A Few Things to Get Off My Chest

We are heading back into Premiership action this week and there are a few topics I have not covered, maybe they do not justify a full blog but together I thought it could be an interesting talking point.

Can we do it twice in as many seasons?

I was lucky enough to be invited to a corporate box at the Stoop last season.  I was the token Warriors fan brought along for entertainment.  The main guy in the box was very confident in his team and certain a bonus point win was coming their way.  The impartial guests were of a similar opinion and could not see how "plucky" Worcester could get anything from the game. 

By the end of the game, my host was the only person in the box not cheering us on - we fully deserved that away win, though Quins fans may argue that GJ's try was a bit controversial.

Personally I think we can do this 14-23 COYW!

Shillcock enters the senior squad 

Finally we hear that one of this seasons surprise packages has been promoted to and signed for the Warriors senior team.  I do not need to explain why this is good news.  He has been outstanding this season.  I just hope the return of Chris doesn't end this guy's run of games.

Personally I would be playing him at 10, especially with Heathcote out for probably a month now following that "tackle" against Brive.

Brive "Red Card"

Am I the only one that cannot see how this helps us?  The citing panel agree with the crowd on the day that this should have been a straight red.  We lost our 10.  They lost nothing and went on to win the game. 

We now have to replace Heathcote in the near future - Brive and more importantly Johan Snyman seem to have got off very lightly.  The 5 week ban indicates a medium severity BUT he will be back in time to play against us in the return fixture.  This cannot be right, surely?

I have a crazy thought - a citing for a red - the next fixture against that team (in this case our trip to their place in the Euro cup) they should lose a player from the minute that the citied player should have got their red.  Balances out for both teams then.  They should also have their ban, this is not instead of.

"Warrior" players getting local recognition

I guess the "players" should have been in quote marks too.  Great to see Valkyries getting recognition with Bianca Blackburn, Chelsea Parker from the HITZ programme and then Cooper Vuna as sports personality of the year - all in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards 2016.

Just based on personality Coops would win this hands down.  Add his Warriors performances and we have a no brainer.  He will need votes though - http://www.sportspartnershiphw.co.uk/vote-for-spoty-2016

Ongoing injuries

This is getting silly now.  How many guys do we need to sign as injury cover?  Having waited for what feels like months for Hougaard to return, he comes back injured.

I did see somebody suggest JBB return.  First off, congratulations to him having become a Dad recently.  Secondly please do not even consider him.  He played some great games for us, but having not found another premiership club or Pro 12 club or Top 14 side to sign for I am certain there is something about him that top clubs do not fancy.  I also do not think he bought into the 5 year plan then and would not fit into the club now. 

Ben T'eo

I am pretty sure that I am the only person to think this, but here we go - He still has not displayed anything near what I was expecting.

Olivier is still playing his socks off.  If not for Perry and Shilly grabbing the headlines then this man would be in every story related to our club.  My man of the season so far!

Chris Pennell is back

We missed Chris.  He came straight back into the 15 slot like he had never been out of it.  It is not just his playing that we miss, it is also his leadership on the pitch.  I am sure he will help in the final 20 of the game against Quins and help us get another away win.

When is Charity not Charity?

I do read some funny things on the internet, but nothing quite like this for a while:

The Facebook group for WRSC actually had a thread where a very vocal member complained about the new WRSC badges:

These badges are bought and sold with the intention of raising money for the Warriors ASEE programme.  This is a scheme that brings young adults / teenagers from the surrounding area into the rugby environment to see if they can make it as players.  The parents however need to support them in staying in the local area - this is where the badge comes in - buy a badge for £5 and 100% of the profit goes straight to ASEE.

The objection came when this particular member took offence to this being declared as charity.

Definition of Charity:

""the voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need.

Wayland's Yard

I crowd funded and was involved in the decision for the WRSC to crowd fund also, I then attended the "soft launch" man I have bought into this idea.  The place is great.  I do not drink coffee.  I don't even like the smell very much but Sam and his team have catered for that…. Their tea is amazing!

I finally have a place to visit for a weekly treat that does not involve beer, though they sell that too.

The new £1 pint pots

Seem to be working, though once they have been washed a couple of times the edge seems to get a bit thin / sharp.  This does not happen with the ones I have from other grounds, so for me the jury is still out.

