RHYTHM AND STEALTH
Coach
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Hey Team
Heres my write up from yesterday. Solid day down the park. Great game but Wyongs defence to good on the day. Have a read. Voice is still dusty today
Another week and another do or die Semi. This week we are rolling on at Leichhardt Oval for this must win Grand Final qualifier. What a great week. Last sunday was a defensive masterclass by the boys. With only 44% possesion, tackling was a must and the Knights threw everything but the kitchen sink and some utencils at the boys. But the brick wall was to solid. In attack we were clinical and structered. We didnt push the pass or over play our hand, but if it was on then Mace and Ata concocted the appropriate play. Some long range tries mixed with good ol backline set moves doubled up with in your face defence made it almost the complete performance. The forwards dominated the middle while the backs scored all the tries.
So an unchanged team on teamlist Tuesday saw us again field probably the strongest Warriors ISP team in their history against the minor premiers Wyong Roos who are the Roosters reserve grade side. Rep players, 1st grade players, Test players everywhere you look on the team sheet we have experiance. So the family joined me this week as we bagged up the lollies and poweraid and cruised off to the inner west of Sydney to Leichhardt Oval.
Ahhhh Leichhardt oval a field covered in history. Great ground in good condition with piss poor facilities and shit parking, but a 30 minute only parking sign has never stopped us so we locked up the car and went inside and parked up behind the Warriors bench. Spoke to Nate who is a part of the Warriors set up and i asked about any late changes. He said Bureta Faraimo was out and Sammy Cook was in. Faraimo apparantly with his contract with Hull for next season had to dash to the US to play a couple of test matches in their build up to the World Cup.
The Warriors have played about 12 or so games here in Aussie this year and basically every game here the ground announcer botches the boys names. Guess what, the announcer again gave a shit rendition of polynesion pronounciations. Anyways we had some late changes. Manaia starts from the bench with big Albie Vete starting. Hes in at lock with James Bell hooker. Sam Cook to centre and Junior Pauga pushes out to the wing. For the Roos, a couple of players with 1st grade experiance plus a couple of kiwis. Johnny Tuivasa Sheck, Jayden Nikorima and late edition Joseph Manu rounding out the kiwi contingent.
Its a nice sunny day here and about 20-22 degrees. Wyong kickoff and i keep saying to myself we have to start fast, cant chase points especially in semi final footy. Warrior Nation members have filled up the seats around us which is always good to see and they have bought the noise. Palavi hits it up for the 1st run of the match, Ofa and Gubby follow and we have a good 1st set gaining 80 metres. Captain Lino kicks well on the last. We have a good defencive set as well. Boys line speed is good for the intial contact but when more that 2 passes we seem to hold back a bit. We trade sets again before wonder kid Joe Manu beats 2 defenders then sells a dummy to go over for the first try of the match. Dam. Just wrote earlier about getting a good start. Cornish converts to give the Roos a 6-0 lead after 4 minutes. We again have to defend for 2 sets straight and the Roos are spinning it side to side and force a goal line drop out. Again the Roos attack and spin it left but Charnze makes a great ball and all tackle on the last stopping a potential try. Awesum defensive read by CNK.
We receive a penalty in our half and start to pressure the Roos, Mace has a great kick and pins the Roos down in their goal line for a drop out. We get another penalty. This time we put on some block plays and angle runners and Vete is tackled 1m out from the try line. Gubby is also tackled close out. Mase kicks again but Roos get it and are safe. We have great line speed again but Vete is pinged for a very very soft shoulder charge that ends up being put on report. Bullshit call. Next set Isaiah Papalii unloads a great ball to Mase to make some needed metres. Ata has a great kick 2m out from the Roos line. Wyong start to use inside ball runners causing out defenders to turn and they make good metres. They attack our edges but mr Experiance Matty Allwood puts great pressure on the ball runner and forces an error. As they pack the scrum our first change sees Manaia Cherrington on and Big Albie off, James Bell goes back to the back row. We attack again and a great cross field bomb by Mase sees JTS (Tuivasa Schek) pluck it out of the air savin a try to Junior.
