Areas of improvement

[frontrow]

After the first two rounds, apart from the obvious deficiencies in the line out, what areas do you think are the main areas that the Force needs to work on...
Myself, i feel the initial engagement of the scrum needs to be addressed so we have a better chance of competing against the stronger and more technically adept forward packs.Although we have improved in this area since last week, the stormers pack was not really up to scratch in my opinion, and we cannot take too much out of this encounter...This said, we struggled at times against a weaker pack, due mainly to the illegal tactics from the Stormers tighthead prop, but if a medicre prop can get away with this more often than not, a stronger and more cunning adversary will prove more than a handful indeed...It is hard to prevent a tighthead driving in on the hooker but it can be done, so i believe they should be endeavouring to counter this at training this week...Getting a good firm grip and a real solid hit and lift may well be an advantage if we are to hold our own in future matches...

Thats my say, how about other points of view...

[Sagerian]

I am having trouble sussing which one it is, but either more support players following the player with the ball, or gits needs to stop running away from his support and getting isolated.

[Burgs]

Wish I could see the footage of both matches, not being very patient just presently....however I think you may be right re Gits from Round 1 live Sage.
That was my impression of his match then, kept stepping inside to make the break but getting caught without support each time, he became too predictable and isolated.
I think it is a general feature of all Australian teams, at least in '06, when you compare to NZ teams is that we don't run with support.
The majority of times you see a break away try by a NZ team there will be at least one player either side to take the pass.
With Australian teams generally there may be lucky to be one and that is normally too far behind rather than in the clear to the side.
My gut feel is that pass far less in the tackle than other teams as well to keep the ball moving and gaining more chances for defensive lines to open up.
If at every tackle play goes to a ruck or maul then the opposition will be allowed time to get their defensive line restructured.
A major bonus is if Jimmy is fit to play this weekend.
Some will put the better performance down to Gits at #10 however Jimmy did a great job in the first twenty at Subiaco and I imagine will still be Mitch's first pick if fit.
All I can comment on from the Stormers is the pure facts of the lineout being sub Super 14 standard, regardless of the weather.
My comments re K.I.S.S. there are posted elsewhere.
The rest will have to wait for my trusty visual provider to weave his magic

[Egan]

I would say the area I wish to see the Force to improve better would be how it sets up play going for trys. Sometimes they are a little to predictable.

Its a little hard to be thinking pessimistically at the moment.

Chris

[prop53]

with the scrums new law in force what happened with the stormers tighthead should not happen. I think the touch judge should be more involved in assisting the ref with this with out delaying the game any more then it is. I also beleive that the refs are re-setting to many times max 3 then penelty.Keep the game flowing. This also give a clear message to the ones trying the illegal tatics.

[frontrow]

I watched the game again last night and the Stormers tighthead was doing everything he could to disrupt the scrum, it was blatently obvious that he was screwing into the hooker, or if not , he was trying to drop the scrum... Surprised he got away with as muchas he did, and well done to our boys for countering this as well as they did...Watching the game a second time really highlighted a lot of good work from henjack as well, but for mine, sheps was definately my Man of the match, although sharpie was everywhere to be fair...

[Pockets]

I agree support play is crucial, the numbers don't get there in time and will get found out against good sides. Also the Force can be very predictable, maybe the backs will improve their variations with time.

I hear rumbings about John Mitchell does anyone know if there is any truth to the rumour? Apparently the powers that be are not happy with his communication to the press and also some players.

[Burgs]

Perhaps Boof needs to get right on his side....or perhaps a "left" would say it better

[Burgs]

I hear rumbings about John Mitchell does anyone know if there is any truth to the rumour? Apparently the powers that be are not happy with his communication to the press and also some players.

Depends who your sources are Pockets?
If not from in-house I would suggest that may be a carry over from his All Black Coaching days when it was certainly true.
Pre appointment that was one of the major areas he addressed in his Coaching "Package" and with a couple of sources close to the squad I have certainly not heard anything like that.
He does have a little bit of the Knuckles School of mind games about him with the players.
One case in point is that pre season Boof Hardy was definately on the outer even though he was training the house down. It was rumoured he may not even make the bench. Now he has played 160 consecutive minutes in extreme weather conditions!
I'll stand corrected, but I don't think you will find any truth in the rumour.
Probably put out by the same peanuts that came up with the Sharpe headline "I will quit the Force" or whatever it was last week.

