Munster v Dragons

First topic message reminder :

Obviously this will be difficult for all the Irish provices due to Nevin Spence's death. I expect to see Sean Dougall excused for this game as he and Nevin were close friends. Same with BJ Botha who played with him at Ulster and probably his U20s team mates from Munster too.

Probable team:

01 Wian du Preez
02 Mike Sherry
03 Stephen Archer
04 Donncha O'Callaghan
05 Dave Foley
06 Billy Holland
07 Niall Ronan
08 James Coughlan
09 Conor Murray
10 Ronan O'Gara
11 Keith Earls
12 JJ Hanrahan
13 Danny Barnes
14 Doug Howlett
15 Denis Hurley

16 Dave Kilcoyne
17 Damien Varley
18 Christy Condon
19 Philip Donellan
20 Barry O'Mahony
21 Peter Stringer
22 Scott Deasy
23 Ivan Dineen

Thomond wrote:JJ is 20 nowhere near the finished article and you wouldn't expect him to be. When a player goes for the line from a penalty it's always a bad sign if the linesman walk back from their original stance. They did that every time ROG went for the line, he has the heart but not the skills, some fans don't realise this yet.

I think a bit of credit should be given to Zebo, Earls & ROG - ALL on their first start of the season - most would expect them to be a bit rusty.

Sin é wrote:

Thomond wrote:JJ is 20 nowhere near the finished article and you wouldn't expect him to be. When a player goes for the line from a penalty it's always a bad sign if the linesman walk back from their original stance. They did that every time ROG went for the line, he has the heart but not the skills, some fans don't realise this yet.

I think a bit of credit should be given to Zebo, Earls & ROG - ALL on their first start of the season - most would expect them to be a bit rusty.

You were pushing this line last week as well, Rog has been playing like this for more than a year.

Zebo was arguably man of the match. Distance isn't something that improves Sin, that's just getting old, ROG was decent like but Munster were playing the Dragons, who ,no disrespect, are a team Munster should beat well at home year in year out. ROG has been "rusty" for a long while now, lads mustn't have gotten the memo to give him some WD40. Galvinzing him would be too much I think

valjester wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Thomond wrote:JJ is 20 nowhere near the finished article and you wouldn't expect him to be. When a player goes for the line from a penalty it's always a bad sign if the linesman walk back from their original stance. They did that every time ROG went for the line, he has the heart but not the skills, some fans don't realise this yet.

I think a bit of credit should be given to Zebo, Earls & ROG - ALL on their first start of the season - most would expect them to be a bit rusty.

You were pushing this line last week as well, Rog has been playing like this for more than a year.

Yes, first 10 minutes of rugby in a couple of months.

Playing like what for more than a year? From what I could see he wasn't kicking the line at all because Munster's lineout hasn't been great in the absence of Flannery in particular.

Thomond wrote:Zebo was arguably man of the match. Distance isn't something that improves Sin, that's just getting old, ROG was decent like but Munster were playing the Dragons, who ,no disrespect, are a team Munster should beat well at home year in year out. ROG has been "rusty" for a long while now, lads mustn't have gotten the memo to give him some WD40. Galvinzing him would be too much I think

Zebo ball handling was sensational for a guy just back. He certainly has shut up a few of his (many) critics. I wouldn't get too stuck on distance - accuracy and actually finding space would be more important in my book.

ROG was playing really well up to the 6Ns when he ended up sitting on the bench and got very little gametime for 3 months. Then there was the injury (leg) he picked up from a tackle from Darren Cave in the Hcup QF. Thought he was pretty good when he came on against NZ in the 2nd Test though.

Yeah he was pretty decent in the NZ game but he was average enough lasty season he was poor in the HC despite those 2 miracle kicks, he is not a guy I want starting the big games.

Sin é wrote:

valjester wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Thomond wrote:JJ is 20 nowhere near the finished article and you wouldn't expect him to be. When a player goes for the line from a penalty it's always a bad sign if the linesman walk back from their original stance. They did that every time ROG went for the line, he has the heart but not the skills, some fans don't realise this yet.

I think a bit of credit should be given to Zebo, Earls & ROG - ALL on their first start of the season - most would expect them to be a bit rusty.

You were pushing this line last week as well, Rog has been playing like this for more than a year.

