Pre-season v All White XI Rotorua 22 Sept 2013

Was Sherminator there? Has he finished his rehab?

Would love a player rating and wrap up if one is available. Looked on stuff without luck.

And ASBP is better than A league apparently. So he'll be fine. 

Thanks N Bomb great reading. Nicely done. Pleased to hear about Ridenton and good to hear Clapham had a great game. I really hope he keeps Butler out. Clapham v James shaping up as a nice battle in October

Sounds like we should be signing up Ridenton for FSE at least.

Think he might go with Auckland City. Club World Cup etc

Disturbing moment in that game when it looked like they were taking Fenton to hospital in a Zorb...

Maybe was for half time novelty zorb-ball?

I would have thought a Roto-vegas luge for the hospital trip.

Clapham a 9.5 out of ten? Shit.

Also, who is this Ridenton kid?? 

Saw the game.
Herbet implied the Phoenix goal was offside but I don't think it was. I think he was lucky later on with a close offside call going against Waffles.
Waffles was my MoM, good goal, good interplay, good work rate, probably should have had a couple of assists which would've been finished by Brockie if he's going to be on the pitch at the same time.
 Carlos did look a little slow but has obvious quality and was involved in almost everything going forward in the first half. Dropped to pick up the ball a few times, set up the goal.
 Thought the Phoenix had the better of the first half, pretty even in the second. All whites looked more dangerous when Bertos was shifted up. 

Moss didn't have a great game but the rest of the Phoenix contingent in the NZA were the best for them.
Watson was great in the first 30. Rufer was much better than I thought he would be. Same build as Boyd but really gets himself about and isn't knocked off it too easily.
Fenton looked good going forward, alright in defence but not Manny quality. Speaking off, looked pretty decent but had a little AW to knock around so not his toughest game.
Gully wasn't too bad, may as well take him. Not sure what our other options are. 
The new Ginger was invisible. Boyd got less time but did much more.
Siggy was the best CB on the park. Boxhall 4th but not far behind.

Don't think anything was happening with the "Coach fighting". Just the 4th official thinking it was 3 subs, and the coaches saying if we both agree that's fine, it's just preseason. From the looks of it...


Rufer, Watson and number 10 for the AW (Rindeton?) were the most exciting of the young talent.

Hogg was a bit rubbish unfortunately. 

Just read the ratings given. 
Agree mostly, just would bump Clapham down to a 7 and Brockie up,Pt Boyd above Brindle-south, Hogg down to a 5.
Depends if you rate people purely on merit or as a comparison to how they normally play I guess.

My notes from the game...

attendance 3500, disappointing

15 min Vinnie gave ball away, AWs nearly scored
25 Carlos peed off after making good run ,but Rufer didn't see it
27 Louis injured himself trying to show Lochie who's boss. Dumb
35 Exc header by Nix keeper Spoonley out of his area
36 Great save by Moss from Rufer shot
40 Ridenton nutmegged Siggy and shot close
44 Carlos nice pass, Stein rounded keeper goal
46 Carlos almost chipped Moss
3 min Caira dispossessed by Brockie
4 Beautiful AWs move, Ridenton - Leo - Clapham tap in
5 Ridenton nutmegs Carlos!!
25 Ridenton feeds Brockie who has shot sved
38 Clapham nutmegs Boxall - fouled him for free kick to AWs

Over all a good hit out. My ratings -

Spoonley 6 Good job
Siggy 7.5 led the team well
Louis 5 Struggled
Boxall 6.5 Solid
Caira 6 Quick, useful
Manny 6.5 Combined well with Carlos
Carlos 7 The controller, lovely passing, calm
Vinnie 5.5 Worked hard, a few wayward passes
Rufer 6 Good touches, potential
Watson 5 Not much contribution
Stein 8 Held ball well, nice finish

Gulley 6.5 Quick and good decisions
Bertsche 6 Nice touches
Josh B 4.5 Little impact
Tyler 5.5 Good touches, combined well with others
Luke Adam 5.5 Did the job

Of the AWs, just a few:
Very good: Ridenton, Dura, Vicelich
Good: Moss, Leo, Brockie
OK: Clapham, Lochie
Not great: Peverley, Hogg, anyone else 

Teams flight cancelled. On the Bus to Wgtn. Fun

Not sure if crowd for Rotorua for a ALeague season game would be much bigger that it was. Nice ground, but a lot of the crowd were there were supporting the New Zealand 'A' team, and didn't know anything about the Phoenix.

Lots of opinions on how the game went, the ratings seem about right. Game dropped off a lot when they put all the subs from both benches onto the park.

Not sure about Carlos. He wasn't available last weekend, didn't seem to have any problem getting around the pitch yesterday, was working well in the middle of the park. Want to see more of his free kicks.

He is saving them for the actual season :>)

Not sure that selling out Napier is a realistic goal either, would be a superb achievement for Thundersticks if she did.

You're probably right

Video highlights

http://www.3news.co.nz/VIDEO-HIGHLIGHTS-All-goals-interviews-1-1-Wellington-Phoenix-V-New-Zealand-A-Rotorua/tabid/415/articleID/314223/Default.aspx

There were a lot more wearing Phoenix gear than All White gear!! Check out the Daily Post's photo collection from the day

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/photos/news/image.cfm?c_id=1503431&gal_cid=1503431&gallery_id=138009#12488099

It was  Rotorua United team that played Cambridge in the curtain raiser.

Why did I think the Mount? I was talking about the red team - Cambridge. And you're right, bugger all NZ gear.

Were they selling NZ gear? There was a big line at the caravan selling Phoenix stuff. Looked to be completely bare by half time.