Round 7 vs Cowboys

[souths_pride]

Well what a disgraceful performance. I can't think of a more humiliating night. This takes me back to those mid 90s and early 2000s. I think the biggest problem with our performance tonight was our mentality. We offered nothing when we have the football and seemed more interested in milking penalties and whinging to the ref than orchestrating plays and scoring points. Whats alarming for me is that the Cowboys weren't even firing on all cylinders - they were in cruise control for most of the match! I said before the game that Adam Reynolds was not a match winning half and what we saw from him tonight proved me correct. People were carrying on like he was Andrew Johns or something! Don't get me wrong hes a good player but our problems extend far beyond his capabilities as a player. What baffles me is how one dimensional and sluggish our attack has been since 2014. What has happened to those sweeping back line movements with lots of players making runs off the ball or those barge over runs from the Burgess brothers? Its like Madge has told them to forget that as we seem hellbent on just shifting the ball from side to side and hoping for the best.

Another big problem tonight is our handling. We simply turned over way too much ball to compete with a team of the cowboys caliber. In order to beat the Cowboys you need to go set for set with them and give nothing away; we applied no pressure whatsoever because of the amount of ball that we spilled. I think the main offender though was George Burgess. The guy is big and strong but I have never seen someone so uncoordinated; its almost embarrassing. Based on tonight's efforts, if it weren't for our shortage of front rowers, he'd be playing reserve grade next week. Other offenders included Keary, Grevsmuhl, Auvaa and even McInnes.

The hooking role is another big problem for me. Cameron McInnes needs to go. Tonight was clear evidence that he is not up to first grade standard. Once again, he seemed to offer us not structure in attack or create anything from dummy half. Watch the performance of Jake Granville if you don't know what I'm talking about and you will see what I mean; the guy is a master of catching defenders out through clever runs, recognising the weakness he has created and executing an appropriate play. Further proof of McInnes' disorientation at no. 9 was when he got caught out by Tamou in the first half; he simply picked the ball up, didn't know what was going on and got caught out. Cook needs to be given an opportunity.

Lastly, I hope during the week we don't get into another debate criticising Greg Inglis and going on about how he is in decline. The problem with Greg Inglis being absent from the game is more to do with the halves, in particular Keary than Inglis. It is Keary's and, to an extent Adam Reynolds' job to bring Inglis into the game at second receiver and they aren't doing that. Whether that is down to what they are working on at training with the coach, I don't know but what I do know is that in order for a fullback to get involved in the game you need one of your halves, most your five-eight to give you the ball. The rare times that Inglis was given the ball when he played up in the line he looked threatening. He created a genuine chance for Auva'a in the first half who dropped the ball cold!

I'd like to conclude by asking everyone at what point do we start asking questions over the coaches future? I do agree that it is not all his fault, but it is up to him to get the team playing well and lets be honest, we have looked a shadow of our 2014 form for 18 months now; we've only shown glimpses of our potential. In terms of changes to the side, well I think George Burgess needs to be dropped to the bench, Cook needs to start and I would consider giving Cody Walker a run in the centres to hopefully spark our attack. Much of Cody's game is based around running the ball and I think playing him out in the centres will help promote that. He also doesn't have to worry as much about getting the players outside of him into the game as he did as five-eight.

 

[Rsag85]

Well what a disgraceful performance. I can't think of a more humiliating night. This takes me back to those mid 90s and early 2000s. I think the biggest problem with our performance tonight was our mentality. We offered nothing when we have the football and seemed more interested in milking penalties and whinging to the ref than orchestrating plays and scoring points. Whats alarming for me is that the Cowboys weren't even firing on all cylinders - they were in cruise control for most of the match! I said before the game that Adam Reynolds was not a match winning half and what we saw from him tonight proved me correct. People were carrying on like he was Andrew Johns or something! Don't get me wrong hes a good player but our problems extend far beyond his capabilities as a player. What baffles me is how one dimensional and sluggish our attack has been since 2014. What has happened to those sweeping back line movements with lots of players making runs off the ball or those barge over runs from the Burgess brothers? Its like Madge has told them to forget that as we seem hellbent on just shifting the ball from side to side and hoping for the best.