Yes, first 10 minutes of rugby in a couple of months.

Playing like what for more than a year? From what I could see he wasn't kicking the line at all because Munster's lineout hasn't been great in the absence of Flannery in particular.

Flannery's absence isn't the reason why Rog isn't kicking for touch. Flannery wouldn't be throwing into the lineout if Rog plays the corners, considering it would be an opposition ball.

Sin é wrote:I wouldn't get too stuck on distance - accuracy and actually finding space would be more important in my book.

Distance is just as important as accuracy and finding space, last night there was on kick were Rog managed to find space over the winger and get the ball into touch, but he only gained 5 yards. This meant that the Dragons had attacking ball just outside Munster's 22. So of course distance is important, if you can't get distance on your kicks, you'll just put yourself under constant pressure.

Thomond wrote:Yeah he was pretty decent in the NZ game but he was average enough lasty season he was poor in the HC despite those 2 miracle kicks, he is not a guy I want starting the big games.

You don't win 6 out of 6 HCup games with an outhalf that is playing poorly (not to mention a scrumhalf whose pass is too slow and Mafi on the other side of you).

I know you don't want O'Gara starting any games Thomond!

The bigger concern isn't that ROG is past it, but that he will get picked ahead of Keatley for the big games because he is ROG. And that his ego will cause problems if Keatley does get in ahead of him.

I'm not saying Keatley should be an automatic first choice. It's a tight call and it should go to the man in form. ROG is no longer an automatic pick in the Munster XV or the Ireland 22 is what people are saying. He could start for either side if he's playing well. But he's entering a phase of his career where he has to prove himself more than ever.

Tell you what its going to be very tough to fit all the players into the Munster team.

For example we could have:

Murray, Keatley, Zebo, Downey, Laulala, Howlett, Earls

or equally we could see something like:

Murray, ROG, Zebo, Laulala, Earls, Howlett, Keatley

but with Denis Hurley and Felix Jones coming back into the team we could see them go to fullback too.

I think that Murray, Stringer, O'Gara, Keatley, Zebo, Earls, Downey, Laulala, Howlett and Hurley/Jones will be our likely match day squad for the backs. In what combination I have no idea.

Similarly with the forwards, the backrow is impossible to call. Who partners O'Mahony and Stander? Dave O'Callaghan? Tommy O'Donnell? Sean Dougall? Niall Ronan? James Coughlan? Or even Paddy Butler?

Notch wrote:The bigger concern isn't that ROG is past it, but that he will get picked ahead of Keatley for the big games because he is ROG. And that his ego will cause problems if Keatley does get in ahead of him.

I'm not saying Keatley should be an automatic first choice. It's a tight call and it should go to the man in form. ROG is no longer an automatic pick in the Munster XV or the Ireland 22 is what people are saying. He could start for either side if he's playing well. But he's entering a phase of his career where he has to prove himself more than ever.

Notch wrote:The bigger concern isn't that ROG is past it, but that he will get picked ahead of Keatley for the big games because he is ROG. And that his ego will cause problems if Keatley does get in ahead of him.

I'm not saying Keatley should be an automatic first choice. It's a tight call and it should go to the man in form. ROG is no longer an automatic pick in the Munster XV or the Ireland 22 is what people are saying. He could start for either side if he's playing well. But he's entering a phase of his career where he has to prove himself more than ever.

Agree in full.

I just watched Scrum V showing the highlights, what terrible defence by the Dragons, if this is how they going to play this season they are going to be second from bottom. I will be surprised if their coach gets through the season. It looks obvious to me the Dragons coach is saving his best team for the home games as damage limitation.

Munster can only play what is in front of them and did the business.

Notch wrote:The bigger concern isn't that ROG is past it, but that he will get picked ahead of Keatley for the big games because he is ROG. And that his ego will cause problems if Keatley does get in ahead of him.

I'm not saying Keatley should be an automatic first choice. It's a tight call and it should go to the man in form. ROG is no longer an automatic pick in the Munster XV or the Ireland 22 is what people are saying. He could start for either side if he's playing well. But he's entering a phase of his career where he has to prove himself more than ever.

I'm quiet content to let Rob Penney deal with it - I think he is strong enough, bearing in mind that David Humphreys said that Ulster looked at Penney but thought he was too strong a character for them.

