By Lee Walker
October 16 2002

The Calvisano home game (EC 01-02): The conditions were poor, most of the rugby was poor but surely someone had a good game? A run-down of those who impressed, those that could have done with an early bath and something that made me chuckle! Heroes, Zeros, and Magic Moments

By Terrace Tiger
Date: 8/1/2002

Hero of the Week:
Despite treacherous conditions under foot and a greasy ball making decisive breaks and slick handling troublesome, Geordan Murphy was the player that impressed me on Saturday. Once again not only did he show that he is a natural footballer, with all the skills that entails but he demonstrated sound decision making which much of the rest of the team could have also benefited from. This young man has a knack of joining the line in just the right place and at the right time. Not the most original choice of the week but my hero of the week.

Zero of the Week:
I've read much criticism of Andy Goode's performance on various notice boards. However I don't think Andy was solely to blame for the poor (but still comfortable) show on Saturday. The conditions made kicking for goal difficult and the majority of his attempts were from out wide, never an easy kick in the best of conditions. It was his decision making along with Messer's Hamilton and Kafer that I was most disappointed with. The release from the ruck was slow and inaccurate, and Andy and Rods' distribution at times was frustrating at best. The cries of "Give it to Boothy" or "Get it wide" persisted from the crowd throughout the match. While Steve Booth is not a magic bullet that will score you tries at will, and we may have been spoilt with running rugby over the rest of the season, I think these views were well founded. I lost count of the times we appeared to have an overlap until a lateral run by either Goode or Kafer allowed the Calvisano defence to drift into position. Therefore my zero's of the week are Hamilton, Goode and Kafer collectively.

An additional word about Andy Goode: This young man has a wealth of talent that Tigers should develop and exploit to the full. . I like the structure of our game when Goode is playing well which allows perhaps the more inventive players to express themselves. At present, after a period out of the 1st team, he seems to have lost a bit of confidence. Unfortunately with Stimpo's injury and Healey's suspension there is a lot of pressure on Andy to perform. We need to have faith in him and show an understanding that it may take a few games for him to pick his game up.

And finally...

My magic moment of the week was observing a middle aged lady at the front of the Crumbie Terrace finally getting the Calvisano bench to sit down so she could see the action in the Crumbie/A&L stand corner. She had been shouting at them to do so throughout the match and it just conjured up an image of Basil Fawlty desperately trying to get Manuel to understand him. But with the respective heights reversed!!

Cheers,
Terrace Tiger