Connacht Team Talk Thread V - The Friend Zone

gally74

The Friend Zone

2nd best season.... great improvement in the last 2 years

troyzer

So what's the goal for next year?

I think trying to get out of the group stages in Europe will probably be difficult. Connacht will be bottom seed.

But with a generous draw, a stronger squad, an extra year with Friend and Lady luck you never know.

I imagine Connacht are targeting a respectable group stage which would probably be at least 2 wins. And then push really hard for a home quarter final in the Pro14.

mfceiling

Wegians89 wrote: »

On paper Connacht should win this, feel only two ulster players would start ahead of their contour parts on the Connacht team. The emotional side of the game will be huge. Best and caves last home game and the connachts win up there earlier in the year will give the ulster man a bit of a kick

??

Stockdale?
Coetzee?
Henderson?
Murphy?

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

mfceiling wrote: »

??

Stockdale?
Coetzee?
Henderson?
Murphy?

Stockdale wasn’t playing otherwise I would have included him. Coetzee and Henderson were the two I think could get in. Don’t think murphy would get in ahead of butler or faingaa

mfceiling

Wegians89 wrote: »

Stockdale wasn’t playing otherwise I would have included him. Coetzee and Henderson were the two I think could get in. Don’t think murphy would get in ahead of butler or faingaa

Fair enough. Bit ridiculous to assume 13 out of 15 players are better than their counterparts though. Scoreboard suggested otherwise.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

troyzer wrote: »

So what's the goal for next year?

I think trying to get out of the group stages in Europe will probably be difficult. Connacht will be bottom seed.

But with a generous draw, a stronger squad, an extra year with Friend and Lady luck you never know.

I imagine Connacht are targeting a respectable group stage which would probably be at least 2 wins. And then push really hard for a home quarter final in the Pro14.

Think good showing in home games in Europe and become a regular in champions cup. Semi final of pro 14 should be the aim

Interested Observer

I think winning the 3 home games in Europe should definitely be a goal, and it's not an unrealistic one either.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

mfceiling wrote: »

Fair enough. Bit ridiculous to assume 13 out of 15 players are better than their counterparts though. Scoreboard suggested otherwise.

That’s why I said on paper and went on to say how home advantage and the emotional aspect of best/caves last home game would be very important. Ulster were the better team in the day and fair play to them. Coetzee is a world class player and he was the difference in my eyes.

troyzer

Wegians89 wrote: »

Think good showing in home games in Europe and become a regular in champions cup. Semi final of pro 14 should be the aim

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.

You have three home games in the cup and they should try and win two of them because the third will obviously be against a top seed like Leinster, Saracens or Toulouse. There's no shame in losing to a team like that, even at home. I think two wins would be a great start to making Connacht a fixture in Europe.

Semi final should be the aim and the team is capable of it but I think they need a home quarter to get there. I think Glasgow are going to suffer when Hogg leaves, they might be vulnerable. So coming second in conference A seems achievable to me.

mfceiling

Wegians89 wrote: »

That’s why I said on paper and went on to say how home advantage and the emotional aspect of best/caves last home game would be very important. Ulster were the better team in the day and fair play to them. Coetzee is a world class player and he was the difference in my eyes.

Can't disagree with your last statement to be fair!!

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

troyzer wrote: »

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.

You have three home games in the cup and they should try and win two of them because the third will obviously be against a top seed like Leinster, Saracens or Toulouse. There's no shame in losing to a team like that, even at home. I think two wins would be a great start to making Connacht a fixture in Europe.

Semi final should be the aim and the team is capable of it but I think they need a home quarter to get there. I think Glasgow are going to suffer when Hogg leaves, they might be vulnerable. So coming second in conference A seems achievable to me.

The squads in a good place but the right people need to be brought in. Tight head competition for bealham and I think a rejigger in the back three is needed. Depth in a few other areas too

Paul Smeenus

Wegians89 wrote: »

That’s why I said on paper and went on to say how home advantage and the emotional aspect of best/caves last home game would be very important. Ulster were the better team in the day and fair play to them. Coetzee is a world class player and he was the difference in my eyes.

I'm so glad we scraped by the better team by nine points.

