Your RD 1 2018 line up

[mxlegend99]

Needs to get Peachey and Bryce going too. Only is 17 spots

Waqa Blake back will come in. If we decide Whare is the other centre. Then Peachey is on the bench. Maloney and May straight swap.

Means someone else needs to drop out of the team that played in the semi for him to play. That should be Katoa but the pressure is on those 17 to hold form. Kikau and CHN have shown they can make a mistake so for me would be the most under pressure.

Carty and Mez can make a few mistakes in a game too. Playing flat and relying on risky offloads and passes to break the line or trying to use fast play the balls to catch teams off guard are going to result in simple errors.

People think the coach has no control over errors. But if he gave our attack more structure and depth. Allowed the likes of Cartwright, Blake, Kikau etc. more time and space with the ball then stupid errors would drop by a bit. In Hooks game plan every player hits the line like a front rower off short passes, tries to get a quick play the ball for a dummy half run to either steal metres or throw another flat pass for someone to take a hit up.

When a teams defence is off. That type of footy can be rewarding. But a team who can concentrate and defend for 80 minutes is not worried by it. We inevitably make mistakes as we try to make things happen. Good teams punish us for it.

We were so much better in 2016 as we played with more depth and the likes of Moylan, Blake, Peachey, Cartwright etc. Had time and space to use their footwork. Sum up situations and ofcourse having depth we had more options to pass to. We could legitimately play to the second rower, centre or winger. We didnt need a short flat pass to a second rower

 

[franklin2323]

Carty and Mez can make a few mistakes in a game too. Playing flat and relying on risky offloads and passes to break the line or trying to use fast play the balls to catch teams off guard are going to result in simple errors.

People think the coach has no control over errors. But if he gave our attack more structure and depth. Allowed the likes of Cartwright, Blake, Kikau etc. more time and space with the ball then stupid errors would drop by a bit. In Hooks game plan every player hits the line like a front rower off short passes, tries to get a quick play the ball for a dummy half run to either steal metres or throw another flat pass for someone to take a hit up.

When a teams defence is off. That type of footy can be rewarding. But a team who can concentrate and defend for 80 minutes is not worried by it. We inevitably make mistakes as we try to make things happen. Good teams punish us for it.

We were so much better in 2016 as we played with more depth and the likes of Moylan, Blake, Peachey, Cartwright etc. Had time and space to use their footwork. Sum up situations and ofcourse having depth we had more options to pass to. We could legitimately play to the second rower, centre or winger. We didnt need a short flat pass to a second rower

Assuming we hit potential and are top 4 most year. We can't afford basic errors things like losing the ball while getting to play it. Often too we would get the same player make it worse by giving away a penalty the next set.

That is the kind of stuff a few guys were guilty of no just Kikau. A new year what happened last year means nothing but that is the sort of stuff CHN, JFH, Kikau did that the older guys didn't. Let's hope they have matured over the offseason

 

[Kilkenny]

I certainly agree completion rates in the way the game is played these days are critical to success so yes we have to minimise unnecessary mistakes. At the same time surely are coaching staff have to show a little more faith in certain players and not hauling them off the field on the back of a handling error or other mistake. It is a 17 man game and surely the bench should be utilised to it's fullest and when you have one or as we saw last season two bench players getting less than 10 minutes game time that cannot be good for the side overall. I thought our coaches use of our interchange bench in certain games was very frustrating to say the least.

 

[kinghippo]

I certainly agree completion rates in the way the game is played these days are critical to success so yes we have to minimise unnecessary mistakes. At the same time surely are coaching staff have to show a little more faith in certain players and not hauling them off the field on the back of a handling error or other mistake. It is a 17 man game and surely the bench should be utilised to it's fullest and when you have one or as we saw last season two bench players getting less than 10 minutes game time that cannot be good for the side overall. I thought our coaches use of our interchange bench in certain games was very frustrating to say the least.

I thought that the interchange was handled very strangely. One player was getting 8 to 12 minutes at the back end of the season, and when peachy was not starting he was not getting a decent go.
I am hoping it will change a bit this season, we have such a talented pool of players it seems a crime not to give them opportunity to settle into the game and shine.
RCG was playing big minutes and getting better every second he was on the field, that could open a bit of time to give another second rower a spell. Just because someone can play 80 doesn’t mean they have to. CHN should have had more time on the bench towards season end and even though Yeo is a beast, a 20 minute spell wouldn’t hurt him if needed.