Roos attack but Sam Cook produces a great 1 on 1 strip to releive the pressure. Next set Ata steps up and beats 2 defenders and uses strength to go over the line but is held up. Mase again with a great last tackle kick forces a Wyong knock on. Our scrum and we have to all out attack. We build momentum with some set plays but the Roos defense is strong. But we get a penalty. More possesion for us and again we are asking some good questions but the defense brings down everything we come up with gets shut down. Junior Pauga gets tackled 2 metres out from the line but stays down and cant get up. Play is delayed for about 5 minutes as he gets it assesed and strapped. He gets up and plays it but is limping really bad. The Roos sees this as an opportunity and when they get the ball they send some runners down Juniors side. He is on 1 leg at the moment but the boys rally around him and cover his tackling duties and happen to force an error. With that the call is made to chuck Tevaga on and Junior off. With this interchange another shuffle has to happen. James Bell is now at centre and Sammy Cook on the wing.
Mace bombs again with great accuracy and the fullback gets it but Mase creamed him early so we get penalised. Off the hook again. Few minutes later Mase bombs again and Roos drop it. We attack heavily but again the Roos scramble and stop every angle runner and set play we put on. Ata kicks for a goal line drop out. Soon after Zac Santo breaks a few tackles and spins it wide to Cook but the pass is behind him and goes out. All these chances we are creating and still no points to show from it. Roos are having a set and Big Ofa Ogden gets penalised for a high tackle. They attack us and their prop Jake Lewis barges over under the posts but drops it over the line. lucky as we were a bit lethargic in that set. Easy metres were made. A couple of sets later the Roos spin it around and Jaydon Nikorima chips and chases and regathers and beats a couple of tackles and dives over for a try when we had most of the momentum. Their defense got them that try. Conversion goes over and we are down 12-0. Just before halftime right in front of us Daniel Palavi gets called for a strip when it was clearly a loose carry. We survive the set on defense just as a loose pass prevents a try. Halftime is called and we need some words from the coaching staff about how we are going to break this Wyong defense.
Heres my write up from yesterday. Solid day down the park. Great game but Wyongs defence to good on the day. Have a read. Voice is still dusty today
Another week and another do or die Semi. This week we are rolling on at Leichhardt Oval for this must win Grand Final qualifier. What a great week. Last sunday was a defensive masterclass by the boys. With only 44% possesion, tackling was a must and the Knights threw everything but the kitchen sink and some utencils at the boys. But the brick wall was to solid. In attack we were clinical and structered. We didnt push the pass or over play our hand, but if it was on then Mace and Ata concocted the appropriate play. Some long range tries mixed with good ol backline set moves doubled up with in your face defence made it almost the complete performance. The forwards dominated the middle while the backs scored all the tries.
So an unchanged team on teamlist Tuesday saw us again field probably the strongest Warriors ISP team in their history against the minor premiers Wyong Roos who are the Roosters reserve grade side. Rep players, 1st grade players, Test players everywhere you look on the team sheet we have experiance. So the family joined me this week as we bagged up the lollies and poweraid and cruised off to the inner west of Sydney to Leichhardt Oval.
Ahhhh Leichhardt oval a field covered in history. Great ground in good condition with piss poor facilities and shit parking, but a 30 minute only parking sign has never stopped us so we locked up the car and went inside and parked up behind the Warriors bench. Spoke to Nate who is a part of the Warriors set up and i asked about any late changes. He said Bureta Faraimo was out and Sammy Cook was in. Faraimo apparantly with his contract with Hull for next season had to dash to the US to play a couple of test matches in their build up to the World Cup.
The Warriors have played about 12 or so games here in Aussie this year and basically every game here the ground announcer botches the boys names. Guess what, the announcer again gave a shit rendition of polynesion pronounciations. Anyways we had some late changes. Manaia starts from the bench with big Albie Vete starting. Hes in at lock with James Bell hooker. Sam Cook to centre and Junior Pauga pushes out to the wing. For the Roos, a couple of players with 1st grade experiance plus a couple of kiwis. Johnny Tuivasa Sheck, Jayden Nikorima and late edition Joseph Manu rounding out the kiwi contingent.
