Western Force vs Moana Pacifika - HBF Stadium, 16:45 Kick Off

[James]

Hard to know how good the MP finishing tight 5 were, but our scrum was on skates. Not a good sign. I wonder if they'll shift Moli to tighthead and use Pearce/Coxon. I also wonder if Swain coming off affected things.

[Tazzmania]

Coxon is back in the squad but was injured (concussion) in pre season training, he is currently under return to play concussion protocols

[Tazzmania]

Wow, that was a game for the ages. What a finish.

After conceding the first two tries I thought we were in serious trouble, however the lads dug deep and kept believing and against the odds got the W on the board. What a final five minutes.

For the stats this year, I have decided to add the team stats as well and compare them week on week as well.

Here are the first weeks team stats:

Attack:



Defence:



Kicking:

[Tazzmania]

The individual attacking stats show the impact of the bench, something we appeared to lack in the past.

Donaldson's figures speak for themselves, and the back row was very busy all afternoon:

[Tazzmania]

Our defence was not really were it should have been and the stats do reflect that.

Tizzano again a tackling machine with 20/20.

Stewart again tackiling like a demon and the back row doing well and I think Ekuasi and De Crespigny are going to ones for us to keep our eyes on

[wallabydarnd]

How fast can Donno run when ankle isn’t injured and strapped ?

[AndyS]

Never really considered him a speedster...maybe more about who was in a position to chase?

[James]

Donno is quick when he puts the pedal down. I remember his first year at the Waratahs. They scored 2 good tries from Donno taking it quickly to the line.

I thought our defence was solid, but those stats don't look great. Perhaps our defence just had good sting. The counter ruck was immense at times. MP didn't look like scoring much and you'd say they got lucky on a few of them.

[Garry Owen]

Donaldson is definitely quick for a fly half, noticed it last year

Champion de Crespigny was very impressive,looks like a good pick up and happy with Dolly, don’t think we lost many lineouts. BPA should come on to the bench next week and Pietsch definitely into starting side.

Think we need a proper lock on the bench instead of Prinsep and the replacement front row is a worry, they both look like they are held together with tape. Forgot about Coxon he will do the job and I am sure Cron is out there looking for injury replacements for the other 2 but doubt much is out there.

[Chopper1]

no tipping comp this year?

[Chopper1]

[GIGS20]

Never really considered him a speedster...maybe more about who was in a position to chase?

Donno is plenty quick he just doesn't use it all the time.

He reverted to a pocket distribution role while the painkillers were kicking in which is IMHO not his best role, when he threatens the line it makes his distribution more effective.

With this week being a Wallaby audition, I hope he can rehab the ankle and get back to 100. I thought he looked a more complete threat than Loesio on the weekend, but we likely won't get the set piece parity we need for him to play by the numbers, he's going to need to pull rabbits out of hats to make Lolly look bad.

[jargan83]

Western Harlequins..
~laughs~
Does anyone know what the crowd was? I guessed about 6000. But the sweetheart is doubting me..

Crowd 5,328

https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/hbf-park/crowds