Cut to the chase

[snout]

Fact is nobody knows what we are going to do this year.
The only thing certain is we are winning nothing.
No titles and no spoons.
Other than that theres maybe a dozen different scenarios that could play out.
Going into today we didnt know who was turning up to play or who was turning up their toes or who was turning up their nose.
Coming out for the 2nd half - once again - we had no idea were we going to roll over, bend over, stand up or stand down.
We are an enigma.

We have no coach. I have no idea what hannay does or brings - or if any player listens to him or even knows his name.
I would say he has the least influence on most of these guys than anyone in the club.
Im going to say a big blonde headed ex jets front rower held more sway leading into tonight than the coach. Once he took guard standing on the sideline we had a tranfusion of an energy we havent seen all year.

The ref and the bunker had an absolute shocker tonite. Im not gonna blame them but that effort cannot go unrecognised. Benjis forward passes ..wow. where was this ref for us a couple of weeks ago.

For a club that chased damn hard for a halfback ..well, we have 5 of them.
Fortunately 3 of them know how to apply pressure. On the opposition. Not in their teammates.
Those 3 did it tonight.
1. Trindall has found his spot. A ball playing, tackling edge player. With a kicking game. A nathan brown. A wade graham. A viktor radley.
2. Connor tracey. He has come back from serious injury with a self made edict to not die wondering. He is the 7 we need for the remainder of the year. Just play whats in front of you son. Youll make mistakes but who cares. Our seasons a car crash. Throw caution to the wind and who knows we might string a few together and get a finals game.
3. Moyza. Sorry but lve been supporting this guy for 3 years. Problem is l remember. I remember him playing SOO. He is a beautiful footballer. Hes a strange cat and has been to hell and back in the football sense and most of this has been his own doing - but this guy....body fit, and under fitzy. Hhmm. I am excited. If he recaptures a bit of what he had. Hhmm.
That play tonight where he scooted around the back and found nikora - Chad doesnt even go there when hes having a wank let alone ever pull off a play like that off.

The other two..
4 & 5. Two nameless and aging halves both of whom l have no intersest in ever seeing in a sharks jumper again.
Halves play is about creating pressure. Going at the line and bringing your forwards forward and rolling up the park before putting polish on your last play.
AR like.
These two play for themselves. They play sideways. They play safe. They play premeditated.
Guys like ramien and wade and nikora never shine any more. Whilst blokes like manu and cody walker, etc do.
Why? Its because our 7 never gets them the ball in a position where they can do what we bought them to do. Put manu in our side and he would be flogged to death on here for his ineffectiveness.
This has been going on for too long.
End it.

Next year looked a lot brighter tonite. Our issue isnt with the 6 and 7. We dont need to find the next AR. We need forwards.
If we can get a pack that rolls forward and holds their own l reckon we might just have the guys who can do a decent job on the back of that.

Will kennedy. Man l got him all wrong. Realistically. Behind a pack going forward this guy could be among the best fullbacks we have ever had.
Brayden trindall became a first grader tonite. Im fpharking excited about his next game. Billy who?
Mcinnes.
Wilton.
2022 might not be as bad as what it was looking a few hours ago.

But, just as exciting. So very exciting...
We will never see woods in a sharks jumper ever again.
Or duges.
Or SJ.
And most of all chad. What an abysmal footballer this bloke is. My all time least favourite shark.
I was watching him tonight and thinking of the cowboys. 3 years. Of that?...and getting older.
FMD. Seriously. He should retire.

I enjoyed tonight. Could not give a rats about the result. Feefs. Thanks man. You were fantastic. Make him coach.

 

[Tiger Shark]

Is there a TLDR version?

 

[bad boy bubby]

take what you've been told essay

 

[snout]

Benjis bombs. Or walkers.
Pinpoint.
Swirling and landing exactly at the point of their chasers.
Bringing kennedy forward to meet it.
Every time.
f**k kennedy did a great job.

Chads 'bombs'.
Every single one of them.
Just close your eyes and kick it.
Way too deep.
The bunnies back 3 - all the time in the world.
No pressure.

The fact he never practices this?
To perfect this?
That flanno morris hannay arent demanding better.
Thats what does my head in.

 

[Ozzi_78]

I reckon it’s under instruction. They talk about getting to their points. So they just want to achieve a 1 tackle in a set position, they don’t strive for an error. It’s totally odd.

 

[bluefox68]

Fact is nobody knows what we are going to do this year.
The only thing certain is we are winning nothing.
No titles and no spoons.
Other than that theres maybe a dozen different scenarios that could play out.
Going into today we didnt know who was turning up to play or who was turning up their toes or who was turning up their nose.
Coming out for the 2nd half - once again - we had no idea were we going to roll over, bend over, stand up or stand down.
We are an enigma.

