Parra v Manly LIVE game day thread, March 18, 2018

[Poupou Escobar]

If we are 2 from 6, will we have the ability to add players to the team of the calibre of Kenny Edwards and Mitchell Moses to improve the squad?

You yourself said at the time of being 2 from 6 that we were missing a half. What are we missing now?

Gutherson, Edwards and Radradra? Would they have made such a difference today to turn a 54 point result around?

 

[Chipmunk]

Gutherson, Edwards and Radradra? Would they have made such a difference today to turn a 54 point result around?

I wouldn't have thought so. What's your point?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Do you think employing a strength and conditioning guy with no rugby league experience was a good move?

Why would he need rugby league experience? Do you think we would employ somebody who didn't understand that league and AFL are two different sports? He would have asked for historical performance data as soon as he got here. He would know what rugby league fitness looks like, and he would know how to test to see where we were at.

It's like you think he's come in with an off-the-shelf AFL conditioning program and just handed it out to the boys. Are you such a useless slob in your own job that you think other people operate that way? This isn't the APS mate. These people are high achievers because they deeply give a f**k about being good at their job.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Enthusiasm, plain and simple, defense, attitude disappear when this occurs together with offensive cohesion.

It’s plain as day we just simply weren’t ready today, talent is there, next week will be a win.

We certainly gave up very early on. Is it a bad sign? For sure. Does it mean we have given up on the season? I doubt it.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I said at the time I was concerned we were only playing one trial and was told by all and sundry it meant nothing. I dare say all and sundry were wrong.

Except we have gotten worse every week, not better. So how is fitness the problem?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Changes for next week:

Hayne to fullback, French to Wenty

Jennings right centre

Taka left centre

Tepai right edge forward

Evans to Wenty, replaced by Peni

*Hope Edwards is fit and comes off the bench

Hayne was gassed by about the third time he had to run the ball and you want him at fullback?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

BA has the backs swapping mid game!!! Sometimes French is fullback, Hayne centre and Hoffman wing, then other times Hanye is fullback, Hoffman centre and French wing. It's the dumbest thing I have ever seen!

Plenty of teams do it. The Roosters won a premiership with RTS and Minichiello swapping.

 

[Chipmunk]

Except we have gotten worse every week, not better. So how is fitness the problem?

Perhaps we've only appeared to have gotten worse because of how attrocious our opponent was for the first 30 minutes last week. There is no reason that we couldn't have been in a whole lot of hurt like today had the Panthers not been their own worse enemy for the first 30 minutes. After all, once the Panthers started to hold onto the ball last week we weren't even competitive.

You have to ask how the team who had all the ball for the first 30 minutes last week was the most fatigued.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Isn't that the main reason French is our fullback? Because he is suppose to be constantly pushing up in support? Something that Hayne can't do? I know he can't do it all the time but he was never there.

If that is not French's job then I have no idea why he is fullback. Because his running game, passing game, kicking game, one on one defence and footy iq is no where near as good as Hayne's.

It's actually the dummy half's job.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So has BA. Just one.

We'll make the finals this year. The squad hasn't forgotten how to play and Arthur hopefully hasn't forgotten anything about coaching.

Maybe that's why Hasler got the sack?

 

[IFR33K]

Just shows that you have turn up every week and no game is in the bag.

We need to beat Sharks next week. (Der)

Fun fact: after we beat Sharks at home, they will be 0-3 and we will be 1-3 with either Cowboys or Storm.

I’m not going to throw the towel in just yet.

We are far from the cowboys and storm

 

[Poupou Escobar]

French was to busy being dumped into row one of the grandstand most of the afternoon.

Because we kept shifting the ball to him before earning the right. Only two Manly forwards had to make more than 20 tackles today, with the top tackler being Koroisau (25 tackles). We barely tested their lateral movement. We fell into the trap of trying to go around them, but at 18-0 patience probably seems counterintuitive.

 

[IFR33K]

Plenty of teams do it. The Roosters won a premiership with RTS and Minichiello swapping.

The game plan for them was to give an ageing minichiello a break, to keep up the intensity in attack. We are getting a slow unfit winger, to chime in at fullback. Makes perfect sense.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

He is hopeless Pou. I hope we wont be subjected to years of you defending him only to admit your wrong four years later ala Sandow. Remember the emerging Qld squad halfback?

Well he was an emerging QLD halfback. The game changed and players like Sandow were left behind. I doubt that will happen to Evans but you never know.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

80-0 says they can't.

They obviously have something to fix up, but I think the huge F/A discrepancy over the past three halves is down to the compounding effects of a couple of early periods of poor attitude.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Our strength and conditioning guy changed which means our fitness has likely changed

I am certain the only difference in fitness between teams comes down to the difference in individual genetics and attitude of the respective squad members. The strength/conditioning guy is just there to do a job. Teams bring in new ones every year or so just to change things up and keep players on their toes. It's the players that determine team fitness.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Avenger flip flops more than a f**king russian gymnast..

Yugoslavian gymnast FFS!

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

Look on the bright side - we don't have to play for another whole week.

Is T-rex still a couple of weeks away? Not that he'll fix everything, or even make the team, but he is big.

 

[emjaycee]

Well if any of those are the case then we have some serious issues that won't be fixed quickly.

I have no idea whether any of those are the issue or not, but my 1-17 for Round 3 would be (if fit):

1. Smith
2. French
3. Jennings (on the right)
4. Auva'a
5. Hoffman
6. Norman
7. Moses (c)
8. Vave
9. Pritchard
10. Alvaro
11. Ma'u
12. Moeroa
13. Brown

14. Hayne
15. Mannah
16. Edwards
17. Evans

I reckon Hayne off the interchange after 30 mins to spell Smith with our 1-7 reverting back to todays run on side though Jennings stays with Moses and Hayne given freedom to push up from anywhere against a tired defence.

Vave to pump out 15 mins only before Mannah comes on and plays out the half. Alvaro swapped out with Evans after 30 mins and Edwards on for Tepai after 25. Manu to play the first 40 before Moeroa comes back in the second half for a 15 minute stint on the left. Edwards plays out second half and Manu comes back out for Tepai.

Alvaro back on for the final quarter replacing Mannah and Vave replacing Evans with 20 to go.

Smith replaces Kaysa with 15 mins to go in 9.

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The above is a heap of shit because i got nothing to offer, but at least i offered something.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Does the coach know any of our outside backs best positions? He's got the right side changing all the time. Please tell me he knows the left hand sides best positions? Although he swapped Jennings back to the left after he just had his best half of his season with us in 2017 on the right

The problem is we have plenty of NRL quality backs, but no wingers, so need to play blokes out of position. Much like both Origin teams tend to do. Hayne, French, Gutherson, Hoffman - all no doubt prefer fullback. Auva'a prefers centre. This is why we've allegedly offered money to Mansour.