Edit: Ian McGeechan wasn't intimidated into not picking him for the Lions either - so give over with this crap that ROG gets picked because coaches are afraid of him.

Hope so Sin É. I certainly trust Penney entirely. Makes sense what Humphreys says. Essentially he is the rugby boss in Ulster not Anscombe.

Regarding your edit I don't think anyone picks him due to being afraid of him. I do think that ROG has traded on past glories a fair bit though.

red_stag wrote:Hope so Sin É. I certainly trust Penney entirely. Makes sense what Humphreys says. Essentially he is the rugby boss in Ulster not Anscombe.

Regarding your edit I don't think anyone picks him due to being afraid of him. I do think that ROG has traded on past glories a fair bit though.

How has he traded on past glories? Coaches pick him because he has a long history of delivering. They are not doing it because they think ROG will get upset! They will pick the guy who does deliver. Penney says that age doesn't matter (presumably that means it doesn't matter if you are 19, 29 or 39 - if you are delivering).

Edit: Considering he made Doug Howlett captain at 33, I'd say the same applies.

Good point Sin....Zebo for captain!Zeeeeeebbbbboooooo!!!!

valjester wrote:

profitius wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Well some had said they don't want O'Gara in the Munster team when it's a must win game, I would say the total opposite to that.

Hes past his best now. His kicking isn't as good and teams are targeting him. The Welsh teams have been very successful targeting ROG in the last year or so.

I would argue that the biggest problem with Rog isn't that other teams are targetting him, he has always been targetted, Wallace spent a career having to defend for two. The problem now is that Munster are having to adapt their game to cater for him. Downey was forced to play a different game last night, Keatley is able to play to the strengths of those around him, Rog is not.

I fully agree. By targeting I mean they know his weaknesses in defense and attack. The world cup match was a good example. When ROG had the ball the Welsh didn't bother try to get to him. They closed down either side of ROG and forced him to run for the gap where they nailed him and turned the ball over. In the Ospreys match last year things went wrong for Munster when ROG came on for Keatley at 10.

profitius wrote:

valjester wrote:

profitius wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Well some had said they don't want O'Gara in the Munster team when it's a must win game, I would say the total opposite to that.

Hes past his best now. His kicking isn't as good and teams are targeting him. The Welsh teams have been very successful targeting ROG in the last year or so.

I would argue that the biggest problem with Rog isn't that other teams are targetting him, he has always been targetted, Wallace spent a career having to defend for two. The problem now is that Munster are having to adapt their game to cater for him. Downey was forced to play a different game last night, Keatley is able to play to the strengths of those around him, Rog is not.

I fully agree. By targeting I mean they know his weaknesses in defense and attack. The world cup match was a good example. When ROG had the ball the Welsh didn't bother try to get to him. They closed down either side of ROG and forced him to run for the gap where they nailed him and turned the ball over. In the Ospreys match last year things went wrong for Munster when ROG came on for Keatley at 10.

In the world cup (30 mins at least) & again in the 6Ns, Sexton didn't make any difference. Ireland still lost against Wales.

Sexton could do with David Wallace - the Welsh managed to close him down as well during the 6Ns (opps, sorry can't blame sextos - it was all Conor Murray's fault). To paraphrase Rory Best when Wally retired: "We used to target Rog who somehow or other always managed to offload to David Wallace and who invariably sent us back a couple of yards when he had no right to."

Brains are always worth more than brawn (it helps when the backrow get the finger out as well).

profitius wrote:

valjester wrote:

profitius wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Well some had said they don't want O'Gara in the Munster team when it's a must win game, I would say the total opposite to that.

Hes past his best now. His kicking isn't as good and teams are targeting him. The Welsh teams have been very successful targeting ROG in the last year or so.

I would argue that the biggest problem with Rog isn't that other teams are targetting him, he has always been targetted, Wallace spent a career having to defend for two. The problem now is that Munster are having to adapt their game to cater for him. Downey was forced to play a different game last night, Keatley is able to play to the strengths of those around him, Rog is not.

I fully agree. By targeting I mean they know his weaknesses in defense and attack. The world cup match was a good example. When ROG had the ball the Welsh didn't bother try to get to him. They closed down either side of ROG and forced him to run for the gap where they nailed him and turned the ball over. In the Ospreys match last year things went wrong for Munster when ROG came on for Keatley at 10.

