We declined when Farah went off

[Eddie]

Yeah he clearly decline when Farah goes off. Halatau is a real battler out of dummy half, zero quality.

However then you also have Tapou, Keith and Qoods off at the same time.

It is a recipe for disaster against the better sides.

 

[Black_Orange_White]

Halatau was not the problem even if he wasn't great. I don't know why our best forwards and Farah ever sit out at once. Also, Moses and Brooks were very ordinary and rely too heavily on James Tedesco to carry them. It's the reason we fall apart when he gets injured.

 

[supercoach]

Taylor is trying to nurse Farah through a long season and have a player with some no9 experience if and when Farah is not available. Smart move by a smart coach

 

[Eddie]

Agree re Farah. He is not getting any younger and needs to get through a long and taxing season. We need to have some sort of plan during origin that makes us capable of winning a game. Last year no one else had played 1 minute at hooker and we played accordingly.

I can live with him resting Farah for 10-12 minutes most games. In the big, tight games though he needs to play 80.

My main point is we cant afford to have both props, plus Tapu off with him on the bench at the same time. Teams like Souths, Easts, Dogs, Warriors will belt us up the guts during those periods.

Tonight we got away it and last week because we were essentially playing the 2 bottom teams in the competition.

 

[bonstonker]

i think it is more to do with keeping farah fresh for the final 30mins of a game and making sure he isn't making bad decisions at the end of games because of fatigue.
last week it was a great 40-20 at the back end of the game.

he is using dene instead of mania because dene then moves to backrow when farah comes back.
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and the forwards who replaced the big 3 were fine as well while farah was off.
this thread is just guilt by association in all these replies as well.

terrible analysis going on in here.

 

[MightyMaggy]

Maybe we missed Lodge being able to replace one of Woods, Tapau or Galloway, because he may add more go forward than other bench players.
I think Taylor took the opportunity to rest some players and put more responsibility on some of the less experienced players.

 

[Snake]

Taylor is trying to nurse Farah through a long season and have a player with some no9 experience if and when Farah is not available. Smart move by a smart coach

X2 saves me posting well done JT.

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

Halatau did nothing wrong…youre looking for a scapegoat for the halves

Correct. These halves have a lot to learn.

 

[Spartan117]

Rubbish. We had Tapau, Woods and Galloway all off with Farah but you blame Dene pfft.

Dene had a great game defense and attack.

Smart move by Taylor to test the young kids wthout the leaders. They handled it beautifully.

_Posted using RoarFEED 4.2.0_

I picked up on the same thing, watching the replay I too questioned the choice to have so many of the top liners rested .

I feel we lost momentum and were clearly unable to recapture the composure and pationce of the first half.

Robbie needs to be spelled to mitigate against fatigue related injury, we all know what typicall happens when he is out of games.

I encourage you guys to watch the work that is done off the ball,

Players like Halatau, Santi, Sirro and Lawerence are running decoys, supporting the Halves pairing in defense. All this un sexy work does not get captured in stats but is vital.

Lets all be more objective and astute in our assessments and Keyboard warrior style statements about player contribution.

 

[larrycorowa]

I don't think our go forward suffered during this period and I thought Dene's service from dummy half was fine. We lost our patience, took the wrong options and didn't build enough pressure (repeat sets). Our 6 & 7 simply were not composed enough.

Maybe JT is hooking Farah to help accelerate the development of these young guns having to run the show by themselves basically….he hardly needs a break 10 mins after half-time. Take him off when we have iced the game in the last 20mins. Same workload difference. JT will sort it out.

 

[balmain boy]

All that showed was that we need one of Woods, Galloway or Taupau on the field at all times.

Rather than having all 3 starting props play 25-30 mins and then go off at the same time, take someone off after 15-20 and keep the rotation going from there.

I agree taking Robbie off is about resting him a bit when we're in front, but also about making the kids take control of the game themselves. Call their own shots. We didn't go backwards while our big guns were off, but we didn't go forwards either. We lost the momentum we had built but they did hold their own…

 

[BlackandGoldForever]

I think we might have to have Galloway on the bench or Tapow so that when one of those players goes off we at least have 1 of them still on the field.

