LIVE GAME Trial 2 vs. Dragons

[weststigers]

Nice summary.
I'm a trial is a trial believer, but Im not going to lie, that performance was so insipid there is a bit of panic on my end.
Beaten to the punch from the 1st minute to the 80th. My only hope was that maybe we were still being flogged in fitness due to our first game being 3 weeks away which may have resulted in a fatigued performance.

Unfortunately there has been nothing to suggest that is the case. A mixed response from Captain and coach after the game. Api didn't seemed to fussed, Benji look deeply concerned.
One thing is for sure, when you show the rest of the NRL how soft you can be, then expect every team to come at you aggressively for the rest of the year.

The question is, if it's a trial, what exactly are we trialling? The first 20 of the Warriors game looked like we had something going on. Fast forward to Saints and frankly we were dominated.

They punched holes through our defence all day and in attack, we were hideous.

Once again, our forwards get us into the red zone and we can't convert. This will be the theme of 2024 unless something drastically changes.

For the suggestions of Galvin or Sullivan to lock, I think it's a bad idea. You are putting a big defensive workload on them and why have 3 playmakers in the starting team? If your first 2 can't create points, then drop them.

I sincerely hope we are not going back to Taylor ball or Madge ball. It's clear this club can't play this system. There's not enough points in it.

 

[weststigers]

What happened over the past 2 weeks?

Well, we went to NZ for a week to acclimatise & bond over some harrowing shotover swerves. Then it's time to play a physical side in The Warriors. It was a trial and we played accordingly - good bits and bad bits. But we won.

Then we returned to Sydney on Monday - time to wind down. Recovery time.

Tuesday - Time to visit the Pascoe Barber cos, guess what - It's Season Launch time tonight.
Oh, and last-minute tailoring of the corporate gray blazer and then a late night of schmoozing the faithful.

Wednesday, another Recovery Day - after all, it wouldn't be fair for all those boys who live in The McArthur region to have had to go home on Tuesday night.

Thursday and Friday spent watching videos of the Shotover highlights to re-engage the bonds that were formed during those harrowing swerves (it did look to pay off when Bula scored)

Saturday - on the bus to Mudgee.

Saturday night - no intensity - apparently, they left it all onboard the shotover boat and the Season Launch smoke and mirrors function.

All jokes aside - it was a very short & distracting turnaround time for the 2nd Trial against a very physical Dragons unit.

I think we need to move camp to Seiffert Oval asap in order to prep for Round 2. Then a Bonding Session at the Fyshwick firecracker factory might be in order!

I want to believe this...I really do

 

[TrueTiger]

All I have to say is,although we seemed clueless against the Drags,it was a trial,no need to panic yet...I agree with others that it will take a few rounds before we can see real hope within the team...
Benji could have knocked back the coaching role and could have done without the rookie coach pressure,but here we are and he now has to get this team into a competative and winning way...
As I and many have said before,superstar players dont always make good coaches,lets just hope Benji becomes the diamond we all hope he can as a coach...

 

[Vicious]

The question is, if it's a trial, what exactly are we trialling? The first 20 of the Warriors game looked like we had something going on. Fast forward to Saints and frankly we were dominated.

They punched holes through our defence all day and in attack, we were hideous.

Once again, our forwards get us into the red zone and we can't convert. This will be the theme of 2024 unless something drastically changes.

For the suggestions of Galvin or Sullivan to lock, I think it's a bad idea. You are putting a big defensive workload on them and why have 3 playmakers in the starting team? If your first 2 can't create points, then drop them.

I sincerely hope we are not going back to Taylor ball or Madge ball. It's clear this club can't play this system. There's not enough points in it.

Our attack will not improve until we have more playmaking options other than just our two halves.
No other NRL team only has just their two halves as playmaking options, they all have their lock and/or fullback heavily contributing to the playmaking for a reason.

 

[weststigers]

You don’t agree that Bula has no playmaking ability ? If he does it would be nice to see it. Not touching the ball for the first 15 minutes when we had plenty of ball attacking our opponents line is not good enough.
I agree that we ideally need our halves to be a running threat similar to how Melbourne Storm play with two predominantly running halves in Hughes and Munster. They also lack a ball playing 13, but Papenhuyzen has developed into a decent 3rd playmaking and general play kicking option when required.
If we want our halves to be genuine running threats, we would not be selecting Sezer that’s for sure.

Sadly, it's true. I'm not certain that he doesn't have the ability, but he definitely doesn't ball play which probably makes us a bit one dimensional in attack.

 

[weststigers]

Our attack will not improve until we have more playmaking options other than just our two halves.
No other NRL team only has just their two halves as playmaking options, they all have their lock and/or fullback heavily contributing to the playmaking for a reason.

The locks in other teams are bigger bodies that can contribute defensively.

Fullback is where we lack playmaking. Not lock.

Did you watch Sullivan defend on the weekend? He will get monstered at lock in D. As good as the child Prince is, I think it will only be a matter of time before he is injured in a role like that.

We dont have the players to run a ball playing lock. Fullback is where it's at in my opinion.

