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2021 Preliminary Semifinal V Storm

Messages
2,673
I don’t bet Panthers still in pain from losing $500(5 weeks pay) on 1974 AMCO cup final. But I wouldn’t bet if I thought Dylan was only “pretty” safe under the high ball he is more than that.
Ah the good old AMCO/KB/National Panasonic Cup! The only piece of trophy ware that has eluded us ☹️

Bloody Western Division! Who would’ve thought?!?
 

The Realist

Juniors
Messages
1,891
He's a solid 14, but still not convinced he is a regular starting player in any particular position. Very pedestrian as halfback during Origin, would have been the ideal time to blood Kurt Falls.

I am shocked at how much of his pace is gone. When he first debuted and played a fair few games at #6 beside Cleary he was relatively quick and very agile.

Fast forward to 2021 and it is like he has cement boots on.
I know he did his ACL early in 2018 but he had all of 2019 and 5 games in 2020 to recover and get his body right - but since he has been back he’s always had strapping.

Just goes to show that many players are 1 injury away from becoming completely different players.
 
Messages
4,314
Ah the good old AMCO/KB/National Panasonic Cup! The only piece of trophy ware that has eluded us ☹️

Bloody Western Division! Who would’ve thought?!?
Can you imagine the outcry now from the coaches if they needed to field a side in a mid-week comp!?!? All the coaches would be falling over themselves to play a team featuring the ball boys with a smattering of Harold Mats fringe players to ensure they got beaten in the first round.
 

Thirsty Panther

Juniors
Messages
1,176
Can you imagine the outcry now from the coaches if they needed to field a side in a mid-week comp!?!? All the coaches would be falling over themselves to play a team featuring the ball boys with a smattering of Harold Mats fringe players to ensure they got beaten in the first round.
I don't know.
They let them play SOO in the middle of the season and the clubs get nothing in return.
At least with a mid-week comp there would be a financial reward for the winner.
 

kyussian

Juniors
Messages
33
some thoughts a couple of days on...

- despite being massive underdogs & battered from the eels game, we turned up to show so much heart & grit & would not be denied. everyone stood up & that was very encouraging. i liken it to our 2014 semi final win vs roosters. so gutsy & IMO up there with our greatest ever victories! havent been as proud of that effort for a very long time. made it so much sweeter that it was against our bogey team!

- the stars did align for us to offset the calls we didnt get from Sutton - assuming the calls will not go our way removes the need to rely on them.

- them losing two middles early added to the attrition nullifying their game plan using Grant & like us in our semi vs rabbits, they didnt seem to have a plan B. they were exhausted & just trying to survive. NAS & Hughes were immense but no one else supported them

- moving the game to an earlier timeslot definitely benefited our smaller pack where our conditioning kicked in, which allowed us to contest every play, which in the end was the difference

- i've never seen the Storm so many mistakes - ever!

- we once again handed over possession early in the tackle count on more than a few occasions. not sure if it's just me but they often seem to be unconventional ones as well (from memory: 20/40, scrumbase, Fish stripped, Capewell cold drop). For some reason we seem to have this in our game but thankfully we are able to handle the extra load. this is why i believe we have more gears to climb. We are winning clunky & have been since origin. Cant imagine the damage we'd do if we were cohesive!!

- special kudos to Capewell, Martin & Api - they were struggling post origin but they all stood up & finally brought their 'origin experience' with them

- i love how TPJ got stuck into Welch. We dont really have mongrel in our team & despite only playing a handful of minutes, his presence has made a difference. i daresay the rabbits will want to play the same game against us as they did in the semi & bash our middle so if TPJ is out then this will be significant
 
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Kilkenny

Coach
Messages
13,877
It is interesting how we received so much flack around our trainer and the injury to Mitch Kenny. Our trainer suspended, heavy fined dished out.

There has been far less written and said around the shoulder injury to the the Storms Brandon Smith which was dealt with as a HIA. Blatant flouting of the rules but as yet no fines or suspensions. I know the Storm are no longer in the big dance but surely worthy of some form of sanction.
 

Original Name

Juniors
Messages
1,413
It is interesting how we received so much flack around our trainer and the injury to Mitch Kenny. Our trainer suspended, heavy fined dished out.

There has been far less written and said around the shoulder injury to the the Storms Brandon Smith which was dealt with as a HIA. Blatant flouting of the rules but as yet no fines or suspensions. I know the Storm are no longer in the big dance but surely worthy of some form of sanction.
You can't 100% prove it wasn't a HIA, that's the problem. He can just say he has symptoms and you can't disprove he's not feeling symptoms. The Storm trainer would just say it's whiplash from hitting the ground even if his head never touches anything. The NRL can't fine them for it because it's a claim impossible to 100% disprove. Like everyone knows Munster and Smith did cocaine what happened was they just say lawyer coached response of I don't remember anything and even though everyone know what was it you can't prove 100% what it was.
 

Fangs

Coach
Messages
13,948
The 2021 Storm side were excellent. If we didn't rough them up early in the game to expose their bench it might have been a different story.

They would have easily accounted for Souths with a full strength team on the field.
 

Munky

Coach
Messages
12,223
The Storm bench going into the game is one of the great tactical blunders in modern coaching IMO.

I said this before the game in the Parra final thread and thankfully Bellamy actually went with it:

I hope Melbourne put Grant and Hynes in the bench.

Two small men on the bench would be a big advantage to us.

Individually either one is a game breaker but it asks alot of their middle with a two man interchange.

Especially after Welch went down.
 

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