Eels vs Broncos game thread

[Eels Dude]

So in the last 6 weeks we lose several games by abut 6 or so points with a squad we all agree is not of the greatest quality or depth - and we doubt Kearney's coaching ability. The fact is we have improved from the start of the season and next year at least we will be adding a very good halfback to the side as will as good centre and 5/8. I can only see a lot of upside with the eels over then next 2-3 years.

In the last 6 weeks we haven't won a single game and you're saying we've improved?????

Is our side that better than next year. Sandow is a good addition. Ben Roberts is a reserve grader at the moment. Esi Tonga isn't even as good as Reddy who he's a straight swap for. The coach is accountable for results. I don't think he should be hung out and dried, but his ability should certainly be questioned. As does his selections and recrtuitment policies.

Last night we played a side who on paper were a LOT worse than our side. The Broncos were missing 9 of their starting 13. Yet they still out enthused us and play more like a team than we did.

 

[Kornstar]

Keep it to PMs fellas.

:lol:

You are such a legend :roll:

 

[Poupou Escobar]

In the last 6 weeks we haven't won a single game and you're saying we've improved?????

Considering at the start of the year we lost by 14 points to Penrith, and by 30+ to nil against the Dragons and the Storm, and gave up good leads against the Bulldogs and Cowboys, I'd say we've improved.

We've played tougher teams over the past 6 weeks, with a mounting injury toll in the outside backs.

Is our side that better than next year.

f**k yes. By a country mile.

Sandow is a good addition.

Great addition. Have you been watching him play?

Ben Roberts is a reserve grader at the moment.

He's in first grade again this week. If he hadn't signed with us for next year he would have played a lot more first grade.

Esi Tonga isn't even as good as Reddy who he's a straight swap for.

He's loads better than Reddy - he's faster, stronger and he uses the ball better. And he's not out for the season with injury.

The coach is accountable for results. I don't think he should be hung out and dried, but his ability should certainly be questioned. As does his selections and recrtuitment policies.

I agree and I think he's done the best with what he's got. It will be interesting to see the team he picks for next week.

Last night we played a side who on paper were a LOT worse than our side.

Disagree. If you look at the players they were missing you'd think so, but when you look at who they did have available it's clear they were much better than us out wide and in the halves. Their superior kicking game made up for the dominance we had up the middle.

Once we got within 10m of their line our dominace in the middle was nullified by the fact that the defence doesn't need to be back 10 metres in that part of the field.

The Broncos were missing 9 of their starting 13. Yet they still out enthused us and play more like a team than we did.

They did neither - they won on the back of individual attacking efforts against our individual defensive lapses.

They were just too fast and kicked too well for all our hard work to pay off.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

In the last 6 weeks we haven't won a single game and you're saying we've improved?????

Is our side that better than next year. Sandow is a good addition. Ben Roberts is a reserve grader at the moment. Esi Tonga isn't even as good as Reddy who he's a straight swap for. The coach is accountable for results. I don't think he should be hung out and dried, but his ability should certainly be questioned. As does his selections and recrtuitment policies.

Last night we played a side who on paper were a LOT worse than our side. The Broncos were missing 9 of their starting 13. Yet they still out enthused us and play more like a team than we did.

yeah we have improved based on our earlier form and look at our form over the last 5 weeks;

- We drew with premiers
- we only lost by 2 points to the Knights in Newcastle
- We only lost by 4 points to Manly one of the form sides in the comp
- close game against the raiders, in Canberra where we never travel that well
- a close loss last night

In all those games our defence was good, which compared to scores put on us by;

- cowboys
- souths
- storms
- dogs
- dragons

earlier in the year, how can you say we have not improved. Our attack is poor, but look at our halves and backline, not a lot of quality there.

We ALSO had 7 of our normal starting side out last night;

Mannah
Hayne
Poore
Morgan
Reddy
Aktins
Robson

and our replacements were just not as good as the Broncos.

 

[Eels Dude]

Considering at the start of the year we lost by 14 points to Penrith, and by 30+ to nil against the Dragons and the Storm, and gave up good leads against the Bulldogs and Cowboys, I'd say we've improved.

We've played tougher teams over the past 6 weeks, with a mounting injury toll in the outside backs.

We've also shown a lack of ability to put sides away. I think we have to also question how much other sides take us seriously as to why our games have been so close.

f**k yes. By a country mile.

No way. It's pretty much the same side bar Sandow

Great addition. Have you been watching him play?

Yes he's an exciting addition. Hopefully he can perform in a structured attack though. He's a very ad lib player a lot of the time.

He's in first grade again this week. If he hadn't signed with us for next year he would have played a lot more first grade.

As a utility off the bench. Which a lot of his career has been made up of. Jack of all trades master of none but he is at least better than what we currently have.

He's loads better than Reddy - he's faster, stronger and he uses the ball better. And he's not out for the season with injury.

