Are the keatings days numbered?

[Eelementary]

Yeah, I agree with you Eela.

Bit like Brian Smith too.

I have this suspicion that he just wants to make the eight and storm home 5 weeks out from the semis rather than peaking too early or showing everyone what we've got.

Basically, the drags have shown everyone, their style. And teams can try and work them out by watching tapes after tapes of them. A bit like our finals game against them last year how Reddy wrapped behind grothe in defense

Indeed.

What is DA to do?

I questioned DA's decision last year to promote Daniel Mortimer but what else was he to do?

I think its time (after the bye) for Ant Mitchell to take Matt Keatings place on the bench. But DA might think differently. There could be salary cap pressures we dont know about or other contractual obligations.

DA could be thinking this "will Ant Mitchell be an improvement on Matt Keating if theyre swapped?". Ant Mitchell has his issues and he is a rookie, completely untested. Its a difficult decision and one that I will back DA to make.

As for our tactics, DA learned how to get the best out of our players last year and that was to release the shackles. Unfortunatly, the style of football we play is very VERY hard to master. And I for one think that we have too much inexperience in our team to be focusing on tactics at training rather then the basics (I refer to Mortimer and KK in particular there) Its hard with young halves running the show, you cant put alot of pressure on them at this stage of their career when there is so much they dont understand.

I didn't meant it to be too harsh on DA - for all I know the situation is 100% under control and he knows the best way to get the best out of the boys is to cruise along and only hit peak form in the Finals. He's the genius, not me lol.

 

[Eelementary]

that comes alot down to the halves as well mate...
we dont have a player in our halves who does the organising or barks orders.
The best player in the comp at it is Cooper cronk

That's a good point, mate.

And honestly, overall, Ando has done a fantastic job - got us to a Grand Final, has attracted quality players, and has started to repair the damage that Hagan caused.

I guess I should follow my own advice regarding the halves - give them time. I think Daniel Anderson sees something in Mortimer as our 7 long-term (I must admit I do, too - I don't know what it is, but I can see he has something special), and Kris Keating is a good foil as a natural 5/8, and Anderson knows it will take time to develop their skills and partnership. And I am willing to give them that time, for the sake of the long-term future. I am sure everyone else is, too.

Go Parra!

 

[MaxZ/3iaGGiZ]

MK is finally out.... Humble moves in on the bench.

Both KK and Morts are on notice. Both will be pressured to perform knowing full well Humble will replace one of them in the halves.

Most likely Coach Ando has decided to play KK hooker, Humble/Morts halves in future.

 

[yy_cheng]

in regards to MK... what do people expect from him in his 20 odd minutes on the field?
he isnt an impact hooker... so his impact is going to be minimal.

it is a bit hard to get involved/influence a game when you get 20 mins or so...

and that's why he shouldn't be in the team or on the bench.

He lost his place to Robson and so must be off to Wenty to show better form or wait until Robson screws up or gets injured.

Therefore, with the 20 that he does get, he better make sure he delivers. Even try and play like an impact hooker.

 

[eel01s]

I quite like Matt Keating, I think he always puts in 100%. He is, however, guilty of being predictable when scooting from dummy half - has anyone ever fallen for the two dummies he always throws? Also I think he needs to put away the short kicking game. His longer clearing kicks are usually OK.

Maybe he (and for that matter anyone taking a hitup) would be more effective if there were support runners on hand to put doubt into the defensive line.

Oh and of course he needs to speed up his service from dummy half.

 

[lingard]

Yeah, I agree with you Eela.

Bit like Brian Smith too.

I have this suspicion that he just wants to make the eight and storm home 5 weeks out from the semis rather than peaking too early or showing everyone what we've got.

Basically, the drags have shown everyone, their style. And teams can try and work them out by watching tapes after tapes of them. A bit like our finals game against them last year how Reddy wrapped behind grothe in defense

I reckon the same thing. I was actually talking to a bloke the other day about exactly that. In a competition where half the teams end up in the finals, why would you bust a gut to be near the top for the whole competition? Not meaning that they aren`t trying every week, but that little extra bit of intensity might not come until it`s really needed. It might be a bit of a gamble, but what St George are doing might be an even bigger gamble. Of course if it was a five-team final series, you couldn`t do that. Every game would count.

 

[lingard]

The way he has been playing would lead me to believe he would not be asking for too much.

Or whatever he is asking for is too much.

 

[lingard]

in regards to MK... what do people expect from him in his 20 odd minutes on the field?
he isnt an impact hooker... so his impact is going to be minimal.

it is a bit hard to get involved/influence a game when you get 20 mins or so...

