There’s no place like home

Our very own Toto
By Gelbel
March 26 2013

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her dog Toto are caught in a tornado's path and somehow end up in the land of Oz. Here she meets some memorable friends and foes in her journey to meet the Wizard of Oz who can help her return home and possibly grant her new friends their goals of a brain, heart and courage. And I can’t help making comparisons with this fantasy adventure when thinking about Leeds Carnegie and the last five months.

Following the installation of a new pitch last October, Leeds Carnegie and their supporters finally return home to Headingley Carnegie stadium on Sunday. We can thank the Good Witch of the North in the form of the RFU's national panel referee manager for testing the pitch’s ability to withstand the onslaught of scrummaging. In the face of adversity during our travels everyone has overcome challenges:

the Bedford game abandoned after 60ish minutes due to a frozen pitch at Otley
the ‘turfgate’ debacle in January with a replay against Plymouth that held a few squeaky bum moments, but the BP win was finally reinstated
to play or not to play (or to travel or not to travel) in the snow on the all-weather pitch at West Park

As we return to our rightful home, we find ourselves facing a formidable foe in our local rivals -Rotherham. And, in doing so, we need to drum up some brains, heart and courage of our own.

Brains. With Bristol getting a hard-earned win at Jersey last weekend, Leeds are playing catch-up rugby to get a play-off berth, albeit with a game in hand. However, Leeds, excuse the cliché, have to take every game as it comes and just concentrate on the 80 minutes of Sunday’s match.
They also need to forget that some silverware will be going to the winners of this game in the form of the Yorkshire Regiment trophy.
Brains are needed to stop giving away penalty after penalty (although this aspect of their game has been better of late), to listen to the referee’s instructions and to realise a full complement of 15 players on the pitch will make their lives easier.
Heart. There’s nothing in it in the recent form guide for both sides and, despite a big points difference between league positions, there is little to separate them in the number of wins and loses. Recent history has seen Leeds enjoy victories against Rotherham. They are always hard fought matches and, with the return of some former players to HC, Leeds cannot go into this half-hearted. You can be sure Lee Blackett will just love to put on over his former club and Curtis Wilson will be out to prove a point. Mind you, Ben Harris and Ryan Burrows must be itching to do some damage to their old team in their new home.
Courage. It seems to me that Leeds are one dimensional - in that they have a game plan but if things don’t work out, they can’t change the way they execute the game. Should the worst begin to happen, the senior players need to find the courage to play what’s in front of them – not stick to what’s been practiced on the training ground.

Diccon Edwards can demonstrate brains, heart and courage in one gesture - not relying on the loanees. Start with Ford and Tussac (what the heck was the idea behind putting him on the bench for the Mosley match?), put Nilsen on the bench (Graham won’t be eligible should we make the play-offs and face Newcastle). These actions would also send positive messages to our players.

I see Darren Gamage is the Wizard of Oz. Funny that – another little man who bigs his part up! As the brain seeking scarecrow says, “a humbug.”

My brain says a Leeds win; my heart says a 4-try BP win. Courage – I’ve talked my husband in to coming along for his seasonal trip to HC. Not a good omen – I can’t remember the last time he saw a Leeds’ win. If it goes wrong, I’ll still be happy because we’re playing at Headingley and there's no place like home.

There’s no place like home

Posted by: TykesRugby.co.uk (IP Logged)

Date: 26/03/2013 09:18

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:04:01:07:36:03 by Wildwillie .