Man of the Month: September 2005


By Ralph
October 14 2005

Ralph looks back on Septermber and discusses who should be player of the month and sees who played best in the games against Pertemps Bees, Otley, Newbury and Nottingham.


ROUND ONE v. Pertemps Bees (a)

It is perhaps not entirely unsurprising that Mehrtens was named MOTM on his Quins debut. As Alanquin observed in his match report “the direction which Andrew Mehrtens brings to [our] attack is impressive” and as a result we saw a quick and fast flowing game dominated by the backs, with all 5 tries coming from a potent back three of Monye (2), Harder (2) and Williams (1). Nonetheless it was the sheer space which Mehrtens’ intelligent reading of the game created which won most Quins supporters over. It is not often a Kiwi legend puts his signature to paper at the Stoop and I suspect many of us already had him in mind for close scrutiny going into the game which was always going to mean he was a contender for MOTM. In such a key tactical position the contrast in style with other wearers of the Quins number 10 shirt was always going to be keenly observed by most on his debut, but nonetheless his nomination was richly deserved.

Re-reading Alanquins report it’s noticeable that Ugo gets a few mentions, both going forward, where he bagged two tries, and in defence where he notes Ugo’s try saving tackle on Tom Beim. Hopefully we are seeing a return to form for this devastating strike runner who I felt last season lacked the killer instinct of his full debut season. It’s also noticeable that his tackling and defensive positioning are coming on leaps and bounds. He came second place in our poll on 18%, with Andrew Mehrten’s picking up the award with a 32% share of the 153 votes.

Round 1: Andrew Mehrtens

ROUND TWO v. Otley (a) 

Round 2 up at Otley and many supporters were hoping that the off season cobwebs had been blown away during a good but not overly convincing performance up at Solihul. However, Old Kings No. 8’s report is littered with a list of Quins errors including poor ball retention, knock-ons, forward passes, the occasional moment of poor discipline and a succession of handling errors leading to Otley having the upper hand for most of the match. He also credits Otley’s spoiling tactics, ability to slow ball down and dominance in the front row as factors in setting up a nail biting finish, with Quins 15 – 11 down deep into extra time. As a result CAW chose Mel Deane as their man of the match, having come on after 69 minutes to score the winning try. Old Kings No. 8 describes it thus: “The five minutes added was enough for Quins to drive back into the Otley 22 and Mehrtens showed his class, releasing Mel Deane on a scything run through the Otley defence to silence the home crowd.”

This could perhaps be seen as a poke in the eye for the performance of the rest of the team during the match, or possibly even relief that our first serious banana skin was successfully avoided. Nonetheless Mel has been one of our most incisive midfield players over the last couple of seasons and his power and line running have been rewarded by this nomination.

Round 2: Mel Deane

ROUND THREE v. Newbury (h)

Round 3 brought with it the first home game of the season and a chance for fans to sample the delights of the very excellent new West (sorry, Lexus) Stand. Not only that but with home advantage most supporters were confident we could push that home and rack up a shed load of points against newly promoted Newbury Blues. In the event the first half was a much more evenly matched affair, at least in terms of points, with Quins going in 10 – 13 behind courtesy of tries from Chris Cracknell (for Newbury…) and Alex Rogers. In his match report Kwin lamented our over complicated approach, particularly behind the scrum, but has praise too for try-scorer Rogers who he cites as getting the better of his opposite number. The second half was a different affair with a much simpler, more “instinctive” game plan, with Quins eventually running in 6 further tries from Easter (2), Vass, Amesbury, Keogh and Deane. To Newbury’s credit the final three tries all came from the 74th minute onwards when, unsurprisingly, our superior fitness kicked in. On top of the try scorers kwins report gives honourable mentions to Miall, who dominated in the line out, and Fuga for his “bullocking runs and fierce tackles”. However, it was Easter who took all the plaudits for his first class performance in all areas of his game and two well taken tries. As a result he scooped 28% of the 239 votes cast, with Mehrtens in second place on 16%. 

Round 3: Nick Easter

ROUND FOUR v. Nottingham (a)

A third away game in four matches took us to the pleasant surroundings of Nottingham rugby club where we were treated to a kicking master class from Andrew Mehrtens, as Quins went 15 points to the good from the spot before Nottingham put any points on the board. In fact had it not been for the 18 points garnered throughout the first half, Nottingham’s dominance and control at the beginning of the second period could have been extremely worrying, with a try from Paul Arnold to close the gap. As it was, Quins eventually pulled away late in the second half with tries from Monye and Keogh and it was another case of job done. Once again though it was the vision, distribution and kicking, both from the spot and from hand, of Mehrtens which won the most praise and he easily took the Man of the Match award for the second time in four games with 59% of the 111 votes, with Vos trailing him a long way behind on 12%. Round Four therefore goes to Andrew Mehrtens, and if he continues in this form we may have to exclude him from future MOTM polls just to even things up a bit. Match Report

Round 4: Andrew Mehrtens

So, we have three contenders for September’s Man of the Month and, as per the last time this feature appeared on CAW, I will take the liberty of adding to the field. Partly due to Mehrtens double inclusion and partly in an attempt to have all areas of the team represented (this time…) I am going to suggest three further names this month.

Firstly, the back three; Otley aside they’ve been formidable in ALL their various combinations so far this season. So much so that when the question of who Lomu might join briefly it was roundly agreed on CAW that with Monye, Keogh, Harder, Amesbury, Williams and Duffy to already choose from we’d rather he picked up his pension elsewhere. And from that list my nomination is going to be Ugo Monye. Not only did he score the most tries in the first month, but his return to form is a joy to see.

The half backs and centre three quarters are already represented by Andrew Mehrtens and Mel Deane respectively and the back row by Nick Easter.

In the second row I’d like to put forward Simon Miall. Though it is always going to be a close call between him and Jim Evans, this month Miall has gained the most praise from the various match reporters for his dominance in the line out.

It’s been noted several times that it will be in the forwards and particularly the set piece where most ND1 teams will think they can achieve parity with Quins this season. As Deano said at the ‘Meet the Management’ evening, there are a lot of wily old pro’s and ex-pro’s out there in the tight five who wouldn’t be far off making it in to a premiership outfit. Finally, therefore, I am going to nominate Alex Rogers for his emergence from the academy, his impressive scrummaging ability and the fact that at only 18 (I think?) he is easily competing on a level with those guys.

 

Man of the Month September 2005: