• Jade Stadium, Canterbury
• Sat 1 March 2003
• Crusaders 34 : Reds 6
•  half time 18 : 6

Well ####ing Ha Ha.  Look Slack and the rest of the Reds side I just don’t get the joke!  Last year the forwards were a liability and this year it’s turning into the backs.  It must have been Nathan’s article on the Super 12 preview.  Fancy someone else expecting this side to reach the finals.  You gave the side the bloody kiss of death.

That’s it Huxley has made the voodoo doll collection.  This bloke certainly can’t read the play.  Mr Datsun 180B (curtesy Roy a& HG) with no options.  My God what the hell is he doing there?  I reckon I swap his brain with that of a Guatemalan rooster’s and it would have more of an idea in what to do in attack.

Hell the Qld forward pack dominated the game, in the first half, especially around the R&M and they certainly recycled the ball effectively.  They gave enough ball out to the backs but the execution and choices in attack by the backline meant that all the effort was wasted.

The best move I saw the Reds put on was the old Flatley, Steve Kefu and Tune combination.  Ok so it resulted in being robbed by the third umpire but it’s the only time I saw them cross the line.  They need to get this combination back together as quickly as possible.

The Crusaders exploited every opportunity effectively.  That dodgy scrum turnover because the Qld scrum engaged too quickly was a real sign of the refereeing quality that the Super 12 suffers every first 3-4 weeks of the competition.  Some former Bronco then gives an example of what he used to do in that other code.

Latham gets a few beauty tips courtesy of the crusaders and all of a sudden the Crusaders are in for another try, while Latham gets a few stiches.  The backline soon develops into a farce and is well exploited.  Okay so Latham is off and they have to bring in a sub.  Move Huxley to fullback where he can at least use his long kicking game and then move Atkinson into the centres.

Then the satellite link is down and I get to watch the “Sorry for the inconvince logo: Normal services will resume shortly” for 2 minutes and all of the sudden I have got no idea what has been going on. 

Shortly after halftime I get a phone call.  Then after I finally stop getting talked to... hey presto its 34-6 and I don’t bother to watch the replay.

The crusaders defensive efforts combined with poor decision making in the Reds backline meant that the Crusaders were able to dictate terms once they got hold of the ball.

Now I have to find that bastard that has been jamming the pins into their collection of Reds voodoo dolls that is causing all the Qld injuries!  Now apparently Latham is out.  And it looks as if the weakness I pointed out in the season Reds preview are coming true damn it.

That’s it I am not looking forward to next week versus the chiefs.  Thankgod it’s a bye in Round 4 and I wont have to write another losing match report.  I am not going to comment about week 5 though.  At least it wasn’t 5-0 to Alinghi and I can watch the QLD dictate terms in the cricket.

Hell if the Bulls pick up another win next weekend I am going to jump on that bandwagon.