Game Day: Rd2 Eels v Sharks @ Commbank Mar 10, 2023

[Poupou Escobar]

Who let in all those tries on our left edge? Carty or wonga

There were only two tries scored on our left.

Try one, Drown comes out of the line and Nikora strolls through the gap he left: https://www.nrl.com/news/2023/03/10/nikora-hits-back/

The problem there though was lack of inside pressure on the playmaker, which should've come from Cartwright.

Try two, Kennedy got the ball in a three-on-two and only inside push from Cartwright (again) would have stopped it: https://www.nrl.com/news/2023/03/10/kennedy-slices-through/

Really, Cartwright should've gotten in front of the decoy so Drown could stay on Kennedy.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Ta bud. I'm not a fan of carty in defense

There is a lack of effort off the ball. Merkin has all the physicals to succeed, but not the hunger.

 

[Avenger]

There is a lack of effort off the ball. Merkin has all the physicals to succeed, but not the hunger.

He’s the real down hill skier.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

ontrary to many I thought Moses was outstanding. So tough in D and tried his guts out all game.

20 tackles for 100% efficiency

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Interesting statistic so far this season, no team has won a game this season without their forward interchanges playing at least 80 minutes. Our forward interchanges totalled 57 tonight.

Also, no team has won a game without using all 4 interchange players, with player 17 playing at least 8 minutes.

Wow, 11 games is a massive sample.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Our current edge forwards are dog shit. Between the 2 of them in about 160 minutes of football they have:
zero line breaks
Zero line break assists
Zero tries
And only 7 tackle busts (between them!!)

The Broncos are undefeated and their edge forwards only have eight tackle breaks and a try. Some teams just don't use their edge forwards that much. Play to your strengths.

 

[Noise]

The Broncos are undefeated and their edge forwards only have eight tackle breaks and a try. Some teams just don't use their edge forwards that much. Play to your strengths.

So more than ours.

 

[Chipmunk]

I think what Happy Meel means is that if Russell is out for the year, we might be able to apply to remove him from the top 30, which means we have to re-fill spot 29. Give that to Cini and we still have spot 30 remaining.

I'm not sure it works that way unless you have filled all 30 spots though.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Bryce and Doorey also have had good output but

No they haven't. They are mostly support and decoy runners in our structure. When Lane comes back he'll get a lot more runs, as you'd expect from one of your key players.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Super frustrated after that. I stand by what I said last week, we’re going to be fine with Matterson and Lane back. The issue might be if we are 0-6 when Lane is back.

Matto coming off the bench will spell our middles which I assume will include Hopgood, when needed.

Gutho being HIA’d when it was pretty clear he was fine was MASSIVE. Understandably our whole backline was in turmoil and our momentum was lost on the spot. No it’s not the reason we lost but fk I found it frustrating.

A series of silly errors at different times killed us off. Moses and Dyl were much improved. Gutho tried hard, perhaps too hard. That ball doesn’t get intercepted and we score we more than likely go on to win.

All in all, thoroughly frustrating. 0-2 and we probably should be 2-0.

Nah we're shit and it's all the coach's fault. We will run last.

 

[the phantom menace]

So who knows best when they need a breather? You?

Anyone with eyes that watches them huffing and puffing and slowing down in the plays - ideally the assistant coaches in the box with BA who'd encourage him to be more flexible with his bench strategy based on the circumstances.

But it's an art that your stats probably can't measure of detect in advance, so understandable if this concept of judgement eludes you.

 

[Avenger]

Nah we're shit and it's all the coach's fault. We will run last.

We won’t run last but if he misses the 8 he should be sacked like Ando was.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So more than ours.

By a statistically insignificant amount, notwithstanding two games is a statistically insignificant sample for accumulating rare statistics like tries.

 

[the phantom menace]

We were outnumbered so whatever decision he made, it was up to the playmaker to read it and react. If he stopped those tries it would've been the playmaker's fault for making the wrong play. This is why they get paid the big bucks - to convert opportunities.

Yeah, nah. Waqa at centre or wing simply presents a walking converted opportunity for the opposition.

Well he went into the game with one arm heavily bandaged and after 31 minutes (at 10-0 up) he hurt his other arm. Maybe you need to watch the game instead of gleefully putting shit on the team.

No glee involved, sadly - just the opposite to blindly accepting mediocrity and blind support for the authority figure?

The arm injuries don't impact his cognitive ability for defensive decision-making, which has been proved over time (since about 2018?) to be lacking.

 

[the phantom menace]

Yep, and most tries involve some fatigue. That's only two that we conceded due to fatigue. Cronulla also conceded tries in the ten minutes before half and full time. It's a normal part of the game, and not something to blame on coaching.

Yeah, nah. When there is a rigid bench system that seemingly can't be adapted to circumstances during a game, or be adjusted between games to learn from the lessons of the previous one/ones - that can be blamed on coaching.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Anyone with eyes that watches them huffing and puffing and slowing down in the plays - ideally the assistant coaches in the box with BA who'd encourage him to be more flexible with his bench strategy based on the circumstances.

Well he's obviously flexible. Paulo has played these numbers of minutes in his past five games:

52
59
50
68
57

He obviously plays longer minutes in the close games, as you'd expect from one of your best players. He's too important to our attack to leave off the field for too long with the game on the line. Covering his defence is just a cost we have to pay. But Lane and Matterson were both in the top 25 for PCM last year. When they return they will take some pressure off Paulo.

But it's an art that your stats probably can't measure of detect in advance, so understandable if this concept of judgement eludes you.

Stats absolutely measure this stuff. See above. Contrary to popluar ('of the people') opinion, stats actually measure real, observable events. Stats are just a way to record them. You might be surprised to know stats are written down by humans watching the game, no different to what you claim to do, only with more analytical rigor behind it than just whether you dislike a player or coach.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

We won’t run last but if he misses the 8 he should be sacked like Ando was.

It would depend why we missed the eight. On its own it doesn't say a lot. Supercoach Cleary has missed the finals eight times in 16 seasons. Did sacking him improve any of those clubs (Warriors, Panthers, Tigers)?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yeah, nah. When there is a rigid bench system that seemingly can't be adapted to circumstances during a game, or be adjusted between games to learn from the lessons of the previous one/ones - that can be blamed on coaching.

I've just shown you why the bench isn't rigid. So your theory is flawed from the start.

 

[Avenger]

It would depend why we missed the eight. On its own it doesn't say a lot. Supercoach Cleary has missed the finals eight times in 16 seasons. Did sacking him improve any of those clubs (Warriors, Panthers, Tigers)?

Problem is the only coaches left with a proven record are Hasler and Flanagan who are as popular as China at the moment. I'm done with rookies.

 

[the phantom menace]

Well he's obviously flexible. Paulo has played these numbers of minutes in his past five games:

52
59
50
68
57

He obviously plays longer minutes in the close games, as you'd expect from one of your best players. He's too important to our attack to leave off the field for too long with the game on the line. Covering his defence is just a cost we have to pay. But Lane and Matterson were both in the top 25 for PCM last year. When they return they will take some pressure off Paulo.

Stats absolutely measure this stuff. See above. Contrary to popluar ('of the people') opinion, stats actually measure real, observable events. Stats are just a way to record them. You might be surprised to know stats are written down by humans watching the game, no different to what you claim to do, only with more analytical rigor behind it than just whether you dislike a player or coach.

TL-DR: Stats can be used to support any subjective claim (if a person is in the business or arguing, rather than respecting diverse views), and so are essentially ojectively worthless.