 

[Vicious]

The locks in other teams are bigger bodies that can contribute defensively.

Fullback is where we lack playmaking. Not lock.

Did you watch Sullivan defend on the weekend? He will get monstered at lock in D. As good as the child Prince is, I think it will only be a matter of time before he is injured in a role like that.

We dont have the players to run a ball playing lock. Fullback is where it's at in my opinion.

The question is, if it's a trial, what exactly are we trialling? The first 20 of the Warriors game looked like we had something going on. Fast forward to Saints and frankly we were dominated.

They punched holes through our defence all day and in attack, we were hideous.

Once again, our forwards get us into the red zone and we can't convert. This will be the theme of 2024 unless something drastically changes.

For the suggestions of Galvin or Sullivan to lock, I think it's a bad idea. You are putting a big defensive workload on them and why have 3 playmakers in the starting team? If your first 2 can't create points, then drop them.

I sincerely hope we are not going back to Taylor ball or Madge ball. It's clear this club can't play this system. There's not enough points in it.

Our attack will not improve until we have more playmaking options other than just that halves.
No other NRL team only has their two halves as playmaking options, they all have their lock and/or fullback heavily contributing to the playmaking for a reason.

 

[weststigers]

Our attack will not improve until we have more playmaking options other than just that halves.
No other NRL team only has their two halves as playmaking options, they all have their lock and/or fullback heavily contributing to the playmaking for a reason.

Did you just copy and paste your previous post? Seems lazy...like the team.

 

[Tucker]

The locks in other teams are bigger bodies that can contribute defensively.

Fullback is where we lack playmaking. Not lock.

Did you watch Sullivan defend on the weekend? He will get monstered at lock in D. As good as the child Prince is, I think it will only be a matter of time before he is injured in a role like that.

We dont have the players to run a ball playing lock. Fullback is where it's at in my opinion.

At this point in time, our option for lock should be a hard, meter eating aggressive player.
Pole is the right selection for mine.

 

[tigertragic]

What can we say,everybody bagged the hell out of Madge for being to tough and giving us the 5 hit ups and a bomb...he got sacked and now I feel history is repeating itself only we are a weaker side...
I certainly hope Benji can toughen this lot up and teach them some passing and flair in attack...

I don’t think we are weaker side as far as players are concerned compared to what Madge inherited and could afford, but the intent and leaders across the park is sadly missing

 

[TigerSJ]

It’s not just about the halves, 13 or 1 either. To score against a good defensive team you need to have players in motion offering options for the ball players, running into holes, changing angles, creating overlaps, playing short sides etc.
We have zero movement off the ball or in support. The best ball playing in the world won’t have any effect if there’s no options to pass to.
We ask absolutely no questions of the opposing D. This is why we can’t score.
Is it that our players aren’t skilled or smart enough or maybe we are simply not fit enough.???

 

[Vicious]

Did you just copy and paste your previous post? Seems lazy...like the team.

Yes by accident.
However it is fact our attack will continue to look like a dogs breakfast until we have more than 2 genuine playmaking options. I agree small bodied players at 13 is a big risk defensively, but we aren’t moving Bula, so something needs to be done.

 

[weststigers]

At this point in time, our option for lock should be a hard, meter eating aggressive player.
Pole is the right selection for mine.

He is the right choice.

People playing too many video games.

 

[weststigers]

Yes by accident.
However it is fact our attack will continue to look like a dogs breakfast until we have more than 2 genuine playmaking options. I agree small bodied players at 13 is a big risk defensively, but we aren’t moving Bula, so something needs to be done.

Why do we need to move Bula? Is he untrainable?

 

[Vicious]

At this point in time, our option for lock should be a hard, meter eating aggressive player.
Pole is the right selection for mine.

As long as you are happy for us to score only 2-3 tries each game at best.
Let’s back on our great defence to defend strongly and reduce our opponents to lids than 2-3 tries each game.

 

[Vicious]

Why do we need to move Bula? Is he untrainable?

I don’t know, but surely our coaches are not telling him to not touch the ball for the first 15 minutes.

 

[TigerSJ]

We need to give Bula more time at FB. I am pretty sure he hasn’t come through the ranks playing full back for years. With proper coaching his passing game and positional play will improve. I remember a young Tedesco not possessing a passing game at the start. His career is just starting and he is still very raw.

 

[Tucker]

As long as you are happy for us to score only 2-3 tries each game at best.
Let’s back on our great defence to defend strongly and reduce our opponents to lids than 2-3 tries each game.

Who do you want at 13 who can increase our try scoring past 2-3 per game?

 

[tigertragic]

Saints were by far the better team across the park, no question, but there were 2 obvious no try’s (short of the line + a knock on), that need to be considered in assessing the score line. Tigers were poor, but the poorest display again was from a ref/bunker

 

[Vicious]

Who do you want at 13 who can increase our try scoring past 2-3 per game?

That would be nice.
We clearly don’t have a defence strong enough to reduce the opposition to a maximum of 2-3 tries per game.