GF Panthers vs Storm

[MTNPanther]

Nathan Cleary once again proved he doesn't have it in big games yet anyway

People saying we didn't use our bench properly. We were chasing 26 points playing the usual tactics wouldn't work

Look more at how it got to 26-0 as why we lost. Some terrible effort out there by the 'stars'

Cleary definitely had a shocker in the 1st half but he tried to correct it in the 2nd but he went into his shell seemed to forget about building pressure with repeat sets as he did all year.

I feel Kikau has been exposed for the liability he can be and almost needs to be used as a bench weapon 15-20 mins either side of the half. He’s too rocks and diamonds to be trusted for 80 mins.

Ivan screwed up the bench massively! We had a great rotation leading into the finals but he had to fiddle with it. We lost the ability to have May come on fresh and change the game and our forwards had no time to make an impact.

 

[Blade23]

At least had the right team to start with. We were never in this game because we were a forward short on the bench and didn't play our usual forward power game. What forwards we did have we barely used.

Here are my thoughts:

• Kikau made 5 errors. FIVE! Why wasn't Capewell put on earlier to give him a rest. He hasn't played for 3 weeks and he was gassed. He played 80 minutes FFS. Cleary took Yeo off instead?????;

• WTF is Tetavano getting only 19 minutes about and Tamou 35 minutes? Our forwards were getting on top and pinning them down, we should have rotated the forwards and kept the momentum going;

• Instead of a power game we started lobbing passes out wide and the mistakes crept in. We ground our way to the minor premiership and in the finals Cleary panicked and tried to get us to play differently. Why, I'll never know. We looked all class with JFH and Tamou smashing them through the middle, why oh why did we leave them on the bench for so long?;

• Naden showed that what we lost in his mistakes in defence, we gained in forward momentum when he was in attack. Every time he ran the ball they crapped themselves. May plugged the defence but is not as effective in attack at centre. As Henry alluded to, it threw the balance of the team out;

• Errors from Edwards and Kikau really gave the Storm a huge advantage. 8 errors for two players. Staines' manager would have been licking his lips;

• Nathan Cleary had a bad game. His two errors led to two tries, he failed to find touch and looked really pedestrian for most of the game. To his credit he hung in there until the end and tried his guts out. Effort good, execution poor;

• Our backs look ponderous at times. We desperately need some pace out wide. Vunivalu had time to stop and smoke a pipe before scoring, we couldn't get near him. He is not even the fastest player at the storm;

• The players made a lot of errors and their inexperience showed, but this is on Cleary. His selection, strategy and bench management were just very poor. We threw that match away in the selection room and then doubled down by letting players rot on the bench when Kikau had a medley of mistakes and the Storm forwards were tiring.

The Storm were the better side and well done to them. A great achievement. As we showed when the blowtorch was applied to them, we can match them if we have the right players in the right positions. Such a shame, I hope the players get another opportunity to play in a GF.

As always Pomoz you are the voice of reason. Great post. Summed it up in a nutshell.

 

[franklin2323]

Cleary definitely had a shocker in the 1st half but he tried to correct it in the 2nd but he went into his shell seemed to forget about building pressure with repeat sets as he did all year.

I feel Kikau has been exposed for the liability he can be and almost needs to be used as a bench weapon 15-20 mins either side of the half. He’s too rocks and diamonds to be trusted for 80 mins.

Ivan screwed up the bench massively! We had a great rotation leading into the finals but he had to fiddle with it. We lost the ability to have May come on fresh and change the game and our forwards had no time to make an impact.

The right side has been an issue all season. So I get why you would make changes. Martin seemed to hit the wall late in the year which didn't help.

I agree with Kikau. We are closer then we were but still need a few tweeks to get the 17 perfect

 

[Smug Panther]

Effectively played with a man down. Im still f**king fuming

 

[franklin2323]

Effectively played with a man down. Im still f**king fuming

I wish I could say it cost us. Sadly it was an error riddled game back to early last season standard

 

[snickers007]

Effectively played with a man down. Im still f**king fuming

The opposition literally played with a man down. This isn't the excuse.

 

[herbert henry1908]

I wish I could say it cost us. Sadly it was an error riddled game back to early last season standard

Several things can cost you at once.

Errors cost us, and so did team selections. Only one of those mistakes was made in the clear light of day.

 

[MTNPanther]

The right side has been an issue all season. So I get why you would make changes. Martin seemed to hit the wall late in the year which didn't help.

