LIVE GAME Round 20 v Titans

Live Game Discussion
bbobb said:
Unfortunately, I think we are still learning to play together especially after all the Galvin stuff. My guess is that our attacking structures have had to change and add the Douiehi to 13 thing and Latu learning his trade - we will continue to look a bit clunky in attack but hopefully on the improve.
Taylan May looks like he absolutely belongs at this level and have been watching Makasini in reserves who looks to be a class above that level already.
If we can keep the spine (including Douiehi) with addition of KPP on an edge and May and Makasini, plus another couple of key signings - I think things are looking good moving forward.
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Great post.
 
Was not at the game but after watching it onTV it is easy to get caught up in the raw emotions of the last minute win at LO. With the crowd going off you tend to overlook the fact we basically struggled to beat the team coming last on our own home patch. Sure there were positives like May’s first game for the club and the way we kept in the game.

I think the next month will probably give us a very good indication what we can expect next year. With basically only KPP in the recruitment bag and nothing else on the radar it would appear the side we have now plus Bulla,KPP and maybe the big whiz kid will be our team in 2026. It has me a tad worried about top eight prospects when I look at other rosters.

Anyway the big positive to come out of yesterday, it pretty much guaranteed that the spoon will find a new home in 2025
 
supercoach said:
Was not at the game but after watching it onTV it is easy to get caught up in the raw emotions of the last minute win at LO. With the crowd going off you tend to overlook the fact we basically struggled to beat the team coming last on our own home patch. Sure there were positives like May’s first game for the club and the way we kept in the game.

I think the next month will probably give us a very good indication what we can expect next year. With basically only KPP in the recruitment bag and nothing else on the radar it would appear the side we have now plus Bulla,KPP and maybe the big whiz kid will be our team in 2026. It has me a tad worried about top eight prospects when I look at other rosters.

Anyway the big positive to come out of yesterday, it pretty much guaranteed that the spoon will find a new home in 2025
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Isn't it funny....now all we are hoping for is to avoid the "spoon", rather than playing as we should and find our way into the top 8 ?
 
Yossarian said:
Sometimes you just take the W I suppose but wow, the Titans are deadset average and we beat them, at home mind you, on the back of penalty goals and a 80th minute field goal having scored three tries to their four.
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It was always going to be a close game. Both teams have had 2 wins against Knights this season, but the Titans wins were more convincing. You balance that against 16,000 WT faithful on a Sunday arvo at LO and it’s a contest.
I would like to see Benji pick and stick. Get out of treating the players like under 7s. They know how to pass the ball. Allow them to do the drills without the extra player (coach) who is on the sideline at game time.
Every player showed they wanted to win that game, now if only they can develop some harmonic motion, know your teammates better than you know the opposition.
 
Modman said:
So are you happy with his output on the field forget all this away from game we need wins. 1 4 is way over what his output is during a game. I Was really keen in him guiding this side around. He DEFINITELY HASN'T done that. We are the most unorganised team in the comp. Even today it went to a player earning 20% of his pay to determine the game . Sorry Not good enough.
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Didn't see the second half, only highlights, but on this point to be fair, he was taken out on suspicion and injured on his haunches for that play.
 
tigeress said:
Isn't it funny....now all we are hoping for is to avoid the "spoon", rather than playing as we should and find our way into the top 8 ?
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In my books the eight was never an even a remote chance right from game one and I thought somewhere around 12th would be a good result. One bye , Cows game at LO and The Coast again will probably gets somewhere near 12th if we win those games
 
orange&black said:
I’m on the fence on Benji’s coaching performance. I thought we were doing ok earlier in the season and then a number of things went awry that shot us down. It started with some injuries that exposed our lack of depth, then the Galvin debacle and TDS leaving. More injuries and reshuffling, some bad calls, and a few games we should have won. We really have had little alternative than to play some guys who are really not up to NRL level.
All this and we are still only 1 win behind the Roosters and 1 win ahead of the Dragons.
You can see by Benji’s reactions on the sideline and in the Pressers that he isn’t coaching them to play as poorly as they have at times. There are a few clubs with better rosters and supposedly better, more experienced coaches than us, doing worse than us.
I would like to see us have a run of games where we have some continuity with our best 17 and the same spine. We can’t continue to carry players who just aren’t up to consistent NRL level.
How we play against the good sides in the coming weeks will tell us a lot in rating this season’s overall performance.
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The problem here is from the time Sheens reappointed himself he made it very clear any player signed was what Benji wanted i.e when Benji took over there wouldn't be the usual excuses about it not being his squad. Benji has been there long enough to have his finger prints all over it, both as assistant and head coach.
My major concern is yes I think the team is better than last year, it has to be with the players that were purchased, but has the team performance as a whole improved since............say round 10? Because for me, that is a resounding no, I don't think they have improved as the year has gone on and I put that down to coaching, whether it be Benji or his assistants, he is the boss and the buck stops with him.
Hopefully they go on a run in these last 6 weeks and prove me wrong, its what we all want.
 