We have no coach. I have no idea what hannay does or brings - or if any player listens to him or even knows his name.
I would say he has the least influence on most of these guys than anyone in the club.
Im going to say a big blonde headed ex jets front rower held more sway leading into tonight than the coach. Once he took guard standing on the sideline we had a tranfusion of an energy we havent seen all year.

The ref and the bunker had an absolute shocker tonite. Im not gonna blame them but that effort cannot go unrecognised. Benjis forward passes ..wow. where was this ref for us a couple of weeks ago.

For a club that chased damn hard for a halfback ..well, we have 5 of them.
Fortunately 3 of them know how to apply pressure. On the opposition. Not in their teammates.
Those 3 did it tonight.
1. Trindall has found his spot. A ball playing, tackling edge player. With a kicking game. A nathan brown. A wade graham. A viktor radley.
2. Connor tracey. He has come back from serious injury with a self made edict to not die wondering. He is the 7 we need for the remainder of the year. Just play whats in front of you son. Youll make mistakes but who cares. Our seasons a car crash. Throw caution to the wind and who knows we might string a few together and get a finals game.
3. Moyza. Sorry but lve been supporting this guy for 3 years. Problem is l remember. I remember him playing SOO. He is a beautiful footballer. Hes a strange cat and has been to hell and back in the football sense and most of this has been his own doing - but this guy....body fit, and under fitzy. Hhmm. I am excited. If he recaptures a bit of what he had. Hhmm.
That play tonight where he scooted around the back and found nikora - Chad doesnt even go there when hes having a wank let alone ever pull off a play like that off.

The other two..
4 & 5. Two nameless and aging halves both of whom l have no intersest in ever seeing in a sharks jumper again.
Halves play is about creating pressure. Going at the line and bringing your forwards forward and rolling up the park before putting polish on your last play.
AR like.
These two play for themselves. They play sideways. They play safe. They play premeditated.
Guys like ramien and wade and nikora never shine any more. Whilst blokes like manu and cody walker, etc do.
Why? Its because our 7 never gets them the ball in a position where they can do what we bought them to do. Put manu in our side and he would be flogged to death on here for his ineffectiveness.
This has been going on for too long.
End it.

Next year looked a lot brighter tonite. Our issue isnt with the 6 and 7. We dont need to find the next AR. We need forwards.
If we can get a pack that rolls forward and holds their own l reckon we might just have the guys who can do a decent job on the back of that.

Will kennedy. Man l got him all wrong. Realistically. Behind a pack going forward this guy could be among the best fullbacks we have ever had.
Brayden trindall became a first grader tonite. Im fpharking excited about his next game. Billy who?
Mcinnes.
Wilton.
2022 might not be as bad as what it was looking a few hours ago.

But, just as exciting. So very exciting...
We will never see woods in a sharks jumper ever again.
Or duges.
Or SJ.
And most of all chad. What an abysmal footballer this bloke is. My all time least favourite shark.
I was watching him tonight and thinking of the cowboys. 3 years. Of that?...and getting older.
FMD. Seriously. He should retire.

I enjoyed tonight. Could not give a rats about the result. Feefs. Thanks man. You were fantastic. Make him coach.

Thanks, Snout.

These are the sort of thoughts that I was trying to encapsulate with my Stake-esque 2021 team, but couldn’t find the words.

Great post!

 

[King Ben]

All great points, snout. Disappointed but not surprised Chad's "crusher" hasn't been mentioned at all in the media today. Even Wayne said it was the wrong call last night.

As for us having no coach, put the trainer's shirt on Gal and send him out there, Alfie style. I won't stop beating that drum. He'd honestly thrive in that role - be our captain without taking a hitup.

 

[Inferno]

Well Chad wasn't cited by the MRC (neither was Nikora) so that's something I guess.

 

[coolumsharkie]

Well Chad wasn't cited by the MRC (neither was Nikora) so that's something I guess.

Just adds to the dismay imo.

 

[BatteredFlake]

Now everyones vented about all the dramas from this year I guess the one thing everyone agrees on is we wont win this yr.?
I wonder if it might be an idea to add to the list of things to work on ,,now that winning premiership is out of the question , Tackling techniques. ...... Its not something a competitive winning side would want to change during the season , but given crackdown on head highs its probably going to matter a lot nxt season. The head high stuff wont go away,if anything itll get cracked down more as scrutiny and research puts it into spotlight. , So maybe a head start on concentrating on tackling low and other techniques, to avoid concussion ,could get sharks ahead of the pack for Next yr.. Playing games with a player or two ,or more , than the otherside would have to be an advantage ?
Lewis and Gibbs ABC, were talking about the loss of Dominant tackle status for Low tackles .... If theres rule changes for this as well, or if a technique can help effectiveness of low tackle then sides at forefront of changes will be at an advantage.