Another big problem tonight is our handling. We simply turned over way too much ball to compete with a team of the cowboys caliber. In order to beat the Cowboys you need to go set for set with them and give nothing away; we applied no pressure whatsoever because of the amount of ball that we spilled. I think the main offender though was George Burgess. The guy is big and strong but I have never seen someone so uncoordinated; its almost embarrassing. Based on tonight's efforts, if it weren't for our shortage of front rowers, he'd be playing reserve grade next week. Other offenders included Keary, Grevsmuhl, Auvaa and even McInnes.

The hooking role is another big problem for me. Cameron McInnes needs to go. Tonight was clear evidence that he is not up to first grade standard. Once again, he seemed to offer us not structure in attack or create anything from dummy half. Watch the performance of Jake Granville if you don't know what I'm talking about and you will see what I mean; the guy is a master of catching defenders out through clever runs, recognising the weakness he has created and executing an appropriate play. Further proof of McInnes' disorientation at no. 9 was when he got caught out by Tamou in the first half; he simply picked the ball up, didn't know what was going on and got caught out. Cook needs to be given an opportunity.

Lastly, I hope during the week we don't get into another debate criticising Greg Inglis and going on about how he is in decline. The problem with Greg Inglis being absent from the game is more to do with the halves, in particular Keary than Inglis. It is Keary's and, to an extent Adam Reynolds' job to bring Inglis into the game at second receiver and they aren't doing that. Whether that is down to what they are working on at training with the coach, I don't know but what I do know is that in order for a fullback to get involved in the game you need one of your halves, most your five-eight to give you the ball. The rare times that Inglis was given the ball when he played up in the line he looked threatening. He created a genuine chance for Auva'a in the first half who dropped the ball cold!

I'd like to conclude by asking everyone at what point do we start asking questions over the coaches future? I do agree that it is not all his fault, but it is up to him to get the team playing well and lets be honest, we have looked a shadow of our 2014 form for 18 months now; we've only shown glimpses of our potential. In terms of changes to the side, well I think George Burgess needs to be dropped to the bench, Cook needs to start and I would consider giving Cody Walker a run in the centres to hopefully spark our attack. Much of Cody's game is based around running the ball and I think playing him out in the centres will help promote that. He also doesn't have to worry as much about getting the players outside of him into the game as he did as five-eight.

Cody has played fullback before.

 

[CAFPOW]

Keary, Tyrell, Grevsmuhl, Auva'a, Clark and McInnes should be playing for the Bears next week.
T. Burgess and G. Burgess are inches from joining those 6players.

 

[Curns13]

Does anybody have any idea what our game plan is? Do we have one? What are they practising at training all week?

 

[foreverinourshadow]

southspride great post!!!! ive always said cook over mcinnes,and i mentioned a few days ago about putting cody walker in the centres and someone on here said he is too small thats not what i reckon.gburg and tburg have feet for hands its in full view tonight for all to see.i could go on and on but ive left it to the other boys on here i was at the game in the burrow with my family oh deary me!!

 

[souths_pride]

Graves did well just can't hold on to the ball IMO he is a better bench player, Carter looked good when he came on.

IMO the problem with the side was Mcinnes service out of dummy half was to slow and he doesn't really run out of dummy half, this is what we where so good at when we had Issac running mid field and making good metres.

Turner try's his guts out but he is always getting injured every week

Tyrell is a very average NSW Cup player playing first grade nothing he does makes any impact on the game.

The side of Goodwin and Auva'a was terrible all game, in defence, slow and they couldn't hold on to the ball half the time and if they did they would still bomb a try. IMO Grey was the only stand out in the backs.

Adam looked rusty but will get better.

The Twins aren't running hard this year on to the ball, maybe because of injury or someone wanting to play NFL next year. Who knows but they need to fix it fast.

Keary looked good tonight but at moments it seemed to me he was interested.

GI needs to lift his game maybe its time to move him into another position.

Grevsmuhl shouldn't be held any more or less accountable for the handling errors tonight than any other play. He is a good player and his try in the first half was class. I just don't think his hard running style is being utilised effectively; a player with that strength is devastating close the the line. He is a young Gorden Tallis for god sake!

You are spot on about McInnes and I've addressed his short comings in my earlier post. What I also found baffling is that Maguire kept him on the field at the same time Paul Carter was out there but had Carter play sections of the game at no. 9. Surely that sort of change only detracts from our forwards as it means we have to take off a hard running player to compensate for leaving him out there!