Benji described that our worst performance of the year but in my opinion it rates above Newcastle (H), Parramatta (H), Newcastle (A), Melbourne (A), St George (H), Souths (H) and Manly (A). In fact, we've only played 5 decent games: Parramatta (A), Cronulla (H), Redcliffe (A), Penrith (H) and Canberra (H).

My expectations have dropped so far since the start of the season that I'm very happy that we're 3 wins clear of the spoon. As for yesterday, Taylan's sensational debut and Luai playing closer to his contract value were two positives. On the flip side, the same issues that have plagued our entire season, including our clueless red zone attack, were on show again. One thing that has me worried for next season is our hooker. Father time is fast catching up on Api and Hope is NOT a first grader. Benji may be forced to debut Jared Haywood next year, even though it would be better for his development to play out the year in KOE. When is Manase up for parole?
 
Doing enough to win is a good result for a club like ours it rarely happens. Add in the virus that impacted the prep and the team - they are athletes but that doesn't make them immune to the barriers of illness. Happy to take the 2 and forget the rest.
 
SwervinMervin said:
Benji may not be a master coach and I do agree with the comments about attack cohesion, 1 percenters, etc.
But clearly the squad play for him. And it’s not just the PI boys. Twal, Sayfarth, got off their deathbeds to play and while they are both somewhat limited, always give 100% effort. We have criticized the team in previous years under previous coaches for being peahearted and just capitulating. Say what you will about how clunky they might look and some of the dumb errors, but we do finally have a team that is all effort and doesn’t go away all game. It means you don’t win big or easy, but you don’t lose easy either. The only game this year that needed a mercy rule applied was Melbourne. Most of the others we were right in with say 10 to go. And that’s also against some pretty good teams - Warriors, Raiders, Panthers. We have a team that has a dig.
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Yes this is true and we are staying in games for the most part now...theres an attitude in defense rhat has been missing for a while..
This area seems to have improved a fair bit i just hope benji can make a hard call on assistants over the off season...i hope he can see thenattack needs a lot of work and whoevers running it now has failed.
For the good of the team get someone in that can do better
 
Now that the dust has settled on what was a poor game from both sides I have taken a look at the replay and tried to identify what we can take away and build on.

Compressed defence. I raised this in relation to our loss v Warriors and NSW’s loss in game three of SOO. Unfortunately, we were on the receiving end of the lesson. We played a compressed defence early in the game as we were concerned that the Titans were going to send a lot of traffic down the middle.

If we are going to play that style we need to have better line speed to cut down time for the halves. Jayden Campbell had way too much time to execute. Had we had a compressed defence, with line speed, we may have been able to prevent a couple of tries due to pressure.

Campbell is not in the same conversation as Cleary when it comes to “talent”; however, he was able to sum up the defensive situation and pull it apart. One harbour bridge cutout pass and one kick in behind was all it took to make us change our defensive pattern. On the plus side for the Titans both also led to tries.

This was the perfect demonstration of how to deal with that type of defensive pressure. Clearly someone in the Titans outfit has a footy brain. On the positive side for us we adapted our defensive strategy on the run and were able to stay in the game. Our defence overall needs work and will no doubt be the subject of numerous reps this week.

Fight: Despite playing poorly we fought to stay in the game. This happened throughout the game but to fight back from 16–20 down with five minutes remaining showed composure. Skelton’s long-range try and AD’s field goal on full‑time demonstrated that we no longer throw in the towel and have practiced clutch scenarios. I was definitely concerned that we had blown the FG opportunity, but, it was executed with minimal fuss and was well disguised. Much better teams than us are so structured in their setup that the opposition counters it.

