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Round 3 - Roosters vs Rabbitohs: Friday 29th May 7:55pm @Bankwest Stadium

callmack1

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11,609
Coaches Media - Round 3: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/05/28/coaches-media-round-three/

Wayne back to his absolute best! I loved that interview haha.

Bad news that Jimmy is out, that's a bit of a blow and I was really hoping he'd be a late inclusion. In saying that, I have full confidence that those who are playing can step up and fill the void.

Great news that Latrell is looking great and will play the full game at fullback though! God, I hope he has a massive game!

‘Next question, mate’ - Grumpy Wayne Bennett snaps at Cody Walker talk: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...3/news-story/f333c11d277136fcdb2a87b854955f0e
 

callmack1

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Rabbits20

Immortal
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41,606
Rabbitohs update 19-Man Squad for Round 3: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/05/28/rabbitohs-update-19-man-squad-for-round-three/

So Wayne has cut Jimmy and Goodwin which means we won't be carrying a back on the bench (a good move against the Roosters). Sironen can fill that role if need be.

Head games - Latrell's date with destiny more fuel for age-old fire: https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/05/28...date-with-destiny-more-fuel-for-age-old-fire/
Completions are key more than ever now with the new rules.

I hope he can do it bro Latrell but I am a bit concerned how he will cope with such a fast pace. I think we will really miss the Jet, Cody and Sele off the bench.

If Cookie doesn’t run the ball when the opportunities arise with this fast paced game I think I’ll bang my head against the wall, he needs to stop thinking pass when there is time and just pin the ears back!

Murray needs to spend a lot of time at lock as well or at least if he’s in the second row he needs to come looking for the ball off inside passes!

We need to utilise Latrell in attack too.

You know what someone put a rocket under Gagai who has only ran for an average of 69metres per game the first 2 games. It’s about time he earnt his 700k and ran for 150 metres plus like he does in origin!

Lastly I want to see Dargs just take the line on and pin the ears back.

Burns better have learnt to tackle as well!

OH AND FINALLY LESS THAN 24 HOURS TIL KICK OFF AND YES WE ARE THE UNDERDOGS BUT THAT IS JUST HOW WE LIKE IT!!! WE NEED TO TARGET THOSE TIRED BIG RORTERS BODIES IN THE MIDDLE!! GLORY GLORY FOOTY IS BACK!!!!!!!

 

callmack1

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11,609
It's been a long, long time but we're finally here.... It's Game Day!!! God, I've been waiting for this day for a while! As I have said earlier in the week, there is no better way, and no bigger game to restart your Season than playing the arch rivals, thr Roosters. So much bitterness between us, so much hate, and that's gone on for 112 years now. The oldest and best rivalry in the game. The Book of Fueds will be dusted off again tonight and yet another fierce chapter added. I can't wait!!

There might be no better way to restart the year but there also isn't much harder way to start the year. Yes, the Roosters are none from two and are without Cronk as well as our very own Mitchell but that doesn't matter. I hate to say this but they are still a quality side and we're gonna have to play extremely well to get on top of them, especially considering the guys we have out. Their forward pack is quality but for me, the forward battle is where this game will be won and lost and Cookie is the key to that. After watching last night, he'll be so important if our game is played at a similar pace. A lot of our attack will come from him and he needs to play direct, take some lightning scoots and just pin the ears back, that'll open it up hopefully.

Also, it's the old cliche, but we must complete our sets at a high level tonight and must be disciplined in defence. We saw what happened to Brisbane under the new six-again rule as well as what happened when they made errors and we can't do that against a quality side. We must not beat ourselves tonight, especially because it may be wet and it's the first game back in a while.

Finally, with a few guys out, our stars have to shine. I've mentioned Cookie but we also need a big game from the likes of Reyno, Gags, Tom, Murray and Tatola. Latrell needs to be better and I'm really hoping he'll go well against his old club. Hopefully Dargz has a solid debut as well.

Man, I've woken up really pumped today, it's not hard to get up for these Roosters games. Footy is back! Arch rivals lay ahead of us! Let's dance!!
 

callmack1

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Not really sure how to describe that game, frustrating and disappointing are probably my main thoughts. I expected we'd be a little rusty but I thought we'd be better than that. Just a really inconsistent game where we played really well for periods and then absolutely terrible in others. Over all though, I'm pretty disappointed. Don't get me wrong, we did have some really good periods but over all it just wasn't good enough.

