Rd 11 vs Warriors: Live Game Day Thread - 18th May 2018

[Poupou Escobar]

Eels need to be carefull now. If the juniors are set up to start coming throu gh we dont want to go silly and offer overs for guys tp have short term sucess and lose all these young guys who can help us long term be a steady force.

We do need a clean out. That is certain.

We do, and having 13 of our top 30 squad players off contract shows the cleanout is happening. Seven of the players who played last night don't have contracts for 2019.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I’ve been saying Brown to prop all season. It makes sense for mine.
And honestly Terepo isn’t in a fully fit 17, Gower in for sure.
I’m also ready to give Tep the punt, we have stayed with him with all this promise in the world and he has offered nothing. We need an edge forward that will bring fear to the opposing half.

Moeroa is more of a middle forward. He just fills in on the edge because his defence is good. Even last year he only played 20 minutes out wide so Edwards didn't need to play the full 80.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The difference between us and the warriors last night was when they had the ball attacking our line, their merkins were running hard - all of them - they had options - they were doing it as speed - their bacline movements were similar styles of play but their halves straighten up and all their players are moving and running hard

Our halves run sideways too much ... norman seems to have mostly lost the plot - he soooo often does the stiffling stop n dance ... our players are often getting the ball standing still

Are you saying the Warriors look well coached? Wasn't that merkin sacked from our club once before because it was his fault we were shit? And now we've decided the current coach is also to blame?

 

[Bazal]

Are you saying the Warriors look well coached? Wasn't that merkin sacked from our club once before because it was his fault we were shit? And now we've decided the current coach is also to blame?

Even you couldn't argue that Brian Smith hasn't had a huge influence at the Warriors, Pou

 

[IFR33K]

But he was a genuine kicker. Why else move some merkin into the halves?

Maybe because he can pass and stick to a game plan? I’m sure they’re more important aspects then kicking.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Hmm so why are our players scared? And what are they scared of?

We did it pretty easy on the edges the last couple of years, and this year it doesn't seem quite so easy. Defences are all getting up quickly out wide now, and rather than take the tackle and finish the set we are pushing passes.

We do need to be more threatening in the middle. Pritchard would help there, as would a tall forward with an offload.

 

[strider]

Are you saying the Warriors look well coached? Wasn't that merkin sacked from our club once before because it was his fault we were shit? And now we've decided the current coach is also to blame?

Im saying they look fit and enthusiastic .... i will give the ex-storm trainer most of that credit

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Actually, you take the two best attacking players from a spine, they should only have an average attack and still be poor defensively. Somehow, we managed to be even worse even though they only had 12 players on the field for an 1/8 of the game.

As far as cap space on the sideline, I’d say we have slightly
More than the warriors, but not by that much.

Hayne - $500
T-Rex - $120
Evans - $400
Brown - $600
Edwards - $350
Kaysa - $180
Mannah - $400

Johnson - $900
RTS - $mill
Pulu - $250

I suspect the Warriors get their stars a bit cheaper than other teams.

What about the sharks and panthers? They had plenty of cap space on the sidelines.

And we scored an equal number of tries against both teams, in all four games.

 

[strider]

Even you couldn't argue that Brian Smith hasn't had a huge influence at the Warriors, Pou

I dont know what smith's influence is .... i reckon the new trainer has toughened them up

 

[Bazal]

I dont know what smith's influence is .... i reckon the new trainer has toughened them up

That too. But I certainly think Smith has had a big influence

 

[strider]

What is Smith's role there?

 

[Bazal]

What is Smith's role there?

General Manager of Football. Which is one of those modern roles I don't quite get and reckon changes club to club in terms of specifics...

But a guy like Smithy with the experience he has is going to offer an awful lot to a rookie coach. He can come in and bring different things to their training and approach, and even their tactics. He can sit down with SK and offer him answers to the problems he couldn't solve last season. He can offer a different perspective on what's going wrong, or on how they train and how they do certain things at training....

I don't think their form coinciding with Smith being brought in is a coincidence

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Poor preparation in the off season:
- No defensive coach
- No wrestling coach
- AFL guru who did not train them to the needs of first grade rugby league. You can argue that all you want but you are wrong

So what is the reason for changing what worked? You can blame Arthur but he has proven to be a bloke who sticks with a winning formula long after it stops working. If he had to cut coaching staff I dare say the decision was imposed on him.

- Failure to adapt to changes in rule interpretations and because of that we didn't recruit the type of players we needed (And don't give me that Kane Evans 'dynamic runner' 'just what we need' bullshit)

Evans is absolutely an attacking forward with height, speed and an offload - three things we lacked in the middle. It's unfortunate he broke his arm in the off season but it would have contributed to being unable to gain weight, which the coach wanted him to do over the off season. I'm sure even an AFL trainer knows how to do that, since amateur f**kwits at gyms all over Sydney manage to do it.

As for failure to adapt to changes in rule interpretations, how would anyone know how to do that until they've seen the result of those changes? Paul 'Fail' McGregor is suddenly the most insightful coach in the game is he? If a rule change benefits one team and not another it is a windfall outcome, not the result of careful planning.

Also players have grown too comfortable with BA and are not responding to his coaching.

Certainly possible

*I've never said Semi was the reason so I don't know why you brought him up?

Because from a roster perspective that is the only loss. As Steve Murphy said, with the blokes we brought in and the natural improvement of the younger players in the roster we were entitled to think our squad would be better this year. And he was right. Death riders fitting our failure to their narrative are wrong.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Even you couldn't argue that Brian Smith hasn't had a huge influence at the Warriors, Pou

He isn't coaching the team. He is responsible for strategic direction, not winning games, and he has been there less than six months. I think the biggest impact on the Warriors has been the recruitment of leaders into the playing group, particularly Blair, Harris and Green. Smith may have been instrumental in acquiring Green, but otherwise his impact won't be felt so soon.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Maybe because he can pass and stick to a game plan? I’m sure they’re more important aspects then kicking.

Plenty of blokes can pass and stick to a game plan. Kicking is a much harder skill to acquire. Most players go through their entire career without ever kicking a ball more than a couple of times in game situations.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Im saying they look fit and enthusiastic .... i will give the ex-storm trainer most of that credit

And who brung in Alex Corvo from Brisbane?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

General Manager of Football. Which is one of those modern roles I don't quite get and reckon changes club to club in terms of specifics...

But a guy like Smithy with the experience he has is going to offer an awful lot to a rookie coach.

Kearney's not a rookie. He is in his fourth year as a head coach. He was an assistant at the Storm 12 years ago and coached the Kiwis for eight years. He would massive rugby league knowledge. Even if he was the dumbest merkin in the game he couldn't help but have acquired a wealth of knowledge from all his experience.

 

[IFR33K]

Plenty of blokes can pass and stick to a game plan. Kicking is a much harder skill to acquire. Most players go through their entire career without ever kicking a ball more than a couple of times in game situations.

If kicking was a halves most important attribute, pat Richards would of been the greatest of all time by your logic.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

If kicking was a halves most important attribute, pat Richards would of been the greatest of all time by your logic.

Was he any good as a general play kicker? Kicking from a tee is a very different skill.

Don't confuse my logic for your logic.

 

[IFR33K]

Was he any good as a general play kicker? Kicking from a tee is a very different skill.

Don't confuse my logic for your logic.

He had a huge kicking game.