Stanford looking forward to Force

Former Brumbies lock Richard Stanford is a welcome addition to the Western Force lock brigade and he feels ready to make an impact in the Super 14 competition.

After three years and just six caps with the Brumbies, the 198cm, 110kg 22-year-old is hopeful of receiving some opportunities from coach John Mitchell and he feels ready to form a terrific lock combination with veteran Nathan Sharpe, and fellow youngsters Tom Hocking and Sam Wykes.

"It's good here with the mix. I've played with Pat O'Connor, Tom Hockings and Pek Cowan before in the 19s and 21s, so to come over and be back with those guys is good," he said.




"I haven’t even met Sharpey to be honest, but I've heard about his great leadership and how he runs the lineout. I'm looking forward to working with him and he certainly has a wealth of experience behind him."

Stanford has now been in training with the Force for several weeks since arriving in WA and is excited about the change he has made, both in and outside of rugby.

"It's good to be back in a full time program again. Last season finished quite a while ago now and the opportunity to come to Perth and start with a new team presents me with a good challenge," he said.

"When I was at the Brumbies I always lived with a teammate but I've decided to keep the two separate this time around. There's still a feeling of something new with this team and I sense since being here a lot of potential in the players and organisation. To be part of that should be a great thing."

While he might not have received the time on the park with the Brumbies he would have liked, he will forever be grateful for the chance to learn off the likes of George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Jeremy Paul.

"To hang out and train with guys like Gregan, Larkham, Paul and Young was great just to get a feel of their ideas on the game and how they operated in a professional environment was unreal," he said.

"In terms of providing confidence and showing a pathway, Jeremy Paul was probably the best for me."

As for the Force, Stanford is looking forward to playing under John Mitchell and is confident of the Perth-based team making the finals for the first time in 2009.
"I always have better relationships with coaches that are ex-players, especially ones that were forwards like he is so I've enjoyed being around him so far," he said.

"My understanding from watching the Force play was that they lost a few on full time and there seems to be a focus on finishing."


http://sportal.com.au/rugby-union-ne...to-force-60088

IMHO a great gain for the Squad who will put plenty of pressure on the other young Locks at the selection table.

Definitely.
However, I do think there is already quite a good back up of second rowers and flanks.
Tom Hockings has had a great season and is quite a certainty to wear the green and gold in a few years. And its the same with Sam Wykes as well. A great utility player who can cover lock as well as blindside flank equally well.
No comments about Pat O'Connor though, as his absence and injuries might have an influence in the way he plays in the future.

I've got quite a few mixed feelings about him coming in. It'll be good for the team, but it might cause our youngsters to move away to get a starting spot somewhere else.

Sharpey, Hockings, Pat O'Conner, Wykes, Manu, Horua, Brown, Stanford, Pusey, Hodgo, Pocock, am i missing any one from the 2nd row/backrow. A fair bit of line out prowess but only a couple of ball runners.
Can't wait to see Kocking and hopefully O'Conner get some good game time. With Wykes or Stanford on the blind we have a great lineout.

The backrow mix will be interesting. Horua was very good towards the end of the season but Brown and Pocock have locked in positions. That leaves a lot of quality players fightong for one spot (6) and an intersting bench.
I would like to see a 2nd row of Sharpey and Hocking with O'conner on the bench and Wykes in 6 supported by Horua on the bench.

Stanford is a good signing. He was competing heavily with Salvi for a starting jersey. He has alot of promise...Need good bench depth in the locks these days with the ELVs...and to dominate the last 20 minutes...I hope he does well…

It's going to be hard to get the balance right, as you have Pusey who is excellent at two in the lineout, Stanford who will be pushing hard for selection, PO'C who hasn't really played since having a blinder debut year, Hocking being very solid, Wykes who is a great ball runner in the making and needing to leave enough time to keep Hodgo interested.
Injury will inevitably play a role but I guess it will come down to the team style for the season in the first instance.
I imagine some of the Forwards training sessions will be pretty "passionate", expect to hear news of blood flowing on occassion, always a good sign!

My Money's on Wykesey or Hogeo for 6, Both strong ball runners, Wykesey probably has the edge, being more of an option in the lineout. Browny's locked 8 and will probably limit his ball running game a bit. I expect to see Bamm Bamm get more dynamic from 7 and the jumpers to fight it out for the spare second row spot.

The bench will be the intersting bit. Plenty of Lineout options there, but having the ball running covered from our bench loosie will be the question!

Intersting times! can we trade a lineout jumper for a world class fatman?

edit re-reading burgs' post, I forgot about Puse as a credible option for #6...he's surely up there!

I'd like to see a back five of:
Hockings
Sharpe
Brown
Pocock
Horua

Pocock and Brown, while being great, still need an experienced head in with them and on the whole it also takes a bit of the leadership pressure off Sharpie. Plus Horua has a bit more mass for running off the back of the scrum. Bench up Hodgson for 7 or 8 and Wykes or Stanford or whoever is in form for the lock/6 role. We have a fair bit of strength in the second and back rows.

I really liked Hodeo's work from the bench this season. He alsways seemed to play a real impact role, generally turning the fortunes of the game shortly after taking the field. It's great that there are so many competitive bodies in the second/back row. We've got a world class backline, a huge amount of competition in the pack, our only area of worry is probably the Front Row....no excuses this year boys, we need to produce this season!

Out of all the options for 6 which would you rate on the mongrel front ?

Stanford comes over as a reasonably mature articulate addition to our :force: hope we can give him what he wants - so he gives us what we want :grin:

Does anyone know who's in the Academy next season?

It's not on the rugbywa website, although 2007 and 2008 are.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fulvio sammut

Does anyone know who's in the Academy next season?

It's not on the rugbywa website, although 2007 and 2008 are.

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Valeni Tia Tia will most probably be back since he toured the UK. From what Tai McIsaac said the other week I'm pretty sure Ben Whitaker will be back. Don't know about any newbies though. I'll bank on Cruze Ah-Nau being back given that he was on the Woodside this year.

Mike D'adamo, Ben Hales, Mike Loubser, Darryl Mitchell, Michael Parker, Alex Rovira, Reggie Simpson, Heremaia Te Aute and Justin Turner were all in the last combined states school squad. Don't know where any of them (expect Turner) play but could be a strong chance of seeing a few of them.