a mental and physical break," Mitchell said.


LISTEN LIVE: Catch the action from Subiaco Oval from 7PM.

"I'm sure there will be a few sore bodies after this match.

"There will be plenty of drama and intrigue based on where both teams are at from the previous week."

The Force enter the round four points adrift of the top four and Mitchell said his side were desperate to claim maximum points against the Sharks who were unbeaten until their upset loss to the Queensland Reds last weekend.

"They are all critical but some become more critical than others," Mitchell said of the game.

"It would be nice to pick up four or five (points) here and remain within the bunch."

With injuries to wingers Cameron Shepherd and Nick Cummins, Mitchell made a raft of changes to his backline.

Former Wallaby Scott Staniforth has been named on the right wing for his first start of the season, while James O'Connor has been shifted to fullback and Junior Pelesasa promoted to inside centre.

Drew Mitchell, who has played the past three games at fullback, has been moved to the left wing.

"It's a good mix, it's an exciting mix," Mitchell said.

"This team certainly won't die wondering the way it will play football on Saturday night.

"Certainly the Sharks will be pretty blunt in their approach and they'll look to use their forwards very close to the action and then release their backs.

"We've got a strong midfield that can deal with that kind of attack."

Force skipper Nathan Sharpe said the team had addressed their poor starts to games this season.

"Obviously it's cost us a little bit," Sharpe said.

"We start far too slowly and teams get the early jump on us.

"The pleasing thing about that is we finish strongly and when we have played some good attacking football we have looked very good.

"It's about doing that earlier."

Mitchell said the Force wouldn't specifically target Sharks playmaker Francois Steyn, who endured a torrid outing in his team's loss to the Reds.

"If you overemphasise on one person you tend to become pre-occupied," Mitchell said.

"He's an exceptional footballer and he's very versatile.

"He's played in a World Cup winning team. Good footballers address mistakes."

Meanwhile, the Force 15 Foundation, which assists grass roots rugby in WA, received a cheque for $400,000 on Friday from the Old Golds, a group of former State representative players who raise money to help grow the game in the State.



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

[jono]

if the boys can sustain a high rate of phisicallity for the entire 80 we should come out on top.
the bench should get a full run tonight as well if they are going in with everything

[Fullback]

They have to make sure that they don't allow the Sharks to get a large lead into half time, it will be near impossible to do our Crusader come back against the Sharks.

I think the Sharks are tired due to the long road trip and if we can play the same as we did to beat the Brumbies, there's a 4 try bonus point up for grabs.

[tragic]

That's the thing, isn't it? Go hard for the full 80 minutes. Grab a good early lead and continue to build on it. Bury them! Bury them DEEP!

[The Ethicist]

The Sharks are not tired after a week of leisure on the Gold Coast. I think it is hilarious to hear how burned out players get for their paid holidays in foreign countries living in 5 star hotels. So they have to do a little bit of training? 3-4 weeks of travelling, eating like Kings, sleeping in 5 star hotels, sleeping in till 10:30AM, socialising in communities where they are revered as super stars and dipping the wick in the local market...........it must be torture

The Sharks will be up for this and their pack has copped a pasting from the press back home. The Force had better turn up to play and be prepared to meet the physicality from the opening whistle or the Sharks will have racked up a BP by half time. They are mad. They are a quality outfit and they want a home semi final.

They are not tired. That is a state of mind offered by losers that aren't up to the standard of the competition. The Sharks are the team to beat and will turn up to play

[zimeric]

this is the preview given by the south africans at www.super14.com

Don't get confused when you see the Force playing in pink this weekend. They have not gone soft. They will be doing so to raise awareness and funds for the Breast Cancer Foundation of WA (BCFWA) – RugbyWA’s chosen charity for 2009/10. The jersey will be a limited edition version.

The Sharks ended their winning streak now famously against the Reds who are normally Australia's "cellar dwellars" which hit the Durban team hard. Not only did it knock their confidence but they also lost fly half Ruan Pienaar. In his place Francois Steyn moves in to wear the number 10 jersey where - let's be honest he has never set the world on fire.

Matt Giteau is one of, if not the best number 10 in the world at the moment. Two of his rivals are injured so for best number 10 playing at the moment Giteau must surely take the title. This means that Frans Steyn has an enormous task ahead of him. If Steyn and Adrian Jacobs can contain Giteau they may be in with a chance but Giteau says he has put the move to Canberra next year out of his mind and is ready to beat the Sharks.
The big problem for the Force is their playing record at home. John Mitchell has been rallying his troops this week to get his players to start creating a fortress in Perth. The Force would be real play off contenders if only they could win all their home games. Now is as good a time as any to start.

Overall the Sharks have won two out of three so a Force victory would even up the odds.


The Bookies have given the Force a 2.5 point start - we disagree and say that the Force should win by 3

[prop53]

Throw everything now that was a JOKE

[travelling_gerry]

We threw the ball to them on too many occasions.

[prop53]

Right on there T G