I have to say whenever I saw a side deciding to target Rog for the day, you could rest easy in the knowledge that Munster/Ireland would be alright. They expected people to charge at Rog, so there would always be either Wallace or the 12 babysitting him. The thing is that Rog used to offer a threat, and was actually capable of making the occasional break, or passing into space, but now he seems to have lost that ability. Munster were at their best against the Dragons when they bypassed him.

And Sin if you seriously think Rog hasn't slipped, and if you think he was as good as he has been in the hec last year, then you are delusional. If you didn't have Poc dragging you through the group last year things would have been different.

profitius wrote:

valjester wrote:

profitius wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Well some had said they don't want O'Gara in the Munster team when it's a must win game, I would say the total opposite to that.

Hes past his best now. His kicking isn't as good and teams are targeting him. The Welsh teams have been very successful targeting ROG in the last year or so.

I would argue that the biggest problem with Rog isn't that other teams are targetting him, he has always been targetted, Wallace spent a career having to defend for two. The problem now is that Munster are having to adapt their game to cater for him. Downey was forced to play a different game last night, Keatley is able to play to the strengths of those around him, Rog is not.

I fully agree. By targeting I mean they know his weaknesses in defense and attack. The world cup match was a good example. When ROG had the ball the Welsh didn't bother try to get to him. They closed down either side of ROG and forced him to run for the gap where they nailed him and turned the ball over. In the Ospreys match last year things went wrong for Munster when ROG came on for Keatley at 10.

Totally agree with this and said it at the time of the game too. If you race up on the outside to cut off ROG feeding the midfield and drop your wingers back you effectively nullify him as an attacking threat.

Keatley on the other hand looks like he can vary his game much more, likewise JJ

Sin é wrote:
In the world cup (30 mins at least) & again in the 6Ns, Sexton didn't make any difference. Ireland still lost against Wales.

Sexton could do with David Wallace - the Welsh managed to close him down as well during the 6Ns (opps, sorry can't blame sextos - it was all Conor Murray's fault). To paraphrase Rory Best when Wally retired: "We used to target Rog who somehow or other always managed to offload to David Wallace and who invariably sent us back a couple of yards when he had no right to."

Brains are always worth more than brawn (it helps when the backrow get the finger out as well).

Really Sin,do you think the World Cup and 6 nation performances were similar?In the 6 Nations we competed with Wales and despite the ridiculous drift defence that Kidneys brains trust decided on we only lost with the last kick of the game.In the WC the game was over after 65 minutes.

Not gonna drag this thread down into a Sexton v ROG thing so I'll leave it at that.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Sin é wrote:
In the world cup (30 mins at least) & again in the 6Ns, Sexton didn't make any difference. Ireland still lost against Wales.

Sexton could do with David Wallace - the Welsh managed to close him down as well during the 6Ns (opps, sorry can't blame sextos - it was all Conor Murray's fault). To paraphrase Rory Best when Wally retired: "We used to target Rog who somehow or other always managed to offload to David Wallace and who invariably sent us back a couple of yards when he had no right to."

Brains are always worth more than brawn (it helps when the backrow get the finger out as well).

Really Sin,do you think the World Cup and 6 nation performances were similar?In the 6 Nations we competed with Wales and despite the ridiculous drift defence that Kidneys brains trust decided on we only lost with the last kick of the game.In the WC the game was over after 65 minutes.

Not gonna drag this thread down into a Sexton v ROG thing so I'll leave it at that.

Sexton was the outhalf when Jon Davies scored his try for Wales in the world cup. ROG wasn't on the pitch. Ireland didn't register any points when ROG went off at 55 mins. Ireland lost to Wales in the 6Ns (and ROG got 4 minutes). So much for having a breaking outhalf!

red_stag wrote:Tell you what its going to be very tough to fit all the players into the Munster team.

For example we could have:

Murray, Keatley, Zebo, Downey, Laulala, Howlett, Earls

or equally we could see something like:

Murray, ROG, Zebo, Laulala, Earls, Howlett, Keatley

but with Denis Hurley and Felix Jones coming back into the team we could see them go to fullback too.

