2023 R12 Sat - Wests Tigers 66-18 North Qld @ Leichhardt / Wanngal

[borisdog]

The Cowboys right edge is as shit as any in first grade.

Nanai, Chad and Hiku are soft as they come when defending.

While Feldt has always had the derp in him.

You can maybe get away with one or two at most, but with all four the good sides will just pick them apart.

And 3 of the 4 mentioned are well on the wrong side of 30.

 

[_Johnsy]

 

[butchmcdick]

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

I agree with you on most points there, except I think Deardon has been alright considering the forwards are usually being raped. Drinky seems to play on confidence, when the team is down he does stupid shit all of the time.
1 or 2 strong games doesn’t excuse Hess imo most of the year and the last few years he’s a reserve grader.

TBH I thought our forward pack had turned the corner since the Roosters game, where they appeared hungry again and were actually led by Luki in that department and without pea heart Nanai letting in tries each game. But nevermind that lol back to reality now. Need to give the young blokes a go I think, I don’t see how they can turn it around with the current group.

Fair call on Dearden. In 2021 our forwards gave him nothing to work with. Dearden needs the forwards to get over the advantage line and get a quick play the ball so he can make use of his speed and strength. He always gives 100%.

I'd move on Maclean. He doesn't provide enough post contact metres and is slow. Granville works hard, but he is getting on in years. Gosiewski has been stronger than Nanai. I don't know what to make of Mitchell Dunn. He can ball play, but needs to bulk up a bit and run onto the ball a bit harder.

Holmes keeps on dropping the ball in crucial situations and falling off tackles.

Hiku is going.

 

[borisdog]

Fair call on Dearden. In 2021 our forwards gave him nothing to work with. Dearden needs the forwards to get over the advantage line and get a quick play the ball so he can make use of his speed and strength. He always gives 100%.

I'd move on Maclean. He doesn't provide enough post contact metres and is slow. Granville works hard, but he is getting on in years. Gosiewski has been stronger than Nanai. I don't know what to make of Mitchell Dunn. He can ball play, but needs to bulk up a bit and run onto the ball a bit harder.

Holmes keeps on dropping the ball in crucial situations and falling off tackles.

Hiku is going.

Hiku is past it, that's fair enough. He's been good for us though.

Maclean - yeah, he's had good and bad. Not the worst this year.

Gosiewski has been good so far. Tries hard. Definitely worth keeping.

Gotta find a half to replace Chad when he goes. There doesn't seem to be much in the cupboard. I like Hampson but I don't think he's the answer.

Val - I think he gets an awful lot of hospital passes. He kinda thinks everyone has his hands, if you know what I mean. Great broken field runner given enough room, just hasn't had it like last year. That's the difference between good "go forward" and plodding.

Dearden is a good player. The quality of what's around you makes a difference. At the moment, the players around him are having a terrible season, but they're pretty much the same blokes as last year.

Drinky. Jesus mate, is there ANYTHING up top? At all? Think mate.

Peyton. I keep saying this but how can a coach keep allowing repetitive dumb stuff with zero evidence of consequence to the player? Why is Kyle Feldt allowed to continually be 15m inside touch on defense. Why does Drinky REPEATEDLY opt for short restarts or dropouts, regardless of game situation, etc etc. You get the picture.
Either the coach is condoning this or the players are ignoring him. And neither of those possibilities is worthy of a First Grade NRL Coach.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Hiku is past it, that's fair enough. He's been good for us though.

Maclean - yeah, he's had good and bad. Not the worst this year.

Gosiewski has been good so far. Tries hard. Definitely worth keeping.

Gotta find a half to replace Chad when he goes. There doesn't seem to be much in the cupboard. I like Hampson but I don't think he's the answer.

Val - I think he gets an awful lot of hospital passes. He kinda thinks everyone has his hands, if you know what I mean. Great broken field runner given enough room, just hasn't had it like last year. That's the difference between good "go forward" and plodding.

Dearden is a good player. The quality of what's around you makes a difference. At the moment, the players around him are having a terrible season, but they're pretty much the same blokes as last year.

