3,2,1 vs Dragons

[Fast Eddie]

But dont most league teams in the 3 positions of back row and lock generally play 1 attack player and 2 defence men.

Mateo is the attack guy and Luck/Taylor/Mannering are the defensive guys.

Thinking back to the Tigers in the 80,s we had Sirronen as attack dog and Pearce/Hardwick and the back ups as defence men.

A lot of teams don't have the second row depth we possess. I do agree with Penrose about Brown being a bit dodgy defensively though. I reckon we'll see Tai'i back into the side against the Cowboys.

 

[ozbash]

Oz Oz Oz Oz...do you watch a different feed than us?

nope, had to put up with f**king McGivit same as anyone else.

Mateo was crap
Inu was crappier
Berrigan - did he play ?

Mateo comes on (ffs, how much did we pay for this f**king 'benchie' ? ), and our point of attack changes. Johnson is immediately pushed into the background and we go to plan B, "Feleti will offload it to someone".

Inu should have his contract ripped up and be told to f**k off.

Berrigan,,, lol

 

[AliN]

Lillyman
Locke
Mannering

 

[kos]

Oz when I watch Mateo I wonder why Parra let him go. berrigan is primarily out there for his defence and I thought Inu was very good in the first half but went to sleep in the 2nd.
Mateo has fared very well in the 3-2-1 ratings this year.

 

[hitman82]

f**k that game - seriously. Don't even know where to start with my rant about it...

3 - Locke
2 - Lillyman
1 - Johnson

 

[jaseg]

Gasnier try was a joke. Mannering being tripped by Hornby while going for the loose ball the set before the first Dragon's try of the second half was a joke. Luck being penalised was a joke. And now we're going to have to deal with crap like that playing away for the entire finals series.

VERY disappointed (at both the team and the refs) losing that game... it was SO winnable.

3 Locke
2 Johnson
1 Mannering

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Gasnier try was a joke. Mannering being tripped by Hornby while going for the loose ball the set before the first Dragon's try of the second half was a joke. Luck being penalised was a joke.

With Luck, are you talking the double effort on Boyd? That was definitely a penalty.

We have to look at ourselves too, although I agree the Gasnier try was a joke. Maloney's kick on the full led to a try, as did Mateo's silly offload, as did Tupou's poor hands, as did his poor positional play.

Tupou can't play next week, in my opinion. The Cowboys will ruthlessly expose him given half a sniff. Trouble is, would the Fish do any better? Would anyone do any better?

 

[Fast Eddie]

Vatuvei may be back.

 

[_addict]

That was annoying

3 Locke
2 Lillyman
1 Moon

Does Mannering realise he's the captain? He should have been in the ref's ears about a fair few things in that game.

We have good players, but no leadership. Why was it that after the first Prop's rotation there was very little in the way of them sticking their hand up to hit it up? Why isn't the hooker, or half-back giving them either direction or a stir-up to do so?

I'm with hitman, I hardly know where to start with my rant.

 

[Warmess]

3. Locke
2. Lillyman
1. Moon

Christ our fringe D is f**king awful. Always has been though, just takes a team with decent passing to show it. Even more frustrating than that was the reffing. They must have wanted the Drags in the finals real bad. Some blatant incorrect calls there. Sigh.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I still want Joel to stay.

 

[devoid]

I know we copped some questionable calls, but I'm with PW - we need to cop the loss based on what we controlled.

To put a positive spin on it: our two losses in the last 7 (I think?) weeks were the 1 point loss at Suncorp, and 4 points at Wollongong - both of those games we played pretty average around the ruck and up the middle. The thing that frustrates me is, it feels like we are very close to having something special. Locke was spectacular again, and maybe even the form player of the entire comp. We just need to play smarter and straighter, and win the ruck.

 

[devoid]

I still want Joel to stay.

I want the return of Paddy.

 

[Rich102]

At half-time I thought we had the game won - so did the team.
All season the wings have come infield on defence. Why hasn't this been fixed?
The Dragons were there for the slaying but we decided to have a nap. Ivan's half-time talk must have been a real ripper. What did he say? Take them on on the forwards - gently?
That was our season right there. Gone in 40 minutes.

3. Locke. Can't think of anybody that deserved it more.
2. Lillyman. Best game from him.
1. Moon. Showed some flashes. (He's not a half though.)

I expected more & the Juniors deserved more.

 

[hitman82]

At half-time I thought we had the game won - so did the team.
All season the wings have come infield on defence. Why hasn't this been fixed?
The Dragons were there for the slaying but we decided to have a nap. Ivan's half-time talk must have been a real ripper. What did he say? Take them on on the forwards - gently?
That was our season right there. Gone in 40 minutes.

3. Locke. Can't think of anybody that deserved it more.
2. Lillyman. Best game from him.
1. Moon. Showed some flashes. (He's not a half though.)

I expected more & the Juniors deserved more.

You don't think we can make it through an Oz-based semi?

The wing defense is a funny one. At first I was like *#@!! you Tupou when they scored first down his side, but on the replay they were marked man on man; the Dragons had simply created a 1-man overlap.
But he did miss a couple of critical tackles leading to big breaks, and failed to reel in what was really a very average grubber for another try.

If teams keep concentrating on Tupou's wing, we will continue to leak points. But what can we do to stop this?? Nothing.

Manu is injured, we have SFA outside back depth, and with Berrigan copping an injury it may get worse with Brown coming back into the centres.

 

[One Warrior]

3. Locke
2. Moon
1, Lillyman

Pity that Moon is leaving, Ta'ai in next week for Taylor, Brown could be in if Berrigan is injured, Tupou out when Vatuvei comes back, don't get me started on the Gasnier try, crap reffing, but we should be used to it by now.

 

[hitman82]

I understand your POV man, but I moreso blame Rapira for peeling off first then turning his back - of course our young guys will follow his lead.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Does Mannering realise he's the captain? He should have been in the ref's ears about a fair few things in that game.

We have good players, but no leadership.

He was. So are we going to go back to the 'Mannering shouldn't be captain when we lose'? He was copping it during the losing streak, haven't heard anyone complaining about his captaincy over the last 5-6 weeks though.....

 

[The European Polynesian]

Simply put that shit call changed the game, we lost all our momentum after that not to mention the 6 point gift. We still should have won that game though.

3. Locke
2. Johnson
1. Rapira

-3. Tupou
-2. Taylor
-1. Hohaia

Bring back Manu, Ta'ai/Brown/Stevey, Godinet

 

[TheDMC]

You don't think we can make it through an Oz-based semi?

The wing defense is a funny one. At first I was like *#@!! you Tupou when they scored first down his side, but on the replay they were marked man on man; the Dragons had simply created a 1-man overlap.


Locke gets my three points, no idea for the 2 &1 - not the wingers though. Was at the game, very disappointing 2nd half we were off the boil completely. You wouldn't have seen it on telly, but early in that half there was a kick to our in goal and our entire forward pack walked back (from around the 40m mark) - no urgency whatsoever, leaving our backs to run it out from our goaline for 4 of the 5 plays. Needless to say they made about 30yrds from 5 tackles, and the next set St George scored.

On the wing defensive issue - this has been going on awhile. Our backline is compressed in (which is normal) but are far too slow in pushing out when the ball is being spread. Not so much an overlap, but it means their backs have room to move and can get on their marker's outside, and then when the wings panic and come in (nearly every time un-neccessarily) we are screwed. Or they switch it in to someone hitting straight and at pace (Boyd for example) and because we are slow to move out, thar be a gap. Sucks.