Sharks Supporters Thread ver. 2008

LancelotSA said:
The excitement is building!! :)



BJ Botha unlikely to play. Frans Steyn should be fit. Tongan World Cup star Epi Taione may be back after serving his suspension!
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I'm actually hoping he doesn't play in the semi ...... I reckon he is a massive talent but he needs more rugby teaching. The Barrit/Pienaar/Jacobs combo was fsckin brilliant and that's what we need to stick with.
 
Whilst I cannot fault the combination of Pienaar/Barritt/Jacobs last week, the one thing I will say in Steyn's defence is that he always gets over the advantage line! That is key to any great centre as they will more often than not have to go crash ball until the opportunity exists to swing wide to the wing. He also has a great defensive game which is more than I can say for Jacobs. Yes, he is still immature and tends to find himself isolated at times, however more often than not his judgement is good and he plays a great game at centre.

He is not a flyhalf se gat though as he certainly doesnt have the head for it yet! But I have no problem with him starting at centre, especially considering this game could be decided on a better goal-kicking team! We will always have Barritt or Jacobs to fall back on should push come to shove! I believe playing for the Boks under Jake has taught Francois a great deal but we need to give him the opportunity to prove he is a great player. We already know he is a great talent - lets give him the chance to prove he can convert that talent into points for both the Sharks and the Boks!
 
Oh I agree 100% with what you said but it's that aimless kicking and when he doesn't swing the ball out wide when he should that has me worried for the Waratahs match. :o

It's actually a 'pity' that Terblanche is playing so well .... fullback is the place where I think Steyn shines big time.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
Oh I agree 100% with what you said but it's that aimless kicking and when he doesn't swing the ball out wide when he should that has me worried for the Waratahs match. :o

It's actually a 'pity' that Terblanche is playing so well .... fullback is the place where I think Steyn shines big time.
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No, its not a pity - Steyn will always be in the offensive backline so he needs the experience there, not at full back - he plays equally well in both positions but becomes very irate playing at fullback which can cause errors - Terblanche has had a stormer (no pun intended) at full back this season and we havent even noticed Monty's departure.

Your points above are valid, however some good coaching will cure those immature tendencies he has. In fact, I believe he has been encouraged to attempt drops from the 50m line as he is forced to practice those during the week - and his running game is his strength and Pienaar/Michelak/Kockott needs to call the move beforehand and communicate it to them if they really want the ball spread. Otherwise, he is just playing his natural game which is what secured his position in Jake's world cup winning squad!

I know Grant Bashford personally, and he is a fantastic coach and has the utmost faith in Francois' abilities at centre! He believes that it is pressure which sometimes gets to Francois (even though Steyn denies this) and they have been subtly working on this for the last year with him - apparently we should be seeing the results of this subtle psychological conditioning before the end of the season!
 
Good to hear that ........ with enough teaching he IS going to be our star Springbok for a good while. But can you honestly say you aren't nervous about what he might try in the semi game?
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
Good to hear that ........ with enough teaching he IS going to be our star Springbok for a good while. But can you honestly say you aren't nervous about what he might try in the semi game?
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Nope - not nervous at all if he plays! There are more worrying factors to consider than an exceptional talent being in the starting line-up. Or coming on with 15 min to go with a point to prove! I have more of a problem with Burden being on the bench and letting us down again! I am 100% sure we could find a better replacement hooker than that useless twit!
 
You reckon Burden is useless? Apart from his dodgy line-out throws, I reckon he has some nice barnstorming games (same vein as Bismarck). Maybe over time this could also be sorted.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
You reckon Burden is useless? Apart from his dodgy line-out throws, I reckon he has some nice barnstorming games (same vein as Bismarck). Maybe over time this could also be sorted.
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You trying to justify a hooker's aweful lineout game!!!???? Just think about attacking lineouts in opp's 22 or defensive linouts in our own 22! Not the positions you want to be losing possession! In fact, if we land up playing the Crusaders in the final, even midfield is a dangerous spot to lose possession as their backline can muster up a pretty awesome counter!

Sure, his defense is OK at times, but his offense lacks any kind of flare like John or Bismarck and he will never turnover possession from defence IMO! And he is useless at the breakdown conceding far too many free kicks and penalties with little security of possession when he is first into the ruck!