Its a nice sunny day here and about 20-22 degrees. Wyong kickoff and i keep saying to myself we have to start fast, cant chase points especially in semi final footy. Warrior Nation members have filled up the seats around us which is always good to see and they have bought the noise. Palavi hits it up for the 1st run of the match, Ofa and Gubby follow and we have a good 1st set gaining 80 metres. Captain Lino kicks well on the last. We have a good defencive set as well. Boys line speed is good for the intial contact but when more that 2 passes we seem to hold back a bit. We trade sets again before wonder kid Joe Manu beats 2 defenders then sells a dummy to go over for the first try of the match. Dam. Just wrote earlier about getting a good start. Cornish converts to give the Roos a 6-0 lead after 4 minutes. We again have to defend for 2 sets straight and the Roos are spinning it side to side and force a goal line drop out. Again the Roos attack and spin it left but Charnze makes a great ball and all tackle on the last stopping a potential try. Awesum defensive read by CNK.
We receive a penalty in our half and start to pressure the Roos, Mace has a great kick and pins the Roos down in their goal line for a drop out. We get another penalty. This time we put on some block plays and angle runners and Vete is tackled 1m out from the try line. Gubby is also tackled close out. Mase kicks again but Roos get it and are safe. We have great line speed again but Vete is pinged for a very very soft shoulder charge that ends up being put on report. Bullshit call. Next set Isaiah Papalii unloads a great ball to Mase to make some needed metres. Ata has a great kick 2m out from the Roos line. Wyong start to use inside ball runners causing out defenders to turn and they make good metres. They attack our edges but mr Experiance Matty Allwood puts great pressure on the ball runner and forces an error. As they pack the scrum our first change sees Manaia Cherrington on and Big Albie off, James Bell goes back to the back row. We attack again and a great cross field bomb by Mase sees JTS (Tuivasa Schek) pluck it out of the air savin a try to Junior.
Roos attack but Sam Cook produces a great 1 on 1 strip to releive the pressure. Next set Ata steps up and beats 2 defenders and uses strength to go over the line but is held up. Mase again with a great last tackle kick forces a Wyong knock on. Our scrum and we have to all out attack. We build momentum with some set plays but the Roos defense is strong. But we get a penalty. More possesion for us and again we are asking some good questions but the defense brings down everything we come up with gets shut down. Junior Pauga gets tackled 2 metres out from the line but stays down and cant get up. Play is delayed for about 5 minutes as he gets it assesed and strapped. He gets up and plays it but is limping really bad. The Roos sees this as an opportunity and when they get the ball they send some runners down Juniors side. He is on 1 leg at the moment but the boys rally around him and cover his tackling duties and happen to force an error. With that the call is made to chuck Tevaga on and Junior off. With this interchange another shuffle has to happen. James Bell is now at centre and Sammy Cook on the wing.
Mace bombs again with great accuracy and the fullback gets it but Mase creamed him early so we get penalised. Off the hook again. Few minutes later Mase bombs again and Roos drop it. We attack heavily but again the Roos scramble and stop every angle runner and set play we put on. Ata kicks for a goal line drop out. Soon after Zac Santo breaks a few tackles and spins it wide to Cook but the pass is behind him and goes out. All these chances we are creating and still no points to show from it. Roos are having a set and Big Ofa Ogden gets penalised for a high tackle. They attack us and their prop Jake Lewis barges over under the posts but drops it over the line. lucky as we were a bit lethargic in that set. Easy metres were made. A couple of sets later the Roos spin it around and Jaydon Nikorima chips and chases and regathers and beats a couple of tackles and dives over for a try when we had most of the momentum. Their defense got them that try. Conversion goes over and we are down 12-0. Just before halftime right in front of us Daniel Palavi gets called for a strip when it was clearly a loose carry. We survive the set on defense just as a loose pass prevents a try. Halftime is called and we need some words from the coaching staff about how we are going to break this Wyong defense.
