General Discussion Thread

[Aliceinwonderland]

Anyone see Griffin and his kids dancing for Trent Merrin's Instagram moveoutofyourhead.
Very funny and shows that Hook is a pretty good egg.

 

[Luke Bowden]

We can't judge how any area of our game stacks up against top 4 teams without playing them.

We have no idea if we can defend against them. If our pack can match them. If we have the discipline or patience against them. We have no idea how our attack will go against them. If we can adapt during the game if something's not eorking.

That's the point. Other teams have beaten the sides weve beaten by bigger margins. You cant tell how we stack up against Dragons by how much we both put on Titans.

The past 2 years weve won the majority of our games against 7th placed or lower teams. Many comfortably. Panthers vs top 4 teams has been incredibly poor as opposed to us against bottom 4 teams. Its impossible to know if that has changed by playing bottom 4 teams.

It’s not impossible to know, it’s not even that difficult.

We have improved out of sight in all the areas we were struggling in last season.

Stop worrying stats and watch footy. It’s not fantasy football.

 

[umina panther]

It’s not impossible to know, it’s not even that difficult.

We have improved out of sight in all the areas we were struggling in last season.

Stop worrying stats and watch footy. It’s not fantasy football.

We aren't there yet. Jimmy won't get to run at massive holes left by Konrad Hurrell every week. We need a lot more including a second half to win the comp. Nathan's knee goes again and Hook plays Peach again and we are cooked

 

[OldPanther]

Mansour went off injured as well ffs

Yeah and we clearly have the best depth in the comp. Congrats to the club for building the right systems. We were also running 3 second rowers who can play centres and an international centre who we shifted to wing.

The Titans lost their 2 or 3 best defencive players. Funny they kept us down on points until then.

 

[mxlegend99]

It’s not impossible to know, it’s not even that difficult.

We have improved out of sight in all the areas we were struggling in last season.

Stop worrying stats and watch footy. It’s not fantasy football.

Hand us a premiership now then. We dont even need to face top 4 sides to know weve improved the areas we were poor in the past 2 years.

Why bother having 24 games of footy and having every team play each other when in 6 games against 5 teams we can just know how good we are.

Should start the finals series this weekend.

 

[Luke Bowden]

Hand us a premiership now then. We dont even need to face top 4 sides to know weve improved the areas we were poor in the past 2 years.

Why bother having 24 games of footy and having every team play each other when in 6 games against 5 teams we can just know how good we are.

Should start the finals series this weekend.

The response I’d expect from a drama queen.

We are going very nicely and there is no reason it won’t continue.

I hope your fantasy team is going as well.

 

[mxlegend99]

The response I’d expect from a drama queen.

We are going very nicely and there is no reason it won’t continue.

I hope your fantasy team is going as well.

So are Dragons, Warriors and Tigers. Yet when they face each other only one team can win.

The Roosters and Storm are better than we've seen too. Broncos could be also... really not sure what to make of them.

I never said we weren't travelling well. Youre the one living in a fantasy world here. We beat a few average teams and now we can't lose. Our flaws are all fixed despite not actually having faced a team that can test them?

Our flaws were exposed by top 4* teams last year.

*And Dragons.

 

[OldPanther]

The response I’d expect from a drama queen.

We are going very nicely and there is no reason it won’t continue.

I hope your fantasy team is going as well.

 

[Luke Bowden]

So are Dragons, Warriors and Tigers. Yet when they face each other only one team can win.

The Roosters and Storm are better than we've seen too. Broncos could be also... really not sure what to make of them.

I never said we weren't travelling well. Youre the one living in a fantasy world here. We beat a few average teams and now we can't lose. Our flaws are all fixed despite not actually having faced a team that can test them?

Our flaws were exposed by top 4* teams last year.

*And Dragons.

When have I ever said we can’t lose?

We are playing 100% better then we were at our best last year.

It’s as plain as day. Our attack is straighter, we have two halves that can kick (when Cleary returns), our line speed is the best in the Comp and so is our scramble. This is because we are the fittest team in the comp.

 

[OldPanther]

When have I ever said we can’t lose?

We are playing 100% better then we were at our best last year.

It’s as plain as day. Our attack is straighter, we have two halves that can kick (when Cleary returns), our line speed is the best in the Comp and so is our scramble. This is because we are the fittest team in the comp.

We are the second best defencive team in the comp. Not sure where you got the line speed stuff from.

Yeah we are better. Need to see how much better by playing genuinely good teams. We are winning without using all our interchanges!!! That says a lot about both us and our opposition.

 

[mxlegend99]

When have I ever said we can’t lose?

We are playing 100% better then we were at our best last year.

It’s as plain as day. Our attack is straighter, we have two halves that can kick (when Cleary returns), our line speed is the best in the Comp and so is our scramble. This is because we are the fittest team in the comp.

