Observations from Yesterday's Game

[GarryOwen]

Brooks held up the left side defence and was one of the few defenders attempting to meet the Warriors on the ad line. His kicking game was the reason we pegged the Warriors deep in their territory in the first half.

We had something like 30% of the territory in the first half - we were the ones pegged back deep in our own end.

 

[The Fresh Oil]

Brooks held up the left side defence and was one of the few defenders attempting to meet the Warriors on the ad line. His kicking game was the reason we pegged the Warriors deep in their territory in the first half.

I wish so very much the things you said about Brooks were evenly remotely true. I really do.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

We had something like 30% of the territory in the first half - we were the ones pegged back deep in our own end.

Look at the game again and Brooks' kicks were deep into the Warriors' halves. As another poster wrote, we badly miss a hooker who can kick out of dummy half like Farah. Once Brooks moved to hooker, the kicking games of Doueihi and Hastings were very poor. Doueihi is not a 6.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

I wish so very much the things you said about Brooks were evenly remotely true. I really do.

Sweet dreams😀

 

[tonza]

Unfortunately we have no strike power in this side. No one that can make a brake and no one backing up. Overall we lack enthusiasm. It is really hard to pick out players that have improved over recent years. Most of our promising players have gone backwards.

People say we should not have sacked our coach. Well maybe not before we had someone lined up, but otherwise it was well overdue. Whilst I have the most respect for Maguire, the players were not responding to him.

We need to appoint a new coach urgently before our past dismal efforts become engrained. The players showed heart in the collision yesterday but still lacked overall enthusiasm, as displayed by Garners lack of support. Surely we had envisaged C.C. might had knocked us back. We could not be that short sighted. Or could we?

 

[Cobarcats]

You can't pin that performance just on Brooks.
Our ½ was poor, must be injured and we lacked the ability to play expansive football.
Joffa and Pole were good.

 

[Cobarcats]

I'd like to see AD have a go at fullback. Good height for taking bombs, awkward running style.
Maybe not now but when he has match fitness.

 

[Chicken_Faced_Killa]

We aren’t a hungry team, they all play like a bunch of individuals. They play like there is zero unity or drive. This has been the case for a while now & it’s clear we have a very very long way before things change.

Bring on the kids & hunger I say.

This is our biggest problem. We clearly don’t have the skill of other teams so we need to beat them with hunger and desire. Effort areas are where we can make a difference. But we are probably the worst in the comp at that as well.

 

[Schooner hands]

I think the obstruction rule has caused our attacking structure to be too safe. There’s no players in motion and therefore no players running onto the ball with decent lines. They are all playing laterally from a standing position and hoping to create something out of nothing. The fact that all of them do it suggests it’s being coached into them from the start of the season and not entirely the players fault. My point being that We made one good break yesterday and got pulled up for an obstruction.
Defence wise I think there’s been a massive improvement from last year!

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Who else created an opportunity ? Our pack got belted. His kicking game was at worst on par with Doueihi.

That missed tackle count is a misleading stat. He made every tackle that was required and he was hitting hard. That is from maybe the smallest player on the field.

If we are being realistic he isn't up to it but who in our team is up to it.

Compare Hastings, Doueihi, Nu Brown and Brooks. No one can seriously state that Brooks was clearly the worst player out of that bunch. That would be so stupid. You could argue he was the best player out of those 4 and it wouldn't be a stupid argument.

He didn’t create a single chance not even a half break, didn’t even look close against the worst defensive team in the comp.

How is missing 8 tackles miss leading. If he made every tackle required he wouldn’t have missed 8.

I called Hastings out. AD was the only one that bent the line back with his runs or created half a chance in his short time on the field having played what 40mins coming back off his 2nd major knee injury.

Our kicking game in general is shocking but the inability of our halves to create anything is terrible.

 

[Cobarcats]

This is our biggest problem. We clearly don’t have the skill of other teams so we need to beat them with hunger and desire. Effort areas are where we can make a difference. But we are probably the worst in the comp at that as well.

Our effort was huge in that first half especially holding them out for so many repeat sets however we kept giving the ball back and made it hard for ourselves.
We often had 3 players in the tackle securing the ball but noone was stopping the momentum by wrapping up the legs.
When Pole came on he did that and made an impact.
We then got gassed from a lack of possession.
Where we fall down is in raw football talent.
I really like what I saw from a very athletic Pole though.
We need to coach these guys. At one stage yesterday we had 3 dummy halves fighting over the ball like seagulls and a chip on the ground. Hopefully Api will solve that problem next year.
We have a young kid at fullback not knowing his job. He's not lazy, he's clueless.
Only Joffa yesterday had a clue what to do.
Coach these forwards how to launch themseves into the D and bend the line.
Get Mark Carroll to be an assistant for a cameo and gets some mongrel into these forwards. We need someone like JWH in the fwds and competitors in the backs like Gagai.
Players that run hard as if their lives depend on every yard they make.
Nearly every player needs coaching in so many aspects of the game it's not funny.
We need a coach right now but more importantly some quality footballers who have football brains.

 

[Jolls]

I just re-watched the game without the emotion of it being live. You can see the changes Noddy is trying to make. Simplified the game plan and tried to up the tempo by using the outside backs around the ruck and having the forwards attacking two wide. On many occasions it was four up (all outside backs) for the kick.

The defence was not that bad - especially under the weight of possession in the first half. You can put some of that down to ill discipline, some of it down to us playing the ball to disrupt the warriors attack and some of it down to the refs interpretation as to what was and wasn't played at from Johnsons kicks.

Two tries from good kicks and one bad lapse on the line.

