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

[Poupou Escobar]

How don’t you get tired of this routine?

Thanks to Bitcoin I was able to retire and do this full time.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I would have been more concerned if he said he did see it coming and didn't do anything about it.

These useless merkins. Absolutely everything reconfirms their certainty that the club is f**ked and going backwards. Just like this f**king merkin:

That also would be very concerning.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

and that was because Penrith played 20 minutes of shocking footy and we still scored f**k all against them in that period

Three tries is the same amount Manly scored against us in 27 minutes today. The difference is they went on with it whereas last week we took the foot off the pedal and left it off for the next three halves of football.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Today our defensive attitude was non-existent from the outset, but part of our success at the back end last season was that we used a tactic to incorrectly play the ball consistently throughout the match. This tactic commenced around the end of the Origin period and remained for the rest of the season. This was a definite planned tactic from our team, because every middle forward was playing the ball incorrectly so that we could artificially get quicker play the balls. This tactic was a major contributor to our success at the back end of the season and it is the only time in more than a decade that we've looked like consistently winning the play the ball in attack. It was a masterstroke tactic from our coaching staff. This and our attitude in defence was all we really had, but it was all we needed.

This use of this tactic appears to be now outlawed in the game and we appear to have no answers to be able to come up with any kind of alternative to win the play the ball and make ground in the middle. We were losing the play the ball from the outset of today.

Every other team was doing this too. That's why there were so many penalties last week.

Honestly, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Other teams' play-the-balls will be slowed just as much as ours this year. Nobody has been using their foot until this year. Their coaches would have dropped them.

We were losing the play the ball from the outset last week also, except the Panthers were their own worse enemy at the start of the match and couldn't hold onto the ball. We had just as much ball in the first 30 minutes of the match last week as what Manly had today, yet we couldn't take our opponents out of the match.

Fixing our defensive attitude should be easy, but fixing our complete inability to win the play the ball area isn't going to be an easy fix.

We also scored as many tries as Manly. The difference was we clocked off. Manly didn't.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Where is our strength exactly? It use to be our edge forwards but they have regressed. Our backline? Our coach doesn't even know where to put our backs! Our middles? They are getting steamrolled on both sides of the ball.

We are a smart, skilful side that plays some complicated footy. In defence we are mobile and aggressive. Obviously round two in the heat isn't the place for all this to come together.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Tigers played away Rounds 1 & 2. Your point?

Everyone goes easy on the Tigers. There is no comparison.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Hayne looks wasted in the centres, time to make some big decisions. Taka back to centres, Hayne to fullback and move French to.............? I have no clue on the forwards...........just saying.

Hayne will get heaps more carries on the wing without the need to do all the tiring off-the-ball stuff required of a fullback.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Agree. An Panther struggles against South without Reynolds and Ingkis for half the game.

We smashed the Knights, the Knights beat Manly, Manly smashed us. It's round two. There have been four finals type performances so far this year (the Knights last week, both Tigers games and Manly today). Plenty of teams are off their game this early in the year, and one of them (us) ran into one of these finals type performances. Manly completed at 90% today. In 38 degree weather FFS. It was a bad day to not have our shit in one sock, but at the same time, if you are going to be off your game, the early rounds are the time to do it.

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

Every other team was doing this too. That's why there were so many penalties last week.

They weren't all doing it to the same extent. When we started doing it last year it was like someone had flipped a switch from one game to the next. After that no one except Jennings used their foot.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yeah, I think perhaps a lot of it was, they had us beat in the first twenty, and we didn't recover. We were sapped,

You think the benchies did a better job?

 

[TheRam]

We smashed the Knights, the Knights beat Manly, Manly smashed us. It's round two. There have been four finals type performances so far this year (the Knights last week, both Tigers games and Manly today). Plenty of teams are off their game this early in the year, and one of them (us) ran into one of these finals type performances. Manly completed at 90% today. In 38 degree weather FFS. It was a bad day to not have our shit in one sock, but at the same time, if you are going to be off your game, the early rounds are the time to do it.

Love your passion for the team Pou, but you're an idiot.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Do the rest of the team look fit enough for their respective positions? I'm not trying to be a smartarse. From my point of view it seems to be more of a game plan and attitude issue.

I think just attitude would be enough to cause both performances so far this year.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Dear Poo.
I for one admire your positivity when all is dire. I have noticed however a certain amount of annoyance and negativity today in some of your responses. My big question is.
Has your account been hacked?

I'm positive about the team. But negative about the wrist-slitting loosers I have to share this forum with.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The worry for Brad Arthur is that he, presumably, had his best 17 pegged come round 1...2 weeks in to the season it appears that 17 are a long way off being the team we need to give us a tilt at the premiership. So do you stop the bleeding now and admit you completely misread the way NRL 2018 was going to go? Or do you stick to your guns and follow through and hope things click? I think BA will take the latter route than the former.
Theres plenty of concerns right now but for me, it's the complete ineptitude in our ability to run even something resembling a decent backline movement. Left hand doesn't seem to know what right hand has planned. It was supposed to be our strength this year. At the moment it's as poor as everything else about our game.

The problem is the shifts are occurring whether they are on or not. We are completely trying to do things the easy way. It points to a lack of on-field leadership, or worse, a conflict between decision makers.

 

[Glenneel]

Well I stopped watching after about 24 mins when Manly were up 24 nil. I've read a great deal of the comments and the usual few on here are offering lame excuses for our second poor showing.
We lost because of two things, the shit team selected and apparently we won the toss (so commentators said) and elected to run into an absolute gale in 38 degree heat. Now who decided that, Mannah or BA? If Mannah he should be consigned to reserve grade never to see NRL again or if BA he is an idiot and should know better!
Now I'll reserve judgement until after round 5 for the team prospects for the season but we play Sharks, W-T and Penrith for the next 3 games and we will most likely be 0-5 by then.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Mine aren’t. I’ve been right more times than wrong. We have been shit for so long that I can sense the symptoms very early.

If you say it every year at our club you'll be right more often than not.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

In my opinion the heat played a part.

It must have. Less than 40% possession wears you out enough when it's only 19 degrees. When it's double that you are unable to compete.

The blowout though was due to Manly playing the best they will play all year. 90% completions is excellent.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

What part? The fact we played in the heat a week ago? Other teams did too.

The heat combined with our poor discipline. It ironically created a snowball effect, both weeks. We need to sort our shit out, especially in the heat.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yeah I do......It's wonderful!

So much better since we got rid of Moses & Woods. Hows it going for you?

We made the top four last year with Moses. How did you guys go? How do you think you will go after 25 rounds? Do you think you will finish ahead of Parra?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The game was lost after the first 20 minutes. There were opportunities within that first 20 to recover but errors and poor discipline really cost you guys. You can’t really recover in that heat either.

I agree, though I will say you can recover even in the heat if the opposition gives you a way back in. Manly didn't today. They were uncharacteristically clinical for round two.