You said all our flaws from last year are fixed.

Our biggest flaw IMO was how badly we were outclassed by the top 4 sides (and Dragons). The second we faced them we just looked clueless.

Im not saying we havent fixed that. Just saying the only real way to know how we actually stack up against these teams beyond a doubt is to face them. Until we face them it's all hypothetical.

One thing we have done extremely well under Hook is win the majority of our games against teams that finish below us. That incredible record has usually come with the reverse being true for the teams above us. So far we have no idea if this will again be true or if we are a legit threat to best any team.

Im not slamming our team. Or the coach. Or any players. Im just trying to be realistic. Not do the thing fand are often guilty of anf veing March/April premiers that go on to be mediocre.

Dragons fans last year learnt to be patient. They are undefeated and yet most are still only cautiously optimistic if making the 8 right now.

I'd bet my house they're in the 8... and honestly its hard to imagine them not being top 4. But again that can change super quickly.

 

[Luke Bowden]

We are the second best defencive team in the comp. Not sure where you got the line speed stuff from.

Yeah we are better. Need to see how much better by playing genuinely good teams. We are winning without using all our interchanges!!! That says a lot about both us and our opposition.

I get the line speed thing from watching the games..... all of the games. Kind of my point.

 

[Luke Bowden]

You said all our flaws from last year are fixed.

Our biggest flaw IMO was how badly we were outclassed by the top 4 sides (and Dragons). The second we faced them we just looked clueless.

Im not saying we havent fixed that. Just saying the only real way to know how we actually stack up against these teams beyond a doubt is to face them. Until we face them it's all hypothetical.

One thing we have done extremely well under Hook is win the majority of our games against teams that finish below us. That incredible record has usually come with the reverse being true for the teams above us. So far we have no idea if this will again be true or if we are a legit threat to best any team.

Im not slamming our team. Or the coach. Or any players. Im just trying to be realistic. Not do the thing fand are often guilty of anf veing March/April premiers that go on to be mediocre.

Dragons fans last year learnt to be patient. They are undefeated and yet most are still only cautiously optimistic if making the 8 right now.

I'd bet my house they're in the 8... and honestly its hard to imagine them not being top 4. But again that can change super quickly.

How is “being out classed by a top 4 side” a flaw?? The flaws were that our defence was sloppy and we lacked direction in attack. The good sides exposed that. We aren’t showing any signs of that this year.

 

[TheEroticGamer]

Our biggest problem against top four teams was getting f u cked over by refereeing. With the crack down on teams like Melbourne and Maloney getting in the face of referees(seriously how good is that) we're gonna have a far greater chance of knocking over 'top four' teams.

 

[Pomoz]

We were the worst team in the NRL for converting time in the red zone into tries. Worse than the wooden spooners. There are three things to consider there:

1. We spent much of the season with inexperienced halves due to injuries and mental health issues. If anybody doubts whether experience helps, take a look at the difference between Maloney and Cleary. We also spent last season without an organising half. Watching Moylan toil away at the Sharks was like deja vu for last year. He plays what's in front of him and if the opposition are on the back foot then he just carves them up like a joint of roast beef. When the team has good defence, he seems to lose his way. As did we, repeatedly.

2. Cleary has yet to show that he can lead the team as an elite level halfback like Maloney has done for us in the last 3.5 weeks. His kicking game is limited and needs a lot of work and he doesn't seem to be able to organise the team to build an attack and find gaps. I'm sure spending time with Moylan and Cartwright as halves partners wouldn't have helped. Those two just make it up as they go along, but the good teams can do that and also structure their attack for set plays. Last year we had a good , inexperienced halfback, who isn't really an organising half and has a limited range of kicks. Let's hope Cleary can change that description in 2018.

3. If you accept that poor attack is both a coaching problem and a player problem, then Hook has to take some blame for last year and he didn't address some of the issues in attack. Whatever has happened this year, which I believe includes getting more help from Brandy and Gus, seems to have helped. Also having an elite level half who can read the game, organise the team and provide a lot of variation with their kicks, seem to have made a massive difference.

This year we have managed to win against teams with big forwards (Cowboys, Souths) and with good defence. We wouldn't have beaten South's last year. Our forwards made us stay in the game this year. We wouldn't have beaten the Cowboys because their forwards would have got on top and even with JT off his game they would have powered home. We couldn't crack their defence last year and only just beat them.

