Match Discussion: Round 12 vs Manly @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[Alex28]

I think To'a will play NRL for a long time. He has shown improvement on a weekly basis and is scoring every second game. It doesn't help he never really played on the wing and is playing mostly when we are the losing side. Seems to have a lot of ability he hasn't shown quite yet.

He needs a strong centre inside him - if we get Gagai next year it could be the making of him.

 

[Allstar Knights]

He needs a strong centre inside him - if we get Gagai next year it could be the making of him.

Gagai didn't do Uate any good with much quality ball.

 

[Knight Tales]

Caught a short comment from Clifford yesterday, on the club website, and he looked itching to go. The win did not hurt either.

 

[Alex28]

Gagai didn't do Uate any good with much quality ball.

Gagai is a much better player now than when he was with us. Toa is a fine attacker, but needs help in defence.

 

[Yosh]

Gagai is a much better player now than when he was with us. Toa is a fine attacker, but needs help in defence.

I admit I haven't followed Gagai's career very intensively since he left the club but surely if To'a needs help with his defense, Gagai isn't the best tutor?

 

[Woosh]

Gagai Origin Captain’s Run vs Eels on the weekend -

3 Tries
3 Line Breaks
3 Line Break Assists
6 Tackle Breaks
1 Try Assist
14 Tackles
1 Missed Tackle

 

[PhilGould]

Post Josh Addo-Carr's stats from their matchup a few weeks back

 

[Woosh]

Post Josh Addo-Carr's stats from their matchup a few weeks back

Gagai played wing that night outside of Su’a, Jed Cartwright and Steven Marsters.
All 3 have been demoted to NSW Cup since.

 

[slotmachine]

Gagai Origin Captain’s Run vs Eels on the weekend -

Can you guarantee we would be getting Origin/Contract Year Gagai every game?

 

[Knight Tales]

I’m still happy for Dane G to be signed at right price.

 

[Woosh]

Can you guarantee we would be getting Origin/Contract Year Gagai every game?

Depends.. I don’t think he’s a fan of Seibold though

 

[Loose Cannon]

Less disjointed in attack? We had 57% possession, 55% territory, 9-1 penalties, and 41 tackles in the opposition 20. And we scored 3 tries, only 1 through a backline move.

Our attack was awful. Penrith would have put on 60. We missed Ponga and we missed Pearce (and although we haven't had him, we also missed Clifford)

We played with only one of our first string spine, that being the least creative position of the 4. Yes, our attack is still primitive. Yes, Penrith would put 60 on and we score 18. And yes, the forwards were the reason we competed. Does the attack not include what happens in the middle. Look at the Sue and DSaf tries. How many complaints have there been here regarding us going one out in the middle? Did anyone happen to notice JSaf ran as many, if not more decoys as hitups when he came on? Or Barnett continuing to ball play at the line? It may not be adventurous compared to what the Roosters do, but comparable to what we are capable of, there were some positives. Watson is currently offering a dimension we haven’t had previously, and I am keen to see that develop. We did fall back into our usual one out gameplan, which is as frustrating as hell, but at least there is something to work with.

Also, Hoy shouldn’t be condemned so hard for the early ball for the To’a try. If he holds on to draw the defender closer, the odds are Tuala is cramped for room. He had two options. Pass early, or step to straighten the attack before passing. Watch the angles, and draw it out another stride. Was there time for option 2? Maybe, but the try was scored. Were we not frustrated by our centres getting run over the sideline by someone heading east/west?

Plenty of work to be done, and it needs to happen quickly, but bodies in motion was a change. I hope it continues in games where we don’t get the calls. It needs to be standard procedure.

 

[Loose Cannon]

He needs a strong centre inside him - if we get Gagai next year it could be the making of him.

Bennett has realised after 10 years that Gagai belongs on the left, and it works. I am not convinced he would replicate that form on the right.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I was really proud of us as a club after this win. Manly had won 6 of their last 7 going into this game and had only lost to Penrith and we managed to drag them into a grinding battle and beat them in the middle thus nullifying the advantage they had in the backs.

Ultimately we didn’t play great but we managed to stop Manly from playing great which really put them off their game.

A few things that really impressed me:
- Barnett getting into first receiver and playing short to our other forwards at the line which created plenty of uncertainty in the defensive line.

- Our attitude across the 80 minutes can’t be faulted, we lacked polish but not effort and that’s all we can ask given the young team we have.

- Watson showing us again how much his ball playing at the line has improved. That face ball he throws really adds another dimension to our attack.

- Our game plan may not have looked pretty but we stuck to it and didn’t panic at any stage. We were super disciplined and basically didn’t give Manly any easy ball or opportunities which was why we won.

Heaps of guys had solid games, I was pleased with Phoenix Crossland especially given he got us a couple of crucial repeat sets with neat little grubbers behind the line. My only criticism would be that he needs to run the ball a bit more but that’ll come once he gains confidence.

 

[Knight Tales]

I still want know who was responsible for the tactics that took Turbo out of the game. No one has been able to do that all season.

 

[Burwood]

This is the sort of game in the past where it could have been framed as Manly losing, not us winning. But Manly didn’t have an off day, they just weren’t allowed to play their normal game and our defence manage to keep their threats pretty well detained.