Round 7 - Panthers vs Rabbitohs: Thursday 25th June 7:50pm @Netstrata Jubilee Stadium

[callmack1]

An absolutely massive week coming up for us but it's also a very exciting one! We go up against Penrith on Thursday night in what should be a great test of where we're really at. It'll be a massive test. We've improved a lot over these past two weeks but with all due respect, that was against the Titans and the Warriors, and we face a much bigger test as we come up against a current top four team. All those improvements the past two weeks will count for nothing if we don't put in a good performance on Thursday.

The Panthers are such a great Footy side this year. As I mentioned, they're currently in the top four, have just seen off Melbourne in a big win and could be emerging as a genuine Premiership contender in 2020. So as I said, it's gonna be a real test. They have a lot of attacking weapons too, Cleary, Kikau, Koroisau, along with some talented outside backs that we'll have to shut down.

We are really going to have to step it up once again and be on this week. The big focus I think will be ball retention and controlling possession as Round 5 against the Titans is really the only time we've been able to do this. Against a team like Penrith, we can't afford to not have a good completion rate as they'll make us pay. That should be the focus this week along with defending their big attacking weapons, especially Kikau on our right. It'll be a big boost to have Jimmy back and I'm really hoping Hame returns too!

So yea, a big week coming up. I know we can do it!

 

[callmack1]

Rabbitohs vs Panthers - Moved to Kogarah: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/22/rabbitohs-vs-panthers-moved-to-kogarah/

Turf didn't cause Manly injuries but NRL moves game from Campbelltown: https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/06/22...njuries-but-nrl-moves-game-from-campbelltown/

Good call from the NRL. It will minimise the risk to our boys which I'm thankful for and I don't think the players will be too phased by the change of venue.

Training Gallery - Round 7: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/22/training-gallery-round-seven/

"They've been going really well. Knocking off Melbourne isn't an easy thing to do." - Lowe: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/22/ethan-lowe-media-round-seven/

"If we get this win, it'll be massive for us." - Alex Johnston: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/22/alex-johnston-media-round-seven/

 

[callmack1]

Here's my predicted Line Up for Round 7,

1. Mitchell
2. Gagai
3. Roberts
4. Graham
5. Johnston
6. Walker
7. Reynolds (C)
8. Tatola
9. Cook
10. Burgess
11. Su'a
12. Lowe
13. Murray

14. Knight
15. Mago
16. Sele
17. Sironen

In my opinion, Jimmy slots straight back into that right centre spot. He will be absolutely itching to get back out there so will want to put in a big performance so I'm hoping he's really fired up. I also feel that easing him back in weakens us in the forwards which we simply cannot afford, especially against Penrith so yea, Jimmy slots right back in which will see Campbell move to left centre and Burns drop out.

Pack remains the same apart from Sele who I'm hoping to see return on Thursday.

 

[Pommy]

Not sure I would be comfortable putting Roberts in to this game, he can go missing at the best of times and hasn’t played for an age at this point.

 

[callmack1]

Round 7 Line Up vs Panthers: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/23/round-seven-line-up-vs-panthers/

Pretty happy with that Line Up!! All the same as last week apart from Roberts coming onto the bench. It's so friggin good to see him back and I can't wait to see him properly return! However, I probably would have preferred him to come straight into the starting side just as I feel our forward rotation will be a bit weakened by having a back on the bench. We need to be strong in the forwards against a pack like Penrith's. Anyways, still a bloody strong side!!

 

[NovoBunny94]

Sorry to sound like a negative Nancy (I do that Alot in these forums) and I do hope I'm proven wrong, but I reckon Panthers will Win 30-40+.. apisau will smash through our middles. Tom arms grabs alot and I can see the panthers playing an uptempo attack to tire us our quick which may happen.
Like I said, I do hope i am proven wrong but panthers are really strong this year.

 

[murraymob]

Sorry to sound like a negative Nancy (I do that Alot in these forums) and I do hope I'm proven wrong, but I reckon Panthers will Win 30-40+.. apisau will smash through our middles. Tom arms grabs alot and I can see the panthers playing an uptempo attack to tire us our quick which may happen.
Like I said, I do hope i am proven wrong but panthers are really strong this year.

Will be close .Penrith are not a high scoring team

 

[Rabbit toes]

Sorry to sound like a negative Nancy (I do that Alot in these forums) and I do hope I'm proven wrong, but I reckon Panthers will Win 30-40+.. apisau will smash through our middles. Tom arms grabs alot and I can see the panthers playing an uptempo attack to tire us our quick which may happen.
Like I said, I do hope i am proven wrong but panthers are really strong this year.

I feel the same.
Kikau will wreak havoc. I think they may roll us. Hope to be wrong too

 

[Travitoh]

Souths will win. Penrith would've experienced an emotional high last week with their win against Melbourne and are due for a comedown.

