It’s time to get voting for the McCrea Financial Services Player of the Month for September – the deadline is 5pm on Friday 7th October. Here’s On Top Of The Moon’s guide to the players nominated for the award:
Fraser Brown – “BA”
Games played:
Leinster (H) replaced
Cardiff Blues (A) replaced
Ulster (H)
Dragons (A)
Minutes 239
Key stat – more minutes played at openside (128) than hooker (111)
It has been a fairly extraordinary start to the season for Fraser. Of course he has covered in the back row before but with 3 specialist opensides in the Glasgow squad, plus 2 Academy players to cover he might have been surprised to find himself as the de facto first choice 7 just 3 games into the campaign. He has responded in style though, including a Man of the Match performance against the Dragons which featured 3 turnovers – the most by any Glasgow player in a game this season. He’ll be happy to get back to hooker for a rest at this rate!
Alex Dunbar – “Face”
Games played:
Connacht (A)
Leinster (H)
Ulster (H)
Dragons (A)
Minutes 320
Key stat – 11 defenders beaten
Alex may well be the essential component in midfield for ensuring the Glasgow backline are playing the game on the front foot. He has the skills and the sidestep to leave his opposite number standing – but if space is at a premium he can just as easily run over a defender instead – just don’t ask him to outrun an Italian hooker…This is the first time he’s managed to make four 80 minute appearances for Glasgow in about a year and a half. Gregor Townsend will be managing Alex’s game time carefully but expect him to get better and better the longer the run of matches he gets.
Jonny Gray – “Hannibal”
Games played:
Connacht (A)
Leinster (H)
Cardiff Blues (A)
Ulster (H)
Dragons (A)
Minutes 400
Key stats – 99% tackle completion
Jonny has made 79 tackles and missed just a single one in 400 minutes of action. That’s very nearly twice as many tackles as any other player in the squad. He’s not just a tacklebot though, contributing more carries than the other Warriors (62) and also providing the main target at the lineout (20 takes). In amongst all that work he also has to somehow find time to keep the refs onside and make good decisions as an on-field leader. No wonder the coaches decided to go with a co-captain setup – after all scrum halves only have to throw and catch the ball a bit which is why they have so much energy for moaning at everyone…
Tommy Seymour – “Murdock”
Games played:
Connacht (A)
Leinster (H)
Cardiff Blues (A)
Ulster (H)
Dragons (A)
Minutes 400
Key stat – 7 tries scored
Top try scorer. Most metres gained. Most clean breaks. Most defenders beaten. Tommy is absolutely dominating all the main offensive stats for Glasgow. His teammates have done a good job of getting the ball in his hands regularly to take advantage of the hot streak he is on – and Tommy himself has frequently gone looking for work or created his own opportunities. OTOTM would though like to note one unusual element of Tennessee Tam’s scoring extravaganza:
Wearing number 11 – 240 minutes and 7 tries
Wearing number 14 – 160 minutes and 0 tries
So the first rule of selection should be that Tommy wears the number after 10 and before 12. Easy gig this coaching lark…
On Top Of The Moon 