 

[Goose]

I think we might have to have Galloway on the bench or Tapow so that when one of those players goes off we at least have 1 of them still on the field.

Not necessary when we ahve Lodge.

Halatau played really well last night, but he is will never offer the same creativity as Robbie, nor is it expected. The whole idea is that we get a better quality performance from Robbie if he can have that short break after half time.

I think it works. Long term Id like to see Cherrington get some of those minutes, but given it is only 10 minutes rest at this stage it makes more sense to be Halatau given he can play other roles.

 

[Black_n_White]

I think we might have to have Galloway on the bench or Tapow so that when one of those players goes off we at least have 1 of them still on the field.

Yep… As good as Tapau is starting, it think the injection of aggression off the interchange bench is alot more valuable. Helps us keep the intensity throughout the 80 mins.

Also, not dogging Buchannan, he worked tirelessly last night and did us proud, but Lodge being sat out last night did us no favours having Sauce, Woods and Tapau on the pine together.

 

[Eddie]

terrible analysis going on in here.

We played Saints an the Titans. Almost like starting with a couple of byes.

I can say though that we have scored 0 points with Farah off the field so far this season. We had probably a combined 5-6 sets inside the 20s during that period.

Lets see how it holds up against the better sides, before you claim it do be "terrible analysis"

 

[Demps]

Obvs Farah is the better hooker out of the two…
We wern't gonna lose last night so I think the boys got an extended rest.

Can't wait for Cherrington to get a go,
He's a prospect.

 

[VanillaThunder]

As many others have said, we were also missing two international forwards plus Keefy who was immense. It certainly wasn't on Halatau's shoulders. Halves made plenty of poor choices.
Sue was huge early on too but seemed to tire, maybe he needs to hold back for the first 20 and inject himself when the props rotate.
All credit to Buchanan, but Lodge will provide more go-forward when he returns too.

I'd expect Robbie to play 80 next week, but Dene does provide a somewhat level head in his absence where the youngsters still can't be trusted 100% to run our offence.
Another forward on the bench wouldn't go astray either. Hard to play Santi and Halatau together.

_Posted using RoarFEED 4.2.0_

 

[balmain boy]

I can see Lodge providing the perfect balance if he starts at lock. He can still run aggressively like Taupau does so we would still have 3 powerful props starting the game. When KG needs a rest, Taupau comes on. Then Ava for Lodge.

And maybe KG then back on for Woodsy before halftime.

This way we still have at least one of our key forwards on the field at all times.

 

[TrueTiger]

I have said it before and I will say it again,Luke has to control the game when Robbie is off,once again he was lost once Robbie went off…what does that say..we have a very good play maker in Drinkwater who will at least try things,Luke has not the confidence yet to take control...it is also affecting Moses...albeit Luke is a kid and has to learn,we are also a team that has to win games to be a force...Souths,Dogs and Storm will eat us if we don't challenge them...Luke Brooks is an out and out playmaker with high expectations placed on him,time to stop being a kid and start doing a mans job...TT always has been hard but fair....

 

[bonstonker]

terrible analysis going on in here.

We played Saints an the Titans. Almost like starting with a couple of byes.

I can say though that we have scored 0 points with Farah off the field so far this season. We had probably a combined 5-6 sets inside the 20s during that period.

Lets see how it holds up against the better sides, before you claim it do be "terrible analysis"

game plan was obvious by taylor while farah is off to barge it forward which we did successfully in both games.
starting the half going back to basics and earning your right to spread it.
sounds like a good structure to me.

against both teams we dominated field position with the forwards consistently making over 10m per hitup.
against the dragons we had 20 plays inside the dragons half.the dragons had 6 inside ours.
against the titans a similar story,16 inside the titans half and 5 for the titans inside ours with 4 of those coming courtesy of a moses penalty.
taylor brought farah back on when they got a repeat set and richards scores.

in no way did the teams play decline while farah was off.
looked like a team playing exactly to the coaches instructions.

halatau and the bench forwards did their job.

and they did not have the ball inside the 20 for a combined 5-6 sets.
14 plays was the total number from both games.

doesn't matter if this holds up against the better sides,the analysis is about the games already played and what the outcome was.