I think that Murray, Stringer, O'Gara, Keatley, Zebo, Earls, Downey, Laulala, Howlett and Hurley/Jones will be our likely match day squad for the backs. In what combination I have no idea.

Stag, a few selection problems for Penny but good one's though. I can't see Earls lining out at full-back at all and you need to add Barnes and Hanrahan into the mix.

Well from what I saw of the highlights on Scrum V, the tries were fantastic and were scored played at a real pace. I'm really enjoying what Penney is bringing to the Province.

3 of the tries were as good as any I've seen from an Irish side in a long time. Zebo was simply sensational in attack.

The key is the pace in that Munster backline - Zebo, Earls, Howlett, Keatley and when he came on Murray too. I haven't seen that sort of strike threat in an Irish backline in a long while (not since Darcy,Bod, Shaggy and Hickie were in their pomp) and the Dragons had no answer.

Now if Munster had a decent pack they'd be laughing.... ....

Maybe it was all because Dragons didn't expect to need to fill in such gaping holes in their defences, maybe they felt too comfy with the old view of up-the-middle Munster, maybe they didn't hear about Penney and what his ambitions are; but certainly the space Munster were finding was some of the most inviting for any Irish side in quite a while. It was sometimes breathtaking to see how much empty space was in front of them, even at times when they didn't quite use it.

Of course the object now will be to have the double blow ready in the locker. When sides realise they can be ruthlessly exposed on the outside, will Munster have the hatchet job ready down the middle? Well, they are, or were, kinda the masters of that already.

Look forward to seeing the progress.

rodders wrote:Now if Munster had a decent pack they'd be laughing.... ....

Ah dont forget that Donncha Ryan, Paul O'Connell, CJ Stander and Peter O'Mahony have yet to play for us this season.

Win, lose or draw there is at least a gameplan now and it is entertaining too.

[quote="Sin é"]

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Sexton was the outhalf when Jon Davies scored his try for Wales in the world cup. ROG wasn't on the pitch. Ireland didn't register any points when ROG went off at 55 mins. Ireland lost to Wales in the 6Ns (and ROG got 4 minutes). So much for having a breaking outhalf!

Nice job avoiding the point and turning it into an attack on Sexton instead.

Stag/other Munster fans:

With all players fit and firing, who would you pick as your starting XV? Stander included also, when he arrives.

I am actually starting to think Earls should continue playing at 13.. I am interested to see more from him.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Stag/other Munster fans:

With all players fit and firing, who would you pick as your starting XV? Stander included also, when he arrives.

I am actually starting to think Earls should continue playing at 13.. I am interested to see more from him.

Hurley
Howlett
Lualala
Downey
Earls
Keatley
Murray

POM
Dave O'C
Dougal (havn't seen enough of him yet but the signs are good)

POC
Donnacha Ryan

Botha
Sherry
Du Preez

I might change my mind as I see more of some players.

01 Wian du Preez
02 Mike Sherry
03 BJ Botha
04 Donncha Ryan
05 Paul O'Connell
06 Peter O'Mahony
07 Sean Dougall
08 CJ Stander
09 Conor Murray
10 Ian Keatley
11 Simon Zebo
12 James Downey
13 Casey Laulala
14 Doug Howlett
15 Keith Earls

16 Damien Varley
17 Dave Kilcoyne
18 Stephen Archer
19 Donnacha O'Callaghan
20 Dave O'Callaghan
21 Peter Stringer
22 Ronan O'Gara
23 Denis Hurley

The talking points:

- I think Dougall has slotted in well and would thrive alongside Stander and O'Mahony the way Jennings does for Leinster.
- Keatley offers more than O'Gara in my opinion
- I wouldn't break up the Downey-Laulala centre pairing
- Earls can counterattack well from fullback and aerial kicking is not as popular as it once was

Stag that's a cracking team...apart from the fact you've picked DOC twice and left out Ryan......

Uuugghhh

Edited it!

DOC is playing well enough lately to be chosen twice ...!

Stag - I like your team, and I do like Earls as a fullback, although I don't see it happening really. Especially when Felix Jones returns. I think he will grab more games at 13, or possibly even 12.

As for Stander, surely he would play 6 and O'Mahony would play 8? Stander is more of a flanker than an 8.

They both can play at #6 or #8. I wont mind which is where.