The demise of the Burgess twins has baffled me more than anything, in particular George Burgess. I thought after the 2014 Grand Final, that George Burgess was the best front rower in the world and would go on to be one of the best of all time. He doesn't look anywhere close to that at the moment. I'll tell you one thing, there is no way he'll cut it in the NFL with hands like he has!

Adam Reynolds looked like he ran out of ideas and got frustrated too easily. In saying that, where are all our set moves that we work on at training. The Cowboys executed about half a dozen of them tonight, where as we barely executed anything. Moreover, Reynolds' kicking game looked off as well. As for Keary, he was only marginally better than last week. He still looks erratic and seems to run around with out any idea of what he is doing and execute plays almost at random; it can work sometimes but most of the times it only leads to a break down in play.

If I was a bunnies fan i'd be extremely upset with Inglis. By all means he is still an above average player, but his form over the last 12 months has been terrible for his standards. It is as if he couldn't care less about the game since winning a premiership a couple of years ago and he is content to just line his pockets. If I was Madge i'd be stripping him of the captaincy and replacing him with Burgess. Inglis' lack of urgency evident by his non-efforts to sniff out the ball like the best in the game do, little to no effort off the ball and his lazy last line defence lead me to believe he is the most over-rated player in the game. People keep putting it down to this mystery 'knee injury' but in my opinion, its a matter of commitment. Good luck for the rest of the year.

Greg Inglis is not the problem. His biggest problem is that his halves are not incorporating him into the game enough. It is the halves job, in particular the five-eight's, to link up with his fullback outside of him in threatening situations. Basically, Greg Inglis can't get on the outside of players and use his fend if Keary (and to an extent Reynolds) don't put him into half gaps. This is more than likely down to Keary's erratic nature as a footballer! Greg Inglis is definitely not to blame!

 

[DiegoNT]

Auva'a will have to be there next week, Hunt is likely to be suspended. Goodwin has to go as do the twins. Tyrell will cop criticism but i think his job was just to defend for the opening stanza and maybe chip in with a few hit ups with no mistakes where he can, so i think he did his job. Mcinnes was nowhere near as bad as people are making out. Reynolds has no chance with limp forwards like that. Sams honeymoon period is over. He f**ked the club over by leaving in the 1st place, then f**ked the club over by having to do so much to get him back. Inglis has no . hope with the guys around him. He is covered with defenders every time he gets the ball. In 2014 he had guys like teo, mcqueen and fit turner inside him and guys like walker and aj outside him so anytime defenders rushed him those other guys had space. Nowdays when defenders are looking at Souths ball movement they go lol at broken turner, lol at Goodwin, we only have to worry about G.I

 

[Rsag85]

To be fair on George he did have surgery on his hand mid week, last week.

Hard for your halves to do anything if your forwards aren't going forward and your backs aren't finishing off the set well.

So I don't blame Reynolds or Keary this week. It was players around them that where terrible.

 

[Rsag85]

Tom Burgess 9 runs 81 metres 27 tackles
George Burgess 8 runs 55 metres 22 tackles
Dave Tyrell 6 runs 47 metres 20 tackles

 

[foreverinourshadow]

keep the passion coming boys

 

[DiegoNT]

To be fair on George he did have surgery on his hand mid week, last week.

Hard for your halves to do anything if your forwards aren't going forward and your backs aren't finishing off the set well.

So I don't blame Reynolds or Keary this week. It was players around them that where terrible.

Has george been having mid week surgery on his hand every week since the 2014 gf because he has been poor for so long. We get occasional glimpses of 2014 but nowhere near enough. Hopefully one of the twins goes to the nfl soon

 

[Rabbits20]

I'm not just blaming Goodwin. I've been saying Auva'a has been terrible too. McInnes isn't doing much.... Most of the cowboys try's have been on that Goodwin and Auva'a corner

Sorry Rsag I apologise.

I should have been more specific and said Diego. Diego is just ripping into Goodwin.


I'd like to rip into the whole backline except Gray who had a real crack. The rest didn't have energy and were not giving their all. That's right GI, Goodwin, Hunt and Auva'a weren't putting in.


Keary was better but defensively is a problem and he goes missing too much. I feel he didn't give his all.

