GF Panthers vs Storm

[franklin2323]

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Nathan choked. A lot of that I put on him

here's why that same person at the game would of noticed Edwards attacking in centre more times than May.

So why would you do that yet have the gameplan to go go the otherside? Ivan also said attack and defence was behind it. Again why do that and not plan to go that way

 

[herbert henry1908]

The best team all year was the one with May & Leniu on the bench and Naden in the centres. For some bizarre reason Ivan decided to make 3 changes from it, despite that teams dominance. Amazing.

 

[Flashstep]

I really don’t like to blame the refs but f**k me did they screw us over hard in the first half, Melbourne also got extremely lucky with pretty much every point they scored. Nothing went our way at all. Penrith were terrible though unfortunately but I give the guys credit for clawing their way back into the game, we would have won if we had another 5 minutes on the clock.

I agree with a lot of what’s been said already but I’ll just add my 2 cents.

- Regarding the May selection I think Cleary backer himself into a corner when he picked him last week against Souths, he basically said Naden is a liability in defence by not picking him and Storm would have put pressure on him all night if he had started.

- Dont really know how you can blame Nathan for having a bad game tonight, whether or not he’s a “big game player” is certainly up for debate but even Andrew Johns would struggle to do anything when your down 26-0 to Melbourne in a grand final and your team is constantly making terrible errors. One thing is for certain in my mind he needs to add more kicks to his arsenal, he is a good attacking kicker but constantly bombing when he’s more than 20m out from the line doesn’t help the team. We also need to use Luai more because Storm knew Nathan would kick 9/10 times and constantly put pressure on him.

- Kikau was dreadful, and once again when we went down the left hand side we would always give him the ball. Luai should take some blame for constantly using him but Ivan really needs to start adjusting on the fly as well, take Kikau off because he was just a liability last night. And please for the love of god start using him as a decoy more because at this point it’s almost like that’s the best option.

- I think we’ll be back, whether it’s in a year, 2 or 3 we have a good young team and they’ll learn from this. I think they have the mentality for this loss to fuel them. I think Tamou and Barrett are potentially very big losses though, hopefully we can adjust because we deserve to be a the top with Storm and Roosters right now, just need to make the next few years count.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Clear for some...

On paper our bench matched theirs

A back
2 props
Smith a small middle

Their key players stood up.

Take the fullbacks. Both are 40 odd games in. One wins CCM the other has his worst game in a year

If you do that comparison the whole way down. Only really Luai out played his opponent. That sums up the game there

it’s clear because that was the best team all year. You’re overthinking it, just like Ivan did I suspect.

We deviated from a successful approach, that’s on Ivan Cleary.

 

[John Hamblin]

Hey everyone it's not all doom and gloom. I'm sure OUR team learn't a few harsh lessons last night. I'm sure we will be challenging again next year. Last night should make them even hungrier for success. I'd like to see Burton given a big runs in the Centres next year and sorry Spencer didn't get a run. I thought Tetevano was average when he came on. Can't wait for 2021!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[herbert henry1908]

View attachment 43299

Yeah I noticed the overlap on the right as well. But we couldn’t capitalise because we didn’t have any strike out there.

 

[franklin2323]

This was bound to happen. Our team is still chock full of players who have that once or twice a game brain explosion. Add them together and wet weather and you get a double digit error rate.

Kikau passing once tackled (and around 3 drops), JFH unnecessary penalty, Leota dropped ball ( x 2, but second one was a bit of a hospital pass from Luai), Mansour bad play the ball and miss on Vunivalu.

I still can't help but think we lost a chunk of the battle off the field. Our execution was sloppy and our tactics were just awful for a wet weather game. I.C might have been regular season Coach of the Year but he was easily out coached by Bellamy this finals series.

Our forward rotation was screwed by that bench.

We reverted back to the 'give it to Kikau' tactics of last year that made us predictable and easier to defend. As soon as Nadan came on our right edge became dangerous and opened up more space elsewhere.

Also how many times did we get pinged for obstruction? This is a problem we had frequently last season and earlier this season.