That might be true; but the fact is that he has been given ample opportunity in the past (when he was given a lot more game time) to do something impressive. I believe he is only being given the amount of time now that the coach feels confident about having him on the field for. If we had even a reasonable hooker in reserve grade who was ready to step up to firsts, Keating wouldn`t be in the team. I mean, I think that`s the only way to make sense of the current situation, don`t you?

 

[Casper The Ghost]

Originally Posted by yy_cheng
Yeah, I agree with you Eela.

Bit like Brian Smith too.

I have this suspicion that he just wants to make the eight and storm home 5 weeks out from the semis rather than peaking too early or showing everyone what we've got.

Basically, the drags have shown everyone, their style. And teams can try and work them out by watching tapes after tapes of them. A bit like our finals game against them last year how Reddy wrapped behind grothe in defense

I reckon the same thing. I was actually talking to a bloke the other day about exactly that. In a competition where half the teams end up in the finals, why would you bust a gut to be near the top for the whole competition? Not meaning that they aren`t trying every week, but that little extra bit of intensity might not come until it`s really needed. It might be a bit of a gamble, but what St George are doing might be an even bigger gamble. Of course if it was a five-team final series, you couldn`t do that. Every game would count.

YY Cheng & Lingard, it feels right what you are both saying. Great insights from both of you. Here is another insight, when I watched the coaches interview after the 30 nil loss to the dragons last week, amongst the many differing vibes I was picking up was that Roper Doper vibe, the same one I picked up from around that round 26 loss last year to the Dragons on their home turf. Then the Eels came out and convincingly beat the Dragons on their home turf the following week. I wonder if DA & co have a few surprises in store for the Storm???? Something is cooking... You have both got me thinking about this DA roper doper strategy again. There is a lot of motivation for the boys to tap into and rise for the occassion. This is a huge game, probably one of the best of the year. Eels to win by 16.

 

[lewiscook]

Originally Posted by yy_cheng
Yeah, I agree with you Eela.

Bit like Brian Smith too.

I have this suspicion that he just wants to make the eight and storm home 5 weeks out from the semis rather than peaking too early or showing everyone what we've got.

Basically, the drags have shown everyone, their style. And teams can try and work them out by watching tapes after tapes of them. A bit like our finals game against them last year how Reddy wrapped behind grothe in defense




YY Cheng & Lingard, it feels right what you are both saying. Great insights from both of you. Here is another insight, when I watched the coaches interview after the 30 nil loss to the dragons last week, amongst the many differing vibes I was picking up was that Roper Doper vibe, the same one I picked up from around that round 26 loss last year to the Dragons on their home turf. Then the Eels came out and convincingly beat the Dragons on their home turf the following week. I wonder if DA & co have a few surprises in store for the Storm???? Something is cooking... You have both got me thinking about this DA roper doper strategy again. There is a lot of motivation for the boys to tap into and rise for the occassion. This is a huge game, probably one of the best of the year. Eels to win by 16.

I agree with you, YY Cheng and Lingard.

I think DA is keeping is cards close to his chest and a very cool customer.
I believe over the coming months you will see a change in the intensity of our side coming into the back end of the season.
I dont think there will be huge surprises or anything like that i think there will be a drastic change in team intensity much like our game against the Sea eagles.

Im really looking forward to the coming months of this NRL season.

 

[yy_cheng]

But what gets me is that we should really really beat the easy teams. We get beaten by the sharks, twice. The following week, the sharks are beaten by their opponents convincingly.

If you want to sneak under the radar, beat the easy beats.

If you are knocking off the big guys, then you will get noticed.

Another suspicion that I have is that I think that DA will actually have a simple gameplan and tell the players to do what they want. If they fail, it shows the younger brigade that a coach's game plan is very, very important and that the big heads can't do it all themselves.

A bit like the last round last year against the drags again.

 

[btaag]

But what gets me is that we should really really beat the easy teams. We get beaten by the sharks, twice. The following week, the sharks are beaten by their opponents convincingly.

If you want to sneak under the radar, beat the easy beats.

If you are knocking off the big guys, then you will get noticed.

Another suspicion that I have is that I think that DA will actually have a simple gameplan and tell the players to do what they want. If they fail, it shows the younger brigade that a coach's game plan is very, very important and that the big heads can't do it all themselves.

A bit like the last round last year against the drags again.

Rope a dope, keeping your cards close to your chest, timing your run, etc... I think we are possibly doing this, and if we are it is the right thing to do, provided as YY says above), we beat the easy beats and stay in the game...

To use the racing analogy, you rarely see a horse running last at the final turn come home to win (though we came damn close last season :x), but you definitely see a horse emerge from the pack and win the race, having never led.

I get the impression that Ando wants the team to play the basics, knowing that they can do the lateral movement, high offload football, but wanting them to grind out a win...... The game against the Dogs was late 2009 personified for me, but recently we went back to the one off, basic football.....

