Match Discussion: Round 1 vs Canterbury @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[Jono078]

Starford got clobbered. This should have been an 8-point try.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Also, I’m not sold on Hoy. The biggest problem imo is that his kick returns just aren’t NRL standard, he looks small and just gets dominated every time he brings the ball forward and doesn’t appear to have enough speed or much of a step to worry the chasers. I’m also not sure why he’s talked up as a future 5/8 either because I haven’t seen much playmaking from him thus far. I’m happy for him to keep the no.1 jersey until Ponga comes back, partially because we’ve got other injuries but also I would like to see him get a few consecutive games to settle into it but I think he needs to show a lot more over the next few weeks to prove that he’s more than just a stop-gap player in future.

 

[Tony Morris]

Also, I’m not sold on Hoy. The biggest problem imo is that his kick returns just aren’t NRL standard, he looks small and just gets dominated every time he brings the ball forward and doesn’t appear to have enough speed or much of a step to worry the chasers. I’m also not sure why he’s talked up as a future 5/8 either because I haven’t seen much playmaking from him thus far. I’m happy for him to keep the no.1 jersey until Ponga comes back, partially because we’ve got other injuries but also I would like to see him get a few consecutive games to settle into it but I think he needs to show a lot more over the next few weeks to prove that he’s more than just a stop-gap player in future.

I have to agree. I'm certainly not here to slate the kid, but I'm just not seeing his future at the club. I've said it before, you don't "fight" to secure for the best youth English FB to have him sit on the bench. 2022/2023 are looking exciting.

 

[Zoidberg]

Starford got clobbered. This should have been an 8-point try.

Not an 8 point try. Maybe penalty try if he lost it.
Apparently Barrett isn’t happy with some of the calls made. I know it’s easier to be oblivious if your team is on the right side of the calls but nothing really stood out to me as being a wrong call.

 

[Alex28]

Also, I’m not sold on Hoy. The biggest problem imo is that his kick returns just aren’t NRL standard, he looks small and just gets dominated every time he brings the ball forward and doesn’t appear to have enough speed or much of a step to worry the chasers. I’m also not sure why he’s talked up as a future 5/8 either because I haven’t seen much playmaking from him thus far. I’m happy for him to keep the no.1 jersey until Ponga comes back, partially because we’ve got other injuries but also I would like to see him get a few consecutive games to settle into it but I think he needs to show a lot more over the next few weeks to prove that he’s more than just a stop-gap player in future.

He’s playing real NRL in a few years. He’s just not living up to the hype.

Did Dom Young play the lower grade game today? How did he go?

 

[Jono078]

Not an 8 point try. Maybe penalty try if he lost it.
Apparently Barrett isn’t happy with some of the calls made. I know it’s easier to be oblivious if your team is on the right side of the calls but nothing really stood out to me as being a wrong call.

Definitely an 8-point try. Last year edrick kicked a panthers player in the head, and he scored and was awarded an 8-point try.

 

[PhilGould]

He’s playing real NRL in a few years. He’s just not living up to the hype.

Did Dom Young play the lower grade game today? How did he go?

Dom was our best in reggies

 

[mozza91]

Decent performance first up. Some pretty classy touches but attack was abit clunky at times. Thought Pearce played well. Set up a couple of tries and defended strongly bar the Elliott try which was a poor effort. Not sold on Hoy but he’s a decent back up. Just hope Ponga isn’t far off.

We’ve got one of the best packs in the comp and they’re all pretty mobile. Frizell was great on debut and D SAF, Barnett and Klemmer were great too. Brailey was strong as well, a real threat out of dummy half and great service.

Special mention to Connor for that tackle on Katoa at the end. Huge effort play when the game was already in the bag.

 

[Yosh]

Might be a bit premature but if our forwards (including Brailey) can keep up this sort of form, are we up there with the best forward packs in the comp? I can't think of a forward pack that would dominate us anymore.

