Might send a suggestion to Papworth that steering committee votes be allocated according to ladder position of the only national Rugby comp. ;)
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Might send a suggestion to Papworth that steering committee votes be allocated according to ladder position of the only national Rugby comp. ;)
Well that was a bot too close for me, and there were a LOT of kicks away! Why did Ian kick back possession in the last 3 minutes? Boy the forwards did a mountain of work! I give Heiberg MOM for me, he’s discovered sprinting LOL!
Qld are away to the Eagles (Tamworth) but you'd expect them to pick up a win. If they win, and the Force beat the Drua, but the combined winning margins are less than 40, Drua could stay 2nd (pending bonus points).Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiap
If we do beat the Drua, we could get the Vikings (our 1 loss this year) at home; but don't want to get ahead of ourselves here - Drua at home will be tough enough!
Wonder if we'll have DHP back for that match, and whether the coaches would consider playing him, considering how well the backs have been doing.
DHP......wow what a bonus. I think we would want to play!
A nice little article on the Force website.
https://www.westernforce.com.au/forc...ove-melbourne/
Quote:
Force rises above Melbourne
October 7, 2018
The Western Force are bringing home the Horan-Little Shield after tightly contested match saw them post a narrow win against the Melbourne Rising at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong.
The Force fought till the very last minute, claiming the lead less than five minutes short of full time to finish the game up by three points 31-28.
Keeping with their tremendous form the forwards were responsible for getting first points in the match sending Heath Tessmann over the line for a try.
Melbourne was back on attack shortly after, but a determined Western Force kept them away for as long as possible with Harrison Lloyd stepping in under the ball to keep the Rising from scoring.
Despite the Force defensive pressure Risings’ Richard Hardwick broke through the line to level the score before Archie King put Melbourne in front with the conversion.
With much at stake for the Force, the boys kept their heads in the game and pushed hard to take back the lead holding off another Rising attack with some solid goal line defence.
But it was the 30m maul which showed off the Force’s strength and capacity as they moved the ball up the field before Jack McGregor set up Brynard Stander for his third try of the tournament.
Ian Prior’s successful conversion added extra points to the lead to finish halftime at 12-7.
The Force was quick to extend the lead only minutes after the second half started with some quality lead up work from Rodney Iona giving Tevin Ferris the opportunity to burst through the line and make some quality metres before touching down for a try.
Prior added to the lead kicking a successful conversion from just left of the uprights.
A determined Melbourne Rising we’re not going to give the matchup easily and assembled their own attack travelling down the field to send Kemu Valetini over the line with King further narrowing the lead.
Melbourne Rebels player Tom English levelled the score with a try before King added extra’s to reclaim the lead for the Rising.
Only freshly coming on the field Cameron Orr made sure the Force kept hold of the win halfway through the second half, crashing over for a try before Prior placed the cherry on top with a successful conversion.
A fired up Rising side we’re keen to take back the lead with Isireli Nasiarani claiming the try and King putting Melbourne ahead by two points with an easy conversion.
With less than 10 minutes to go the Force didn’t back away as Iona burst through at a crucial moment creating some good running play before Clay Uyen put the ball down over the line sealing the win.
The Force host Fiji Drua at UWA Sports Park on Saturday, October 13 in the last round of the home and away games.
DHP might get the crowds in but surely it is going to piss around with team dynamics
and they are going so well
McGregor in particular
Don’t need a FIFO at this point much as I love DHP intensely
PS still so hard watching ruru /Hardwick /rangi /isi playing against us
Sympathy may diminish when the RA invitational XXXXV challenges for super next yr
And here is Nick Taylor's on The West website
Western Force clinch NRC thriller over Melbourne Rising
Nick Taylor The West Australian
Sunday, 7 October 2018 5:53PM
Western Force moved into second in the National Rugby Championship with a hard-fought 31-28 win in their grudge match against Melbourne Rising on Sunday.
The Force will now battle for top spot in the last round of the season when they tackle leaders Fiji Drua at UWA Sports Park on Saturday.
They scraped home in an uncharacteristically scrappy performance at GMHBA Stadium, Geelong but still managed to outscore the Rising five tries to four.
More here
https://thewest.com.au/sport/western...-ng-b88983798z
So, I am hearing there was a crowd of between 100 and 150 people at the game in Geelong today. If that doesn’t tell you how poorly supported rugby is in Vic nothing will.
We all know that the ARU strong-armed the entry of Melbourne into SuperRugby in 2010, bankrolled the Melbourne team to the tune of well over $30million over the next 7 years and sent WA to the gallows to ensure Melbourne stayed in Super Rugby. And all for what? Can only have been pure self interest on the part of the henchmen as it’s clearly not because rugby is a growth sport in Victoria. Seems to be about as popular as tiddlywinks.
I agree so much with this.Quote:
Originally Posted by wallabydarnd
Big fan of DHP and his brother and want nothing more than for them to come home. But always saw/see NRC as the middle step from club to WSR/SuperEast and would rather see the Wallabies player become involved with their NRC teams not necessarily take spots. Of course make exceptions for injury cover etc.
Im sure if DHP came down to watch he would be a hit with the crowd and kidscoming to see a Western Aussie playing for the Wallabies.
Semi watched the game this morning glad to see Dane at fullback and land 2 tries.
I would love to have seen Curtis Rona back for the NRC; he seems to be stuck in the wilderness playing for that Sydney side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alison
It reminds me of Western Reds. We had quite a few local guys in that team despite being around for only three seasons, but I'd be buggered to list as many first-graders that Melbourne has produced because of the Storm, and that's in two decades.
Mate, it was a travesty as big as the Force axing. The last year the Reds were going the (Super League Reds) U-19's played the GF against the Bronx in Brisbane after beating The Raiders in Canberra in the semi. Most of the kids in the squad were WA juniors. It still burns me when I think about it. :mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by chibi
Does anyone know what the comparison is between the team line-ups of the Rebels XV that beat the Force in WSR and this Rising team we beat in Geelong?
I think it would indicate that the Force have come a long way.
I remember that! Those poor bloody kids; what did they end up doing after the Reds were axed?Quote:
Originally Posted by shasta
I thought Stander was outstanding again . He’s playing like a man possessed. How about Cottrell Pocock Stander as the Wallabies 6 7 8 .....?? It was good to see Mees Erasmus on the park but his lack of match time showed as the the Force tight 5 dished out another lesson in teamwork cohesion and commitment. ( shrinking to greatness has definitely helped the development young up and coming players like Erasmus Verity Amm and Ritchie Arnold ....NOT ) The ex Spirit/Force boys in the Rabble must be enjoying playing in front of crowds of 100+
The Rabble are so badly run they should be getting far bigger crowds then the Storm historically. Rugby has far more support and grassroots in Melbourne than League.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alison
The biggest mistake the original owners made apart from leaving a huge pile of debt is they never engaged the grassroots. They didn't do it in 2005 either when they bid for a team.
I was in Melbourne yesterday, for an unrelated event, the conversation turned around to aami Park, because we were competing near there. According to the general public over there aami Park is "the soccer stadium" and "the rugby" refers to state of origin, which they "are happy to have there" (even though origin, never played there, it's always been at the G