 

[Tiger Shark]

Now everyones vented about all the dramas from this year I guess the one thing everyone agrees on is we wont win this yr.?
I wonder if it might be an idea to add to the list of things to work on ,,now that winning premiership is out of the question , Tackling techniques. ...... Its not something a competitive winning side would want to change during the season , but given crackdown on head highs its probably going to matter a lot nxt season. The head high stuff wont go away,if anything itll get cracked down more as scrutiny and research puts it into spotlight. , So maybe a head start on concentrating on tackling low and other techniques, to avoid concussion ,could get sharks ahead of the pack for Next yr.. Playing games with a player or two ,or more , than the otherside would have to be an advantage ?
Lewis and Gibbs ABC, were talking about the loss of Dominant tackle status for Low tackles .... If theres rule changes for this as well, or if a technique can help effectiveness of low tackle then sides at forefront of changes will be at an advantage.

I think before a ball was kicked in anger in Rd 1 we could all have agreed we weren't winning it this year.

Agree on the other points. I appreciate they still want to try and make the finals and going on a run when we get some players back might put us in contention. So they might wait till its not as achievable till they start planning for next year.

 

[BatteredFlake]

I think before a ball was kicked in anger in Rd 1 we could all have agreed we weren't winning it this year.

Agree on the other points. I appreciate they still want to try and make the finals and going on a run when we get some players back might put us in contention. So they might wait till its not as achievable till they start planning for next year.

I thought we were a chance of doing a Bradbury given a lot of luck with injuries. Haven't had it. Bradbury didn't go into that race with a broken leg. As for finals this year / Even more luck required Need wingers back, and fit and firing Talakai back. and some fire in bellies of forwards, . JT and Ferris to heal and develop quickly, Halves sorted ,and combinations developed, NO MORE injuries or suspensions and on and on it goes ... Anyway I hope you are right But Im not optimistic about finals chances . I think that ship has sailed. Development year seems more likely , sooner started the better.

 

[Bob Scott]

All great points, snout. Disappointed but not surprised Chad's "crusher" hasn't been mentioned at all in the media today. Even Wayne said it was the wrong call last night.

As for us having no coach, put the trainer's shirt on Gal and send him out there, Alfie style. I won't stop beating that drum. He'd honestly thrive in that role - be our captain without taking a hitup.

Mick Ennis called it out on the Fox review show , basically said it was a non event and absolutely munted our momentum at a crusial time , was very strong in condeming it , asked who is reffing the games , the guy in the middle or the bunker .
The whole thing has become an over reaction in my book , but this is what happens when everybody is arse covering , all wanting to make sure they aren't in the gun when someone gets seriously injured .

My big question out of the weekend is why Papaalii only gets 3 weeks for his shoulder charge , yet Talakai got 4 , Paps was way worse in my book . Is it just another case of who the player is makes a diff .

 

[R-15-3]

I do think they need to provide some sort of advantage for a 1 on 1 legs tackle. At the moment as soon as it’s done your called to get off. Call it a dominant tackle and give them time to lay there and not release the legs. Reward them for 1. An old school excellent tackle. 2. Staying away from the legs.

 

[Weaponhead]

I do think they need to provide some sort of advantage for a 1 on 1 legs tackle. At the moment as soon as it’s done your called to get off. Call it a dominant tackle and give them time to lay there and not release the legs. Reward them for 1. An old school excellent tackle. 2. Staying away from the legs.

This is a good point.

The game is all about ruck speed. They disincentivised low tackling and now complain about high shots. Wrapping up the ball and controlling the ball carrier leaves more possibility for high contact. Rewarding lower tackling might help reduce high contact.

 

[bluefox68]

This is a good point.

The game is all about ruck speed. They disincentivised low tackling and now complain about high shots. Wrapping up the ball and controlling the ball carrier leaves more possibility for high contact. Rewarding lower tackling might help reduce high contact.

What Wayne said in his press conference.

 

[BatteredFlake]

Didnt hear Bennet, but Gibbs and Luke lewis were discussing it after game and Bellamy has had a bit to say now too . I think basically they all know that the penalties and crackdown on high shots is here to stay and teams just need to deal with it. Might be my dementia effecting my memory but it does seem like in olden days the low tackler would hang on to the legs till he was ready to get up . Where now they are called to release quickly,as soon as tackled player hits the ground. In fact if its a line break they get penalised for not releasing Quickly enough. In any case I think its going to change and I hope sharks are up with it all.

 

[BatteredFlake]

Could it be simple as allowing low tackler to regain his feet (reasonably) before ball is played ? If its a really effective tackle even , he goes to marker before ball is played .

 

[Chimp]

I believe there is a quick and easy fix to all of this which is to get rid of any ‘dominant’ interpretation in the tackle and ptb, and replace it with a consistent ptb speed that is managed by the ref. Something like a guide of a 5 second ptb speed - all managed by the refs ‘held’ call. Defenders can hold on until the ref says ‘held’, then must release immediately.

 

[snout]

A rule change ld like:
only 2 players allowed per tackle.
A third can hover unless the ball carrier breaks free but cant touch him until 1 defender drops off.
Leg injuries would halve.
And more effort to lock up the ball brings tackles down.