He's quicker... I don't know about stronger. Reddy is pretty unstoppable close to the line. The point is they're both very good first grade centres, but nothing more or nothing less. And on the injury front Tonga didn't even make it onto the field last year.

I agree and I think he's done the best with what he's got. It will be interesting to see the team he picks for next week.

Me too. I think it will be a headache for him over the next few days.

Disagree. If you look at the players they were missing you'd think so, but when you look at who they did have available it's clear they were much better than us out wide and in the halves. Their superior kicking game made up for the dominance we had up the middle.

Once we got within 10m of their line our dominace in the middle was nullified by the fact that the defence doesn't need to be back 10 metres in that part of the field.

I'll agree to disagree.

They did neither - they won on the back of individual attacking efforts against our individual defensive lapses.

They were just too fast and kicked too well for all our hard work to pay off.

They played more like a team than we did. They knew their gameplan and stuck to it. They knew who to give the ball to when. This is despite being a random bunch of players who've not played together before as an actual team. That's what we should have done. They did it better.

 

[Eels Dude]

yeah we have improved based on our earlier form and look at our form over the last 5 weeks;

- We drew with premiers
- we only lost by 2 points to the Knights in Newcastle
- We only lost by 4 points to Manly one of the form sides in the comp
- close game against the raiders, in Canberra where we never travel that well
- a close loss last night

In all those games our defence was good, which compared to scores put on us by;

- cowboys
- souths
- storms
- dogs
- dragons

I like your optimistic approach. But you can easily look at the other side of the coin

- We lost to a Dragons side that was effected by players backing up by origin, and went on to lose their two subsequent games after drawing with us
- We lost against a Newcastle side that played terrible despite being at home
- We nearly beat one of the top sides in Manly but weren't good enough to close the deal
- We lost to Canberra, the worst performing side in the competition this year.
- We lost to the Broncos who fielded a reserve grade side last night.

I'm just playing devils advocate, there's a middle ground between my above mentioned observations and your own. But everything is not as happy go lucky as you see it.

earlier in the year, how can you say we have not improved. Our attack is poor, but look at our halves and backline, not a lot of quality there.

We ALSO had 7 of our normal starting side out last night;

Mannah
Hayne
Poore
Morgan
Reddy
Aktins
Robson

and our replacements were just not as good as the Broncos.

Those guys I've highlighted shouldn't even be in first grade to begin with. We lost nothing by not having them on the field last night.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

They played more like a team than we did. They knew their gameplan and stuck to it. They knew who to give the ball to when. This is despite being a random bunch of players who've not played together before as an actual team. That's what we should have done. They did it better.

Their halves had played together before. In fact, that team has played with Wallace at halfback for several years, and Corey Norman has only missed one NRL match since round 9. Three times this year he's started in the 6 jersey.

That's why they looked more like a team.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Those guys I've highlighted shouldn't even be in first grade to begin with. We lost nothing by not having them on the field last night.

Morgan's the best defensive centre in the club (maybe Reddy's better but even when he's played this year he's been injured) and Robson would have made a massive difference last night, as crazy as that sounds. At least Robson sets up tries with his boot, as well as defending better than McGuire.

Agree about Atkins though. He's a very different player to Uaisele but not any better.

 

[True EEL]

Their halves had played together before. In fact, that team has played with Wallace at halfback for several years, and Corey Norman has only missed one NRL match since round 9. Three times this year he's started in the 6 jersey.

That's why they looked more like a team.

seriously Pou Pou, we should have beaten the Broncos last night - even after being down (somehow) 12-nil, we still should have beaten them after we made the stirring comeback

we were simply not good enough to beat an udnerstrength Broncos side at our home ground to re-ignite our drowing season. that't the reality.....

 

[True EEL]

Morgan's the best defensive centre in the club (maybe Reddy's better but even when he's played this year he's been injured) and Robson would have made a massive difference last night, as crazy as that sounds. At least Robson sets up tries with his boot, as well as defending better than McGuire.

Agree about Atkins though. He's a very different player to Uaisele but not any better.

OMG you said it again......:lol: dude seriously are you related to this kid or something, or are you high??? ha ha ha ha :crazy:

and Atkins.....he is not your flashy type that you claim to value, but he is a very solid, professional footballer and very good under the high ball. his biggest weakness so far at Parra is his apparent stage-fright in scoring positions, which has cost him and us a couple of tries

 

[Joshuatheeel]

last night Robson's short kicking game would have helped, we had a few opportunities on their line, however our makeshift halves looked lost and lacked any realy kicking ability - which is expected.

 

[Eels Dude]

Their halves had played together before. In fact, that team has played with Wallace at halfback for several years, and Corey Norman has only missed one NRL match since round 9. Three times this year he's started in the 6 jersey.

That's why they looked more like a team.

Fair points. But we should have easily been able to do the same and better really.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

seriously Pou Pou, we should have beaten the Broncos last night - even after being down (somehow) 12-nil, we still should have beaten them after we made the stirring comeback

we were simply not good enough to beat an udnerstrength Broncos side at our home ground to re-ignite our drowing season. that't the reality.....

