For balance, schopp said one of their guys (Holden) ‘came into his area and attacked’ him. Hardly an attack, was it…
While I wouldn't class it as a punch, Eckert put his hand towards the guys face/head and made contact with a little bit of force. Thats a red card. Not sure why he did it either. Made it tasty mind you.
Laumann looks like a guy not to be messed with. Plenty of veins bulging and muscles pumping. I was extremely happy to see the "one in all in attitude of our lads". Schopp maintained a sense of nobility throughout and let the lads stand their ground. Fine coming in the post, but how much do team building exercises cost these days? Best bit of team bonding you can get a good ruck. Nationally televised and sends a message that we won't be pushed around by clubs with a supposed pedigree.
Agreed, whilst in an ideal world it wouldn’t happen, I thought same as it happened. Must admit though I was surprised by Laumann as in his preseason interview he sounded and came across as quite laid back
Let’s face it, our bench didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory but it is interesting how Michael Morrison refers to Schopp as ‘manager’ but it is ‘Michael’ and ‘Dean’ when referring to their bench.
Cosy little relationships they all have. Similar to when refs call some players by their first name, and others by their shirt number.
It is possibly one of the downsides of going down the overseas manager route. A lot of championship managers/coaches have come up through the English game and are familiar with the refs. I am not saying refs are intentionally treating us differently but most people unconsciously favour people they have had dealings with than those they have not.
The penny dropped with me the day Gary Willard made sure little Michael wasn't roughed up and his mates Paul, Steve and Jamie were allowed to enjoy their game without being harassed by numbers 4 and 8 wearing the red shirts.
but then the ref sent the wrong coach off , it was not Laumann that threw the tap[ it wasn't a punch]
I honestly thought I saw a raised hand. I thought it was Joseph Laumann, and assumed that's why he was sent off. There was no time wasting though. The ball came to Schopp and before he could do anything, he was pushed off it. Collins did some time wasting, but was (wrongly) on a booking so didn't do it excessively.
To be honest, it was a massive overreaction from our coaches. Didn't see a punch, but was crazy to slap him like that.