Rd16: Parra v Penrith GAME DAY THREAD @ Bluebet Stadium 2/7/21

[Chipmunk]

That would only be worrying if we hadn't scored many tries. But we've scored heaps of them. Why wouldn't most of them be against the bottom sides? That's why they're the bottom sides.

Against the current top eight we are averaging over three tries per game (3.14). Against the top six it's exactly 3 tries per game. Against top two it is 2.5 per game. Pretty well expected relative scoring rate. I don't see what you're worried about. Melbourne and Penrith have only scored 2 tries per game against each other. They obviously do much better against weaker teams than we do, but I understand 'flat track bullies' isn't a point of praise for you.

I guess we will see where we really are over the next eight weeks.

 

[hindy111]

Penrith? We play them again at Bankwest in the last round.

Both sides prob be resting guys

 

[Noise]

Both sides prob be resting guys

Why would we be resting guys? We'll either be playing for a top 4 spot or a home semi final.

 

[hindy111]

Field position + quality kicking + quality kick chase aren't luck. That's why some teams score plenty more from kicks than others do. And of course there's an element of luck. That's why we don't score every time.

But May's and Koroisau's tries also included an element of luck. Papali'i usually makes that tackle, and most of the time we don't leave a big gap up the middle for players to stroll through. Luck plays a role in every try. How did Penrith even get the ball so close to our line in both instances? I guarantee there was an element of luck on both occasions. Players don't usually drop the ball near their own line or throw intercept passes on half way.

They still did look more fluent to me and dangerous. They managed to get Big Will one on one twice. Two glorious tackles but he would be back most times to score with those shots.

 

[hindy111]

Why would we be resting guys? We'll either be playing for a top 4 spot or a home semi final.

Will we? Maybe we will have top 4 confirmed already or the opposite. No chance of 4th spot.

 

[Bandwagon]

You need more than just the one trick though. You need an all round balance to create opportunities in different ways. I'm sure most of the other teams in the Top 6 could score more tries the same way if they had to, but alas their attack is more balanced and they don't have to.

Being able to score tries from kicks is an asset, but why can't we come up with other ways? I'd be surprised if the only thing we practiced at training in attack was scoring from kicks, but it is not showing on the field. You can call every play we do before it happens it is that predictable. We're relying on individual brilliance to do it all, rather than any kind of team cohesion.

If 30% of our tries are from kicks, then 70% of our tries are scored in these mysterious "other ways" we can't come up with, .

 

[Chipmunk]

We don't have the toiling forwards for making a lot of decoy runs. What we do have though is hard working backs, which is why we have a lot of support runs.

Not really, we have one hard working back who has almost 20% more supports than anyone else in the comp, and 3 in the top 50. The Storm have 3 in the top 11.

 

[Chipmunk]

Why would we be resting guys? We'll either be playing for a top 4 spot or a home semi final.

Well that would depend on how results go for quite a few teams over the next 9 weeks.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I hope we get to play them again. I dont see it.

I hope we don't have to play them in the finals, but if we do I think we're a chance of winning it. Maybe 1 in 3 or 4.

 

[Chipmunk]

If 30% of our tries are from kicks, then 70% of our tries are scored in these mysterious "other ways" we can't come up with, .

Yes, primarily against the bottom 6 sides

 

[hineyrulz]

What type of kicks? Smart grubbers? Kicks catching the defense out?
Or just putting it high into the air and have tall guys chase and try and bat it back not forward and the winger catch it and score while defense is scattered?

Jeff Robson type kicks???

 

[Poupou Escobar]

They still did look more fluent to me and dangerous. They managed to get Big Will one on one twice. Two glorious tackles but he would be back most times to score with those shots.

He's a f**ken hoax. Flat track bully for sure. 26 tries and 22 of them when his team has blown the opposition away. The Mitch Moses of forwards.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Not really, we have one hard working back who has almost 20% more supports than anyone else in the comp, and 3 in the top 50. The Storm have 3 in the top 11.

The benefit of having toilers in your team. And when you can recruit the best of everything you don't need to sacrifice any other part of your roster. It would be nice, but there's a reason they're top four every f**ken year and nobody else is.

But if you have a look at team stats (rather than top 50, where the outliers live) we are doing ok for support play, and not far off the Storm: https://www.nrl.com/stats/teams/?competition=111&season=2021&stat=1000015

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yes, primarily against the bottom 6 sides

Against whom every team scores most of their tries.

 

[Chipmunk]

The benefit of having toilers in your team. And when you can recruit the best of everything you don't need to sacrifice any other part of your roster. It would be nice, but there's a reason they're top four every f**ken year and nobody else is.

But if you have a look at team stats (rather than top 50, where the outliers live) we are doing ok for support play, and not far off the Storm: https://www.nrl.com/stats/teams/?competition=111&season=2021&stat=1000015

One of their top 2 decoy players is a player we discarded... Perhaps if we spent more time on effort areas our players might improve also.

 

[Chipmunk]

Against whom every team scores most of their tries.

Not the Panthers...
22 tries in 5 games against the bottom 6.
32 tries in 6 games against the Top 6.

 

[Gazzamatta]

There's no point offloading when the defence is fresh and energetic and crowding the ball with numbers. Offloads in that case just lead to loss of metres, slow play-the-balls and turnovers.

The Penrith/Melbourne tactic of continually pulling the attacking player back pretty much negates offloads. Spread the defence with structured attack and this allows fewer defenders in the tackle which in turn opens up offload opportunities. Variation in play creates hesitation. Too much of anything is never good. It's all about process which our Eels need to recognise then set about improving. Our squad is most definitely capable.
Defensively we are getting better with our major issue now being fatigue.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

One of their top 2 decoy players is a player we discarded... Perhaps if we spent more time on effort areas our players might improve also.

We discarded that merkin a long time ago. Would having kept him the entire time been worth the costs? He's hardly a difference maker. He's what allows them to have so many Origin quality players.

 

[strider]

I kicks

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Not the Panthers...
22 tries in 5 games against the bottom 6.
32 tries in 6 games against the Top 6.

It's certainly unusual, but also skewed by playing Manly when they were shit, and Souths when they didn't turn up.