I guess to sum it up - when under stress people fall back onto old habits. Our old habits are poor unlike the Storm.

This is true. All round it was last year's bad habits again

 

[mxlegend99]

Last night was shockingly bad. Everything went against us that first half and we never got into the game until it was too late.

Gutted over the loss. But still proud of the boys for getting us here. Unfortunately we cant count on such a good run with injuries next season and while we should comfortably be a top 8 side there's no guarantees we are top 4 again or a sure thing for the grand final.

But if we get to the finals with a healthy roster. We will be better off for the experience.

 

[Thirsty Panther]

Two things that people have overlooked.
Pugzleys "we are the champions" thread a week out from the Grand Final and
Ryno backing us on the tab.
Once these happen we were no chance.

 

[franklin2323]

it’s clear because that was the best team all year. You’re overthinking it, just like Ivan did I suspect.

We deviated from a successful approach, that’s on Ivan Cleary.

Did we lose a game through the year with May at centre? Injury saw a few guys move around. Naden included so I don't think we even still know our best 17

FTR I don't see either May or Naden as right centre next year

 

[franklin2323]

I really don’t like to blame the refs but f**k me did they screw us over hard in the first half, Melbourne also got extremely lucky with pretty much every point they scored. Nothing went our way at all. Penrith were terrible though unfortunately but I give the guys credit for clawing their way back into the game, we would have won if we had another 5 minutes on the clock.

I agree with a lot of what’s been said already but I’ll just add my 2 cents.

- Regarding the May selection I think Cleary backer himself into a corner when he picked him last week against Souths, he basically said Naden is a liability in defence by not picking him and Storm would have put pressure on him all night if he had started.

- Dont really know how you can blame Nathan for having a bad game tonight, whether or not he’s a “big game player” is certainly up for debate but even Andrew Johns would struggle to do anything when your down 26-0 to Melbourne in a grand final and your team is constantly making terrible errors. One thing is for certain in my mind he needs to add more kicks to his arsenal, he is a good attacking kicker but constantly bombing when he’s more than 20m out from the line doesn’t help the team. We also need to use Luai more because Storm knew Nathan would kick 9/10 times and constantly put pressure on him.

- Kikau was dreadful, and once again when we went down the left hand side we would always give him the ball. Luai should take some blame for constantly using him but Ivan really needs to start adjusting on the fly as well, take Kikau off because he was just a liability last night. And please for the love of god start using him as a decoy more because at this point it’s almost like that’s the best option.

- I think we’ll be back, whether it’s in a year, 2 or 3 we have a good young team and they’ll learn from this. I think they have the mentality for this loss to fuel them. I think Tamou and Barrett are potentially very big losses though, hopefully we can adjust because we deserve to be a the top with Storm and Roosters right now, just need to make the next few years count.

The issue is we were down 26-0 due to Nathan gifting them 12 points. Take the intercept and the miss on Papenhuyzen out and 14-0 is game on. It just showed the level he is at now. Not quite elite

 

[kyussian]

Struggling to comprehend why we came up with our worst performance of the season but the signs were there. My 2 cents...

- if anyone saw the coin toss, Tamou didnt actually know what to do when he won it & Smith was just laughing at him - talk about starting slowly & giving confidence to the opposition before kickoff!
- all the talk was how 'relaxed the boys are' - the shots of them in the sheds pregame showed nerves a plenty & understandably so. If anything I think this claim was a projection to create the perception that 'nothing phases these kids' to overcome the lack of experience chatter & also boost their own confidence. We have shown signs of nerves in all our finals so it's unsurprising it continued
- as everyone has pointed out, the Naden-May debacle should never have been a conversation this late in the season. Naden's defence doesnt all of a sudden become a liability - it's always been there. Unless there is something underlying going on then this was a terrible & unnecessary distraction
- we're all experts in hindsight & know they boys busted their guts, however i dont understand why we deviated from what worked for us all year - repeat sets through grubbers, grinding & patience. Nathan's cute little chip kick into traffic is a low return play but for some reason taken over using grubbers. Even his floating spiral bombs with kick pressure have disappeared. Our game management & kicking was poor & massively changed the momentum twice - Nathan's first shallow chip in our opening set & Luai's desperation kick when we were attacking that gave them a 7-tackle set
- the refs/bunker were never going to be on our side (ironically we were 'managed' back into the game late) however some of those calls were unbelievably harsh. No rub of the green & by the time we got any calls it was way too late. Having said that, we made way too many errors of our own accord. Once again no patience & the rhetoric of inexperience etc will be justified by all the 'experts'

