0
Wayne Smith | April 03, 2009
Article from: The Australian
MATT Giteau has described tonight's Western Force-Reds match at Subiaco Oval as a "must-win" game for both sides, which is a tad awkward because the Reds can't win away and the Force can barely win at home.
It is so long since Queensland last won away from Brisbane that the opponents they beat in Johannesburg on April 8, 2006, the Cats, no longer exist, even if they have spawned two feline offspring, the Lions and Cheetahs.
As for derbies against other Australian sides, the Reds have not won one on the road since they downed the Waratahs 35-23 in Sydney in March 2003.
By contrast, the Force has won at home but seems uncomfortable about making a habit of it, emerging as victors at Subiaco only eight times in 22 outings.
Of course, the only numbers that count tonight, as ever, are those on the scoreboard. One team will make history, the other will be history.
"It's a must-win game for both teams - but more importantly for us," quipped Giteau, who is desperate to help get the 12th-placed Force into the play-offs for the first time before he leaves at the end of the season. One more loss - for either side - and the finals surely will slip beyond reach.
Like everyone else, Giteau is at a loss to explain why the Force has a marginally better record away from Subiaco than it does at its home ground.
"There's nothing we've been able to pinpoint," he said. "The record certainly isn't a good one but as far as the team goes, you still feel confident playing at home."
Giteau's comfort level should be marginally higher tonight following Force coach John Mitchell's decision to fight fire with fire by installing a second playmaker, James O'Connor, alongside
Giteau at inside centre to confront Queensland's twin ball-players, Quade Cooper and Berrick Barnes.
The Reds pair did not function particularly well against the Chiefs last week, jinxed perhaps by assistant coach Damon Emtage's pre-match boast that Barnes is the best defensive centre in world rugby, but prior to that their complementary wide-passing games had been key factors in Queensland's exciting re-emergence.
If Giteau has his hands full tonight with Cooper, he has no one to blame but himself after working closely with the 20-year-old on the Wallabies spring tour.
"I wouldn't be able to say exactly what it is I helped him with. But whenever you're surrounded by certain players, you tend to ask questions. Quade was really good. He came in and asked a lot of questions."
Giteau expects him to carry on asking annoying questions tonight. "I think Quade's just shown a lot more composure this year. It certainly helps with Berrick outside him. They've got combination and complement each other well."
The same could be said of Giteau and O'Connor, even if the 18-year-old Wallabies star has been on duty at fullback in recent weeks. O'Connor has scored two tries this season, both times by trailing the quick-stepping
Giteau, and it's fair to speculate there will be more fancy footwork on display from the Force 10 and 12 tonight than in the final of Dancing with the Stars.
Not all the exciting match-ups are in the backs, however. Richard Brown's return from an AC injury for the Force sets up a fascinating duel with the Reds' enigmatic number eight Leroy Houston, while David Pocock, who these days finds himself second only to George Smith in the pecking order of Australian openside flankers, will revel in his contest with the man who for so long held the corresponding ranking in New Zealand, Daniel Braid.
But it could well be the lineout battle that tilts the result. The Force, ever keen to remind the Reds how many outstanding Queensland players they lured away from them, chose yesterday to announce the re-signing of Proserpine second-rower Tom Hockings.
Good psychology, only now Hockings and his captain, Nathan Sharpe, must deliver at lineout time when they find themselves squeezed by the Reds' James Horwill, Van Humphries and Hugh McMeniman.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Coach
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!! 
