And back to 2nd we go!

[Jersey No 14]

There's a lesson in there for a great number of them.
I do hope they recognise it.
Melbourne snaped their fingers and we were done by a bunch of no names.

 

[jeffdragon]

There's a lesson in there for a great number of them.
I do hope they recognise it.
Melbourne snaped their fingers and we were done by a bunch of no names.

We had the no names sele robson lawrie nicholls not them

 

[gonz]

When u continually pick players like host, lawrie, luc etc on the the bench & then never use them on game day like he has been doing all yr u pay the price when u expect them to play a full game of nrl. Mcf**kwit is to blame these players r totally under prepared. All yr he's been saying he has systems in plc for origin. Well he just got caught out massively. He got severely out coached last night. & he's stalling the development of these players!!!


#supercoach #salesman

 

[hazzbeen]

When u continually pick players like host, lawrie, luc etc on the the bench & then never use them on game day like he has been doing all yr u pay the price when u expect them to play a full game of nrl. Mcf**kwit is to blame these players r totally under prepared. All yr he's been saying he has systems in plc for origin. Well he just got caught out massively. He got severely out coached last night. & he's stalling the development of these players!!!


#supercoach #salesman

Well said , I am definitely not comfortable coming into the semifinals with our great coach , really his coaching has not change much still the same just better cattle at this stage , no major injuries ....

 

[hewi]

My take for what’s its worth, Nichols did ok, gave Widdop good ball, kicks a little ordinary , the forwards did very well until the last 15 minutes I think they just ran out of petrol, not match fit at the level they played at last night plus injury to Host. Enough has been said about Nightie, very sad. All in all to me great game and very proud of the effort.

 

[SGMax]

Patience please.
Nichols has had 1 opportunity in a severely weakened team. If he has a few games in a near full strength team and doesn't perform then he should be judged. Besides he did OK although not brilliant.

Don't worry about being no.1, the panthers caught us and until this weekend have since faded.

Can't Justify wholesale changes just yet.
We would be the laughing stock of the NRL if after one loss to share the competition lead we started replacing the likes of Aitken, Lafai, Mann back to the bench, etc just to promote promosing ISP players.
The ISP players will get their opportunities or force their way in with dominating performances.

 

[giboz71]

Nichols is fine for a back up.

He came up against the defending premiers at home in a depleted team, and a winger defending next to him where an edge backrower should have been.

Can’t see him playing too many more games of FG, but with our first team available to play with him, I’m expecting he’ll do much better.

 

[hazzbeen]

Nichols is fine for a back up.

He came up against the defending premiers at home in a depleted team, and a winger defending next to him where an edge backrower should have been.

Can’t see him playing too many more games of FG, but with our first team available to play with him, I’m expecting he’ll do much better.

Might have been better with Man at 7 Nighty to wing .Just a thought after the event .

 

[giboz71]

My take for what’s its worth, Nichols did ok, gave Widdop good ball, kicks a little ordinary , the forwards did very well until the last 15 minutes I think they just ran out of petrol, not match fit at the level they played at last night plus injury to Host. Enough has been said about Nightie, very sad. All in all to me great game and very proud of the effort.

We were great for 67 minutes then the reserves just ran out of puff.

Biggest take out from the game is that Melbourne’s reserves are a class above ours. This is hardly a newsflash given Bellamy’s history of developing players. Guys like Hughes, Blair, Croft, Welch, Brandon Smith, Jacks etc are bona fide FG quality players who would be starting for most other teams.

When we both have our first teams out on the park, we proved at Kogarah we can beat these blokes.

So not sure why the panic?

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

We were great for 67 minutes then the reserves just ran out of puff.

Biggest take out from the game is that Melbourne’s reserves are a class above ours. This is hardly a newsflash given Bellamy’s history of developing players. Guys like Hughes, Blair, Croft, Welch, Brandon Smith, Jacks etc are bona fide FG quality players who would be starting for most other teams.

When we both have our first teams out on the park, we proved at Kogarah we can beat these blokes.

So not sure why the panic?

The panic is down to coaching.
An actual coach who watched that game would have recognised that leaving Nightingale on the field for 70 minuites, while you had recognised forwards on the bench, while he looked increasingly exhausted and busted, while the opposition coach directed all his forwards to run straight at him, was not a great idea.

McGregors bench use has been a frustration all year, this time it bit us on the ass.

That’s the panic, the non recognition of a problem during the game and the faliure to fix it on the fly.

 

[giboz71]

The panic is down to coaching.
An actual coach who watched that game would have recognised that leaving Nightingale on the field for 70 minuites, while you had recognised forwards on the bench, while he looked increasingly exhausted and busted, while the opposition coach directed all his forwards to run straight at him, was not a great idea.

McGregors bench use has been a frustration all year, this time it bit us on the ass.

That’s the panic, the non recognition of a problem during the game and the faliure to fix it on the fly.

If we had our first team, Host or Leilua would have been on the bench and would have slotted straight in if Friz or Sims went down.

It wasn’t possible last week as our entire starting back row was on Origin duty.

It’s a one off unique situation that does not reflect a real world scenario. Host was the last person we needed to get injured as we had no edge players left.

It is what it is.

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

If we had our first team, Host or Leilua would have been on the bench and would have slotted straight in if Friz or Sims went down.

It wasn’t possible last week as our entire starting back row was on Origin duty.

It’s a one off unique situation that does not reflect a real world scenario. Host was the last person we needed to get injured as we had no edge players left.

It is what it is.