With the likes of Sione and Ese'ese gone, looks like a more solid pack. A lot less error prone and great aggression both in attack and defense. I hope we can keep the pack on the field for the year. Can see Ponga being a machine behind the platform the forwards put down.

Tuala seemed almost non-existent out there. However, his defense was okay. If Dom is dominating the reggies, surely he will get a call up soon?

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Good to see everyone survived the wrist cutting after the trial 2 weeks ago.

 

[perverse]

Special mention to Connor for that tackle on Katoa at the end. Huge effort play when the game was already in the bag.

That play really epitomised why you can always find a spot for him in the team somewhere.

 

[slotmachine]

Apparently Barrett isn’t happy with some of the calls made. I know it’s easier to be oblivious if your team is on the right side of the calls but nothing really stood out to me as being a wrong call.

The dogs got spanked by the ref, they didn't get a penalty or set restart until the 63rd minute. We had 9 at that point.

 

[perverse]

The dogs got spanked by the ref, they didn't get a penalty or set restart until the 63rd minute. We had 9 at that point.

Funny how that tends to happen when you get destroyed up the middle. Don't you remember what that was like? We used to be on the other end of it.

 

[slotmachine]

Not saying we shouldn't have got more than them but no team is perfect for almost 65 minutes.

Dogs got 3 or 4 in a row at the end once the game was over. I commented during the game I much prefer being on the other side of the ref square up.

 

[Frederick]

Thing that impressed me most is that no-one had a poor game. Even long time whipping boy Josh King made some really strong runs towards the end of the game.

Very good team performance, especially for round 1 when teams are usually most rusty

 

[mozza91]

Blaming the refs when we win? That’s a new one.

 

[Still Nutty]

Very happy overall with the performance for a season opener and the cohesion we saw for round 1.

Particularly happy with the discipline we saw from the team....the more we can consistently sit on the right side of the penalty/ 6 again ledger, the more games we will win.

Also generally happy with the line speed we saw across the 80 minutes - these are the areas we need to be lifting and maintaining to be a top 6 finisher.

Individually, nearly everybody was solid and played up to their ability. Hunt had an off night but it wasn’t through a lack of effort. Mann is not our answer in the halves and we need Green in and/or Crossland to develop.

Our attack is a work in progress but I liked seeing Pearce trying to vary his kicking game and us standing deeper in attack and running on to the ball with players in motion.

We need to get better value out of Best - he is an under utilised weapon that we need to inject more into the attack and not just as a hit up battering ram.

When it’s on the ground, a Brailey, Pearce, Green, Ponga combination should be a serviceable spine in the NRL for us to be competing for a top 6 spot.

Finally, I am excited by what I see from Obi and the development we can see in this squad from last year. We are not premiership contenders yet but I think us extending him for a further 2 years will see us with a genuine premiership window in the next 3 years.

 

[perverse]

Not saying we shouldn't have got more than them but no team is perfect for almost 65 minutes.

Dogs got 3 or 4 in a row at the end once the game was over. I commented during the game I much prefer being on the other side of the ref square up.

Yeah, it happens when you play well. Either you're being intentionally obtuse about what my statement meant or the point has evaded you somewhat. Refs certainly aren't perfect, but this is a Grade A+ example of how teams make their own luck in this game. Honestly, I hope to see much more of it, then we're really cooking with gas.

You see that stat and see a leg up, I see that stat and see a symptom of a job well done.

The truth of it is that a team that is struggling to contain another, especially up the middle, is far more prone to infringement - and more blatantly so as well. Whether that's the 10, the ruck, or other fatigue related oopsies.

 

[Yosh]

How good was our pressure on their kicker. Smashed their kicker each and every time. It's something I thought we really lacked last year. I hope we keep it up.

Also, we seemed much fitter than the Doggies out there. The Storm never lose round 1 and perhaps we can also grow that sort of reputation.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Big numbers from our pack