Attack was pretty average tonight I'm not gonna lie. There was that twenty minute period there where we started to come back that we looked great and we did put on a number of super slick plays but for the most part it just wasn't up to standard. We looked slow and clunky compared to the Roosters. We completed pretty well and had the better share of possession but just couldn't do anything with it. The biggest area of concern for me, and this is perhaps why we struggled to score points, is the ruck. From an attacking point of view, it appeared in that game that the boys would charge into the line and have a good run but then they'd go to ground and there's no fight in the play-the-ball. More often than not, they'd just lay there and movbe around a little, waiting for the defence to get off them. This, in my opinion, is the biggest reason why our attack was poosr as we weren't able to generate much consistent momentum. I will say though, that period arounf the time Tom scored was great! We looked awesome in attack because the anti was up. Play like that all game and we probably could have won.

Defence was extremely inconsistant and a mixed bag too. I thought for most of the first half, we defended brilliantly! The boys turned them away and overcame sustained pressure on multiple occasions and our scramble to stop tries was great. If I'm being honest, we should have been down by more going into half time but our defensive resiliance kept us in it which was great to see. But then, come out in the second half and the defence is pathetic, we concede two soft tries and then boom, the game is gone. Very inconsistent. We also really struggled to slow down the ruck in defence too which is why the Roosters looked so much faster than us. One thing we did do well defensively was our line speed, I thought that was good but jeez we have a lot to work on both attack and defence.

Mitchell: Latrell was a lot better improved tonight. He seemed fitter and was a lot more involved, taking some great runs and having some silky touches. He put on that beauty of a play for Murray's try and throughout the whole game he was just more involved which was great to see. Pulled of some great bits of defence too. The only blights were an error and being caught out of position a few times but that comes with learning. This is a performance he can build on.

Gagai: I actually thought Gags was pretty good, he was probably the most busy out of all the backline. Did come up with that one error but otherwise had countless carries coming out of our own end and a lot of them were quality too. Defensively he was pretty solid (I know the right edge got caught out a few times but I don't think that was due to Gags). He did get out-jumped by Tupou early for that try but otherwise it was a decent performance.

Graham: Wasn't bad but a bit 50/50. His first half was great as he looked dangerous almost everytime he touched the ball, got through plenty of work and had some very strong carries. However, the second half was a lot more quiet and apart from the odd good run, he didn't do a lot.

Burns: I wasn't all that impressed with Burns tonight. He just wasn't involved enough and wasn't doing enough coming out of our end. He also made a few silly passes on the attack and there was a few times he looked at sea in defence. God I hope he can recapture some form soon!

Johnston: AJ was good tonight. He's obviously not a big guy but he took his kick returns at full pace and certainly wasn't scared of contact. I thought his work rate was quite high too.

Dargan: He didn't set the world on fire but he certainly didn't do a bad job on debut. Seemed to be the dominant half and showed off a decent kicking game as well as a nice and direct attacking style. He almost created a number of opportunities tonight but sadly, they didn't eventuate.

Reynolds: I love Reyno but he deserves to be slammed after that. I'm pissed at him to be honest. Seriously, what did he do all game? I never thought I'd say this but I think we would've almost been better off without him in this game because he was just so damn quiet. He wasn't injured. In a time where he needed to step up, he was nowhere to be seen. This is his team now and he has to own it. He's talked about leading from the front, well taking a back seat like that and pushing all the duties onto a young half ON DEBUT is not leadership. We could have really used his kicking game tonight and apart from a few forced drop outs, it was nowhere to be seen. Reyno was so, so poor and it was a real shame. He's the key for us so he better make up for it next week!

Tatola: A very quiet night for Tatola and despite having a few good runs, he wasn't able to contribute much. That was probably due to the head knock.

Cook: Once again was fairly average. As always, he got through a lot of quality defensive work but I just feel his attacking game wasn't at it's best again. He often didn't pick the right times to run yet when he did, we was looking around for a pass instead of just pinning the ears back and going for it. I feel like in a way, he's a big issue with our attack close to the line because he doesn't seem to pick up the ball staright off the deck and pass it, he hesitates a bit before passing which just kills the attack. That was evident tonight. Man, we need Cookie to find his best form again.

Burgess: Tom had a good game, one of our best I thought. Was a workhorse through the middle when he was on and he ran hard all night. Got through plenty of meters and tackles with no errors and he scored a great try.

