Match Discussion: Round 4 vs Warriors @ Go Media Stadium, Penrose / Aotearoa

[Yosh]

I thought Jack went alright. He deserves his bench spot. Lucas is a great option to have on the bench as the reserve edge back rower as he covers centre very well.

We need Marzhew back ASAP. Jenkins is just not first grade standard. Tuala has been fantastic on the wing this season though.

Our defense for the most part was very good. I really think we would have conceded 50 in this game if it was 2 seasons ago. I think it's worth taking the punt on Pryce considering our attack is so terrible at the moment.

KPP and Frizz have been superb for us all season. Best and Gagai also superb. Mainly it's just our middles, Crossland and halves that need to step up.

 

[Haffa]

7 more weeks until their Bali holiday and then the season can start. Finals here we come.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I don’t think we’re at panic stations yet.

We’re 1-3 which is where I thought we’d be at after the first 4 rounds when the draw was released tbh. The only difference is I thought we’d beat Canberra and lose to Melbourne but the overall result is the same.

To put it in perspective, we’ve had the two toughest road trips in the comp in the first 4 rounds and we lost both those games by a combined total of 9 points. Obviously the Cowboys game is one that definitely got away from us given we should have iced it a lot earlier but the conditions for that game were oppressive and we were up against a team that trains in those conditions all year and plays in those conditions regularly so I’m not surprised that we faded towards the end of that game.

There are plenty of positives to take from this loss. Firstly it was probably our best 80 mins of the season and I think we’ve been better every week. The warriors showed last year they’re now one of the best defensive units in the comp and they definitely played like that tonight. Our attack still is a problem but the way they defended it was a big part of that.

We just seem to lack polish at the end of our sets. We’re often putting up uncontested kicks or taking a hit up rather than grubbering for the in-goal and we really need someone to take proper control of the team which Cogger hasn’t really been able to do. Hastings was able to do it last year but looked cooked in the first 2 games so far so I’m not sure what the answer is.

KP was really strong in this game, as was Friz and KPP, but god I wish we would have players trailing through when he takes a run, his offloading potential is ridiculous with those long arms and his ability to get them free of defenders but no-one is ever there to receive the ball.

Tuala has had a very good start to the season imo, apart from getting injured in the first game. He’s been safe under the high ball, has gotten through plenty of work and he’s got a real turn of speed too. Not to mention I think his game awareness is really good, he seems to position himself well both in A and D and understands what KP and Bradman are going to do and is in the right place to receive the ball. I’m really impressed by him tbh.

Jenkins on the other hand has been poor and hasn’t shown much so far. He’ll be out of the team for sure once Marzhew is fit.

Next week v Saints is a must win game imo, and they won’t be push overs given how they played last night. We will need to play well.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Ricky Stuart "there wasnt a player in our team that was solid, don't be givn praise to people who don't deserve it "

Compare this to AOB's pressers after a loss

 

[Seage]

I think he will. Hastings was dropped not because Cogger is a better player but because he was stinking it up. Now Cogger is stinking it up and Hastings has had two games in Cup, he'll come back and stay at 7.

Naive, I think. AOB is a very conservative coach and doesn't have the minerals to make lots of changes. He just keeps doing the same plan over and over and waiting for it to work. If he does make any change, I reckon he'd drop Gamble for Hastings and go with Cogger at 5/8. Is that a good decision? Absolutely not, but I can see him being deluded enough to think Gamble is more expandable because he buys the hype of Cogger excelling in the Panthers system.

 

[Seage]

And isn't Tom Jenkins just the second coming of Lachy Miller. A late-blooming plodder with a handful of serviceable gamesat another club that we sign on generous terms, thinking we've unearthed some unknown gem, that just turns out to be reserve grade quality garbage.

 

[Joel-22]

Lachie Miller is 10x the player Jenkins is or ever will be

 

[Apey]

I don’t think we’re at panic stations yet.

We’re 1-3 which is where I thought we’d be at after the first 4 rounds when the draw was released tbh. The only difference is I thought we’d beat Canberra and lose to Melbourne but the overall result is the same.

To put it in perspective, we’ve had the two toughest road trips in the comp in the first 4 rounds and we lost both those games by a combined total of 9 points. Obviously the Cowboys game is one that definitely got away from us given we should have iced it a lot earlier but the conditions for that game were oppressive and we were up against a team that trains in those conditions all year and plays in those conditions regularly so I’m not surprised that we faded towards the end of that game.

There are plenty of positives to take from this loss. Firstly it was probably our best 80 mins of the season and I think we’ve been better every week. The warriors showed last year they’re now one of the best defensive units in the comp and they definitely played like that tonight. Our attack still is a problem but the way they defended it was a big part of that.

We just seem to lack polish at the end of our sets. We’re often putting up uncontested kicks or taking a hit up rather than grubbering for the in-goal and we really need someone to take proper control of the team which Cogger hasn’t really been able to do. Hastings was able to do it last year but looked cooked in the first 2 games so far so I’m not sure what the answer is.