Sharper attacking shape: There too isn’t much to write home about here; however, you could see development. We executed a few blocks and double blocks, Latu was sweeping and Tiny demonstrated what difference a strike centre makes to the side. Given the new halves’ combination, AD playing 13 for the first time and players playing out of position it wasn’t too bad. Charlie had a shocker, his hands are usually pretty good. There were a few poor passes in traffic that probably would either stick or not be thrown with a settled backline – so positive signs. A more cohesive second half had us building field position and sustaining sets. The ability to build the pressure got us home in the end.

Resilience. With minutes slipping away we maintained discipline and delivered when it counted.

Adam Doueihi at 13. I have copped some flack on here in relation to my takes on AD. Given this was game 1 for AD at 13 it is something worth exploring further. Just shy of 60mins on the park, 12 runs for 76m, 21 PCM. 1 line break assist, 1 line break and 7 hitups. His PTB speed was on average with the rest of the pack, demonstrating how lenient the officiating was in this area. On the other side if the pill 32 tackles, 3 missed, 1 ineffective (89%) so not bad for the first time in the middle. His general play kicks were average – but being in the middle he provides options. Kicking in general play remains something he needs to work hard on.

I was concerned that he would not take the dirty hit-ups, and for the most part he didn’t but that was not his role either. I think he needs to be a little more involved in this area, but he was clearly gassed with the extra workload. Not having to make the hard defensive decisions and having a big body make him a useful addition to the pack and he could develop over time. As a half, he is a backup, as a centre he is OK but too slow, as a lock – he may just get there.

Coaching. Benji’s move of AD to the middle demonstrates that AD was only holding his centre spot until we could find someone that could shift the needle. Tiny at centre highlighted how deficient we were in that area. While he has made plenty of mistakes Benji has demonstrated resolve and a clear commitment to sustained development rather than short-term appeasement. Despite the results he has continued to reinforce unity in the paying group.

The result yesterday, while not pretty or convincing, demonstrated that the team is developing a culture that is resilient. They are definitely playing for each other and him as a coach, even though execution is below par. His public defence of his methods and gradual assertiveness mean the onus has to switch from just falling short, or just getting over the line, to delivering consistent results. For now, he appears to be safe in his role and the run home may validate his approach. Time will tell, but I doubt that he will be given much leniency in 2026.

Summary

We were able to dig a win out of a poor performance – that shows that the team is resolute and composed even when faced with adversity. There is a lot of work to do on execution, kicking and early aggression, but the move to bring AD into the middle could yield dividends with the return of Bula and settling halves combination. Benji has the support of the playing group and has not waivered from his development approach. I trust that it starts to pay dividends at this end of the season and we finish on an upward trend.
 
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TV Ted Ellery said:
Benji described that our worst performance of the year but in my opinion it rates above Newcastle (H), Parramatta (H), Newcastle (A), Melbourne (A), St George (H), Souths (H) and Manly (A). In fact, we've only played 5 decent games: Parramatta (A), Cronulla (H), Redcliffe (A), Penrith (H) and Canberra (H).
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Seriously …what a strange statement from Benji ..they were pathetic in that Melbourne 64-0 loss, one of the worst losses the Club has ever had ,,,and pretty poor against Manly…. I would also say they were worse last week, although I guess you could argue that one at least ..
 
Tom Shines said:
Seriously …what a strange statement from Benji ..they were pathetic in that Melbourne 64-0 loss, one of the worst losses the Club has ever had ,,,and pretty poor against Manly…. I would also say they were worse last week, although I guess you could argue that one at least ..
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As you say the performance against Melbourne was clearly our worst this season.
Why has Latu’s attacking fluency dropped so much since the Roosters game is a big concern ?
All our playmakers seem to struggle in our red zone, there has to be a reason behind it ?
 
Tom Shines said:
Seriously …what a strange statement from Benji ..they were pathetic in that Melbourne 64-0 loss, one of the worst losses the Club has ever had ,,,and pretty poor against Manly…. I would also say they were worse last week, although I guess you could argue that one at least ..
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Maybe Benji is slowly starting to change the narrative with the players and shifting from his traditional “this team shows a lot of fight and never gives up” to “we’re not playing well enough” and hopefully this starts driving more accountability for performance within the playing group.

I for one am sick of hearing Benji trot out continual excuses and he needs to put more of the responsibility back on players, at least some of the time anyway
 
Jolls said:
Now that the dust has settled on what was a poor game from both sides I have taken a look at the replay and tried to identify what we can take away and build on.