Reyno did give his all. Look at the devastation on his face after the match, he was gutted. Adam is South Sydney through and through. He nearly looked in tears. If only the others were as passionate.


I'm ready to rip into Hunt. After the game he was talking to a Cows back and kept on smiling and looked reasonably happy. That disgusted me from Hymel. That just isn't on. His attitude is a problem.

George and Tom Burgess well they've lost the plot. They are ildisciplined and can't catch the footy. They are both slow too. They make such bad errors at crucial times. They aren't concentrating and giving their all. It's like their minds are elsewhere. Tom missed 7 tackles too which is completely unacceptable.

McInnes tackled well but he adds no spark at all. Cam is just too slow and looks lost when he gets a bit of time. Cam hogs the ball too.

Carter was a shining light. Carter needs to start at hooker my oath he does.

Turner just has no impact like Tyrrell and both are a waste of time. They don't get involved enough either which isn't good enough.

Grevs is lazy defensively and knocks on too much. He played 80mins for 7 hit ups. His workrate is poor.

Sam isn't himself since that neck incident. Yet he still gives his all. I was proud of him tonight.

Clark tries hard and did again tonight. His effort was there.

Brown didn't get enough game time.


Just too many fundamental errors and penalties. We aren't doing the little things well.

 

[souths_pride]

Cody has played fullback before.

I don't think playing him at fullback is the answer. Fullback these is an extension of five-eight and I don't think Cody looks all that good when it comes to bringing in players outside him into the game. I think he is better suited to the centres where he can simply run at the opposition defensive line and link up with his winger outside of him. He can also get into second receiver on occasion when play shifts to one side of the field, sort of like Jamie Lyon does.

southspride great post!!!! ive always said cook over mcinnes,and i mentioned a few days ago about putting cody walker in the centres and someone on here said he is too small thats not what i reckon.gburg and tburg have feet for hands its in full view tonight for all to see.i could go on and on but ive left it to the other boys on here i was at the game in the burrow with my family oh deary me!!

I feel sorry for you for having to sit through that. Good call about playing Cody in the centres, I agree.

Does anybody have any idea what our game plan is? Do we have one? What are they practising at training all week?

I was asking myself that throughout the 80 minutes. Its like everything that we executed in 2014 has gone out the window.

 

[Rabbits20]

If I was a bunnies fan i'd be extremely upset with Inglis. By all means he is still an above average player, but his form over the last 12 months has been terrible for his standards. It is as if he couldn't care less about the game since winning a premiership a couple of years ago and he is content to just line his pockets. If I was Madge i'd be stripping him of the captaincy and replacing him with Burgess. Inglis' lack of urgency evident by his non-efforts to sniff out the ball like the best in the game do, little to no effort off the ball and his lazy last line defence lead me to believe he is the most over-rated player in the game. People keep putting it down to this mystery 'knee injury' but in my opinion, its a matter of commitment. Good luck for the rest of the year.

Brilliant post. Spot on.

Would you like to help Madge with the coaching:lol::lol:

 

[Rsag85]

Southpride I don't think Cody in the centres is the answer his defence would be big issue

 

[Dogmatix]

Souths problems are easy to fix. Just get someone who knows about recruitment to do the recruiting. There are way too many NSW Cup players in the top 20 players in the Souths squad

If you check the Cowboys' forward pack their average weight is around 110kg and the smallest player is about 107kg (ignoring the hooker). This is the profile of player you need these days about 110kg and fast for that size to play in the forwards. Souths have a stack of players on their forwards roster who weigh 103kg or less and that is too small these days

Same goes for the backs

It is a simple formula. For most positions you want players that are big, fast and strong. With the halves and hooker you are looking more for skill so this does not apply. In fact Keary and Reynolds are quite an acceptable halves pairing as 2014 showed. But the dumb Souths recruiters are happy to let Keary go while they sign up the likes of Turner and Goodwin who are too small for their position in 2016

 

[CAFPOW]

I expect Madge will drop Carter for Cook. G. Burgess to start with Tyrell to the bench.
Goodwin will replace Hunt with Oldfield to the wing as the only change against the
Broncos.

 

[Rsag85]

I expect Madge will drop Carter for Cook. G. Burgess to start with Tyrell to the bench.
Goodwin will replace Hunt with Oldfield to the wing as the only change against the
Broncos.