Sure with our full team we could have covered an injury.
But that brings us to everyone’s second point.
Why when we had lost 4 of our starting pack and had to throw ISP player into the game did McGregor go into the game with an ageing winger and a back up hooker on the bench?

You can argue that there were no other forwards in ISP ready to play first grade, but at least Kerr, Allgood and Ford are actual forwards.

 

[BennyV]

Exactly guys, this is a one of unique situation and obviously its the only time Mary has shown an inability to adapt to in-game situations. So, y'know...chill...

 

[giboz71]

Sure with our full team we could have covered an injury.
But that brings us to everyone’s second point.
Why when we had lost 4 of our starting pack and had to throw ISP player into the game did McGregor go into the game with an ageing winger and a back up hooker on the bench?

You can argue that there were no other forwards in ISP ready to play first grade, but at least Kerr, Allgood and Ford are actual forwards.

Yep fair enough, Team selection was more the issue. Kerr or Allgood maybe should have been given a go so we had the extra forward on the bench.

But when Host went down, Sele or Robson weren’t really options. Sele was selected as a bench prop to spell Au Mau and Graham whilst Robson was selected at utility. Neither would have been suited to defend on the edge.

Nighty wasn’t ideal but that was his best option given what was available.

If we had Allgood or Kerr on the bench instead of Robson, then yeh stick Sele in to replace Host and hope for the best.

 

[giboz71]

Exactly guys, this is a one of unique situation and obviously its the only time Mary has shown an inability to adapt to in-game situations. So, y'know...chill...

Has Mary ever replaced a 2nd rower with a winger when we’ve had our full complement?

 

[BennyV]

Has Mary ever replaced a 2nd rower with a winger when we’ve had our full complement?

It’s not about the specifics. It’s about his complete inability to adjust to in-game occurrences in any way.

 

[giboz71]

It’s not about the specifics. It’s about his complete inability to adjust to in-game occurrences in any way.

Fair enough and agree he needs to improve on this area.

But don’t use the other night as an example when 4 out of our 6 forward starters were on Origin duty and the best reserve we have goes down after 5 mins.

Most coaches would struggle in that scenario when no options are available.

Bennett used Thaiday at hooker against us FFS.

 

[BennyV]

Fair enough and agree he needs to improve on this area.

But don’t use the other night as an example when 4 out of our 6 forward starters were on Origin duty and the best reserve we have goes down after 5 mins.

Most coaches would struggle in that scenario when no options are available.

Bennett used Thaiday at hooker against us FFS.

And despite all the above, it as disturbingly obvious once Host went down that an aging winger would be vulnerable defending 4 in. Problem is that Mary intended on using his backrowers for 80 minutes (as indicated in the pregame article on Leilua) and couldn’t adjust. He should have rotated other players in that position to keep them fresh. Or adjusted the defence to allow Aitken to defend further in, this reducing the load on Nighty and Nichols. Or something. If a moron like me could see the danger of expecting Nighty to punch out a full game, it shouldn’t take 4 rapid tries for the guy paid to win us games to see it.

And sure, that specific situation may not happen again, but as mentioned as nauseum it’s indicative of the greater problem Mary has with adjusting, he’s had a super charmed run so far with lack of injuries, form of key players and individual brilliance getting us over the line when our Plan A doesn’t dominate the game. But you’d be stretched to make a claim that this doesn’t have potential to cost us big time in the finals.

 

[tumbidragon]

Shit happens. Yes our bench management is atrocious! But if we can nail a top 4 spot, that'd be great (a pass mark for Mary from many of us pre-season). Any more is a bonus considering our middle depth...
I'd back our starting engine room most days,
Mann offers value @14, surprisingly strong 1 on 1 defender and troublesome around the ruck if given the opportunity, so back to the bench mate.
Flo, love you, but you have no place in the 17 atm. We have two guns raring to go in Herbert and Pereira.

 

[The Damo]

And despite all the above, it as disturbingly obvious once Host went down that an aging winger would be vulnerable defending 4 in. Problem is that Mary intended on using his backrowers for 80 minutes (as indicated in the pregame article on Leilua) and couldn’t adjust. He should have rotated other players in that position to keep them fresh. Or adjusted the defence to allow Aitken to defend further in, this reducing the load on Nighty and Nichols. Or something. If a moron like me could see the danger of expecting Nighty to punch out a full game, it shouldn’t take 4 rapid tries for the guy paid to win us games to see it.

And sure, that specific situation may not happen again, but as mentioned as nauseum it’s indicative of the greater problem Mary has with adjusting, he’s had a super charmed run so far with lack of injuries, form of key players and individual brilliance getting us over the line when our Plan A doesn’t dominate the game. But you’d be stretched to make a claim that this doesn’t have potential to cost us big time in the finals.

Yeah this is the worry. During his tenure he’s improved (again, from a very low base) a number of facets of his coaching;
Building/overseeing an effective Plan A
Improving, or at least letting players improve attacking structures/set plays
Team cohesiveness and morale
Mental resilience of the team in close tough matches (recruitment obv a big part of this too)
Team fitness/some skill building (a little)

But - his tactical use of the bench, ability to adjust tactics in game, conservatism in player selections, trust in younger players - are all deficiencies that I wish we saw evidence of improvement.

At our best, with our best 16 (and option of using our 17) the team can beat anyone, and they can sustain it for 4 weeks. We could win. And in the same way he’s ultimately responsible for the bad, he’s gotta get some credit for the good.
As with every team there’s plenty that needs to go right for that to happen. And if he was a better coach in those areas then the list of variables that could prevent that would be shorter.
For all that though - he ain’t going anywhere this season or next, so here’s hoping anyways.