Yeah I agree. But when you look at the side, we weren't good enough because we weren't good enough.

OMG you said it again......:lol: dude seriously are you related to this kid or something, or are you high??? ha ha ha ha

I already explained why in the other thread. Morgan's first choice centre at this club for a reason. You obviously can't see it, but you're not me and you're not the coach. And we're the only ones whose opinions really matter.

and Atkins.....he is not your flashy type that you claim to value

Actually I said I don't value them. Not as much as a lot of people seem to do. I think every team needs a couple but not too many, especially under a salary cap.

but he is a very solid, professional footballer and very good under the high ball. his biggest weakness so far at Parra is his apparent stage-fright in scoring positions, which has cost him and us a couple of tries

Actually I rate Atkins. I think he's good enough for first grade but he's also replaceable. Burt, Uaisele and Walker are all as good as him. I think Jacob Gagan would be better after only a couple of games in first grade.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Fair points. But we should have easily been able to do the same and better really.

I don't think so. Maitua was effective in the first half as a playmaker on the right edge but he's not a half. He made zero kicks in the game because he's not a kicker.

McGuire kicks okay but not even as well as Luke Burt. And Casey's been pretty ordinary since moving to 6. People go on about how good we are since we turfed Mortimer but the only game we've won since is the Sharks game. Morts has been fairly ineffective as a playmaker in first grade but at least his side of the field was kept in order, and he has a much better short kicking game than McGuire. He doesn't defend any worse either.

Apart from Reni in the first half, and Burt sniffing around for the offload in the second, we had nothing in attack. And our kicking game was so poor we struggled to build pressure.

Morts and Robson would have been much better halves last night, and Reni needs to play as a forward on the edge. In fact I'd like to see Humble given a run and we might see it on Friday night.

 

[Eels Dude]

I don't think so. Maitua was effective in the first half as a playmaker on the right edge but he's not a half. He made zero kicks in the game because he's not a kicker.

McGuire kicks okay but not even as well as Luke Burt. And Casey's been pretty ordinary since moving to 6. People go on about how good we are since we turfed Mortimer but the only game we've won since is the Sharks game. Morts has been fairly ineffective as a playmaker in first grade but at least his side of the field was kept in order, and he has a much better short kicking game than McGuire. He doesn't defend any worse either.

Apart from Reni in the first half, and Burt sniffing around for the offload in the second, we had nothing in attack. And our kicking game was so poor we struggled to build pressure.

Morts and Robson would have been much better halves last night, and Reni needs to play as a forward on the edge. In fact I'd like to see Humble given a run and we might see it on Friday night.

If he's not a half he shouldn't have been played in the halves. It was quite a baffling selection really. Maitua actually made a decent job of it surprisingly. Slotted into the position like Mateo did when he was here. But like Mateo he couldn't fulfill that role for 80 minutes and often got lost. Not his fault at all.

Humble and Morts would have both been available last night. It's just a shame they weren't selected.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

If he's not a half he shouldn't have been played in the halves.

Yeah, Jonathan Thurston should have been called up from Wenty and kept on standby as an 18th man. Just in case Robson got injured on Friday afternoon.

It was quite a baffling selection really. Maitua actually made a decent job of it surprisingly. Slotted into the position like Mateo did when he was here. But like Mateo he couldn't fulfill that role for 80 minutes and often got lost. Not his fault at all.

Humble and Morts would have both been available last night. It's just a shame they weren't selected.

You can't just throw in a bloke who hasn't been training with the side. We would have looked like more of a rabble than we already did. Humble or Morts will play next week. Actually scratch that - they won't be able to train with the NRL side all week. One or the other will play the week after.

 

[Eels Dude]

Yeah, Jonathan Thurston should have been called up from Wenty and kept on standby as an 18th man. Just in case Robson got injured on Friday afternoon.

Or Humble, or Morts, or Murray if we hadn't released him.

You can't just throw in a bloke who hasn't been training with the side. We would have looked like more of a rabble than we already did. Humble or Morts will play next week. Actually scratch that - they won't be able to train with the NRL side all week. One or the other will play the week after.

They would have trained with the side all week if they were selected on Tuesday even as part of an extended squad.

I doubt they actually miss training due to be selected in NSW residents regardless. They probably just rock up and play on the night.

 

[parra pete]

Poached Raider, Cameron Breust, is playing well in the NYC team, amassing plenty of points along the way..

 

[Poupou Escobar]

No way would Kearney have gone into the game with only one halfback unless he had to.

It's hardly fair on those players to be withdrawn from the NSW Residents side in the off chance there's an injury.

That's about as much of a merkin act as what Ricky Stuart's about to do in dropping up to 3 players from his squad who could have played for their clubs this weekend.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Poached Raider, Cameron Breust, is playing well in the NYC team, amassing plenty of points along the way..

Not a first grader. Not even close. Not yet.