jirskyr
Well-known member
HAPPY
1\. Lodge and Moses solid debuts. Moses has a lot of work to do but he has the fundamentals right, just needs more time and exposure, preferably in one position. Lodge looked very competent, but I did see the same in Nathan Brown last year and he's not been sighted since.
2\. Austin puts in again. I know the guy has some crinkles to iron out of his game, but we put him at hooker, 5/8th, FB and expect magic. Invariably he is one of the few to consistently threaten the line when we are struggling for points. I think he is potentially such a talent, he just needs a consistent run in one position.
3\. re #2 - I hold no ill-will for Anasta, but the guy is an obstacle because I feel Potter won't drop him this year. The injury today will force his hand for another few weeks - we need to remember that until Anasta got suspended Austin had not been given a run at all, and now he gets named most weeks.
4\. Nofo - back to strong ball-carries and alleviating pressure on the forwards, good lad.
5\. Marty Taupau had some really strong carries and was probably our most effective forward for hitups, esp that kickoff return.
6\. Got a soft spot for Ava too, I think he is just that guy to do his job and not take up too much salary cap, bumped off quite a few players in his runs.
7\. Depth (except the centres) - maybe not 2014, but 2015-16\. We've got some fresh talent and I'm struggling to guess how Potter is going to put all the pieces together. The ingredients are all there, we just need to perfect the recipe and keep troops on the field. I just imagine 2015 spine with Tedesco, Moses, Brooks, Farah and Austin at 14, then forward rotation including Woods, Taupau, Gavet, Ava, Sitaleki, KG, Lodge, Jesse Sue, Hammer Halatau, Bodene, Blair, Thompson.
8\. Woods and Farah back next week, I guarantee you will see an improved display next week.
SAD
1\. Defence - the shambles today. We were consistently caught flat-footed and allowed Penrith to run across the line and probe for holes, of which there were many. Penrith had a simple game plan - direct traffic in behind the ruck and then spin it wide once we compressed. We almost never adjusted.
2\. You cannot afford to have a left-side defensive edge of Siro, Brooks, Rowdy, Patty. They are too indecisive and too slow to adjust. Rowdy is really struggling, no doubt, but defending outside Siro and Brooks is like defending outside Benji, you can't trust them to take the inside man. I wonder if Rowdy spent the entire game staying on Whare only, if we would have been cut up 3 or 4-in, like Papalii did last week.
3\. Tempo - too rushed today. We came out of the blocks like madmen both halves, defended hard, but could not keep it up. Footy isn't won with a few periods of quality, it is won by 80 x 1 minute of execution.
4\. re #3 - rushed attack too often when we got close to their line. E.g. Lawrence bats the ball on regardless, Siro offloads in bad position, Moses drills Lawrence with an impossible pass, Austin goes into touch, several useless mid-field bombs. This team needs to move past the Benji Marshall style where we try to score every touch. Brooks can be as guilty as anyone, this is about the 3rd or 4th game where he's beautifully set up a period of 3-4 repeat sets and then decided follow up with unstructured, poorly thought-out play. At times he seems to forget that he is the halfback.
5\. Patty Richard's low hands. I love the dude, but clearly he's not much chop with a low awkward ball.
6\. Lawrence no-look pass. There's enough criticism in other threads, I would like to request he at least looks at Richards before he tips off. Opposition centres just rush Lawrence and he offloads without checking the positioning of his winger. Let's be honest here, Richards is a little short of pace and makes up for it by pressing forward in the backline, he's not 5 metres behind play ready to burst onto a pass. If you bat the ball to him, he's gonna be 1-2 m past the ball, you need to put it on his chest.
7\. Luani at hooker - lasted, what, 20 mins? Time to do away with the experiment, it will be someone else like Cherrington stepping up next time. Did put a lovely hit on Idris though.
8\. We lack centre options. I'm not adverse to dropping Lawrence, though I do think he saves his worst for when we play poorly; he almost bagged a try and was heavily involved in the last one. But to drop him when the backline is already so youthful, what options do we really have? If one of the NSW Cup guys gets a run, it's at the expense of Lulia first, that guy is a shadow even compared to Lawrence. As long as Simona is out, Lawrence stays in.
9\. Siro does not wind up often enough on his runs. That's really it, I think he's already quite a threat and just needs more momentum in his runs, because he was one of the few to dent the Penrith line today.
10\. Re #8 I don't get the hate today for young Siro, I think he is an emerging talent but certainly has lots to work on. Backrowers don't typically become world-beaters, you seriously show me another elite-level backrower who is 20 years old. Bird is 29, Thaiday 29, Parker 32, Gillett 25, McQueen is 26, Te'o 27, Beau Scott 30, Hoffman 32, Gallen 32\. The only one I could think of quickly is Boyd Cordner who is 22\. Even Taumalolo, who has plenty of flaws in his game, is 21 years old.
11\. That try that Idris scored, annoyed me more than anything. The guy is huge, but he's also slow and fat, you can see him coming a mile away. Why Lulia decided to come in on Peachey, when Austin and Bodene already both had him covered, leaving Idris a 5m corridor to drive his bus-like frame through… I will never know. After lampooning our left side defence for 50+ minutes, the right side goes and does exactly the same. Hard to call someone out when they are all doing it.