Two pint jugs

How did I not see these until I was about to leave.  The big problem for me with the old two pint pots was cold hands in the winter - this would seem to me as the perfect solution.  Looking forward to giving them a go!

European (Russian) Rugby Taking a Back Seat

So, this weekend the Warriors were in Europe, well Russia and the club have clearly nailed our European intentions on the mast - it is not important.  So if the club feel that way then I will take a break from blogging about them and turn my attention to the Valkyries this week.

                               Sam Bree scoring

With the absence of a Warriors fixture it was great to head to Sixways on Sunday with my 2 youngest and get involved.

You may know that I am the kind of person that likes to be part of things and not just sit by and watch them happen, well hopefully my kids have inherited that personality trait too.

Having played tag rugby that morning at Malvern we turned up muddy and a bit tired, but we had jobs to do.

First up - sell match day programmes.

Now sadly the crowds at Valkyries games are less than at an A league game, but that certainly did not put off the team.  I am a bit perplexed about the attendance.  There were a few parents and family members, a handful of girls in rugby kit and maybe half a dozen men that I have seen at Warriors games - that was it. 

It's free! 

Ever wanted to get a girl interested in rugby?

Think your neighbour might fancy a couple of hours out?

What to do an age grade rugby social event that will only cost parents a cone of chips and a bottle of coke?

We (all rugby fans) need to embrace this sport.  In the most part the rugby is outstanding.  With professional standard coaching and facilities, it is only going to get better too.

The first half was not pretty.  The Valkyries were playing with the wind in their faces and that final ball or clever little move just seemed to fall short of excellence each time.

In part it was the bad kicking from them that kept us in the game going into half time.  Something needed to change and though she was not the only improvement, brining Heather Fisher on for the 2nd half was an inspired move.

Watch Her Try Here

If you follow me on Twitter @rugbyworcs then you will know I was pretty impressed by this try.

Aidan started reminiscing when she "bashed the Japanese players" at the Olympics.  I'm not sure if you watched the Olympic ladies 7's but there was some great rugby on show and Fisher left a lasting impression on my son.  He was so happy when he finally twigged that she is a Worcester player.

We also ran the East Stand lines with the team acting as ball boys and girl.  It is probably the first time my daughter has paid attention for an entire game.

Lets hope she was inspired and not just buzzing from the Diet Coke treat she had!

There is one thing that became clear to me on Sunday, our city needs to get behind the Valkyries.  Their style of rugby is exciting, their skills are evident, their passion, explosive attacks and determination in defence all make for a great rugby spectacle.

The details on the website are not great and there is no ability to forward plan watching their games thanks to venue details being omitted, but why not stick some of these dates in your diary and join Me, Aidan and Daisy in supporting the Worcester Valkyries?

Tigers vs Warriors - What do I expect?

Watching the game between Bath and Sale it occurred to me… we are not really that bad.

These are teams that we have already played. Did either of them make us look bad? I have not researched this claim, but I am pretty sure we have never won at the Rec and we drew with Sale.

Bath vs Warriors

It wasn't our finest hour but we have played a lot worse

There were more than a few players that thought Sale was a bad game. Was it? Should they not consider playing a yo-yo club like Worcester as an expected 4 points?

Warriors vs Sale

Worcester Warriors v Sale Sharks - Aviva Premiership Rugby 2016-17

If you have read any of my previous blogs then you will know that my glass is very much half full, so there will be no shock that I think there are signs of greatness coming out of Sixways.

We have a massive challenge coming this weekend and even I cannot see past our biggest hope being a losing bonus point.

Tigers are 4th and we are 3rd from bottom the is a 5 point gap. That is a gap that, as I may have mentioned before, would only be 1 if only we had an 80% kicker

Although, is asking for  80%  asking too much?

Tigers do have an 80% kicker, but table toppers Wasps fall short of the "magic" number

So if our kicking is not going to win the game, what will?

This man should be able to make an impact for us.  But will he?

On showing so far he has fallen short, is that down to his summer injury? Is he struggling to hit Premiership rugby Speed?

I'm not sure, what I do know is that Olivier and Willison have been outstanding this season and they 100% deserve their starting positions and could well be our difference against the Tigers.

Come On You Warriors!

Worcester need a new 10 I hear you say?