I agree with Kikau. We are closer then we were but still need a few tweeks to get the 17 perfect

Martin definitely hit a wall late in the season probably could’ve been rested for a game and not used for 80mins each game especially when Capewell was fit.
Hopefully this off season we really try to fix the right side with who I’m very torn maybe Burton but I would like to see him trialled at lock and Yeo go to prop but he could follow the path of Fitler and be a center until an opportunity in the half’s opens.

 

[franklin2323]

Those of you saying we wasted a bench spot with Naden.. you do realise Nico Hynes didn't get on the field for them?

So they used 16 (which included a prop going off for HIA) yet still won

 

[herbert henry1908]

The one thing I’m convinced of is our backline needs more speed. Staines will help with that, hopefully whoever plays right centre has some toe as well.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Those of you saying we wasted a bench spot with Naden.. you do realise Nico Hynes didn't get on the field for them?

So they used 16 (which included a prop going off for HIA) yet still won

When you go up 26-0 you don’t need to use all the bench. If it was a tight game or they were trailing it would’ve been different.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Martin definitely hit a wall late in the season probably could’ve been rested for a game and not used for 80mins each game especially when Capewell was fit.
Hopefully this off season we really try to fix the right side with who I’m very torn maybe Burton but I would like to see him trialled at lock and Yeo go to prop but he could follow the path of Fitler and be a center until an opportunity in the half’s opens.

Yeo just had his best season ever, why move him? He was a revelation at 13.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Cleary definitely had a shocker in the 1st half but he tried to correct it in the 2nd but he went into his shell seemed to forget about building pressure with repeat sets as he did all year.

I feel Kikau has been exposed for the liability he can be and almost needs to be used as a bench weapon 15-20 mins either side of the half. He’s too rocks and diamonds to be trusted for 80 mins.

Ivan screwed up the bench massively! We had a great rotation leading into the finals but he had to fiddle with it. We lost the ability to have May come on fresh and change the game and our forwards had no time to make an impact.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, Kikau had a shocker but he’s a big reason we got to the grand final. They used him very well this year as a decoy, that goes out the window if he comes off the bench.

 

[herbert henry1908]

We didn't just change it tonight though.Whare and May both spent plenty of time in centre through the year

May only played centre when there was an injury on the wing. Totally different scenario. That was a forced change, as was Whare.

 

[Munky]

The Storm also got a free stint from NAS when there was an HIA.

The move away from the power game the last two weeks and short kicks to the in goal has me absolutely bewildered.

 

[WestyLife]

Those of you saying we wasted a bench spot with Naden.. you do realise Nico Hynes didn't get on the field for them?

So they used 16 (which included a prop going off for HIA) yet still won

 

[franklin2323]

Several things can cost you at once.

Errors cost us, and so did team selections. Only one of those mistakes was made in the clear light of day.

Clear for some...

On paper our bench matched theirs

A back
2 props
Smith a small middle

Their key players stood up.

Take the fullbacks. Both are 40 odd games in. One wins CCM the other has his worst game in a year

If you do that comparison the whole way down. Only really Luai out played his opponent. That sums up the game there

 

[franklin2323]

When you go up 26-0 you don’t need to use all the bench. If it was a tight game or they were trailing it would’ve been different.

Same goes for chasing points. If we lost a close game I would certainly be saying it cost us but we lost it in other ways

 

[The Realist]

I wish I could say it cost us. Sadly it was an error riddled game back to early last season standard

This was bound to happen. Our team is still chock full of players who have that once or twice a game brain explosion. Add them together and wet weather and you get a double digit error rate.

Kikau passing once tackled (and around 3 drops), JFH unnecessary penalty, Leota dropped ball ( x 2, but second one was a bit of a hospital pass from Luai), Mansour bad play the ball and miss on Vunivalu.

I still can't help but think we lost a chunk of the battle off the field. Our execution was sloppy and our tactics were just awful for a wet weather game. I.C might have been regular season Coach of the Year but he was easily out coached by Bellamy this finals series.

Our forward rotation was screwed by that bench.

We reverted back to the 'give it to Kikau' tactics of last year that made us predictable and easier to defend. As soon as Nadan came on our right edge became dangerous and opened up more space elsewhere.

Also how many times did we get pinged for obstruction? This is a problem we had frequently last season and earlier this season.

I guess to sum it up - when under stress people fall back onto old habits. Our old habits are poor unlike the Storm.

 

[Rhyno]

Bad luck fellas

next year is the year of the Eels so who knows when you’s will get another chance hopefully it’s not another 17 year wait