Queensland coach Richard Graham tips Western Force to lift a gear

[MI5_Dog]

Queensland coach Richard Graham maintains he holds no animosity towards the Western Force but he expects the Perth-based franchise to have "extra motivation" to beat the Reds on Saturday night.

Graham's assertion is based on the fact he and his two assistants Nick Stiles and Steve Meehan all spent time on the Force's coaching staff.

He served as an assistant to John Mitchell before taking over as head coach in 2011 but he was sacked the following season after he announced he was joining the Reds in 2013 to work alongside Ewen McKenzie.

Stiles and Meehan were assistant coaches to Michael Foley at the Force last season before being lured back to their native Brisbane by Graham.




I'm sure that's extra motivation for them.

Richard Graham



Graham has been reminded of his links to the Force by the media for much of this week and he has chosen to play down the significance of his sudden departure.

But he concedes there may be added spice to the derby clash at Lang Park in light of the fact he and his staff previously coached a number of the Force players.

"There's obviously relationships based on the fact the guys have developed their rugby under a number of the staff here," Graham said.

"I'm sure that's extra motivation for them."

There has never been a lack of feeling when the Reds and Force face each other, in light of the latter having raided the playing stocks at Ballymore prior to the debut Super Rugby season in 2006.

They have a recent Red on their books in outside back Luke Morahan, who headed west in the off-season looking for more starting opportunities.

Morahan did not leave the Reds in acrimonious circumstances, but Graham is confident his troops will provide some defensive attention to their former team-mate.

"Luke went to school (The Southport School) with a number of the squad - (Ben) Daley, (James) Slipper, (Rob) Simmons played in the first XV," he said.

"He's very good mates with a number of them but I think on Saturday night that mateship will end for about 80 minutes and everyone will be trying to get one up on the other."

Reds lose Turner to ankle injury

Graham has made two changes to his starting XV that beat the Stormers 22-17 last Saturday night at Lang Park, recalling Ben Lucas at full-back and giving Jamie-Jerry Taulagi his first cap on the wing.

The inclusion of Lucas and Taulagi follows injuries to Lachie Turner (ankle) and Dom Shipperley (hip flexor), while prop Pettowa Paraka and livewire outside back Jonah Placid have been added to the reserves bench.

There is a degree of concern surrounding Turner's injury, with the former Waratah having been sent to have scans.

Graham says Turner possibly could have played the Force but it would have been a risk to use him when not fully fit.

"We just felt it wasn't going to come right by Saturday night," he said.

"He wasn't going to have the fluency and athleticism we required, so the easiest thing was to withdraw him."

The Force are coming off a bye and will be chasing a fourth-straight win on Saturday night.

Number eight Ben McCalman returns to their starting line-up, with Angus Cottrell shifting to blindside flanker.

The Force sit third and the Reds fourth on the Australian conference standings, both on 14 points.


Reds squad: Ben Lucas, Rod Davies, Ben Tapuai, Mike Harris, Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Jake Schatz, Beau Robinson, Eddie Quirk, James Horwill (c), Rob Simmons, Greg Holmes, James Hanson, James Slipper

Reserves: Albert Anae, Pettowa Paraka, Jono Owen, Ed O'Donoghue, Curtis Browning, Nick Frisby, Anthony Fainga'a, Jonah Placid

Force squad: Jayden Hayward, Luke Morahan, Solomoni Rasolea, Kyle Godwin, Nick Cummins, Sias Ebersohn, Alby Mathewson, Ben McCalman, Matt Hodgson (c), Angus Cottrell, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Sam Wykes, Kieran Longbottom, Nathan Charles, Pek Cowan

Reserves: Heath Tessmann, Tetera Faulkner, Ollie Hoskins, Adam Coleman, Brynard Stander, Ian Prior, Zack Holmes, Marcel Brache


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-0...990?section=wa

[Alison]

Didn't realise that's where Meehan had gone! Don't think it's fair to say Graham "lured" Stiles back - he has very strong family ties there and was genuinely sorry to be leaving WA.

[GIGS20]

Yeah,n
But Nick Stiles was always a luxury at the Force with Foles in charge.....Meehan on the other hand....

[shasta]

Hope he's not including himself in the bit about "there's obviously relationships based on the fact that the guys have developed their Rugby under the staff here." What a tosser. Seeing how they voted to kick his sorry arse out of here it might be worth pinning that on the wall in the sheds.

[GIGS20]

Hope he's not including himself in the bit about "there's obviously relationships based on the fact that the guys have developed their Rugby under the staff here." What a tosser. Seeing how they voted to kick his sorry arse out of here it might be worth pinning that on the wall in the sheds.

Foles just needs to mention the fact that it took two player personnel clean outs and more than a season's hard work to train most of that 'development' out of them!