Round 1 Thoughts

[Roar_Power]

I didn’t see most of the second half but would like to hear peoples gripes with AJ Kepaoa.

Was he bad right throughout the match or mainly second half. I didn’t think he was that bad in the first....

 

[watersider]

People still going on about how good we'll be without Benji? Clearly missed his organisation and attacking ability. Brooks was lost. I get the decision not to re-sign him but the negativity around Benji on here was over the top.

I had low expectations for the season but the forwards were better than I expected and the backs were a lot worse, so I'm not sure where we are.

I suggest Mbye or Talau at lock next week. I like Twal but he looks slow and cumbersome in that role when locks seem to be getting speedier and more skilfull. Not a criticism, think he'd be solid off the bench as a prop but I don't like him at lock.

Only other suggestion is that Joey Leuilua needs to play a lot smarter or I would drop him. He was horrible today.

On the other hand, Roberts surprised by looking good defensively.

Brooks needs to get better at running this team or we are stuffed, our sets were directionless rubbish.

 

[avocadoontoast]

Douihei replaces Mbye.
Talau replaces Kepoa.
Simpkin in on the bench.
Tuki Simpkins replaces Garner.

For me,

Douihei replaces Mbye.
Mbye on the bench.
Tuki Simpkins replaces Garner.

I didn’t think AJ did too much wrong?
Garner and Talau to Reserves.

AJ if he caught the first pass from Laurie scores drops it cold. In the second half he runs down the sideline with 3 players inside and throws a shocker and Raiders score. That’s 18 points there. Needs to finish as a winger.

Yeah I’m a fan of AJ’s but he was terrible today.

 

[Cairnstigers]

It seems AD will be a huge inclusion.

Let's bloody hope so

 

[sleeve]

That is a crazy big and talented Raiders team. We aren't in their class.

But we weren't that bad. We won't play teams that huge every week and we won't be as fatigued as a result.

I take a lot of heart in the recruitment. Our best and brightest today were all recruited on Maguire's watch.

NO , Simkin was Madge, the rest were Hartigan. The plodders were Madge.

Semantics. My point was that almost all of our worst-performing players today were signed under Cleary.

Genuinely curious to know why you've gone in so hard to bat for Hartigan here? You're not a fan of Maguire's coaching of the team?

I was a Madge fan, but now i have doubts . Not all of the bad signings were Cleary, and i understand we were under pressure with a poor roster and salary cap but his friendship with players i think affected his thinking. Hartigan is the reason for the quality in this squad i think(Debatable?)
Some of the selections last year and this, are disturbing, some players were poor to be honest, Maybe a good coach ,but not a great selector of talent.

 

[watersider]

That is a crazy big and talented Raiders team. We aren't in their class.

But we weren't that bad. We won't play teams that huge every week and we won't be as fatigued as a result.

I take a lot of heart in the recruitment. Our best and brightest today were all recruited on Maguire's watch.

NO , Simkin was Madge, the rest were Hartigan. The plodders were Madge.

Semantics. My point was that almost all of our worst-performing players today were signed under Cleary.

Genuinely curious to know why you've gone in so hard to bat for Hartigan here? You're not a fan of Maguire's coaching of the team?

I was a Madge fan, but now i have doubts . Not all of the bad signings were Cleary, and i understand we were under pressure with a poor roster and salary cap but his friendship with players i think affected his thinking. Hartigan is the reason for the quality in this squad i think(Debatable?)
Some of the selections last year and this, are disturbing, some players were poor to be honest, Maybe a good coach ,but not a great selector of talent.

Way too early and the players bought are mainly young players yet to reach their peak so next year is the better year to judge for a number of reasons. Don't see the point of discussing the coach at this stage.

 

[Swordy]

I wont be making any changes or serious comments after 1 game. Thats pathetic.

BJ probablygot fired up against his old club, assisted by the frustration caused by the referees inability to play a consistent game. No excuse though.

I thought Luke Brooks was running perpendicular to where he needs to be. He needs to be taking the line on, but that is no good with no one going with him. I thought he had no one going near him with options. His kicking game was aboslutely terrible. Surely thats not his call, because no one is that stupid. Roll the ball in, look for repeat sets. Build pressure.

Mbye was fair at best, but left his halfs partner highand dry by not being active with him. We know he isnt a 5/8th, but thats ok. Its 1 game.

Laurie played well enough to think there is hope.

Overall, our forwards were not making dents in the raiders line, so that left a flat platform to play from.

Now, many are tipping the raiders as premiers, remember that! If I was their coach, id be grateful we got away with that game. As usual, WT stifled them enough to make them think. And we frustrated ourselves just as much.

If im going to be honest, this game sits with coach Macguire. The tactics were all wrong and I think if the tactics were to spoil the raiders, they did that well, but it was never a winning tactic, just a tactic to minimise the loss.