Still shattered we missed a golden opportunity & will be smarting for some time but hopefully that burn is alive within the whole group to push even harder next season. Rest up everyone & thanks for the ride!

 

[MTNPanther]

Yeo just had his best season ever, why move him? He was a revelation at 13.

I 100% agree Yeo has been a revelation at but so was JFH before he moved to prop also about replacing Tamou too but I would only do it in the trials more to test if Burton can handle the middle. My preference is Yeo stays at 13 for Althea future.

 

[Alintheeast]

Is Ivan up to winning a GF, we had the talent but they weren’t ready emotionally or strategically.

 

[MTNPanther]

Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, Kikau had a shocker but he’s a big reason we got to the grand final. They used him very well this year as a decoy, that goes out the window if he comes off the bench.

Oh yes Kikau is a big part of why we made the GF just noticing he can get a bit sloppy when fatigued and I love the decoy runs he does big reason the left is so dangerous just want to see what he is like coming on against some tired defenders concentrate that power for a couple of 20 mins stints or even having 10 min break either side of halftime just keeps him fresher but I could be very wrong too.

 

[Black Diamond]

Bad luck fellas

next year is the year of the Eels so who knows when you’s will get another chance hopefully it’s not another 17 year wait

Thought you said this year was the year if the Eel? Look how that turned out for you

 

[franklin2323]

It will be interesting if Luai carves up in SOO as to whether Ivan makes the call to put him as our primary playmaker

 

[pantherz9103]

The Storm are well and truly our bogey team, I am a 'bogey fan' because I attend too many live games that Penrith lose and Sutton is a prick...but in all honesty it sucks how we put in our worst performance of the year for the biggest game. Nobody really played well. Yeo was ok.

 

[age.s]

Look more at how it got to 26-0 as why we lost. Some terrible effort out there by the 'stars'

Lets look at the 4 tries we conceded:

Olam try: The right edge gets doesn't react quickly enough to the ball being spread. To'o's tackle was brilliant but May reacts slowly to Olam receiving the ball. The call was fine, May clearly kicks at the ball. Poor decision to use the feet as it gave Smith a kick from in front rather than a 50/50 from the sideline.
Mansour no try: 50/50 that didn't go our way (theme of the half). I thought Kikau first touches it when in line with Crichton but that's footy.
Vinivalu try: Insane from Cleary. Probably the difference between him going into the pantheon with the greats and obtaining a choker tag.
Smith try: Another 50/50. Very unlucky, both to have the ball bounce that way and to have it given.
Papen try: Again, the right edge reacts poorly. Whether it's on May or Cleary is arguable (I'd argue again that May looked lost) but that edge conceded 4 of the 7 tries of the past 2 weeks. The disruption clearly was a problem.

Throw in some soft penalties and you have a 26 point lead.

As to the stars, it depends who you mean. Kikau was poor, but our best players (for mine) are Yeo, Luai, Cleary, Fish and Api. Yeo and Fish were excellent. Luai and Api were good, if not dominant. And really, if Cleary doesn't throw that intercept his try on the bell ties the match up and goes down as one of the greatest plays in Grand Final history. There wasn't much in it.

 

[herbert henry1908]

I 100% agree Yeo has been a revelation at but so was JFH before he moved to prop also about replacing Tamou too but I would only do it in the trials more to test if Burton can handle the middle. My preference is Yeo stays at 13 for Althea future.

No drama with trialling Burton there, but I think it makes more sense for Burton to be at centre. That’s the easiest way for him into the team, so the more experience he can get there the better.