 

[callmack1]

Coaches Media - Round 7: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/24/wayne-bennett-media-round-seven/

Oh how I love Wayne! That interview is him at his absolute best haha. But good to hear him confirm that Jimmy will return! He's confirmed that he'll be on the bench too as he just wants him back playing Footy and he wants him to earn his spot. He also says Sele is a chance of coming onto the bench tomorrow night.

 

[callmack1]

Rabbitohs Insider - Round 7: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/24/rabbitohs-insider---round-7/

Outstanding episode! Really, really enjoyed that!!

Rabbitohs update 19-Man Squad for Round 7: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/24/rabbitohs-update-19-man-squad-for-round-seven/

Interesting. So Mago drops off and Sele comes onto the bench. Allan is the other player to be cut. Great to see Hame back but I hope everything is okay with Mago as I thought it'd be Sironen who made way for Sele.

 

[callmack1]

Here we go!! Game Day has finally arrived! What a huge day it is today and what a huge game it is for us tonight!! As I said earlier in the week, I know we've played the Roosters and the Storm already but since we've got a bit of Footy under our belt since then, the Panthers tonight are our biggest test so far. Tonight will test us and show us where we're really at!

You don't need me to tell you that we need to be on tonight and we need a big performance. Penrith will be up for this one and they'll be full of even more confidence from beating the Storm last week. Once again, the forward battle will be key and they have have a great pack so that's gonna be a challenge. I'm sure our boys will be up for it. We all know that Kikau in particular is the one we really need to watch out for.

Tonight, we simply cannot afford to have poor execution and dropped ball, it's as simple as that. In the big games you need to give yourself every opportunity and take your chances when they're on offer. We're improving a lot in this area but I'm still not completely sold on it so we need further improvement tonight. Completion rate must be high!

It's such a huge game for us but I know the boys can do it!!

 

[callmack1]

Stat Attack - Johnston draws level with Coates in sprint stakes: https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/06/25/stat-attack-johnston-draws-level-with-coates-in-sprint-stakes/

Banana skin that will test Rabbitohs' mettle: https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/nrl-fo...hannel-9/71aa1255-012e-43fb-bbbd-47321848bc9e

 

[callmack1]

Late Mail - Round 7 vs Panthers: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/06/25/late-mail-round-seven-vs-panthers/

Let's go and get these Panthers!!

 

[bunny hopped]

I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed

 

[callmack1]

Just so you all know, my match reports on Thursday nights will be a lot shorter and more brief as I have work the next day and it's getting late here in NZ.

But anyway. I'm feeling all sorts right now. I feel angry, I feel disappointed, I feel frustrated, I feel gutted, I feel confused. Really don't know what to feel after that. Honestly, I really feel like we could have and probably should have won that game, it was there for the taking. But no, because we just can't hold the friggin ball for some reason, we let it slip away. Th margain was eight points and I have to be honest, we did well to keep it to that but taking that into account, if we'd completed better and executed better, we could have won. There's no doubt in my mind. Yet again we have beaten ourselves.

We had no problems making meters and coming out of our own end on attack tonight at all tonight. All the forwards actually did really well at holding their own and our power game through the middle looked quite good. But we just barely had a chance to properly attack tonight and that's all down to our inability to control the ball. We scored two brilliant tries there when we could hold the ball but we just never gave ourselves a chance to win really. Just some really awful hands out there. I'll look at the stats tomorrow but I shudder to think what the error count will be. It's schoolboy stuff, it really is. Just not good enough.

I thought defence was pretty decent. A couple of lapses here and there but other than that, we did okay in defence. Cleary's try and Edwards' try were poor defence but apart from that, it was decent as we were able to restrict their meters at times and also turn them away a lot.

Mitchell: Not his night tonight, he was really poor to be honest. Four errors is just not good enough and he struggled a bit for timing in our plays. He did have more running meters but his error rate was bad. Seemed like he tried a bit too hard and just wasn't good enough.

Gagai: Pretty poor. Only had a handfull of runs, looked shakey in defence and was pretty lazy under the high ball. Time for Wayne to put him on notice.

Graham: Was pretty good. Had his moments defensively but still looked pretty dangerous when he touched the ball. His workrate was slo pretty high.

Burns: A mixed bag. Had some good runs coming out of our own end but that was about it. Another poor defensive showing, especially against Edwards.

Johnston: Not too bad. Strong kick returns, involved a lot and finished off a great try. Was a little suspect under the high ball though and it's a real shame he threw that pass forward..

Walker: I'm gonna be brutal and say Cody wasn't upto his usual standard. He still looked dangerous at times and was creating but then there were other times where he looked a bit lost. A great pass for AJ's try but those were the only real highlights for Cody.

