Ryan Cross - woops

[travelling_gerry]

What's in a name
The Western Force’s new flyhalf recruit, veteran former All Black David Hill, was taken back when he arrived for his first training session with the team.

Apparently one of the team’s young stars Ryan Cross had no idea who he was. A sheepish Cross was seen walking away after asking Hill: “Excuse me, are you one of the sponsors?”

We wonder how many hospital passes he will receive for that remark.

[brokendown gunfighter]

as soon as they referred Ryan Cross as a YOUNG star,I knew the whole article was a croc of shit

[jono]

unfortunatley its all them three idiots are going to talk about every time cross gets the ball on sunday..

[blueandblack]

as soon as they referred Ryan Cross as a YOUNG star,I knew the whole article was a croc of shit

and dont forget this bit:

"The Super 14 has been reffed in a wonderfully high standard so far"

It has?

[welshrugbyfan]

The Western Force’s new flyhalf recruit, veteran former All Black David Hill, was taken back when he arrived for his first training session with the team.

Veteran Former All Black? This is an age related comment.

One test against Ireland in 2006 where he came off the bench.

Dude's been playing in Japan recently and for shitty Bristol before that. Who do we think we've got here?

[Rex Messup]

The Western Force’s new flyhalf recruit, veteran former All Black David Hill, was taken back when he arrived for his first training session with the team.

Veteran Former All Black? This is an age related comment.

One test against Ireland in 2006 where he came off the bench.

Dude's been playing in Japan recently and for shitty Bristol before that. Who do we think we've got here?

My sentiments exactly old boy
A journey man taking some easy cash from a desperate franchise
The Force is supposed to develop Australian talent. I just checked my watch..........it's Hunt time

[jombi]

A journey man

it's Hunt time

I think we should be trying to stabilise the backline before chucking ANOTHER kid who's pretty green in there, no point putting even more pressure on Inman who has been playing great so far.

We've been extremely lucky with Inman, DHP & JOC, no point pushing it, especially when we desperately need some bulk back there. If you put Stefano Hunt at 10, who do you think the reds are going to run at all night? We need to bring him on when he can be useful AND gain some experience, not get runover and lose all confidence in himself.

[palitu]

My sentiments exactly old boy
A journey man taking some easy cash from a desperate franchise
The Force is supposed to develop Australian talent. I just checked my watch..........it's Hunt time

rex, broken record man... we get it, you don't want/like him and you would rather hunt...

ok!

[shasta]

The thing is, Rex usually thinks John Mitchell can do no wrong. I think the old thug has been on the piss a lot lately. He's running out inflammatory statements.

[Fijian Force]

what do you think bringing a fijian into the force squad for 2011??
say someone like Rupeni Caucau?

[AndyS]

and dont forget this bit:

"The Super 14 has been reffed in a wonderfully high standard so far"

It has?

I'd've said a damn sight better than usual, a couple of minor lapses aside. More to the point it has probably been more consistent between games, as the laws have been more rigorously applied with a lot less "interpretation" by the referees. I hope they stick with it - it is not rhythmic dance or ballet.

[GIGS20]

what do you think bringing a fijian into the force squad for 2011??
say someone like Rupeni Caucau?

I think getting islanders in the S14 is a great idea, I think the Force has had some Fijiians before, wasn't Vitoru Buatava Fijiian?

I reckon we'd be far better served to look at the younger set though. Rupeni would be looking to maximise his earning potential, this will pretty much put him off the radar for most SH squads, surely there's a bunch of big, quick, creative backs running around in the fifteen gaziliion sevens teams. They'd be happy to come over and we all know nurturing talent is pretty good at the Force. The boys could set their families up for life with a contract like that.

The only thing that sucks about it at the moment, is the ARUs contracting protocol only allows one player in each squad to not be at least working towards eligibility for the Wallabies. This will surely only set up a similar situation to the AllBlacks who seem to be happy to play anybody from the South Pacific and call them a New Zealander. Perhaps the IRB should introduce a protocol which gives these prospects who are developed internationally a pathway back into playing for their nation. The ARU couls save everyone the hassle by sharing out Melbourne's international contracts with the other franchises on the condition that the contract be taken by a Pacific Islander who is not looking to represent Australia. Then they'll actually be building rugby in the region, rather than sucking the life out of smaller, poorer unions!

[zimeric]

Caucau WAS great but he is well overdone now... had a brief return to form last year but havent seen him feature in the french top14 much at all this season

[MI5_Dog]

I think getting islanders in the S14 is a great idea

It is a great idea, which is why they are all playing in New Zealand.
If there was anyone left of super 14 standard in the pacific islands then the NZRU would have found them and handed them an NZ passport.

[beige]

Incidentally, contrary to perception, the team from the last World Cup with the most players not actually from that country was Samoa.