KP was really strong in this game, as was Friz and KPP, but god I wish we would have players trailing through when he takes a run, his offloading potential is ridiculous with those long arms and his ability to get them free of defenders but no-one is ever there to receive the ball.

Tuala has had a very good start to the season imo, apart from getting injured in the first game. He’s been safe under the high ball, has gotten through plenty of work and he’s got a real turn of speed too. Not to mention I think his game awareness is really good, he seems to position himself well both in A and D and understands what KP and Bradman are going to do and is in the right place to receive the ball. I’m really impressed by him tbh.

Jenkins on the other hand has been poor and hasn’t shown much so far. He’ll be out of the team for sure once Marzhew is fit.

Next week v Saints is a must win game imo, and they won’t be push overs given how they played last night. We will need to play well.

You make some good points. I think it was our best game too, even though we won last week. We were without Leo, Marzhew, Gagai. The overall defence and completion rate was improved. Attack still awful. A few players really let us down.

 

[Apey]

Naive, I think. AOB is a very conservative coach and doesn't have the minerals to make lots of changes. He just keeps doing the same plan over and over and waiting for it to work. If he does make any change, I reckon he'd drop Gamble for Hastings and go with Cogger at 5/8. Is that a good decision? Absolutely not, but I can see him being deluded enough to think Gamble is more expandable because he buys the hype of Cogger excelling in the Panthers system.

I didn't expect him to drop Hastings so quickly tbh, even though I thought he should. We've had players underperform for a lot longer during AOBs tenure that weren't dropped. Maybe he's willing to be a bit more ruthless. We'll find out next week, I guess.

 

[Yosh]

I reckon Gagai would have gotten us a try or two today.

When Marzhew is back, do we keep Tuala on the right? He playing like a madman atm.

 

[Old dog]

Tuala was very good, has been this season and occasionally last but his best has been on left, not so good right so when Marzhew is back a hard decision has to be made has to be made

 

[mozza91]

Ricky Stuart "there wasnt a player in our team that was solid, don't be givn praise to people who don't deserve it "

Compare this to AOB's pressers after a loss

I don’t know why people put so much credence in what is said in a press conference. It means nothing, it’s a sound bite for the wankers in the media.

What matters is what is said to the players after the game.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Can Marzhew play on the right? Tuala's best footy has always been on the left

 

[slotmachine]

AOB would legitimately be happy with how they played I reckon, followed his game plan perfectly.

Defence was decent for the most part, very few errors/high completions.

Just didn't throw any footy at them until it was pretty much too late, which has be a hallmark of the AOB era outside of the run last year.

 

[slotmachine]

Also Tuala has been good but we need to put our best weapon on the left if we're ever going to score points. Marz would only touch the ball in yardage playing on the right

 

[perverse]

AOB would legitimately be happy with how they played I reckon, followed his game plan perfectly.

Defence was decent for the most part, very few errors/high completions.

Just didn't throw any footy at them until it was pretty much too late, which has be a hallmark of the AOB era outside of the run last year.

I actually think he should be happy in a lot of ways. There were a handful of blokes that really dragged that performance down, but it's a lie to say there was nothing to like out there too. I didn't see anything unfixable going on, but they need to keep improving. They have been so far, so I'm not throwing the baby out with the bathwater just yet.

The biggest and seemingly least fixable problem for mine is in the engine room. It's been an obvious problem for years, but I think everyone is finally sick of paying the Saifiti's rep money for squad filler performances. They are wage thieves, and the better the blokes around them get, the more obvious and glaring it becomes.

 

[Old dog]

8 JSaf, 9 Crossland, 10 Thompson, 11 Friz, 12 KPP, 13 Elliott, 14 Brailey, 15 Hetherington, 16 Croker, 17 Cartwright, 18 DSaf
Not dropped but 18th man and on notice

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

I don’t know why people put so much credence in what is said in a press conference. It means nothing, it’s a sound bite for the wankers in the media.

What matters is what is said to the players after the game.

Because football is not just a game it's a business. Pressers are the opportunity for the face of the business to front shareholders. You bet it matters.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

8 JSaf, 9 Crossland, 10 Thompson, 11 Friz, 12 KPP, 13 Elliott, 14 Brailey, 15 Hetherington, 16 Croker, 17 Cartwright, 18 DSaf
Not dropped but 18th man and on notice

wow. I wonder just how bad he has to be to be dropped. Amazing. $ per min played this bloke is on Ponga money. Get rid of him.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

I watched this when I got home late last night.
I didn't expect to enjoy it but I thought we showed some promising signs.
Best and Tuala were great. We looked a lot more structured with Brailey on.
They were too good and we had lazy and tired lapses up the middle. They maintained intensity and structure for the whole game but I reckon we could have turned it.
I agree that Cogger isn't doing much and his kicks were poor. Ponga is doing a bit of kicking and goes into dummy half a lot.
I thought Gamble stepped up a bit. He was also into dummy half a lot.
I don't want to see this version of Crossland in the team.
I'm wondering if we should think of a 4 fwd bench knowing that Ponga and Gamble can fill and rest.