Su'a: Jaydn actually impressed me tonight. I wasn't happy with his work rate as he could have been more involved however, every touch he did have, he looked incredibly dangerous. Was running great lines nice and hard, and was breaking tackles. He held his own in defence. I'd like to see more, more consistantly throughout the game from him.

Murray: He tried so hard tonight which was great to see, scored that great try where he still had some work to do when he got the ball and also set Tom up for his. However, his involvement and this his meters and impact were down again. I feel that we just need him back in the middle, he's that valuable to us there.

Knight: Same comments as Tatola

Nicholls: I didn't notice Nicholls a lot tonight to be honest apart from him being very busy in defence.

Lowe: He was kind of the same as Nicholls in that I didn't really notice him a lot.

Sironen: Unfortunately, another bench player who didn't offer a lot tonight.

Amone: Now Tommy is someone I noticed. He was great!! Ran hard all night while he was on and the Roosters certainly struggled to get him down once he got those legs pumping. Jee wiz, he was whacking guys in defence too! Great game from Amone!

So all in all, there are some positives to take away but it was a pretty disappointing night. We need to be a lot better and we can be a lot better, there's plenty to work on.

Of course it's only early but we want to get off to a solid start and play some good Footy so we're not chasing later in the year. Like I say, plenty to work on.
 

Travitoh

First Grade
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5,156
I thought Burns was one of the better Souths players last night. Along with Gagai and Graham (who were better in their run on positions), he got through a heap of work in the first half when there was no go forward coming out of the pack and was solid in defence completing 16 of 17 tackles.

Amone was great. Really pleased to see him get a run. It's difficult to say anything nice about the rest of the forwards i feel.

Latrell was alright. He was missing a bit in the first half but got through some work in the second. Looked better than he did in the opening two weeks.

Has Reynolds made it to the ground yet or is he still stuck in traffic?
 

handyman2190

Bench
Messages
3,386
Forwards win games, we lost 3 big name forwards and did not replace them, and it showed.
Burns in the clear, he use to be fast, that should of been a try, maybe his hamstring isnt 100%
Ruck speed, struggling to get up to play the ball quick, nonexistent.
Bad game
 

big hit!

Bench
Messages
3,452
The change has to be made with Murray back into the middle. Quick PTB is what you need in rugby league today and the roosters showed how it is done. Murray has to take the 4th or 5th tackle so we can get a roll-on off the back of his play. He took settlers last night on 3rd tackles after our undersized wingers took the first two. Lack of quick PTB affects Cooks game, and it also doesn't allow our halves the time to lay on plays. I know the problem is the squad lacks a quality second edge forward, but Benno has taken away the biggest strength to plug a weakness. Need to find a solution to the weakness without removing strengths.

I feel Johnstone is better at FB and will push more in the centre of the ground, allowing the team to take advantage of Murray quick PTB and Cook darts. Mitchell doesn't have it in his game to push continually and perhaps come up empty. Mitchell goes when he knows he's getting the ball and we need more from a FB. As mentioned above, Johnstone is undersized for a modern winger.

Reynolds - ran the ball once and fluffed it. He needs to do more than merely pass and kick before the line. He's the captain and needs to lead with action like Sutto. And on that, it's surprising Sutto is blue-shirting. Need someone who more vocal in that role IMO
 

big hit!

Bench
Messages
3,452
My match-day squad:
FB - Johnstone
RW - Gagai
RC - Roberts (if avail)
LC - Mitchell
LW - Graham
RH - Reynolds
LH - Walker / Dargan
AH - Cook
MF - Murray
RF - S'ua
LF - Lowe / Sele
PF - Burgess
PF - Tatola

IC - Knight
IC - Amone
IC - Nichols
IC - Lowe / Sele
 

Travitoh

First Grade
Messages
5,156
Souths have invested too much into Latrell already to give up on him after three games. He is showing progression in the position and it would be a step backwards to shift him to centre for AJ at the back.
Of the outside backs last night, i felt AJ was the least influential of the 4 and is an easy omission for Roberts when he returns.

Gagai should've never been up against Tupou in the air for their first try. It wouldn't be hard to have Graham at centre dropping back instead of Gagai when the opposition are kicking across field for a big winger. All it takes is a bit of communication between the two and instruction from the coaching staff.
 

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