[Rodent]

Yak had another cracking game and was brilliant in defence.
Cross really needs to sharpen up his defence because he was pretty woeful
in the tackle.
I think the support running could use some work, I am yet to watch the game again, so I am going off bleary sleep deprived eyes and memory. But agree with Burgs that it seems the offload in the tackle isn't happening, not for lack of trying but lack of support.
I also still think they need to use a straightening runner and mix it up with some cut out passes rather than just putting it through all the hands wide, or hitting it up with one of the centres. Its probably a case of keeping it simple while the back line gels, but we don't seem to be too inventive with our back line moves at the moment.

[Lock]

I wrote ina comment after the Highlanders game that the groupwilltake time to gel and work together.
Obviously the Stormers seem to have their own internal matters to sort out which may have helped us to some small degree.
But, the more the group play together, the better we will get.

[AndyS]

Unless I missed something, I believe that was their first match in the wet and I have to admit I was worried about it. Instead, I got the game I've been waiting a long time to see them play. They went in with a plan and, to a man, played to it. They committed to the breakdown to get the turnovers and they defended their own ball very well - it was so nice to see fast ball. Most importantly, they didn't relax once it became obvious they'd won and it did my heart glad to see them throwing everything into preventing the consolation try at the end.

Other general impressions:

Cons:

• Obviously the line-out, although I didn't think it was that bad in Week 1. I'm happy to put that one down to the weather and general ambition to throw deep.
• While the scrum seemed a little hit-and-miss, the clearance always seemed to be under pressure. Not sure why, but it does make me wonder whether we could be doing more to disrupt the opposition clearance.
• Although there was much more patience and phase building in general play, they still seemed to be pushing the pass and coughing up the ball close to the try line.
• For mine, Giteau's positional kicking won the game for us and he did it from 10, not 12. Much as I love the way Hilgendorf plays his football, I do wish he had a kicking game like that when required. That said, I can understand Giteau's preference for 12 and can see advantages to having a straight runner either side of him. In any case it may not be a problem, as it it seems the idea is to have a very mobile and interchangeable back line so there is nothing to stop Giteau dropping inside and kicking when necessary.

(But out with the bad, in with the good)

Pros:

• Cam Shepherd's kicking would have been great in the dry, but was brilliant given the persistent rain. If he kept that up, there would be absolutely no question which replacement fullback would offer most to the Wallabies.
• I thought their ball handling was generally better, especially given the conditions. Better still, they started to hit the ball moving and hopefully they can keep that up.
• The back three worked brilliantly, constantly switching around as necessary - Mitchell would go for a run sometimes, other times it was Staniforth banging through as second receiver. The kicking cover between Mitchell and Shepherd was excellent.
• Henjak had (in my opinion) his best game for the team, and his cover tackling was particularly good.
• Best of all, it was so good to see pressure applied on the kick chase - tell me that having Ryan Cross bearing down wouldn't put the wind up you. They would probably benefit from a bit of cross-training with the AFL boys on the overhead marking and competing for the ball though.

All up, it was good. Nearly needed a new television at the 60 minute mark though.

[Burgs]

Couple of interesting bits (admittedly only Round 2) to pick up off the full table:
Force 2nd on Points Difference, 18 to the Sharks 27.
Force 1st on Points Against, 11 to the Sharks 12.
Niether the Sharks (1st) or Blues (2nd) have gained a Bonus Point as yet.
Chiefs (13th) have three Bonus Points but have averaged 30 Points Against, 1.5 more than 7th placed Hurricanes
Excluding a draw, after Round 3 there can only be one winless team as the Stormers (14th) are hosting the Chiefs (13th), the result of which could still change up the table greatly this early in the season.

[Sagerian]

Now now hang on Burgs, there's a little bit of spin doctoring going on there.

The Force's BP was for losing by less than 7, the Blues and Sharks haven't lost yet and none of those 3 teams have scored 4 tries in a game.

But is proves that defense (and luck in the Blues case) win games.

[Burgs]

All facts too mate, didn't want to make the post too long

Actually, I was going to mention the type of bonus points but forgot

We're still third