 

[momo_amp_medo]

It’s amazing how some can write the side off after a first round loss to Canberra in Canberra. Five club debutants. 6-6 at half time, showing plenty of resilience. Yes we capitulate in the second half but come on, some of you guys need to give yourselves a good old fashioned uppercut.

Yep sad really .....

 

[Harvey]

People still going on about how good we'll be without Benji? Clearly missed his organisation and attacking ability. Brooks was lost. I get the decision not to re-sign him but the negativity around Benji on here was over the top.

I had low expectations for the season but the forwards were better than I expected and the backs were a lot worse, so I'm not sure where we are.

I suggest Mbye or Talau at lock next week. I like Twal but he looks slow and cumbersome in that role when locks seem to be getting speedier and more skilfull. Not a criticism, think he'd be solid off the bench as a prop but I don't like him at lock.

Only other suggestion is that Joey Leuilua needs to play a lot smarter or I would drop him. He was horrible today.

On the other hand, Roberts surprised by looking good defensively.

Brooks needs to get better at running this team or we are stuffed, our sets were directionless rubbish.

I disagree with a lot of what you said, but an interesting point about the players that you mention as locks.

A few coaches this weekend made changes they used a smaller more nimble player (such as Benji) in place of a middle forward towards the end of the 1st half. A smart move as it allowed them to attack tired opponents.

I thought our use of the bench was very ordinary today. It almost seemed choreographed and not based on what was happening. Little was being pummeled in the middle and would have been much better if given a 15 minute breather at some stage.

 

[voice_of_reason]

Only got one good ball and he scored. The trouble was infield not on the wing,

Yes, basically saw no ball. Even though he didn't have much opportunity still managed 108m and 45pcm.

Felt the same about jtj - very little opportunity and willing to cut him some slack.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

What are people’s thoughts on switching James Robert’s and Joey Leilua.

Then move Robert’s out to the wing and bring Tommy Talau into the centre’s, AJ out of the top 17?

Agree Roberts to wing Tommy talau to centres AJ out
Run with Liddle and Simpkin off the bench or make a play for B Smith

 

[TYGA]

Douihei replaces Mbye.
Talau replaces Kepoa.
Simpkin in on the bench.
Tuki Simpkins replaces Garner.

For me,

Douihei replaces Mbye.
Mbye on the bench.
Tuki Simpkins replaces Garner.

I didn’t think AJ did too much wrong?
Garner and Talau to Reserves.

AJ if he caught the first pass from Laurie scores drops it cold. In the second half he runs down the sideline with 3 players inside and throws a shocker and Raiders score. That’s 18 points there. Needs to finish as a winger.

Yeah I’m a fan of AJ’s but he was terrible today.

Skill seems to let him down. Looks like a real player. Just drops balls and lacks touch. Not sure it’s something you can train but he needs to work on his game.

 

[Telltails]

We had plenty of good field position today
Our forwards held their own. Our errors cost us and Canberra capatilized on couple of opportunities that made the scoreline look more comprehensive than it was. They are class side and they showed why they are tipped to be there at the end.

 

[Deleted member 3518]

our goal line defence was very good. numbered up and scrambled well. only issue was Mikaele the meathead allowing his fullback to tackle a 115kg front rower and not taking matters into his own hands.

our attack looked like it was in third gear all day. very little urgency. whether that was because we were hesitant with new combos and structure I don't know, but for the amount of speedy players we have now it was not good enough.

Brooks was a mixed bag. early general play kicking was horrendous but improved somewhat (I say somewhat because his attacking kicks were below average) with time. did some good things down the left side but looked clunky when he moved to the right. willing to give him another week with his regular halves partner before making a judgement.

Garner hopeless. can't defend side on. Blore will improve us tenfold.

very happy Daine Laurie is a tiger. he's a special one.

Stefano caught my eye, looks very very good. Joffa too.

Talau was exciting. should replace Leilua in the centres next week.

we need a second hooker. Liddle ran out of gas.

the quicker Musgrove gets back and Amone is fit the better. Mikaele is not a first grader.

I think we were ok, beat ourselves in the end. if you have a look at the Raiders tries, only 1 came from a defensive mishap, which was Laurie being thrown under the bus by Mikaele. saw enough to think we'll have a better year than some believe.

Great observations . Agree with everything

 

[hank37w]

We were right in it up until half time and got off to a dreadful start in the 2nd half which we never recovered from playing a team that I think will be top 4 on their home ground.

We were completely lost in attack and it's going to take a bit of time under actual game conditions for us to develop our combinations and settle on a regular 17.

We have a pretty tough early draw but don't play Canberra again in the regular season, but 15 other teams have to play them at least once and I don't see them as an easy game for anyone.

I think we will get better as the season progresses.