Injuries make a difference - not many sides can lose 2-3 key players and be guaranteed a win..... I think the Penguin's absense was felt last week too....

We need to stay amongst it, and make our run with 3-4 games left in the regular season - let the title pretenders like the Panthers, Titans and Souths get excited dreaming about the Grand Final. If we capitulate after last years dissappointment, it would be a real shame.

 

[sooperdooper]

and that's why he shouldn't be in the team or on the bench.

He lost his place to Robson and so must be off to Wenty to show better form or wait until Robson screws up or gets injured.

Therefore, with the 20 that he does get, he better make sure he delivers. Even try and play like an impact hooker.

but what has robson done that has been so great?
nothing...

IMO it should be: 9. M Keating 7. Robson 6. K Keating 14. Mitchell

Mortimer is the one who should be at wenty

 

[Djay]

but what has robson done that has been so great?
nothing...

IMO it should be: 9. M Keating 7. Robson 6. K Keating 14. Mitchell

Mortimer is the one who should be at wenty

Totally disagree with you. What has M Keating done besides nothing? It should be 9 Robson who atleast gives decent service, 7 Mortimer, 6 Humble and 14 KK or Mitchell.

 

[lingard]

but what has robson done that has been so great?
nothing...

IMO it should be: 9. M Keating 7. Robson 6. K Keating 14. Mitchell

Mortimer is the one who should be at wenty

Well, you`re right, he hasn`t done anything great. But he hasn`t played badly. He`s adapting to the hooker role (which is new to him); he`s scored two tries in the last three games, and he`s been solid but not exciting. I think the key is that he hasn`t played badly, whereas M. Keating actually has played badly. And M. Keating should be a fairly seasoned first grade hooker by now, don`t you think?

 

[lingard]

Totally disagree with you. What has M Keating done besides nothing? It should be 9 Robson who atleast gives decent service, 7 Mortimer, 6 Humble and 14 KK or Mitchell.

That`s how I see it, too.

 

[back_to_the_future]

That might be true; but the fact is that he has been given ample opportunity in the past (when he was given a lot more game time) to do something impressive. I believe he is only being given the amount of time now that the coach feels confident about having him on the field for. If we had even a reasonable hooker in reserve grade who was ready to step up to firsts, Keating wouldn`t be in the team. I mean, I think that`s the only way to make sense of the current situation, don`t you?

I have watched your comments on here about the keatings for a while now, in particular Kristopher, and there is no doubt it wouldn't matter what he did you would find something negative, you would boo santa claus. Let's look at tonights game and compare your man mortimer, kicking game keating better, running to the line, keating better, backing up keating better, defence keating way better, mistake rate mortimer higher. However I am sure you will find fault, parra looked their best when mortimer was in the sin bin, he should be going back to wenty and he can take you with him.

 

[yy_cheng]

Going back on DA, would this hypothesis be true?

DA looks at the big games coming and spends more time working out tactics for that game. He goes through video after video after video.

Thus, since the Manly game, the 2 games that we played, would he have spent less time with the boys and let the other coaches spend more time on those matches (assuming that the opposition aren't that strong) whilst he devises ways to defuse the big guns?

 

[Bazal]

Kris Keating should be halfback IMO....Humble to 6, Mortimer and MK to Wenty to remember how to play footy

 

[lingard]

I have watched your comments on here about the keatings for a while now, in particular Kristopher, and there is no doubt it wouldn't matter what he did you would find something negative, you would boo santa claus. Let's look at tonights game and compare your man mortimer, kicking game keating better, running to the line, keating better, backing up keating better, defence keating way better, mistake rate mortimer higher. However I am sure you will find fault, parra looked their best when mortimer was in the sin bin, he should be going back to wenty and he can take you with him.

I can see why you might think that, mate; but it`s not that way at all. For a start, he`s not my man, Mortimer. I said in another post that we should not have signed Mortimer. I stick to that. Just that the coach seems to have made his mind up that he`s our half, so what can you do? As for Keating? To my mind he`s been very disappointing. If you don`t think he has, then that`s fine. But last night, he had the best game he`s ever played for the Eels. He was terrific. I nearly gave him a point in my player points post - just that Hayne, Cayless and Mannah/Hindmarsh were better. If he plays like that every week, I`ll be very happy for him to be our five-eight. And he certainly played all over Mortimer, who I believe is grossly over-rated at the moment. Once again, if you read my posts properly you`ll know that I`m not a great Mortimer fan (although I think he is showing gradual improvement.) But absolutely, well done to Kris Keating - he had a whale of a game. I`m very happy to be proven wrong about him. (I was actually cheering him on last night. ) Oh, and yeah - I do boo Santa Claus (bloody corporate, money-making devil he is.)