I had a massive facetious answer typed out, but it's a load of ballicks. A load of your players aren't as good as you think they are.

troyzer

Wegians89 wrote: »

The squads in a good place but the right people need to be brought in. Tight head competition for bealham and I think a rejigger in the back three is needed. Depth in a few other areas too

Tighthead is always the difficult one. Even Leinster were shafted there only a few seasons ago. That's where I'd spend the big money after the world cup.

TOH isn't really able for top level fullback play. I think he's really going to struggle in Europe next year against a top side.

Leinster are probably going to release Jack Kelly, he might be a decent project.

Is Max Kearney going to Connacht?

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

troyzer wrote: »

Tighthead is always the difficult one. Even Leinster were shafted there only a few seasons ago. That's where I'd spend the big money after the world cup.

TOH isn't really able for top level fullback play. I think he's really going to struggle in Europe next year against a top side.

Leinster are probably going to release Jack Kelly, he might be a decent project.

Is Max Kearney going to Connacht?

Yeah think for large parts of the season toh looked to be dipping, started to look better in the last few weeks but wasn’t great again today. I wouldn’t mind Kelly tbh, looked a decent prospect a change could help him. Haven’t heard anything of max Kearney

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

I'm so glad we scraped by the better team by nine points.

I had a massive facetious answer typed out, but it's a load of ballicks. A load of your players aren't as good as you think they are.

That’s fair enough, I probably am a bit biased as most supporters are. Best in his prime (played like it today) would be there but I personally don’t think he’s anywhere near that level as you could assume of a player his age. O Sullivan and ulster back three have huge potential but not convinced by then yet.

And on today’s game, it was 8 points was it not? 7 of which came at the very end so yes ulster did pretty much scrape by as the match was in the balance until the very end. Don’t want to take away from ulster performance, they deserved the win but it wasn’t as easy as you’re making it sound like.

Bazzo

Mul, it's over

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

I'm so glad we scraped by the better team by nine points.

I had a massive facetious answer typed out, but it's a load of ballicks. A load of your players aren't as good as you think they are.

Whatever about somebody else's evaluation of individual players, you keep disingenuously trying to portray that Ulster cruised to a win by posting the (incorrect) scoreline.

It was a close match, less than a score in it for the vast majority.

Paul Smeenus

Wegians89 wrote: »

That’s fair enough, I probably am a bit biased as most supporters are. Best in his prime (played like it today) would be there but I personally don’t think he’s anywhere near that level as you could assume of a player his age. O Sullivan and ulster back three have huge potential but not convinced by then yet.

And on today’s game, it was 8 points was it not? 7 of which came at the very end so yes ulster did pretty much scrape by as the match was in the balance until the very end.

Well, that's fair enough. I also am MASSIVELY biased. And I don't care who gets some imaginary prize for being better than their opposite number, as long as we win and we have a semi:final and Connacht don't.

So that's worked out for me.

Paul Smeenus

Bazzo wrote: »

Whatever about somebody else's evaluation of individual players, you keep disingenuously trying to portray that Ulster cruised to a win by posting the (incorrect) scoreline.

It was a close match, less than a score in it for the vast majority.

Apologies. We beat you by eight points, not nine.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

Well, that's fair enough. I also am MASSIVELY biased. And I don't care who gets some imaginary prize for being better than their opposite number, as long as we win and we have a semi:final and Connacht don't.

So that's worked out for me.

There is no imaginary prize, pre match I simply said on paper I thought Connacht were the better team but then went in to add reasons why ulster could win. Ulster did win and fair play to them.

Paul Smeenus

Wegians89 wrote: »

There is no imaginary prize, pre match I simply said on paper I thought Connacht were the better team but then went in to add reasons why ulster could win. Ulster did win and fair play to them.

No, you said "On paper Connacht should win this, feel only two ulster players would start ahead of their contour parts on the Connacht."

It doesn't matter, though. I'm just being a wab.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

No, you said "On paper Connacht should win this, feel only two ulster players would start ahead of their contour parts on the Connacht."

It doesn't matter, though. I'm just being a wab.

Yes that implies I thought Connacht were the better team. Look it doesn’t matter now and fair play to ulster again. Enjoy the night ulster fans deserve it.

