Ooh, that's picking a scab right there James
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
in todays worst
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...-back-problem/
Three players still being looked at to help complete the Squad:
Mike Harris
Leon Power
Greg Peterson
and still looking at Andre Pretorius if he can get more game time at the sharks..
Details?
C'mon the
Leon Power:
Age- 24
Height- 200cm
Weight- 117kg
ITM cup games- 22 (when his profile was last updated)
Played for NZ Under 21s (before the JWC). Born in Sydney. Good characteristics for a lock. If his talent matches his frame he could be good.
Mike Harris:
Age- 22
Height- 186cm
Weight- 96kg
ITM cup games- ?
Looks like his is a bit of a 10/12. Good size for one. Looks also like he played for NZ U20s but I don't know how much.
Don't think we really need to review Pretorius. Peterson's details are up somewhere else- he is a giant at 204cm and about 120kgs. He'd be a really good signing but I'd bet any money he goes to the Tahs.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Power doesn't look that big in the photo, looks like he isone who plays like a smaller forward.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Greg Peterson will be a good lock in a few yeras, i think he might stay with the Waratahs though
Tend to agree with you TOCC. He isnt ready for Super rugby yet, and will be able to stay at home learning under Vickerman if he stays at the Tahs (having said that, learning from Sharpe would be a pretty big draw card).Originally Posted by TOCC
I think if the Western Force get a few injures next season I think we will have some serious issues with depth. With the departure of so many players I have real concerns about fielding competitive teams as the season goes on.
You cannot lose O'Young, Hill, Harris, Cross, Tatupu, Sare, Haylett-Pety (thats a whole backline) as well as Stanford, Jones etc. and expect to be highly competitive.
Whilst most of those guys are not major stars they are proven Super 14 players.
The players we are replacing them with are alot more inexperienced. Hopefully I am wrong!
At this stage of there careers I don't think Paul Alo-Emile, Mark Bartholomeusz, Phoenix Battye, Pat Dellit, Gene Fairbanks, Stefano Hunt, Jono Jenkins, Mark Swanepoel, Ryan Tyrrell are up to S15 comp - that leaves 23 players that I think are up to S15 comp now, throw in Dunning, Hockings, Longbottom, Rapana, Shepherd, Staniforth and Turner who I think have alot of question marks over there abilities to play S15 next year throgh injure and form.. Just putting a few questions out there!
I think it was Super Coach Wayne Bennett who said you need to turn over 30% of your list each year to keep a competitive team.
I'm not hearing questions JJK I'm just hearing you bagging a bunch of fringe players in the same breath as you praise a bunch with no more or less talent.
Player by Player
JJK Likes
O'Young - who was a bench player being shown up by an academy player for much of the year
Hill - who was serviceable if not spectacular and had a good head on his shoulders. The coach has already said we're looking for a great flyhalf, either undiscovered or not. I can't see Ripia being a whole lot different IMHO, playing more might make him better.
Harris - who was blatantly out of his depth at S15 level and was therefore released.
Cross - who was pretty ordinary last season, pushed out of his position by a raw recruit who at least had a bit of ticker.
Tatupu - who was not really good enough to cement a position, showed promise at times, but was released because we had better.
Sare - who was ........... just see Harris, slow, petulant, bigheaded and weak.....
Haylett-Pety - who was promising, but just not reliable enough at the top level
Stanford - who is going to be a loss for sure, but with the backrow we've got, losing him would have been inevitable. We made the right decision there, McCalman was his main competition, and he's now a Wallaby.
Jones - who was promising, and plays in a position where we ARE short of depth. We're currently on the lookout for another lock......so I think the deficiencies are known.
JJK is critical of
Paul Alo-Emile - who is 19, is he on an academy contract?