But do we?  Do we really need a new 10 or do we just need to find that kicking accuracy of the Championship final?

Fissler and some of the actual press have been reporting that we are in a battle with Harlequins for the signature of New Zealand fly half Aaron Cruden.  There were even reports that we were willing to pay him £700k per season.  Now I would love this, I think he is an exceptional player and to get the opportunity to watch him would be worth a £40 match ticket, but and this is a big BUT - It is never going to happen.

Carl Hogg was interviewed about it, basically saying he would love somebody "like" him and that we are always looking for talent "like" him.  If we were really in the race the club would shout it from the roof tops.  Further to this, though today [Saturday 1st October] it is reported that French clubs are will to offer: $1,54m per year!  The 80+ responses on COYW to this possible signing balked at the thought of £700k how about we double that as without top European rugby we would have pay through the nose for his signature.

So we are faced with the thought that if we average 8,000 per home game for 17 home games £11 of each and every ticket would go towards his wages.

Or we invest in the kicking talent we already have.

Back in March 2012 a young talented 20 year old fly half was given an unlikely opportunity - Stephen Donald, New Zealand world cup winner picked up an injury, Bath fans were crying out that a new 10 was needed, up steps Tom Heathcote.

Brad Davis the Bath backs coach at the time was quoted saying that he does make mistakes but he will enthrall and score points [sounds a bit like Lamb].

Do we expect too much from our play makers at Sixways?

Do we compare all that follow Goode to a man that set records everywhere he played?

Should we give our guys more of a chance or is that something we cannot afford?

The Inverness born 24 year old has played for Scotland, having played age grade rugby for England and has played for Bath and Edinburgh, so he is clearly not a novice.  In the same way Grove went North to further his international hopes, Tom came back to England looking to re-build his professional career.  He has already played more games for us and scored more points for us than he did for Edinburgh.

This season he has played 121 minutes, scored 10 points [6.6 per game] with a kick success rate of 67%

Compared to Lamb, who has played 199 minutes, scored 17 [6.85 per game] points with a kick success rate of 54%

They are pretty similar, one thing that separates them [and may well be why Tom starts against Falcons Sunday] is their tackle stats: Tom is 86% whilst Lamb is only 74%

Only looking at this season there are some clear signs: Lamb is the more attacking fly half of the two and Heathcote the more stable or secure.  Lamb must have a league record for bad passes and I can see where the Falcons view of "some players that cannot defend" comes from with Ryan missing 7 tackles and being turned over 5 times this season already.

Heathcote seems to make better ground and have better distribution as his statistics are better than Lamb's even though he has had less game time this season.

The big problem is the place kicking.  We have already seen that kicking better than 74% in a game makes the difference between a loss and a draw or even a loss and a win.  Both Gloucester and Sale games would have been home victories for us if only we have kicked >74% on the day.

I'm not sure who can help Lamb with his missed tackles as it seems to have been part of his game his entire career.

In our last Championship season we got Paul Grayson in to help with kicking.  The season we were relegated he was brought in to improve Pennell and Lamb's kicking [Seems a common requirement].

So where is he now?  Surely by now we must have been on the phone to him asking for some more of his kicking magic?  It would appear he is a coach for hire, so get him hired!  Book Him Here

Bring in Grayson, he could help Tom and Ryan with their immediate need - get the kicking to >74% but he could also work with some of our future kickers, or even back up kicks like Shillcock, Eden and Pennell.

I have no idea how much he costs but if he can bridge the gap between 64% and 74% then he would have already been worth 2 victories over 2 draws.  I am also sure he would cost less than Aaron Cruden.

Invest in the players we have got, the club need to do it with time and money, we as fans need to do it with support at the ground.  Just a 10% improvement and we will get much needed wins, starting this weekend.

And finally....

September has been a busy month.  Sam Smith having retired from the club is crowd funding his way to opening the brightest coffee spot in the city.  Outgoing WRSC Chairman, Darren is pictured above with the supporters committee donation of £250.  Take a look Here and make sure you start visiting when the place opens later this month.

A big thank you to Darren Birch who after more than 5 years as WRSC Chairman has stood down and given the seat to Bob Low.

Good luck Bob [he is the one on the left] I am looking forward to seeing where we take the supporters committee under your leadership.

If you would like to get involved with the WRSC or see what we do take a look Here