The Brewer Revolution- Three Games In

By Whaley Shark
September 18 2010

The Whaley Shark opens one eye cautiously and asks 'Was last night just a dream? Has my blood pressure come down from the stratosphere yet?'. Deciding the answers are 'No' and 'Yes', he reflects on the first fruits of the Brewer revolution.

It’s clearly very early days, and it’s a little difficult to disentangle the Brewer effect from the influence of changes in refereeing interpretation, but there‘s a huge transformation compared with last season. We were comfortably the better side against Newcastle, and last night a significantly changed team rather misfired in the first half against Quins. What was satisfying though was to have sufficient strength on the bench, and use it early enough, that we were able to salvage what looked like a lost cause. Last season, I’d have expected that to have been a bonus point win for Quins. I know I didn’t go to the Saracens game, but things that have struck me so far are the resurrection of Ben Cohen, the reinvention of Nick Macleod, and the revelation of Paul Williams, Tom Brady and Nic Rouse. Here’s why……

Ben- Seems to have more appetite than at times last season, memorable against Falcons for coming back inside on two or three occasions to wreak havoc in their defence, and also a perfectly timed charge out of our defensive line to snuff out a developing 3-on-1 overlap. Last night another crucial tackle and also an important part in Quates’ try.

Nick- Struck me last season as a safe fullback but perhaps slightly lacking the pace to run from the back, but now seems to be developing into a fine fly half with a howitzer boot. Not sure Sir Charles is losing sleep yet, but nice to see a hidden gem unearthed and beginning to sparkle.  

Paul- Quite a classic full back in my view, dependable, solid, does the basics well. Not quite the pace or elusive running of Jason, but a direct runner with an eye for a gap, who makes yards, sometimes lots of them. Adds threat and variety in our attack.

Tom- Aggressive, pacy winger. Great defence, good boot, loads of potential. Yum yum!

Nic- strikes me as a rough, tough lock, not afraid to go in the dark corners. Seems to add a little something to our forward play.

It’s also nice to see some of my old favourites still turning it on- Dave Seymour’s everywhere, Sherri seems to be making up for lost time, and there’s a load of other talent either building up to full throttle, or yet to be seen this season. Glass more than half full at the moment!