If John was back, we would have a truly world-class 15 + bench but IMHO Burden is one of the biggest let downs of the last 2 seasons. His currie cup performances last year were shocking and he is a very big risk we are carrying.
 
DJStealth said:
You trying to justify a hooker's aweful lineout game!!!????
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:eek: ..... calm, deep breath :p Of course he is no Smit or Bismarck but IMO he is at least better than Skipper baby ...... now there's a dodgy hooker. And with Bismarck threatening to leave the Sharks if Smit comes back ...... eish, what can do bru :confused:
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
:eek: ..... calm, deep breath :p Of course he is no Smit or Bismarck but IMO he is at least better than Skipper baby ...... now there's a dodgy hooker. And with Bismarck threatening to leave the Sharks if Smit comes back ...... eish, what can do bru :confused:
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/Deep breath taken and chill pill downed with a whiskey! No sleep can do that (I am glad you are a card carrying member - see TK for explanation)

Well if it was up to me, I would be looking for another hooker if Bismarck left as I wouldnt see Burden as an asset on the bench if Bismarck left and John returned!

Saying that, John Smit has been in the Sharks camp for ages now and wasnt a favoured hooker back in his early days, so maybe I am being a bit harsh on the guy. However he has done less than nothing to impress me so far so he had better pull his socks up and learn how to pay some rugby in the near future if he intends to become a favourite amongst the Kings Park faithful.

(Its a pity we need ABSA's money because any loyal Sharkie will always know the ground as Kings Park. Same goes for Kingsmead and Queens Park)
 
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Absa? ..... who are those *********s ;) Heard they tried to name some stadium somewhere :p

I reckon we should put Burden through his paces for the duration of the CC ... he is after all still learning hooker play. Maybe he just needs the experience. I was a fan of his when he played wing so hopefully ............
 
I will give the guy a chance during Currie Cup because to be quite honest, the competition has lost its fanbase and I couldnt really care about it anymore. Ah, one for the nostalgia thread methinks.

But please holy mother of mary dont let him play in either of the next two S14 games (yes there will be two as we owe the Waratahs a hiding)!
 
Do you guys remember the days when the Currie Cup actually meant something!? When it was our premier domestic cup and people actually paid money to watch the games!?

What has happened? Surely the S14 couldnt have eradicated the entire support base for the cup? Or is it just me that feels like the entire currie cup has lost all credibility since the major franchises began selecting second rate teams to play in the cup?
 
DJStealth said:
Do you guys remember the days when the Currie Cup actually meant something!? When it was our premier domestic cup and people actually paid money to watch the games!?

What has happened? Surely the S14 couldnt have eradicated the entire support base for the cup? Or is it just me that feels like the entire currie cup has lost all credibility since the major franchises began selecting second rate teams to play in the cup?
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*looks around for these 'other' guys* :p I get what you're saying but I reckon it's more to do with 1) the fickleness of fans these days and 2) all the S14 guys playing test rugby and not being available. Imo, it's the increased test rugby that's eroded the CC.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
*looks around for these 'other' guys* :p I get what you're saying but I reckon it's more to do with 1) the fickleness of fans these days and 2) all the S14 guys playing test rugby and not being available. Imo, it's the increased test rugby that's eroded the CC.
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I am logically assuming that we are not the only two Sharks supporters and other might stumble across our ramblings and TK worthy, early morning Sharks postwhoring!
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
I get what you're saying but I reckon it's more to do with 1) the fickleness of fans these days and 2) all the S14 guys playing test rugby and not being available. Imo, it's the increased test rugby that's eroded the CC.
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1) The fanbase has remained (it was never a stadium packed with pensioners) - their fickleness is probably due to bad marketing and lack of awareness or buzz creation if you know what I mean?

2) The same arguement can be made as above as Tests are few and far between and even the non-bok S14 players appear to see it as a rest period. It just doesnt appear to be taken seriously anymore and is almost like a junior squad cup competition these days. IMHO thats what the Vodacom Cup should be all about, not our premier domestic cup!

Maybe we can blame ABSA again? They are a **** bank after all :D
 
Todays the day ....... man this is gonna be a sh*t-hot game :D Am also going to scream my arse off for the Hurricanes to beat the Crusaders ...... coz /me wants that home final to happen :D
 
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