Yep boring Madge

 

[souths_pride]

To be fair on George he did have surgery on his hand mid week, last week.

Hard for your halves to do anything if your forwards aren't going forward and your backs aren't finishing off the set well.

So I don't blame Reynolds or Keary this week. It was players around them that where terrible.

If his fitness is at such a level that he is not capable of catching the footy then there is no way he should be playing. Basically there is no excuse for his performance tonight.

Sorry Rsag I apologise.

I should have been more specific and said Diego. Diego is just ripping into Goodwin.


I'd like to rip into the whole backline except Gray who had a real crack. The rest didn't have energy and were not giving their all. That's right GI, Goodwin, Hunt and Auva'a weren't putting in.


Keary was better but defensively is a problem and he goes missing too much. I feel he didn't give his all.

Reyno did give his all. Look at the devastation on his face after the match, he was gutted. Adam is South Sydney through and through. He nearly looked in tears. If only the others were as passionate.


I'm ready to rip into Hunt. After the game he was talking to a Cows back and kept on smiling and looked reasonably happy. That disgusted me from Hymel. That just isn't on. His attitude is a problem.

George and Tom Burgess well they've lost the plot. They are ildisciplined and can't catch the footy. They are both slow too. They make such bad errors at crucial times. They aren't concentrating and giving their all. It's like their minds are elsewhere. Tom missed 7 tackles too which is completely unacceptable.

McInnes tackled well but he adds no spark at all. Cam is just too slow and looks lost when he gets a bit of time. Cam hogs the ball too.

Carter was a shining light. Carter needs to start at hooker my oath he does.

Turner just has no impact like Tyrrell and both are a waste of time. They don't get involved enough either which isn't good enough.

Grevs is lazy defensively and knocks on too much. He played 80mins for 7 hit ups. His workrate is poor.

Sam isn't himself since that neck incident. Yet he still gives his all. I was proud of him tonight.

Clark tries hard and did again tonight. His effort was there.

Brown didn't get enough game time.


Just too many fundamental errors and penalties. We aren't doing the little things well.

I didn't have that much of a problem with Hymel Hunt. In previous weeks he has been good, in particular with his defence. There were others out there tonight who are far more accountable for the performance than him. Moreover, I thought he was far better than his other centre, Auva'a! As for Grevsmuhl, his try was class in the first half but I think he needs to get on the ball more. The guy has the potential to become one of the best back rowers in the world. In saying that, I agree with your points regarding McInnes, Tyrell, Turner, Carter and the Burgess twins.

 

[Rsag85]

Sorry Rsag I apologise.

I should have been more specific and said Diego. Diego is just ripping into Goodwin.


I'd like to rip into the whole backline except Gray who had a real crack. The rest didn't have energy and were not giving their all. That's right GI, Goodwin, Hunt and Auva'a weren't putting in.


Keary was better but defensively is a problem and he goes missing too much. I feel he didn't give his all.

Reyno did give his all. Look at the devastation on his face after the match, he was gutted. Adam is South Sydney through and through. He nearly looked in tears. If only the others were as passionate.


I'm ready to rip into Hunt. After the game he was talking to a Cows back and kept on smiling and looked reasonably happy. That disgusted me from Hymel. That just isn't on. His attitude is a problem.

George and Tom Burgess well they've lost the plot. They are ildisciplined and can't catch the footy. They are both slow too. They make such bad errors at crucial times. They aren't concentrating and giving their all. It's like their minds are elsewhere. Tom missed 7 tackles too which is completely unacceptable.

McInnes tackled well but he adds no spark at all. Cam is just too slow and looks lost when he gets a bit of time. Cam hogs the ball too.

Carter was a shining light. Carter needs to start at hooker my oath he does.

Turner just has no impact like Tyrrell and both are a waste of time. They don't get involved enough either which isn't good enough.

Grevs is lazy defensively and knocks on too much. He played 80mins for 7 hit ups. His workrate is poor.

Sam isn't himself since that neck incident. Yet he still gives his all. I was proud of him tonight.

Clark tries hard and did again tonight. His effort was there.

Brown didn't get enough game time.


Just too many fundamental errors and penalties. We aren't doing the little things well.

I'm sorry R20 and I know you love the guy but I think Goodwin needs to be drop along with Auva'a that defence by the both of them was terrible