Reynolds: Another player who had a mixed night. His kicking game was on and it was so great at building pressure through that. Great to see him run the footy and take the line on but I still feel he could have been better.

Tatola: Junior played well tonight. Strong runs, plenty of them and no errors.

Cook: Pretty average today not gonne lie. Only had three runs from dummy half. To his credit, his service for the fowards was pretty good and he was outstanding defensively.

Burgess: Great game from Tom as he barnstormed through the middle. Really good meters in each run which really got the role on.

Su'a: Easily our best tonight. He ran hard and he ran good lines. Had a huge amout of energy and was able bend the defensive line back most times, followed by a quick play-the -ball.or a set restart. He was seriously good.

Lowe: A bit quiet again and I don't have a lot to say about Lowe so I think he needs to be put on notice too.

Murray: Pretty good with the usual solid Cam Murray performance. One error was the only blight on his game.

Knight: Was great! No errrors and provided really good impact off the bench through a great running game.

Sironen: Played really well. Plenty of runs and they were all quality. Great to see him get his first NRL try!

Sele: Hame was very impressive, looked like he hadn't missed a beat. Our best bench player.

Roberts: Not much to say about Jimmy as he came in late and didn't see much ball. Was annoying to have him binned though.

So all in all, I'm just so frustrated!! We know what we can do if we execute and complete. We are a great side if we can do that but the ting is we're just not! I'll say it again, we really bet ourselves tonight and that's not good enough! How do we fix this poor completion rate and execution because it's a regular occurance this year?

Lot's to work on.

 

[NovoBunny94]

Yeah what do you say hey. If we held the ball things could have happened. But then again, if Jimmy takes that intercept and draws level, we get momentum etc.. who knows. I was an average night for ball control but like I said earlier, I thought our forwards would let us down but it was our backs this.
I thought cleary kept us in it.. if it was 12-0 then it would have been alot harder to claw back from. But late in the first half it was like a switch was flicked and we started to actually play footy.. lol funny.
Is it me or is Cook not running from dummy half as much as the last couple of years? I remember reading he was going to try and be an all round dummy half rather than a 1 dimensional dummy half (just running, no kicking etc) its like he has put it on the shelf.. or maybe defensive teams know how to handle him now? Idk. Either way our i think he needs to run more. Our forwards were great tonight, even Tom impressed me with some of his runs. Considering the commentators were giving James tamou raps all night i think our forwards did a good job.
But then some times our forwards weren't making metered and our backs and halves would spread wide without earning the right to because our forwards weren't making any post contact metres or bending the line. All in all if we held the ball and were a bit quicker in defence I think we would have won.

Defensively the top teams run up and engage the attackers, where as we seem to sit back and wait which I think gives the attacking team more options and if they bend the line everyone is flat so noone can cover.

Anyway, if we held the ball we could have won but we should have been better before all that. Our standards aren't as good as the top teams and if we don't change our defensive line I think we will be a medium table team.
We were lucky last year to beat manly and the dragons and make it to the pre lims. I hope JD can spark something when Bennett retires because I feel like he's a good man manager and doesn't bring anything else to the team. Maybe I'm wrong? Idk. Pretty disappointed though. We just need to be better in general, lift our standards.
Sorry if I've rambled/also sound like a hypocrite - I do that alot (our forwards were good/but they don't bend the line etc)
Anyway bring on whoever we have next week....

 

[assess5]

Just so you all know, my match reports on Thursday nights will be a lot shorter and more brief as I have work the next day and it's getting late here in NZ.

But anyway. I'm feeling all sorts right now. I feel angry, I feel disappointed, I feel frustrated, I feel gutted, I feel confused. Really don't know what to feel after that. Honestly, I really feel like we could have and probably should have won that game, it was there for the taking. But no, because we just can't hold the friggin ball for some reason, we let it slip away. Th margain was eight points and I have to be honest, we did well to keep it to that but taking that into account, if we'd completed better and executed better, we could have won. There's no doubt in my mind. Yet again we have beaten ourselves.

We had no problems making meters and coming out of our own end on attack tonight at all tonight. All the forwards actually did really well at holding their own and our power game through the middle looked quite good. But we just barely had a chance to properly attack tonight and that's all down to our inability to control the ball. We scored two brilliant tries there when we could hold the ball but we just never gave ourselves a chance to win really. Just some really awful hands out there. I'll look at the stats tomorrow but I shudder to think what the error count will be. It's schoolboy stuff, it really is. Just not good enough.

I thought defence was pretty decent. A couple of lapses here and there but other than that, we did okay in defence. Cleary's try and Edwards' try were poor defence but apart from that, it was decent as we were able to restrict their meters at times and also turn them away a lot.

