Would love to have Harry Lloyd back at the Force
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Would love to have Harry Lloyd back at the Force
Agreed. He'd be a great pick up. It is nuts that he is sitting behind Sio and Slipper.
Would love to see Jayden Ngamanu and Jack Hardy back. Hardy would be crazy to stay at the Reds with their current squad and Vunivalu joining.
Question for the wise:
Can an all West Australian born/developed Squad (Zero East Coast, Islander,Kiwi, Euro, African, Asian players)be succesful in SuperRugby-AU 2021?
Take the romantic, wishful thinking out of the equation.
Wouldn't think so. Mind you, if a proper job had been done of the NRC, we might have some idea where things were at by way of progress. Certainly would have been interesting to see.
All professional rugby, footy, soccer and other sports teams all the around the word bolster their squads with players from outside their region, where they have obvious weaknesses in certain positions or types of players. Ideally you want more than half of your squad to be local players to engage the fans etc.
Absolutely not
I return the question for any team in the comp. The instant you mention Islander players, you pretty much destroyed any Australian team's chance of competing on the world stage.
For example, the Reds have
Daugunu
Tupou
Salakaia-Loto
Mafi
Paenga-Amosa
Feauai-Sautia
Speight
Paisami
Petaia
JP Smith (OK he's South African, but still ineligible)
Sorovi
on their books, if I tried to make a team of Reds with Australian born players (coz I can't really identify who is actually a Qld product) it would look like this (apologies, I might mix up tightheads and looseheads etc, but Props in prop etc
1 Harry Hoopert
2 Sean Farrell (benefit of the doubt, I think he might be a foreigner)
3 Josh Nasser
4 Angus Blyth
5 Michael Wood
6 Fraser McReight
7 Liam Wright
8 Harry Wilson
9 Tate McDermott
10 James O'Connor
11 Jack Hardy
12 Carter Gordon
13 Bryce Hegarty
14 Hamish Stewart
15 Jock Campbell
16 Nobody
17 Nobody
18 Nobody
19 Angus Scott-Young
20 Tom Kibble
21 Nobody
22 Nobody
23 Nobody
In comparison, the Force team would include (trying my best to use the same selection criteria and ignore the fact that I know a helluva lot more about the players)
1 Greg Holmes
2 Andrew Ready
3 Kieran Longbottom
4 Ben Grant
5 Ollie Atkins
6 Tevin Ferris
7 Fergus Lee Warner
8 Ollie Callan
9 Ian Prior
10 Jono Lance
11 Jonah Placid
12 Kyle Godwin
13 Brad Lacey
14 Byron Ralston
15 Jack McGregor
16 Dom Hardman
17 Heath Tessman
18 Victor Harris
19 Jackson Pugh
20 Nobody
21 Nick Frisby
22 Jake Strachan
23 Jordan Luke
To explain my methodology, I worked on the premise that if they were a big name, regular starter and the Commentators identified them as not Australian born I excluded them.
I used the current list, ended up not worrying about state-developed players because I really didn't know that about many of the Qld players, hence I picked Bryce Hegarty.
If a player had a foreign-sounding name or "looked a bit foreign" I didn't include them, hence Kane Koteka was excluded even though his development is significantly WA, same Nick Jooste, who I would include as a WA developed player.
I used the listed positions from the team list as much as I could, I made exceptions where I was aware of a player having lined up in a different role than they were listed.
I tried to put a reasonable split on the bench and tried to pick the specialist positions as best I could (2 Props, a hooker a scrumhalf, at least one lock or lock/backrow etc) where there was no option that I hadn't eliminated either in a specialist role, then I wrote Nobody.
The Force could probably name a bench with a 4-4 split, but that will never happen in a game, so I didn't do it.
Disclaimer, I would assume that most of the Islander boys in the Reds are Qld developed, but that wasn't the question.
Based upon this survey, I would suggest that the Force team is a helluva lot closer to being a representation of WA rugby than the Reds and therefore I would suggest that the result might be closer than everybody thinks.
The naysayers would tell me to take out Holmes, Ready, Prior, Lance, Placid, Ralston and Frisby, but that would not be a consistent test, since I don't know the background of every Qld player.
It is what it is, but the point is that no Aussie team can exist as an island, so this rubbish about the non-heartland states not being able to compete is a bit of a fabrication.