I think the plan to have our forwards attack two wide is fine, we don't crack teams up the middle and there were enough half breaks and breaks there to warrant exploring the game plan further. The execution of the plan was poor, not enough players in motion to challenge the defensive line and the execution by the halves was average (all three of them). If we want to play that style our halves have to dig into the line and put our forwards into the gaps AND we have to have players, especially Laurie pushing up around the play looking for the offload. When we did get it right it was a simple block that resulted in Garner galloping downfield; but only Douhie (who passed the ball) in support. We don't use this to shape the oppositions defence and decide to hit the play or skip around the back depending on their reaction.

It also requires much better service from the ruck. The delivery was OK; however, Brooks in particular did not engage the markers or even try to engage the A defenders. This is essential if we intend to create holes for our runners.

During the game I called our play as inept, we did not display the skill required to execute it. I stand by that call - but I think that Noddy has taken a step in the right direction. We ended up getting penalised for obstruction and tripping over ourselves a couple of times. The change in direction has meant our attack is disjointed and we need to execute better but over time I think points will come.

I can see improvement on the horizon. Winning? Probably a way off yet.

 

[Dennisspicer1]

Who else created an opportunity ? Our pack got belted. His kicking game was at worst on par with Doueihi.

That missed tackle count is a misleading stat. He made every tackle that was required and he was hitting hard. That is from maybe the smallest player on the field.

If we are being realistic he isn't up to it but who in our team is up to it.

Compare Hastings, Doueihi, Nu Brown and Brooks. No one can seriously state that Brooks was clearly the worst player out of that bunch. That would be so stupid. You could argue he was the best player out of those 4 and it wouldn't be a stupid argument.

Yes, but why is brooks being paid so much, i thought it was because he is a better player than the others, look at seyfarth tries his heart out every week, but just not up to the standard, but he is not getting 1 million a season.

 

[earl]

He didn’t create a single chance not even a half break, didn’t even look close against the worst defensive team in the comp.

How is missing 8 tackles miss leading. If he made every tackle required he wouldn’t have missed 8.

I called Hastings out. AD was the only one that bent the line back with his runs or created half a chance in his short time on the field having played what 40mins coming back off his 2nd major knee injury.

Our kicking game in general is shocking but the inability of our halves to create anything is terrible.

Good points.

The missed tackle count is misleading because Brooks was leading our defense on the edge and he might have fallen off a tackle that someone else finished off. He moved into the middle and still did a good job. I can think of one tackle that was a clear miss and that was Fonua Blake who Brooks tried to put a shot on and FB used some footwork.

Brooks didn't create anything but AD created one half chance plus he misread the play a couple of times and gave the ball up. That is a turnover or unforced error and it's poor. If you are being harsh on Brooks in this instance you have to state the other two were just as bad if not worse.

I love AD and I think he has to be our 6. I think Hastings has to be our 7. I think we have to move on from Brooks.

I still think he really put in and he does that regularly.

I think the big concern is in relation to AD and Hastings getting a chance and not showing us anything at all to get excited about. Sure AD bends the line but he could do that at centre.

 

[earl]

Yes, but why is brooks being paid so much, i thought it was because he is a better player than the others, look at seyfarth tries his heart out every week, but just not up to the standard, but he is not getting 1 million a season.

The money argument is stupid. He plays basically every week and he puts in. If he is on a million dollars and there is no proof of this just media BS then he is overpaid. It would also be only for a season or two at best because his contract would be backloaded. He isn't screwing our cap.

I think we have to move on from Brooks but that game is not his problem. Brooks problem is when the forwards get us in the game and it's tight he can't execute the big plays that we need.

 

[DGilly]

Hastings should be lock with Doueihi and Madden in the halves

 

[colinbh]

This is unfair. The kid tackled his backside off yesterday. People mustn't watch the game.

Some people are just haters. I am not a Brooks fan, but his defense was first class.

 

[Go_You_Good_Things]

I saw Pascoe sitting on the kerb outside NRL Headquarters sanding and varnishing something longish with a round thing on one end - looked kind of happy - you know that DIY kind of contented look.

Did it have a speed control ?
Slow . . . Fast . . . True Love ?

 

[colinbh]

Hastings should be lock with Doueihi and Madden in the halves

How about Laurie at half, 5/8?

Any word on the Stains negotiations? { if true }. Hastings to lock for sure, Adam to center with Junior, Ken, to slow, need some pace in our backs. Anyone not with us next year, to reserve grade. Brown stays at hooker/lock/forwards {good player} Pole, Dias stay. Someone on here stated that there is a young center on the rise' Forgot his name, but worth blooding?

 

[balmain boy]

Went along and watched the boys yesterday at an amazing Mt Smart Stadium, emotional atmosphere and there was no way the Tigers were going to win. A couple of depressing things hit home though, I could count on one hand the amount of times we made it past the 40 metre line, our forwards are the worst in the comp, so soft. Our poor outside backs Ken and Nofo are the only ones making metres apart from that it was non existent. Hastings is really slow and Brooks is worse in the flesh than on TV. You would not have even known that we had a forward pack. On the plus side the young cubs before looked great some big mobile boys who were not scared to run it straight. A major clean out is required asap, particularly of our pack.

It's our game plan though. We plan for our backs to take nearly all of our hitups. So what are the forwards supposed to do if they are in position but never get passed the ball? We have to stop this nonsense of having backs working it off our line, let the pigs have a crack before the 4th tackle. Our centres are incapable of hitting the ball up and making metres, they're hopeless.

Bloody Nof played more time in the middle of the field than on his wing yesterday. Should have been told where to stand buy a forwards leader, sadly we have none.