SKIPPER LOOKING FORWARD TO A 'GOOD' FRIDAY
Thursday, 9 April 2009 6:13pm
Chris PIke - Sportal
The Emirates Western Force's hopes of taking on the Hurricanes on Good Friday with an unchanged team have taken a hit with teenage star James O'Connor ruled out with a hamstring injury.
O'Connor was battling the injury all week after last Friday's 39-7 win over the Reds and has failed to come up in time for Friday's clash at Subiaco Oval.
Junior Pelesasa takes his place starting at inside centre and Josh Tatupu comes onto the bench but captain Nathan Sharpe is confident Pelesasa can step up to do a good job.
"It's not a great thing but Junior Pelesasa has been playing very good football this year and he gets his opportunity again. He showed exactly what he can do for us against the Brumbies and whilst James has been playing well, Junior's been unlucky to not be playing," Sharpe said on Thursday.
"He will go well up against the big Hurricanes centres, but there's no doubt James could have handled that as well after playing well against them last year.
"Junior has been working really hard on becoming a playmaker the last couple of years and is getting good at it. He's a perfect foil there because whilst he's a bit bigger than James, he can still play that role."
The Force has downplayed the excitement from last week's win over the Reds and Sharpe believes they have learnt from getting carried away with the win over the Brumbies earlier in the season only to thumped by the Chiefs the next week.
"The guys enjoyed the win but we shelved that pretty quickly and this is not a competition where you can rely on one week's performance to carry through to the next," he said.
"We learnt that lesson against the Brumbies and don’t want to repeat it against the Hurricanes."
The Force have put plenty of time into working out how to nullify the influence the likes of Ma'a Nonu have on the contest, and Sharpe is confident the Force's defence can stand strong.
"He's basically the spearhead for the Hurricanes and obviously one of their key players. He's a guy we need to keep under control along with a few others who are important for them," he said.
"They are one of those teams that attack well regardless of where they are on the field and we've spoken about their ability to counterattack from broken and set plays, and we have to be on our game in defence because they can cut anyone to pieces."
Playing on Good Friday is something different for a major sporting event in Perth, but Sharpe is hoping the Force can attract over 20,000 fans for the first time this year and that his team puts on a good show.
"It's a bit strange for it to be hot at this time of the year but it's good for us and the guys are excited about playing what is nearly an afternoon game at Subi. It's Easter Friday as well and hopefully we get a great crowd," he said.
"I'm not too sure if the ticket sales are good because of the football or because it's the only place you can get a beer but it will be a great game and the guys are looking forward to putting in a performance that backs up what we did last week."