Mitchell: Not his night tonight, he was really poor to be honest. Four errors is just not good enough and he struggled a bit for timing in our plays. He did have more running meters but his error rate was bad. Seemed like he tried a bit too hard and just wasn't good enough.

Gagai: Pretty poor. Only had a handfull of runs, looked shakey in defence and was pretty lazy under the high ball. Time for Wayne to put him on notice.

Graham: Was pretty good. Had his moments defensively but still looked pretty dangerous when he touched the ball. His workrate was slo pretty high.

Burns: A mixed bag. Had some good runs coming out of our own end but that was about it. Another poor defensive showing, especially against Edwards.

Johnston: Not too bad. Strong kick returns, involved a lot and finished off a great try. Was a little suspect under the high ball though and it's a real shame he threw that pass forward..

Walker: I'm gonna be brutal and say Cody wasn't upto his usual standard. He still looked dangerous at times and was creating but then there were other times where he looked a bit lost. A great pass for AJ's try but those were the only real highlights for Cody.

Reynolds: Another player who had a mixed night. His kicking game was on and it was so great at building pressure through that. Great to see him run the footy and take the line on but I still feel he could have been better.

Tatola: Junior played well tonight. Strong runs, plenty of them and no errors.

Cook: Pretty average today not gonne lie. Only had three runs from dummy half. To his credit, his service for the fowards was pretty good and he was outstanding defensively.

Burgess: Great game from Tom as he barnstormed through the middle. Really good meters in each run which really got the role on.

Su'a: Easily our best tonight. He ran hard and he ran good lines. Had a huge amout of energy and was able bend the defensive line back most times, followed by a quick play-the -ball.or a set restart. He was seriously good.

Lowe: A bit quiet again and I don't have a lot to say about Lowe so I think he needs to be put on notice too.

Murray: Pretty good with the usual solid Cam Murray performance. One error was the only blight on his game.

Knight: Was great! No errrors and provided really good impact off the bench through a great running game.

Sironen: Played really well. Plenty of runs and they were all quality. Great to see him get his first NRL try!

Sele: Hame was very impressive, looked like he hadn't missed a beat. Our best bench player.

Roberts: Not much to say about Jimmy as he came in late and didn't see much ball. Was annoying to have him binned though.

So all in all, I'm just so frustrated!! We know what we can do if we execute and complete. We are a great side if we can do that but the ting is we're just not! I'll say it again, we really bet ourselves tonight and that's not good enough! How do we fix this poor completion rate and execution because it's a regular occurance this year?

Lot's to work on.

Put Lowe on the market, not on notice, he's never been anything but average.

Why did Roberts come on so late, he should have started, can't understand Bennett at all, won't mind when he and Lowe are gone.

Souths got beaten in the forwards, Penrith were happy to concede 5 full restarts to Souths by holding down to long in a tackle. The tactic worked perfectly, look to other sides to copy this. All a team needs to do is don't give three restarts in a rowe, that brings in the sin bin.

Better coached side won with Souths forced into unnecessary errors by a relentless Penrith defence.

 

[handyman2190]

I dont understand why it has to be 3 restarts before a sin binning they held us down all night, if the ref figures whats going on he should take action.
We will with this pack be beaten in the forwards, defence is just ok, but we are not bending the line in attack, and cookie cant run and the backs dont have space. We need 2 big boppers.
Sua was the pick of the forwards,sele played well burgess tried hard, but cameron isnt playing well,lowe is average, tatola was average, sironen maybe needs to start instead of lowe.
I get the feeling jimmys problem wasnt fitness keeping him from playing, im sorry to say its a mind thing, he has got to be told not to go out trying to prove something and giving away penaltys and being sent off, just to blend in and help the team,he goes out there trying to win or shift the game by himself,and its not working.
Like it or lump it, we are in a rebuilding stage, you cant lose 4 top liners buy reserve graders and think your still going to finish in the top 4 or 8
Mitchel will still be learning the FB role until end of the season and is vulnerable, in between flashes of brilliance and mistakes.
Arrow will only make a small difference next year.
Mago has potential but is overweight and lacks fitness and the only reason we persevere is his bulk in a medium size pack.
Sorry boys 10th spot is my prediction, unless we can stop the errors in attack, AR livens up and starts playing, he is like a corpse out there, captain should be given to cody.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Hold the ball, we win.

Seriously...how many times did we drop it 1st tackle. Or 2nd?

Penrith were ripe for the picking and we just spluttered.

Not panic stations but we can't keep making simple errors, coughing up possession and allowing teams to get a march on us. Can't keep beating lesser fancied teams either and expect to take on the better teams with an error riddled game.

Oh well. Feet up for the weekend to watch the other games.

Thanks for the report @callmack1 . On the money as usual.