I would have Denis Hurley ahead of Felix Jones who did not have a good season last year at all.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Stag - I like your team, and I do like Earls as a fullback, although I don't see it happening really. Especially when Felix Jones returns. I think he will grab more games at 13, or possibly even 12.

As for Stander, surely he would play 6 and O'Mahony would play 8? Stander is more of a flanker than an 8.

Stander has played pretty much all his underage rugby at 8, he is playing at 8 in the Currie Cup at the moment, he played on the flank in SuperRugby.

On Jones, the worry at this stage would be that even if he does get back, is his body up to pro rugby?

I'll be honest, I don't know what to make of Saturday's game, as I didn't see it. Munster supporters are talking their side up attacking wise and our lot are really laying into us for weak defence. I guess the truth is closer to the middle.

Risca, perhaps. I think everyone is speaking about a relative state of affairs. Everone knows that Munster have much to do...and you'll say so too do Dragons.

The object though is that, for sure, Munster played differently than we've become accustomed to. And on the whole, it was a positive difference in that it had width, it was full of pace and showed a lot of calmness in decision making at speed close to the tryline.

Early days for both sides, but we're only commenting on what we have seen. Absolutely, Munster will get much tighter games than this thrown at them.

Rev, the thing lost out in discussion is the Dragons attacking side.

I think you could have had another 2-3 tries.

red_stag wrote:Rev, the thing lost out in discussion is the Dragons attacking side.

I think you could have had another 2-3 tries.

Our players and coaches have highlighted the difference in how clinical Munster were compared to us. That's going to be a good learning point.

We do have some genuine threat in the backs but for the sake of repeating myself WE CAN'T COMPETE WITH A BEATEN FRONT 5!

Sometimes we look a bit panicky in attack but it's often off poor ball. Let's not forget the average age of our team was 23, and often will be 23.
Our defence looked poor on scrum V but it's only showing the try's which normaly involve a defensive mistake.

Young:

Agree with the scrum V comment, the highlights were so brief it is hard to make out the positives but the scores looked too easy and it was the backs that looked disorganised also the back row did not appear to help.

Just remember where the Scarlets were about 3 years ago - the Dragons could find themselves with a really good 2nd row, and amazing backline and backrow - and may well develop/afford some decent props in the next 3 years - they could really be a force to be reckoned with!

"Just remember where the Scarlets were about 3 years ago - the Dragons could find themselves with a really good 2nd row, and amazing backline and backrow - and may well develop/afford some decent props in the next 3 years - they could really be a force to be reckoned with!"

- we've always had good players in various positions but year after year they move on. We will never build if this keeps happening.
Last year - Charteris, Tovey, Brew and Thomas all first choice players who left.

I'm not blaming the players. I believe Faletau and Lydiate should leave when there contracts are up. Both are quality players who should be playing in HC finals. They will soon be told they have no form, not playing well etc.. There in a struggling Dragons side ATM. Toby is targeted by 2/3 players every time he has the ball. Teams can afford to do this against us.


It's all money.. More money = better players = winning games = bigger crowds = more money etc..

+1

I'll just pop in again with this:

Douggie Howlett

Thomond, Red Stag -

Sorry for posting off topic but I'd appreciate it if you could give me a bit of a steer on something Munster rugby related.... (since I'm an Ulster man living in Leinster!)

I'm trying to get an Irish jersey signed by a couple of the team for my nephew's 13th birthday in November. I bought the jersey in Elvery's and went down to Carton House during an extended lunch break on Tuesday and got a couple of the lads to sign it for me after they'd finished the training session.

However, I hadn't done my research and finally realised that neither ROG or Pauly were there on Tuesday.... so I'm kinda stuck in a way, 'cause I can give the young fella the jersey as is (with a bunch of Leinster & Ulster sigs - although I did get big Donnacha - top man & an all time legend!!) but I kinda think it wouldn't be complete without missing two of the top men (plus O'Connell is his hero - moreso than O'Driscoll).

So, after the long winded preamble, my question is..... is there any point in driving down from Kildare to Thomond on some match day over the next month or two in order to get a signature from ROG and O'Connell? Do the public even have access to the players after the game (like at good ol' Ravenhill) or is there any other way that I could get the signatures before or after a game?

Sorry for going off topic but any help would be appreciated....