Compressed defence. I raised this in relation to our loss v Warriors and NSW’s loss in game three of SOO. Unfortunately, we were on the receiving end of the lesson. We played a compressed defence early in the game as we were concerned that the Titans were going to send a lot of traffic down the middle.

If we are going to play that style we need to have better line speed to cut down time for the halves. Jayden Campbell had way too much time to execute. Had we had a compressed defence, with line speed, we may have been able to prevent a couple of tries due to pressure.

Campbell is not in the same conversation as the Cleary when it comes to “talent”; however, he was able to sum up the defensive situation and pull it apart. One harbour bridge cutout pass and one kick in behind was all it took to make us change our defensive pattern. On the plus side for the Titans both also led to tries.

This was the perfect demonstration of how to deal with that type of defensive pressure. Clearly someone in the Titans outfit has a footy brain. On the positive side for us we adapted our defensive strategy on the run and were able to stay in the game. Our defence overall needs work and will no doubt be the subject of numerous reps this week.

Fight: Despite playing poorly we fought to stay in the game. This happened throughout the game but to fight back from 16–20 down with five minutes remaining showed composure. Skelton’s long-range try and AD’s field goal on full‑time demonstrated that we no longer throw in the towel and have practiced clutch scenarios. I was definitely concerned that we had blown the FG opportunity, but, it was executed with minimal fuss and was well disguised. Much better teams than us are so structured in their setup that the opposition counters it.

Sharper attacking shape: There too isn’t much to write home about here; however, you could see development. We executed a few blocks and double blocks, Latu was sweeping and Tiny demonstrated what difference a strike centre makes to the side. Given the new halves’ combination, AD playing 13 for the first time and players playing out of position it wasn’t too bad. Charlie had a shocker, his hands are usually pretty good. There were a few poor passes in traffic that probably would either stick or not be thrown with a settled backline – so positive signs. A more cohesive second half had us building field position and sustaining sets. The ability to build the pressure got us home in the end.

Resilience. With minutes slipping away we maintained discipline and delivered when it counted.

Adam Doueihi at 13. I have copped some flack on here in relation to my takes on AD. Given this was game 1 for AD at 13 it is something worth exploring further. Just shy of 60mins on the park, 12 runs for 76m, 21 PCM. 1 line break assist, 1 line break and 7 hitups. His PTB speed was on average with the rest of the pack, demonstrating how lenient the officiating was in this area. On the other side if the pill 32 tackles, 3 missed, 1 ineffective (89%) so not bad for the first time in the middle. His general play kicks were average – but being in the middle he provides options. Kicking in general play remains something he needs to work hard on.

I was concerned that he would not take the dirty hit-ups, and for the most part he didn’t but that was not his role either. I think he needs to be a little more involved in this area, but he was clearly gassed with the extra workload. Not having to make the hard defensive decisions and having a big body make him a useful addition to the pack and he could develop over time. As a half, he is a backup, as a centre he is OK but too slow, as a lock – he may just get there.

Coaching. Benji’s move of AD to the middle demonstrates that AD was only holding his centre spot until we could find someone that could shift the needle. Tiny at centre highlighted how deficient we were in that area. While he has made plenty of mistakes Benji has demonstrated resolve and a clear commitment to sustained development rather than short-term appeasement. Despite the results he has continued to reinforce unity in the paying group.

The result yesterday, while not pretty or convincing, demonstrated that the team is developing a culture that is resilient. They are definitely playing for each other and him as a coach, even though execution is below par. His public defence of his methods and gradual assertiveness mean the onus has to switch from just falling short, or just getting over the line, to delivering consistent results. For now, he appears to be safe in his role and the run home may validate his approach. Time will tell, but I doubt that he will be given much leniency in 2026.

Summary

We were able to dig a win out of a poor performance – that shows that the team is resolute and composed even when faced with adversity. There is a lot of work to do on execution, kicking and early aggression, but the move to bring AD into the middle could yield dividends and with the return of Bula and settling halves combination. Benji has the support of the playing group and has not waivered from his development approach. I trust that it starts to pay dividends at this end of the season and we finish on an upward trend.
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Do you think a Luai and Fainu halves combination will work and be a success long term ?
I’ve got concerns, both very good players individually, but it just doesn’t seem to be a fluent combination although still early days.
 
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