1\. Lodge and Moses solid debuts. Moses has a lot of work to do but he has the fundamentals right, just needs more time and exposure, preferably in one position. Lodge looked very competent, but I did see the same in Nathan Brown last year and he's not been sighted since.
2\. Austin puts in again. I know the guy has some crinkles to iron out of his game, but we put him at hooker, 5/8th, FB and expect magic. Invariably he is one of the few to consistently threaten the line when we are struggling for points. I think he is potentially such a talent, he just needs a consistent run in one position.
3\. re #2 - I hold no ill-will for Anasta, but the guy is an obstacle because I feel Potter won't drop him this year. The injury today will force his hand for another few weeks - we need to remember that until Anasta got suspended Austin had not been given a run at all, and now he gets named most weeks.
4\. Nofo - back to strong ball-carries and alleviating pressure on the forwards, good lad.
5\. Marty Taupau had some really strong carries and was probably our most effective forward for hitups, esp that kickoff return.
6\. Got a soft spot for Ava too, I think he is just that guy to do his job and not take up too much salary cap, bumped off quite a few players in his runs.
7\. Depth (except the centres) - maybe not 2014, but 2015-16\. We've got some fresh talent and I'm struggling to guess how Potter is going to put all the pieces together. The ingredients are all there, we just need to perfect the recipe and keep troops on the field. I just imagine 2015 spine with Tedesco, Moses, Brooks, Farah and Austin at 14, then forward rotation including Woods, Taupau, Gavet, Ava, Sitaleki, KG, Lodge, Jesse Sue, Hammer Halatau, Bodene, Blair, Thompson.
8\. Woods and Farah back next week, I guarantee you will see an improved display next week.
SAD
1\. Defence - the shambles today. We were consistently caught flat-footed and allowed Penrith to run across the line and probe for holes, of which there were many. Penrith had a simple game plan - direct traffic in behind the ruck and then spin it wide once we compressed. We almost never adjusted.
2\. You cannot afford to have a left-side defensive edge of Siro, Brooks, Rowdy, Patty. They are too indecisive and too slow to adjust. Rowdy is really struggling, no doubt, but defending outside Siro and Brooks is like defending outside Benji, you can't trust them to take the inside man. I wonder if Rowdy spent the entire game staying on Whare only, if we would have been cut up 3 or 4-in, like Papalii did last week.
3\. Tempo - too rushed today. We came out of the blocks like madmen both halves, defended hard, but could not keep it up. Footy isn't won with a few periods of quality, it is won by 80 x 1 minute of execution.
4\. re #3 - rushed attack too often when we got close to their line. E.g. Lawrence bats the ball on regardless, Siro offloads in bad position, Moses drills Lawrence with an impossible pass, Austin goes into touch, several useless mid-field bombs. This team needs to move past the Benji Marshall style where we try to score every touch. Brooks can be as guilty as anyone, this is about the 3rd or 4th game where he's beautifully set up a period of 3-4 repeat sets and then decided follow up with unstructured, poorly thought-out play. At times he seems to forget that he is the halfback.
5\. Patty Richard's low hands. I love the dude, but clearly he's not much chop with a low awkward ball.
6\. Lawrence no-look pass. There's enough criticism in other threads, I would like to request he at least looks at Richards before he tips off. Opposition centres just rush Lawrence and he offloads without checking the positioning of his winger. Let's be honest here, Richards is a little short of pace and makes up for it by pressing forward in the backline, he's not 5 metres behind play ready to burst onto a pass. If you bat the ball to him, he's gonna be 1-2 m past the ball, you need to put it on his chest.
7\. Luani at hooker - lasted, what, 20 mins? Time to do away with the experiment, it will be someone else like Cherrington stepping up next time. Did put a lovely hit on Idris though.
8\. We lack centre options. I'm not adverse to dropping Lawrence, though I do think he saves his worst for when we play poorly; he almost bagged a try and was heavily involved in the last one. But to drop him when the backline is already so youthful, what options do we really have? If one of the NSW Cup guys gets a run, it's at the expense of Lulia first, that guy is a shadow even compared to Lawrence. As long as Simona is out, Lawrence stays in.
9\. Siro does not wind up often enough on his runs. That's really it, I think he's already quite a threat and just needs more momentum in his runs, because he was one of the few to dent the Penrith line today.
10\. Re #8 I don't get the hate today for young Siro, I think he is an emerging talent but certainly has lots to work on. Backrowers don't typically become world-beaters, you seriously show me another elite-level backrower who is 20 years old. Bird is 29, Thaiday 29, Parker 32, Gillett 25, McQueen is 26, Te'o 27, Beau Scott 30, Hoffman 32, Gallen 32\. The only one I could think of quickly is Boyd Cordner who is 22\. Even Taumalolo, who has plenty of flaws in his game, is 21 years old.
11\. That try that Idris scored, annoyed me more than anything. The guy is huge, but he's also slow and fat, you can see him coming a mile away. Why Lulia decided to come in on Peachey, when Austin and Bodene already both had him covered, leaving Idris a 5m corridor to drive his bus-like frame through… I will never know. After lampooning our left side defence for 50+ minutes, the right side goes and does exactly the same. Hard to call someone out when they are all doing it.