A far better discussion would be to compare the number of state juniors from each state in the entirety of Aussie professional rugby. I know WA wouldn't compete with Qld or NSW, but there's a good chance we'll be third
games are won up front, we need 3 of the following;
- Coleman / Rodda / Skelton / Arnold
- Gill / McMahon / McCaffrey
So just confirming your post and point is based around if they don't have a western sounding name they aren't Australian?
Petaia born in Melbourne
Mafi born in Brisbane
Koteka born in Perth
I'm just going to take your point as purely ignorant, despite being blatantly racist against non-white australians....
Well, not so much ignorant as unaware of the Qld players actual origins and therefore looking for something I could apply equally to both lists.
I did mention Koteka as one I'd left out because of that distinction, given that I knew his background, but I didn't know that of Petaia and Mafi I also mentioned that the distinction wasn't perfect and identified that here were likely several Qld players who were entirely Qld developed but had foreign sounding names.
If there's somebody with a better understanding of the background of both teams who can make a more accurate judgement I'd welcome it
Good locks, a big mobile 6 and 8 and quick 9. The captain (Prior) does a great job but we drop off when the bench arrive. You also need a commanding 15 with two able wingers to form a strong back three. And something totally out of the blue, two centres who run straight at the opposition - not sideways.
Any nominations?
Don't know about target players, but I'm well and truly over players that run straight at the opposition. Maybe it is the influence of League, but aimless hit ups have long characterised Australian rugby and particularly the Force. I'd really like to see some players that can recognise a weak shoulder and aim for gaps for a change, or shift the ball on the way into contact. Not to mention players that could run and reliably receive that ball.
I want us to keep Henry Taefu at 12. That guy is an attacking machine!! And his effort is 200% every single game!!
Western Force vow to include local talent as they eye off huge names in recruiting ploy
Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Sat, 12 September 2020
Western Force are getting ready to “pull triggers” likely to send alarm bells ringing through Australian Super Rugby.
Coach Tim Sampson and former captain Matt Hodgson, now head of rugby in billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby, are drawing up a big-name player shopping list.
And it’s causing concern among cash-strapped Eastern States clubs that Forrest’s backing could produce a Super Rugby superclub.
There was stony silence from the same quarters in 2017 when Rugby Australia refused Forrest’s $70 million to keep the Force alive as they poured millions into the Melbourne Rebels.
Not that Hodgson is too concerned about what they think across the Nullarbor.
“We are in the marketplace and can move quickly. We are ready to pull some triggers,” Hodgson said.
“We know how to make our squad successful and we are ready to make changes.
“We’ll be moving pretty quickly on players, top players, in and out of the Australian system.”
The Force have already signed Wallabies prop Tom Robertson from the Waratahs and are in discussions with a number of other players.
Wallabies second-rower Izack Rodda was a target for the Super season after he was cut by the Queensland Reds following a pay dispute until he moved to French club Lyon.
Others who may be of interest are Harry Hocking, Isaac Lucas, Will Skelton, Adam Coleman and Sean McMahon.
But Hodgson also vowed to maintain a focus on local talent. When the Force were axed a third of the squad had come through local pathways.
Hodgson had a first hand look at the current squad while in the team Super hubs.
“We used it as a 10-week review of players and the coaching set up,” Hodgson said.
“We’ll implement changes so we’re ready to roll out our new template based on what we have here and what we need for the best team environment.”
The Force are not waiting for the outcome of talks between RA and the NZ Rugby Union on the future of Super Rugby.
A number of possibilities are on the table but uprooting the club to play in the Kiwi competition is not a realistic option.
“We’re working through different scenarios,” Hodgson said.
Despite being winless in their eight Super games Hodgson was proud of the side’s achievements in difficult circumstances.
“To do what we did in 10 weeks on the road with only three weeks preparation is pretty amazing,” he said.
“It’s pretty amazing to see the transition of the squad from where we were three years ago.
“To have been on that stage has validated what we have done and shown we are doing the right thing.
“It just shows you need the right type of coaching, the right type of pathway, the right type of system.”
https://thewest.com.au/sport/western...ng-b881664097z
That should set the cat amongst the pigeons. Haha!:hehe::evillaff::evillaff: