Controversy Corner Reds V Force
The Reds have talked it up. To be fair, they have surprised some more fancied opponents and they have delivered some unexpected wins to their long suffering supporters. Last weeks win over the Chiefs leaves us in no doubt that there is a strong spirit in the camp.
There is some real menace in the Reds halves. Genia is the new Jesus of Australian rugby. He is fast. He is tough. He is huge for a 9. He has courage and will put them on the front foot with sniping runs from the breakdown. Genia is a class act. He must be nullified around the rucks or they will cut us to shreds
Cooper has been in some good form. He is King or Clown and can easily be made to look like a fool with some pressure. He can't tackle and hopefully there will be some monolithic carcases headed down his channel all night. If he is pressured, he can lose the plot. Expect some hits off the ball and some niggle. He isn't a smart man and can easily be put off his game by getting involved in gutter diatribe. Mental disintegration is the key here. When he's bad, he's very bad
Faingaa at 12 has surprised. His defence has been sound and some of his incisive straight running has raised some eyebrows in Australian rugby. With coopers hesitant defence, there could be some opportunities in this area however. If Rabbit plays 12, we could cut a swathe through this area.
Tooheys Newie is fat and in the way. Cross should cause him some trouble but Cross has been out of form, possibly due to the chaos and incohesion around him
The Reds have some pace on the fringes and can hurt us here. Luckily we have Cummins and Spanner back. Even stevens
The Reds backrow has been fantastic. Higgenbotham is built like a brick sh1thouse. He is in great form and can mix it in any company. Braid is the form 7 of the super 14 and is in such good touch, the allblacks are rethinking their overseas player selection policies to make an exception for him. The Force backrow was a massive strength before the loss of Pocock and Brown. McCalman has showed he has what it takes. Hodgson is Mr Perpetual Motion. He is hard. He is an old fashioned goer who belts them in defence and his speed and leg drive in attack causes a lot of problems. He's a go-to-man for a crisis. He has a head like a beaten favourite and is as hard as the coffin nail. His reputation is growing but since his rise was based on ability and not name, he fears nobody. When he runs on the field, he knows he's good enough. He earned the right to play professional rugby built on courage, tenacity, toughness and an indomitable spirit. He'll smash QLDers and spill his blood. This bloke deserves the wallaby 7. Qld possibly has an edge here as we have inexperience and an 8 playing out of position with a hair band.
The locks for either team are far from special. Sharpie gives us an edge here
QLD is dead set soft in the front 3. They are vulnerable. Messrs Fairbrother, Cowan and Dunning must be on their game.This is an area the Force has a distinct advantage and must dominate. If we disrupt their scrum they will be going backwards all night. They will bore in and collapse in an effort to divert the mismatch. If we get a referee that has any clue about scrums (which is doubtful) we may get a feast of penalties. Our front 3 will dominate and set up an impressive away win
Force by 10