 

[Pomoz]

I thought that the interchange was handled very strangely. One player was getting 8 to 12 minutes at the back end of the season, and when peachy was not starting he was not getting a decent go.
I am hoping it will change a bit this season, we have such a talented pool of players it seems a crime not to give them opportunity to settle into the game and shine.
RCG was playing big minutes and getting better every second he was on the field, that could open a bit of time to give another second rower a spell. Just because someone can play 80 doesn’t mean they have to. CHN should have had more time on the bench towards season end and even though Yeo is a beast, a 20 minute spell wouldn’t hurt him if needed.

Gotta agree with this.Whether you can do 80 minutes or not is irrelevant. The body gets a lot of wear and tear over a full season and it doesn't make sense to work the hell out of CHN and Yeo and leave other players on the bench for 70 of the 80 minutes. If it is done to introduce a youngster for experience, fair enough, but not for all four players. If the coach is doing that because he doesn't think they are good enough, then get different players for the bench. Ideally you want your best players in peak condition come finals time, not worn out just getting us to the semis. We had several players in that category including Yeo and CHN. It was even more important to spell CHN, he was a rookie and not hardened to the NRL. Poor bloke was knackered by the end of the season.

 

[hindy111]

Does anyone on here remember Just cuts Who used too post?

 

[mxlegend99]

Gotta agree with this.Whether you can do 80 minutes or not is irrelevant. The body gets a lot of wear and tear over a full season and it doesn't make sense to work the hell out of CHN and Yeo and leave other players on the bench for 70 of the 80 minutes. If it is done to introduce a youngster for experience, fair enough, but not for all four players. If the coach is doing that because he doesn't think they are good enough, then get different players for the bench. Ideally you want your best players in peak condition come finals time, not worn out just getting us to the semis. We had several players ion that category including Yeo and CHN. It was even more important to spell CHN, he was a rookie and not hardened to the NRL. Poor bloke was knackered by the end of the season.

Atleast alternate the 80 minutes.

Yeo week 1
Cartwright week 2
CHN week 3 etc.

We have plenty of 80 capable players. But giving them even a 20 minute spell regularly would gona long way to keeping them fresh. More time for the other players to prove themselves also.

I think our front row minutes are fine. Just not really the quality of all our front rowers. But our second rowers either start, get tiny minutes or play out of position.

 

[franklin2323]

Gotta agree with this.Whether you can do 80 minutes or not is irrelevant. The body gets a lot of wear and tear over a full season and it doesn't make sense to work the hell out of CHN and Yeo and leave other players on the bench for 70 of the 80 minutes. If it is done to introduce a youngster for experience, fair enough, but not for all four players. If the coach is doing that because he doesn't think they are good enough, then get different players for the bench. Ideally you want your best players in peak condition come finals time, not worn out just getting us to the semis. We had several players ion that category including Yeo and CHN. It was even more important to spell CHN, he was a rookie and not hardened to the NRL. Poor bloke was knackered by the end of the season.

Easier said then done though. In a perfect world that would of happened. Latu, Browne, McKendry being injured to end the year didn't help. Also Yeo is our best defender so if he is there to shutdown a certain player or help May. Then giving him a spell for no reason does more harm then good.

The best coaches think on their feet. You can't plan these things but should go on the feel of the game. X player is going well so gets more game time. If we are smashing someone or being smashed then we should give other guys more gametime regardless

 

[Pomoz]

Great comments on this "interchange use" topic. I forgot to add that I read an interesting report on injuries in the English Premier League. It showed that the injury rate increased later in the matches. There were more muscle related injuries later in the second half, presumably because players are more fatigued. It also showed how the EPL injury rate was higher in the EPL than the other leagues during the last third of the season. The hypothesis was that it is because the EPL doesn't have a break during the season and most of the other leagues do (usually at Christmas).

Now of course, you can't make correlative assumptions without more data, but the implication is that fatigue leads to more injuries. I think it is worse in league because players are absorbing more impacts. Tired muscles may mean a player doesn't brace himself for a collision and gets bent at an angle he normally wouldn't get into. No data to support this, but it does seem to make sense.

