3-2-1 v Raiders

[Izz]

Yes, because he was the only one offside by about 2-3 metres.

Yeah, good point

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Yes, because he was the only one offside by about 2-3 metres. NRL is just about the mental aspect just as much as it is the physical. If he cant focus for 80mins out of the week he shouldnt be out there. He did it again at the end of the game trying to rake the ball out when 90s on the clock. All he achieved was a set restart. By the time we got the ball back, there was less than 10 seconds left instead of a minute which gave us no chance of a miracle finish. He also did this last year against Broncos in the last seconds of a game taking a player out and wiping out the matchwinner.

So yeah, i wasnt impressed with him last night....

That was 2023, the game we lost in Napier to the Baby Broncos in Origin time.

I think Pompey has been serviceable this year, I see him as our best left centre in the overall picture. No doubt I'd like an upgrade on him over time but he's doing a job.

Agree on the rake as well, although in the heat of the battle I can see why he did it. It did frustrate me we'd have less time with a final set, although we can't score from 10m out so no way can we score from 80m out

 

[Rich102]

Disappointing.

3. Clark. Big step up from last year.
2. Ford. Can't fault the effort.
1. Capewell.

Wish we had Barnett available.

 

[Blair]

Fish needs to be better, really needed him out there tonight without Barnett.

We know we can win without Fish but can we win without Barnett?

 

[Blair]

I thought the biggest DMs were Leka and Laban. It seemed to me like Leka was having a shocker so they took him off, but then Laban was even worse so they had to get Leka back on.

I 'love' the laser-like discussion after a loss. So, those two. They got re-signed last week for five years or so. Could it be that they just relaxed this week, even just a little bit?

 

[Philip_Smith007]

What do we think about our preset determination to take 2 points when it's on offer? I mean, our defence is better than our attack and I like that we back it, but we lost by 2 tries to 1 tonight and we had 2 opportunities to attack the line and didn't take them.

I think it's because our attack is so poor inside the 20m and we think we can defend our way to a win.

It can all depend on circumstances. Wet weather game, vs playing 12 men, vs having 12 men on the field.
Do you go up by 8 or just 2?
Do you draw level?
How much of a rest do the boys need?

I always felt taking the 2 makes the defensive team think they can't break our line and gives them a confidence boost.

 

[nswarrior]

3- Clark
2- Ford
1- RTS

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

3 Clark
2. Ford
1. Rog

Our attack stunk. Our dicipline stunk, our handling stunk.
But good is it going to be with Clark, Barnett and JFH as our middles

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I 'love' the laser-like discussion after a loss. So, those two. They got re-signed last week for five years or so. Could it be that they just relaxed this week, even just a little bit?

Nah I’m with Ozbash re Leka, he tries a little too hard at times, he fights for every cm of gain, fights for the quick play the ball, fights to dominate tackles- but sometimes the smart thing is to prioritise ball security or not giving away a penalty or set restart rather than trying to dominate every collision. He’ll learn.

 

[One Warrior]

3. Clark
2. Ford
1. RTS

HM: CNK

 

[Grizzman]

Its interesting. There's not a load of love for CNK. His involvement (particularly in the first half) was huge and I thought that might influence a few people. In my view though (and perhaps in others as well, by the lack of points offered) was that he really appeared to overplay his hand on attack and the ball died with him too often. I think he really wanted to make a point to his old teammates ... and he probably did, just not the one he intended.

 

[ozbash]

We know we can win without Fish but can we win without Barnett?

No...we lacked direction and the discipline wasn't there..good in patches but couldn't go on with it..

Those fkng 6 against killed us..

 

[Meth]

CNK annoyed me for the reasons that you said. Also, my suspicion of his milking and his sin binning (which I understand was a team thing, but he was on the end of it and we conceded the match winner during that period with Mariota splitting us open and we haven’t got our fullback to try to clean up Fogarty)

 

[Meth]

Discipline cost us that game

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Discipline cost us that game

Genuine question - how so?

It probably wasn't as good as it needed to be, but I don't see how we can expect to hold a team like Canberra to under 10 points. To me, we are going nowhere until we can unlock a side in their 20m zone.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Its interesting. There's not a load of love for CNK. His involvement (particularly in the first half) was huge and I thought that might influence a few people. In my view though (and perhaps in others as well, by the lack of points offered) was that he really appeared to overplay his hand on attack and the ball died with him too often. I think he really wanted to make a point to his old teammates ... and he probably did, just not the one he intended.

The main thing that jumped out to me with the points for this game is that you have Ford getting through a power of work which for me was largely ineffective, whereas you have CNK getting through a power of work which for me was much more effective, and yet the perception for a lot of people is obviously the opposite.

I think there is a bias against CNK because he is not as talented as RTS or as elusive as TT, and so it's like he is annoying people by existing even when he does something good. What I saw was he made our best run of the game (a 50m break) but he also regularly makes strong 10-12 metre carries and finds his front even when we are struggling for go-forward. For a guy who is not particularly big or fast he seems to have a knack for getting us on the front foot.

You can basically trace this back to the signing of RTS, plus a little bit of other teams working out our right edge attack. CNK being CNK was great in 2023, but ever since we had RTS waiting in the wings, CNK being CNK wasn't good enough anymore. I also think it's pretty absurd to blame CNK for our right edge attack becoming too predictable, but it's definitely a bonus he had to his game in 2023 which isn't really working now.

My version of that is other posters are obviously seeing Ford make 10-12 metre hit ups and are impressed by that, while all I can see is a guy who is basically giving the opposition a free rest and a chance to think about the next play every time he runs the ball. But then you could argue that just like CNK, while Ford doesn't look big or strong or fast, he just has a knack of going forward (no pun intended).

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I also think a similar thing is happening with DWZ (and happens to Kosi) where he is expected to do something bad and so even when he doesn't he gets marked down for "looking like he's about to do something bad". Plus anything bad that happens within a 10 metre radius gets blamed on him.

 

[Meth]

Warrior of the week is Erin Clark

Clark 45
Ford 27
Tuivasa Sheck 13

Capewell 6
Nicoll-Klokstad 6
Egan 2
Metcalf 2
Niukore 1

17 voted

 

[Big Marn]

I think the lack of votes is due to CNKs' part in the gameplan which is basically getting reasonable field position by the kick. But it would be good to mix that up a bit more rather than see CNK twice in a set of six. We cant score in their 20 so why not use that CNK possession with a bit more risk. One of our best tries was Lekas against the Tigers from inside our half. I would like to see more of that

 

[Meth]

Genuine question - how so?

It probably wasn't as good as it needed to be, but I don't see how we can expect to hold a team like Canberra to under 10 points. To me, we are going nowhere until we can unlock a side in their 20m zone.

Fair question. To be honest, it's equal parts because I heard them say it and my frustration with that sin binning.