Paul Smeenus

Wegians89 wrote: »

Yes that implies I thought Connacht were the better team. Look it doesn’t matter now and fair play to ulster again. Enjoy the night ulster fans deserve it.

Cheers bud.

Lebute

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

No, you said "On paper Connacht should win this, feel only two ulster players would start ahead of their contour parts on the Connacht."

It doesn't matter, though. I'm just being a wab.

Can I make a point ... I don’t think Carolan is cutting the mustard
We are so inept in the opposition 22 and only look good against lower or weakened sides.
We have lacked zip since bell left McPhillips was brutal and I think NC is there due to loyalty and history.
Major shout out to the S&C guys fir two years running and Pete Wilikins for turning us into a formidable defensive unit

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

Lebute wrote: »

Can I make a point ... I don’t think Carolan is cutting the mustard
We are so inept in the opposition 22 and only look good against lower or weakened sides.
We have lacked zip since bell left McPhillips was brutal and I think NC is there due to loyalty and history.
Major shout out to the S&C guys fir two years running and Pete Wilikins for turning us into a formidable defensive unit

I do agree that Connacht attack is pretty blunt recently but at the start of the season it looked much better. Connacht seemed to cut teams open with set piece moves. I don’t know why that seems to have faded out recently. Farrell hasn’t been as explosive ball in hand and the back three haven’t been great either. I wouldn’t be turning my back on Carolan yet though, I wonder was there more emphasis put on the defensive side as apart from a few individual brain farts the defense side looks much improved

Lebute

Wegians89 wrote: »

I do agree that Connacht attack is pretty blunt recently but at the start of the season it looked much better. Connacht seemed to cut teams open with set piece moves. I don’t know why that seems to have faded out recently. Farrell hasn’t been as explosive ball in hand and the back three haven’t been great either. I wouldn’t be turning my back on Carolan yet though, I wonder was there more emphasis put on the defensive side as apart from a few individual brain farts the defense side looks much improved

I think Defense is really good but once we get into the 22 ..... I know what’s going to happen... today’s try was down to individuals skill set brains and want nothing to do with our backs coach !

Diabhal Beag

I love these lads but when it comes to being clinical away we're miles off where we need to be. Is that something we can fix within our budget? I don't know.

Regardless a massive thanks to Friendy, the players and the coaches for Heino Cup next year. To do that first season of the new era is great going.

ClanofLams

Mul, it's over

Wegians89 wrote: »

I do agree that Connacht attack is pretty blunt recently but at the start of the season it looked much better. Connacht seemed to cut teams open with set piece moves. I don’t know why that seems to have faded out recently. Farrell hasn’t been as explosive ball in hand and the back three haven’t been great either. I wouldn’t be turning my back on Carolan yet though, I wonder was there more emphasis put on the defensive side as apart from a few individual brain farts the defense side looks much improved

Even tonight the move off a scrum which nearly saw Healy go over in the corner early in the first half was obviously planned and a very good one at that. I don’t think you can really expect to get more than one of those a game.

Utopia Parkway

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I love these lads but when it comes to being clinical away we're miles off where we need to be. Is that something we can fix within our budget? I don't know.

Regardless a massive thanks to Friendy, the players and the coaches for Heino Cup next year. To do that first season of the new era is great going.

Connacht really need a Coetzee type player for next season. Just to compete in the Champions Cup. I don't think they will get the budget to bid for a world class player like that though.

Great first season for Andy Friend but I kinda feel we fell away a bit over the last two games.

Utah_Saint

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I love these lads but when it comes to being clinical away we're miles off where we need to be. Is that something we can fix within our budget? I don't know.

Regardless a massive thanks to Friendy, the players and the coaches for Heino Cup next year. To do that first season of the new era is great going.

Connacht really need a Coetzee type player for next season. Just to compete in the Champions Cup. I don't think they will get the budget to bid for a world class player like that though.

Great first season for Andy Friend but I kinda feel we fell away a bit over the last two games.

I thought all 4 teams have similar budgets given to them buy irfu?

KBurke85

The Friend Zone

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

Well, that's fair enough. I also am MASSIVELY biased. And I don't care who gets some imaginary prize for being better than their opposite number, as long as we win and we have a semi:final and Connacht don't.

So that's worked out for me.

Only one thing worse then a bad loser and that’s a bad winner