 

[Krammy]

our goal line defence was very good. numbered up and scrambled well. only issue was Mikaele the meathead allowing his fullback to tackle a 115kg front rower and not taking matters into his own hands.

our attack looked like it was in third gear all day. very little urgency. whether that was because we were hesitant with new combos and structure I don't know, but for the amount of speedy players we have now it was not good enough.

Brooks was a mixed bag. early general play kicking was horrendous but improved somewhat (I say somewhat because his attacking kicks were below average) with time. did some good things down the left side but looked clunky when he moved to the right. willing to give him another week with his regular halves partner before making a judgement.

Garner hopeless. can't defend side on. Blore will improve us tenfold.

very happy Daine Laurie is a tiger. he's a special one.

Stefano caught my eye, looks very very good. Joffa too.

Talau was exciting. should replace Leilua in the centres next week.

we need a second hooker. Liddle ran out of gas.

the quicker Musgrove gets back and Amone is fit the better. Mikaele is not a first grader.

I think we were ok, beat ourselves in the end. if you have a look at the Raiders tries, only 1 came from a defensive mishap, which was Laurie being thrown under the bus by Mikaele. saw enough to think we'll have a better year than some believe.

Forgot about Musgrove and don't know much about Amone. The good thing is we have depth, so players not performing will get punted. Agree with most people here, Garner needs to earn his way back into 1st grade - he would be in CC if I was coach.

 

[hodgo]

Played one of the premership monsters. Got a touch up really.
Made it hard for ourselves.
The new guard was excellent i thought. Joffa Laurie, tamou, Stefano all played very well.
I feel after watching him twice we have found our long term fullback. Exceellent in defence good in attack.
Our middles were strong first time in a while we held our own.
Bench was ok
Jimmy the jst was ok
Will probably cop it for this but mbye was very good defensively on whighton


Our usual suspects put us under extreme pressure.
Brooks kicking game is too inconsistent.
Garner is a very poor defender.
Joey pushing to hard has to be better or i dont see how you can play him.
Mikaleles eye for detail defensively.

Overall i feel at full strength a few of those boys arent in those positions.

 

[Tiger5150]

Watched the game late, my thoughts (may be controversial).

I think this is our best team in 6-8 years.

I have been a massive true believer in Brooks for many years, but today he was really poor and Im starting to worry about him. I’d pick him next week, mostly not to scare the horses but there has to be massive improvement.

We have found our fullback, Laurie is the real deal and our best since Teddy.

I actually thought Mbye did enough to grab the 14 next week. He showed great defence and an asset in attack. Cant believe people are blaming him for the pass to the touchy, where was Nofo?

Garner must go. Simply not up to it, especially defensively.

The bones of our pack, Tamou, Joffa, Twal, LL were outstanding, Garner rubbish, Packer a non event and TM was hit and miss (I blame him for the James try, he saved another).

Our centres? Joey gets a 9/10 for effort and a 1/10 for intellect. JTJ I thought showed promise to be the best centre we have ever had.

In the second half their goal line defence was literally unbelievable, almost like they were 3m offside each time.

My apologies that Im more upbeat than most. I was bitterly disappointed but I genuinely see a lot of positives.

 

[Moh]

Only round 1, and Canberra in Canberra.

BUT... how disappointing. Been mentioned heaps by people here that the media doesn't give us a fair go, which I agree with this season. Just based on tonight's effort, they seem to be right about us.

Garner should be an immediate drop. We have enough big boys that showed some promise in trials to cover him.

Everyone else is allowed a few weeks - namely Brooks and BJ. Our backs were starved of early balls, hard to judge them on tonight.

Laurie, Lucy, Talau, Joffa and Stefano were promising.

Man, I hope it gets better than that. Had real high hopes.

 

[gallagher]

Watched the game late, my thoughts (may be controversial).

I think this is our best team in 6-8 years.

I have been a massive true believer in Brooks for many years, but today he was really poor and Im starting to worry about him. I’d pick him next week, mostly not to scare the horses but there has to be massive improvement.

We have found our fullback, Laurie is the real deal and our best since Teddy.

I actually thought Mbye did enough to grab the 14 next week. He showed great defence and an asset in attack. Cant believe people are blaming him for the pass to the touchy, where was Nofo?

Garner must go. Simply not up to it, especially defensively.

The bones of our pack, Tamou, Joffa, Twal, LL were outstanding, Garner rubbish, Packer a non event and TM was hit and miss (I blame him for the James try, he saved another).

Our centres? Joey gets a 9/10 for effort and a 1/10 for intellect. JTJ I thought showed promise to be the best centre we have ever had.

In the second half their goal line defence was literally unbelievable, almost like they were 3m offside each time.

My apologies that Im more upbeat than most. I was bitterly disappointed but I genuinely see a lot of positives.

I'm not all that disappointed either. Basically a spine that hasn't played together and we played one of the best in the comp.
Scratchy display.