This year, our forward pack is a lean, mean league machine. There are no bulky Marty Tapau types in our team. They are all lean, aggressive, mobile and fitter than a Kenyan runner. JFH is doing a passable impression of Nigel Plum and just quietly goes around bashing people so hard they briefly enter a different dimension, whilst they look around to get the number of the truck that just hit them. I love the fact he does none of the Brown type histrionics, he just does them in like an SAS trooper, two shots to the head with a silenced Glock, next! After the game against us, JT checked in his wardrobe when he got home to make sure JFH wasn't in it. Merrin is clearly angry about something and long may it continue, Kikau doesn't need to be angry, he is so f*cking big he only has to fall on you and you lose the will to live and RCG is continuing on where he left off with the Kangaroos (a bit down the last few games though).

In spite of the protestations that we have only played shit teams, in the forwards we have faced Scott, Bolton, Woods, Klemmer, the Burgess boys, Hess, Taumololo, Proctor, Arrow and Dally M 3 point winning Nathan Brown (WTF Joe?). Our forward pack has held its own against all of them. The Titans were smashed into submission this week by a black steam roller called the Panthers. They held on well for 30 minutes and then the relentless power of our pack just drove them backwards until they started to drop like flies at a Baygon factory.

Does that mean we can beat the Tigers, Warriors and Dragons? Who knows, but this constant belittling of any team we play as shit undervalues the effort the team has put in.

 

[mxlegend99]

How is “being out classed by a top 4 side” a flaw?? The flaws were that our defence was sloppy and we lacked direction in attack. The good sides exposed that. We aren’t showing any signs of that this year.

In 6 games we have missed 220 tackles. Average of 36.66 per game. Very similar to how many we averaged last year. We are also the most penalised team in the competition.

It stands to reason that the better teams might be more likely to punish us then the bottom sides.

But again... until we face them there is no way to know.

 

[GoldCoastPather]

It’s not impossible to know, it’s not even that difficult.

We have improved out of sight in all the areas we were struggling in last season.

Stop worrying stats and watch footy. It’s not fantasy football.

Yes we have a quality team. Let’s back them all the way!!! Who knows what they could achieve!!!

 

[Luke Bowden]

In 6 games we have missed 220 tackles. Average of 36.66 per game. Very similar to how many we averaged last year. We are also the most penalised team in the competition.

It stands to reason that the better teams might be more likely to punish us then the bottom sides.

But again... until we face them there is no way to know.

You are and your stats!

Last year we were missing crucial tackles which were leading to line breaks. What % of our missed tackles this year have cost us a line break or a try?

What % of our missed tackles this year are because we are putting heaps of pressure on opposing play makers and forcing them to step back into our middle.

What % of our missed tackles are because players like Maloney are getting up in the face of the big bodied ball runners and taking all of the steam out of their runs before they get cut down.

Your numbers mean nothing unless you put them into context. You do not, you just throw some figures out there and say
Look, we are the same, we are clearly not the same.
I’ve not seen us hit so many Halves in a long time, that is an excellent indication that we have good line speed.

 

[Pomoz]

In 6 games we have missed 220 tackles. Average of 36.66 per game. Very similar to how many we averaged last year. We are also the most penalised team in the competition.

It stands to reason that the better teams might be more likely to punish us then the bottom sides.

But again... until we face them there is no way to know.

We have the second lowest number of points conceded. The Tigers are first. They have missed 208 tackles. The Warriors 206. The good teams we have yet to play, don't seem to be that much better. Hmmm. You mention penalties but what about errors and handling errors? There is more to this than picking out single stats. With such a small sample, a single game blowout where a team scores 50 points can skew the stats. Have a look at the Bulldogs stats. They should be closer to the top. High completion rate, top 3 time in opposition 20, 3rd lowest errors, 3rd lowest missed tackles. Where are they? 14th.

MX, you just have to wait until a few more games have been played before we can really see what's what.

 

[mxlegend99]

You are and you stats!

Last year we were missing crucial tackles which were leading to line breaks. What % of our missed tackles this year have cost us a line break or a try?

What % of our missed tackles this year are because we are putting heaps of pressure on opposing play makers and forcing them to step back into our middle.

What % of our missed tackles are because players like Maloney are getting up in the face of the big bodied ball runners and taking all of the steam out of their runs before they get cut down.

Your numbers mean nothing unless you put them into context. You do not, you just throw some figures out there and say
Look, we are the same, we are clearly not the same.
I’ve not seen us hit so many Halves in a long time, that is an excellent indication that we have good line speed.

You and your hatred of stats and facts.

Why wait and see if an area has improved when we can just say it has improved based on some fantasy world were doing something against an average team seems to somehow mean we will do it against all teams?

Deadset. Only on this site could you get grilled for a wait and see attitude towards knowing if we've improved against top 4 teams.

Im over it. You have your head buried in the sand thinking beating a couple of bottom 4 sides is proof we csn beat top 4 sides.

Im not saying we cant. Im saying until we face them we can't possibly know for certain how we measure up against them. Anything else is a f**king guess.