Canes V Tahs

[waratahjesus]

i dont dismiss him, i just dont think he is as great as he seems, his workrate usually doesnt result in turnovers and and line breaks. i called him a fat centre not in disrespect but in relation to the fact that he plays his position with speed and seems to be a beefed up back. at the breakdown (im basing this on international, he was under my radar during last super 14) he rarely affected the outcome of it, just provided a body and raely got down low but instead drove a single player off the ruck, usually to the side. it helps but only if others are there with you and his speed usualy means he is there on his own for a second or two which means he should attack the ball more to slow it down.

palu is the best 8 in this country by a mile. he dominated last super season and his international stats before injury were amazing, his workrate is very underrated as he spends so much time at international level doing the dirty work that other forwards like smith and brown stay out of so they can attack the next ruck.

[RuckNMaul]

hey WJ, any team sheets out for this match??

[TOCC]

why did someone feel it necessary to start talking about the Force in a Canes vs Tahs thread

Anyway, Tahs will have this one, Canes are missing Conrad Smith and quite a few of the other players are lacking match time and fitness.

[innocent quokka]

why did someone feel it necessary to start talking about the Force in a Canes vs Tahs thread?

haven't they told you yet? it is a Force forum, and they can talk about the Force wherever they want.

[waratahjesus]

i thought "force" was in reference to the difference between the waratahs and westerners front rows!

[pieter blackie]

tahs doesn't stand a chance

[Burgs]

why did someone feel it necessary to start talking about the Force in a Canes vs Tahs thread

Anyway, Tahs will have this one, Canes are missing Conrad Smith and quite a few of the other players are lacking match time and fitness.

Seem to always end up talking Tahs (if not QR Reds) in every other Force thread so I wouldn't get too precious about it!

[mudskipper]

Tahs are toast in Wellington...

[TOCC]

Seem to always end up talking Tahs (if not QR Reds) in every other Force thread so I wouldn't get too precious about it!

who's precious

[GIGS20]

OK, My call for this one, the Tahs are running with a weakened pack (which was their real asset last year) logic would call them to be a shadow of their former selves.

The Canes however seem to be on permanent "opposite day" winning the ones they are tipped to lose and vice versa.

The Tahs will be tipped to go down, not coping with some real big holes in their major strike weapon, but of course the Canes will spoil the party and lose this match better than the tahs when their pack fails to have the expected impact....isn't this game interesting.

ps WJ when you say Palu dominated last season, you were really talking about the three or four matches where he decided to turn up and fulfil his potential, not the eight or so where he should have fired but just seemed to sail through with little to no effort!

It's a fact, Palu looks AWESOME in the games where he doesn't have any serious work to do but drops his lolly in the big games (how'd he go in the final last year WJ?)

[The EnForcer]

ps WJ when you say Palu dominated last season, you were really talking about the three or four matches where he decided to turn up and fulfil his potential, not the eight or so where he should have fired but just seemed to sail through with little to no effort!

It's a fact, Palu looks AWESOME in the games where he doesn't have any serious work to do but drops his lolly in the big games (how'd he go in the final last year WJ?)

I agree, Palu is a great player when he turns up, but too often he doesn't.

Canes to win easy.

[chiselhead]

Palu commands respect. The opposition look at him and run the other way. He's great to have in your pack just for the intimidation. He scares people. Nobody wants to tackle him. Nobody wants to run at him. He hurts people. I'd happily pick him in my team. His workrate is a bit disappointing. He is potentially very devastating off the bench when defences get tired. I like packs that assert their authority early so that's why I like him to start.

[chiselhead]

why did someone feel it necessary to start talking about the Force in a Canes vs Tahs thread

Anyway, Tahs will have this one, Canes are missing Conrad Smith and quite a few of the other players are lacking match time and fitness.

Conrad Smith is rugby's biggest myth. So what?

[chiselhead]

whos precious

You are snookums

[waratahjesus]

ps WJ when you say Palu dominated last season, you were really talking about the three or four matches where he decided to turn up and fulfil his potential, not the eight or so where he should have fired but just seemed to sail through with little to no effort!

It's a fact, Palu looks AWESOME in the games where he doesn't have any serious work to do but drops his lolly in the big games (how'd he go in the final last year WJ?)

im afraid he rarely went missing last year. not sure how closely you watch him, but he does the hard yards better than any forward in this country by a long long way. he also backed up his high tackle counts and regular most metres for a forward round in round out for the tahs by being our top try scorer.

there isnt a team in this country and several others that wouldnt blow there banks to sign him, he is a machine and im very glad he is a tah.