LIVE GAME Round 25 v Cowboys

Live Game Discussion
watersider said:
This cowboys team is a star studded team, it's a shame they turned up to play today. Taumalolo and McLean were the key for me. They got the cows on the front foot early and ran over us at the end to get Drinkwater space and time.

We definitely stuffed up but there was a lot of really good play. Bula seems to have gone to another level, our forwards are very competitive these days. While taumalolo and McLean got the better of us we fought our way back into the game with defensive strength.

I think as soon as we took Sione off that right edge we looked way more vulnerable in not being able to control the ruck. If KPP goes well on the edge there's no question Sione is our #2 prop and he can play big minutes as well. The mays and and fainus all know how to tackle and are dominant when firing.

I also love Latu at halfback. Such a terrible error, but he had a brilliant game.

Unfortunately our goal line defense was non existent today. I feel like we barely held them when they got into attacking field position.

It was a great game for 65 minutes. Unfortunately this is a very good insight into where we are at the moment, and we're not good enough.

I really wanted the three in a row. The finals was a fun longshot but I think you call it a successful season if we got that win today. I'm not sure we've proven much now.
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Yep I wanted the three in a row badly as well. It kills me that Souths, who have had such a crap season, were able to easily win their last three!
 
The Cows won the grind on the back of a fabulous kicking game and great chase. We did not get a call from Gough for a couple of obvious high shots and he certainly was not controlling the 10m. Although you can’t blame the ref for our abysmal defence. A couple of injuries did not help, but our bench is hardly reserve grade standard outside Latu.

Anyway we are certainly on the improve
 
44 missed tackles tells you all you need to know and it's been the perennial issue. RL is not a difficult game, you know where you need to be at what point in the tackle count and if there are no attacking options on tackle 5 you need to pin the opponent to a corner and then look to minimise progress with intent and line speed. Marshall needs to have some sessions at full gas in the first pre-season block and change some attitudes towards D
 
supercoach said:
The Cows won the grind on the back of a fabulous kicking game and great chase. We did not get a call from Gough for a couple of obvious high shots and he certainly was not controlling the 10m. Although you can’t blame the ref for our abysmal defence. A couple of injuries did not help, but our bench is hardly reserve grade standard outside Latu.

Anyway we are certainly on the improve
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The result is disappointing and there is a sense that we choked yet again in a big game, however I don’t see today as a step back. Every week, someone stands up and makes you realise we have a team of goers. Last week it was Sione, this week it was Taylan. No reason we can’t be pushing for the 8 next year.
 
Telltails said:
I never thought we were a finals chance just wanted to maintain the position we got to given next week we are very unlikely - and even less now with injuries - to mix it with a red hot Canberra going for the minor premiership.
Going to be mentally tough to get up for that after that loss.
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Yeah me too, 11th or 12th would be a nice finish, considering where we have come from in the last three years. However, with the good end of season form of Souths, Parra and even the Cowboys, there’s every chance we could drop back to 15th by seasons end if we don’t win another game, which would be very disappointing.
 
Cows are a very good attacking team - when they get it right, they can score quickly and will pull apart most defences.
We missed a lot of tackles today but I think they would have troubled most defences and our is not where it needs to be. In saying that, I thought that was the most complete attacking display we’ve put together this year. Losing Douiehi was a significant as was Latu for the final 10 - lots to look forward to next year with some upgrades in depth and a more stable lineup. Disappointed with the result but confident for our future.
 
watersider said:
This cowboys team is a star studded team, it's a shame they turned up to play today. Taumalolo and McLean were the key for me. They got the cows on the front foot early and ran over us at the end to get Drinkwater space and time.

We definitely stuffed up but there was a lot of really good play. Bula seems to have gone to another level, our forwards are very competitive these days. While taumalolo and McLean got the better of us we fought our way back into the game with defensive strength.

I think as soon as we took Sione off that right edge we looked way more vulnerable in not being able to control the ruck. If KPP goes well on the edge there's no question Sione is our #2 prop and he can play big minutes as well. The mays and and fainus all know how to tackle and are dominant when firing.

I also love Latu at halfback. Such a terrible error, but he had a brilliant game.

Unfortunately our goal line defense was non existent today. I feel like we barely held them when they got into attacking field position.

It was a great game for 65 minutes. Unfortunately this is a very good insight into where we are at the moment, and we're not good enough.

I really wanted the three in a row. The finals was a fun longshot but I think you call it a successful season if we got that win today. I'm not sure we've proven much now.
Click to expand...
Agree with the summary except that I think this Cowboys side is a long way from being star studded.
 
We did well to fight back but we can't be having these 10 minute brain fades that we seem to have so often. The Cowboys are like the Broncos and Storm where they can pile on points in a very quick amount of time. I do think if Doueihi didn't get injured then we probably win because he seems to bring a lot of calm to our team and can manage games better. Still some good signs for next year though.
 
Forth & Clyde said:
44 missed tackles tells you all you need to know and it's been the perennial issue. RL is not a difficult game, you know where you need to be at what point in the tackle count and if there are no attacking options on tackle 5 you need to pin the opponent to a corner and then look to minimise progress with intent and line speed. Marshall needs to have some sessions at full gas in the first pre-season block and change some attitudes towards D
Click to expand...
new member - lurked in t he shadows for long ?
 
We will never be a top 4 side until we change our attitude and resolve in D. Everything comes off that. We must as a group learn to attack with our defense. Currently we are way too passive- no line speed, not enough aggression in contact, no communication, no trust. We are static at best and, even worse when the opposition are coming at us in our 20, we start back peddling FFS!!
Defend as a hungry group and the attack will follow. Fitness is still an issue as well - we were fitter this year compared to past seasons but still not fit enough.
 
Taylan May has completely changed our backline. Absolute gun.

Hurt by the result - and probably more upset we couldn't finally get 3 in a row more than staying alive for finals, that was always unlikely.

Anyway, positive signs are there. We were the better team; and - amongst other things - depth was the key to a lot of our failures. And thats something we're already trying to improve heading into '26.
 
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