Reds: Back to the Future 2006

Team List:
Forwards Anthony Mathison, Rodney Blake, Hugh McMeniman, Tom McVerry, Mitchell Chapman, Stephen Moore, Mark Connors, Pete Niumata, David Croft, John Roe, Sean Hardman, Greg Holmes, Geoff Abram (hooker), Ole Avei (hooker/flanker) ,Ben Mowen (lossie) James Sua (loosie big wraps on this kid) James Horwill (lock) Backs Lloyd Johansson,Tim Atkinson, Steve Kefu,Chris Latham, Berrick Barnes, Nic Berry, Drew Mitchell, Sam Cordingley, Elton Flatley, Ben Tune, Josh Valentine, Peter Hynes, Julian Huxley, Cameron Treloar, Andrew Brown (centre), Caleb Brown (winger), Henari Veratau (back did play for Brumbies last year)

Coach: Dead man Walking- Jeff Miller

Forwards coach or real coach for the season: Alec Evans

Intro:

Despite the fact that Miller is already sacked I think the Reds should surprise enough teams to make it a better season. QLD is providing the up and coming backline wallaby starts with Mitchel and Johansson who will combine well with established legends in Latham, Flatley and Tune. The problem again is how many games can Flatley and Tune can play before one is in la-la land with another head knock and the other visiting the butcher to clean up their knee. If Faulty is out then there is big pressure on Barnes to take over. Barnes returns to union after a brief stint in league with the Broncos. Union has been using league to develop its players for sometime now as we don’t have a proper domestic comp.

The return of Conners bolsters the forwards experience and hopefully he and Alec Evans can work miracles in the tight five. Conners should team up with Chapman in my opinion and put McMeniman at 6 and this will fix the lineout up and put on another big ball running lock (Chapman). Unfortunately Valentines injury give Ordinary a chance (Cordingley was lousy last time he played for QLD, I hope he has improved) not only at the QLD starting side but surprisingly enough the Wallabies as well (depending upon injuries and retirements).
Its bloody funny last year Miller had a hard on for youth and no experience now he has brought back in old players to bolster the youth and counter the loss of all the players to the other QLD side in the competition the ‘Force’.

Expected Line-up:
I haven’t seen any preseason games and I have no idea what Miller’s plans are so. Don’t put too much betting on the team line up. Will Barnes get the 5/8 or not will greatly impact the team line-up and the current injuries to the centres and wings will depend on who recovers first will probably get the nod.

Homes, Hardman, Blake, Chapman, Conners, McMeniman, Croft, Roe, Cordingley, Barnes, Mitchel, Flatley, Tune, Johansson, Latham: Res: McKeller, More, Horwill, Sua, Atkinson, Kefu

I have big hopes for Sua to get onto the bench and be used as an impact player with 25 to go. He was an absolute try scoring freak at no.6 for Sunnybank and should provide plenty of muscle and speed when he gets on.

Draw Analysis:
Not a bad draw. 4 out of 5 games at home but once again hitting all the big guns early. I prefer the NSW game towards the end of the season as it used to guarantee to knock NSW out of the finals race but as a mate is now claiming it’s a new comp and records don’t mean shit now. The last game in Townsville against the Highlanders will once again probably determine which side squeaks into the finals.
Expected finish

Injuries to Hynes and Valentine won’t help the Reds but as we all know Chucky is taking over next year everyone will be playing for next years’ contract. I think they should surprise a few sides this year if and only if Flatley, Latham and Tune can stay on the park for the bulk of the season. I think they are still a bit light up front but Alec Evans has been working hard fixing up problems in the front row. Probably a slow start this year and pick up latter in the season depending upon injuries but should probably pick up enough points to finish 4-8.

by

Let us know what you think!

Back to the Future eh? The only hope your beloved Reds have of not finishing in the bottom 2 or 3 on the points table is if Marty McFly uses his De Lorean to go forward in time and steal the game tapes for all this seasons games, because without some inside info this current bunch of scrubbers aren't doing much!

Supposedly this article has been viewed times since we bothered to start counting*.
(Although it could have just been on the Reload button doing some serious ego padding!)