Drinky. Jesus mate, is there ANYTHING up top? At all? Think mate.

Peyton. I keep saying this but how can a coach keep allowing repetitive dumb stuff with zero evidence of consequence to the player? Why is Kyle Feldt allowed to continually be 15m inside touch on defense. Why does Drinky REPEATEDLY opt for short restarts or dropouts, regardless of game situation, etc etc. You get the picture.
Either the coach is condoning this or the players are ignoring him. And neither of those possibilities is worthy of a First Grade NRL Coach.

I think the players have been ignoring the coach since the 2017 GF. Three coaches, but same result every year except 2022.

I think the squad ran out of energy after the effort they put in last year. Many of them played in the World Cup.

Feldt's defensive errors have cost us games over the years.

Our biggest concern right now is our feeble defence and limp forward pack. We're getting dominated at the ruck.

 

[Port Stephens Magpie]

I think the players have been ignoring the coach since the 2017 GF. Three coaches, but same result every year except 2022.

I think the squad ran out of energy after the effort they put in last year. Many of them played in the World Cup.

Feldt's defensive errors have cost us games over the years.

Our biggest concern right now is our feeble defence and limp forward pack. We're getting dominated at the ruck.

No excuses dude. We won, well.
A lot of other teams had heaps of players in the world cup as well.

 

[butchmcdick]

No excuses dude. We won, well.
A lot of other teams had heaps of players in the world cup as well.

Yeah

fair call

you guys kicked our arse

no excuses

well done to you

I hope the rest of your season goes well. After the shit you’ve been through you Gus deserve some success

 

[borisdog]

I think the players have been ignoring the coach since the 2017 GF. Three coaches, but same result every year except 2022.

I think the squad ran out of energy after the effort they put in last year. Many of them played in the World Cup.

Feldt's defensive errors have cost us games over the years.

Our biggest concern right now is our feeble defence and limp forward pack. We're getting dominated at the ruck.

Yep fair summary. The interesting thing is we can play 10 minutes of great footy. We did that on Saturday night.

What changes in the other 70 minutes? And why?

 

[borisdog]

No excuses dude. We won, well.
A lot of other teams had heaps of players in the world cup as well.

Absolutely.

Great win Tiges

I’d be batting myself raw if the Cowboys had a win like that.

 

[Pezz70]

And 3 of the 4 mentioned are well on the wrong side of 30.

The left edge got
Blown to smithereens on satdy. Toa made Holmes look like a park footballer, I can’t remember the last time I seen a ‘quality’ player get his pants pulled down that bad.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

No excuses dude. We won, well.
A lot of other teams had heaps of players in the world cup as well.

I never made any excuses for the result.

The same cannot be said about the braindead Tigers administration when they threatened legal action after their loss in Townsville last year.

Tigers were brilliant on Saturday. Cowboys were horrible.

I explained why the Cowboys have gone from preliminary finalists to easy beats.

Cowboys busted their arses in 2022 running a high intensity game based around line speed and an up and in defensive pattern that suffocated their opponents. As the season grew longer the squad started to show the effects of playing at such a high intensity. They went from being one of the best defensive teams pre-Origin to leaking soft tries. This year they've leaked even more soft tries and not played at the same intensity. The players are clearly burnt out and need a rest. It didn't help that the year they burnt themselves out preceded the World Cup and shortened their pre-season. The team looks tired and out of sync.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Yep fair summary. The interesting thing is we can play 10 minutes of great footy. We did that on Saturday night.

What changes in the other 70 minutes? And why?

I think the squad cannot maintain the high intensity game plan that saw them rise up the ladder last year. Last year's run was on the back of the defensive line getting in the faces of their opponents and coming up and in on the edges. As the season wore on they started to leak soft tries. This year they've only been able to maintain the same high intensity style for short periods. The players look like they're cooked and need a good rest. The only game we managed to play at this intensity for more than a few minutes was against the Roosters.

I'd move Hiku on and replace him with a development player. Time to introduce some young blood in the forward pack, too.