Mark Bartholomeusz - who is nothing more than injury insurance......we're looking to sign a flyhalf
Phoenix Battye - who is another 20 year old, no wonder he's not up to the mark yet
Pat Dellit - who is .....wait for it young, fresh signed, looks good (apparently) in Shute Shield and is another signing for the future
Gene Fairbanks - who is another injury cover player
Stefano Hunt - who is .....ummm.....interesting, if he's a 10, why are we looking for a flyhalf? if he's no good, why is he still around.......you ask a good question here JJK
Jono Jenkins - who is very hard to assess after 35 seconds of S14 rugby
Mark Swanepoel - who is ditto, limited experience at this level, but part of a good set of scrummies
Ryan Tyrrell - kidding, right......before the injury, he was making quite a name for himself....OK the neck might stop his career dead, but his two replacements aren't mentioned and he was genuinely keeping them off the park
Dunning - I don't think anybody will argue that!
Hockings - who is in desperate need of a good season...agreed
Longbottom - who is being kept out of the squad by a cadre of highly experienced and capable front rowers (and Matt Dunning)
Rapana - who is another development player, seems quick from what I've seen, but pretty green
Shepherd - who is brilliant, when not injured
Staniforth - you're kidding, right?
Turner - who has shown a pretty good skill set, but needs some tuition
so, the way I'm reading your post, It seems like you're saying we shouldn't be giving development players a go, you seem to have slammed every young bloke who's getting a shot, but then you mentioned Stanford, Haylett Petty, Tatupu and Jones as players who were a big loss you can see from my comments, I don't think the loss was that great in the main.
Looking at your list of grievances, I wonder how you feel about Sam Wykes, or Nic Henderson. Wykes we kept, is this better or Worse than Hockings Hederson, we couldn't retain, was that better or worse than Longbottom? There just doesn't seem to be any consistency to your rant.
C'mon the
We have 'lost' two players since last year: Luke Jones and Dane Haylett-Petty.
Jones should've been re-signed but thought he'd get better game time in Melbourne and it would've been hard to keep him. DHP was talented but massively inexperienced and not getting any game time to make up for it. French rugby will do him good and hopefully he'll come back.
Everyone else, as Gigs says, meh! One or two of them we may come to regret- Tatapu maybe. Measure those players on their contribution last year (when we did have a massive injury crisis) and the only one who stands out is Hill and he isn't a long-term option and never was. The Force will be much better next year (I'd go as far to say great but we will have to see how injuries go). Our forwards are in all kinds of form and we have some great options in the backs- it'll be great to see if we can get O'Connor, Shepherd, Staniforth and Cummins onto the field at the same time.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Gigs20, you are probably right with your responses, I was just putting a few things out there. I think Sam Wykes is better than Hockings and I think Henderson is better than Longbottom.
I think O'Young is a better option at this stage consistently than Turner or Swanpoel or Stannard - Turner is too inconsistent - he can put in a really good performance one week then play like he did against the Cheetahs..
Ripia will be exactly the same as Hill was this season with no real other options.
I think Harris when used the way he was supposed to like against the Highlanders or the Lions or the Cheetahs he would have been a real weapon coming off the bench (who coming off the bench next season can break a tackle like he did)
I think Tatupu is a very talented player and given the a few opportunites would have outshined Inman no question, Inman has returned to 1st grade last week because Lachie Mitchell got injured (2 weeks ago he was playing reserve grade like Jono Jenkins).
I'm not too sure why Cross gets bagged so much I think he played pretty well.. as did Sare and haylett-pety when given an opportunity.
I have seen a number of Western force players at club rugby and not many have shone..
Hunt, Jenkins, Inman have all spent time in reserve grade...
I think as the season progress next season if the Force have a few injures like this season it will be alot worse than this season.
jjk, you may be right, if hit by a similar injury crisis to last year we may find ourselves getting smashed. To me though the question is does that matter? We lost last year with the departed second string players and they didn't really step up to Super rugby standard. If we get smashed in similar circumstances this year but unearth a couple of new regular players it's a step forwards,
Inman, Jono Jenkins McCalman and Nathan Charles looked pretty good playing for Sydney Uni who are now through to the Final next week
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