 

[Kilkenny]

Perhaps one of the best examples ( and most costly examples ) of fatigue and players who should have been rested was JFH in the Semi Final loss to the Raiders in 2016. Sitting at the game I said to my son JFH needed to be given a rest. It was obvious from where we were sitting (amongst the Panther fans contingent) he was spent. As most will recall JFH conceded two penalties late in the game, in a matter of minutes for high shots the whole momentum of the game changed on those penalties and our comeback was over. If I remember correctly we had a player (perhaps Moses Leota) on the bench who had not yet seen any action.

 

[OldPanther]

The boys look happy, ready to go and mummified. I think they used all the strapping.

 

[Fangs]

Perhaps one of the best examples ( and most costly examples ) of fatigue and players who should have been rested was JFH in the Semi Final loss to the Raiders in 2016. Sitting at the game I said to my son JFH needed to be given a rest. It was obvious from where we were sitting (amongst the Panther fans contingent) he was spent. As most will recall JFH conceded two penalties late in the game, in a matter of minutes for high shots the whole momentum of the game changed on those penalties and our comeback was over. If I remember correctly we had a player (perhaps Moses Leota) on the bench who had not yet seen any action.

I was certain we were going to win that game watching it live. The momentum was too great for the Raiders to handle. JFH single-handedly killed it for us.

Yeo I can deal with for 80. Not so sure about CHN playing 80 with the talent we have on the bench.

 

[TheEroticGamer]

Cummins killed it.

We only had one set in the last 13 minutes because of us being penalised to shit over offences Canberra were allowed to do the whole game. Being inside the ten, not square markers. They had Austin and Sezer three metres off their line before Wallace even touched the ball. Whenever we tried to replicate that to cut the time Hodgson had to get it wide we got penalised again and again. Things that are usually loosely officiated in the finals.

Two JFH penalties doesn't justify 13 minutes straight of defending considering how finals matches are normally refereed.

 

[Copperhead]

The boys look happy, ready to go and mummified. I think they used all the strapping.

Most of it is probably precautionary, but the strapping / harness thing that Blake was wearing to limit range of motion in both shoulders is a concern.

 

[OldPanther]

Most of it is probably precautionary, but the strapping / harness thing that Blake was wearing to limit range of motion in both shoulders is a concern.

I agree, I hope it's just being careful. I wonder if will end up with Peachy/Whare as the centres for the first few rounds.

 

[franklin2323]

Most of it is probably precautionary, but the strapping / harness thing that Blake was wearing to limit range of motion in both shoulders is a concern.

He had a shoulder recon. That would be precaution CHN would have similar both are expected to play a trial atleast. If they don't I would bring them back through NSW Cup

 

[Copperhead]

He had a shoulder recon. That would be precaution CHN would have similar both are expected to play a trial atleast. If they don't I would bring them back through NSW Cup

Is it normal to have it on both shoulders?

 

[Fangs]

Cummins killed it.

We only had one set in the last 13 minutes because of us being penalised to shit over offences Canberra were allowed to do the whole game. Being inside the ten, not square markers. They had Austin and Sezer three metres off their line before Wallace even touched the ball. Whenever we tried to replicate that to cut the time Hodgson had to get it wide we got penalised again and again. Things that are usually loosely officiated in the finals.

Two JFH penalties doesn't justify 13 minutes straight of defending considering how finals matches are normally refereed.

Don't remember it that way. Will watch the replay again sometime.

I do remember two blatant penalties from JFH. Very poor discipline when the game was on the line. Well and truly killed any chance of a miracle comeback.

 

[franklin2323]

Is it normal to have it on both shoulders?

Last year he missed the Canberra semi after doing a shoulder. Maybe he had something done to both shoulders. CHN is still in the non contact bib so he is further along atleast

 

[TheFrog]

Two JFH penalties doesn't justify 13 minutes straight of defending considering how finals matches are normally refereed.

Penalties 5-0 in the final 10 minutes. Possession Raiders 100%. They could not score a try. The two JFH penalties were borderline at best. The one against Cleary was ridiculous. All five were late in the tackle count. There was a doubtful six again in there too IIRC. Having led 18-0 the Raiders were completely shot with 10 to go. It was as clear a stitch up as I've ever seen.

The same thing happened against the same opposition, under the same ref, in a final in 2010, after we'd come back to trail by 2 through two Sandor Earl tries. On that occasion, we didn't deserve to even be that close.