Match Discussion: Round 13 vs Eels @ ANZ Stadium

[Loose Cannon]

I thought Denniss went pretty well last night. Not saying he deserves the spot over Ross but he does deserve to be in the mix. I don't think we lost much with Denniss there in defence or offense. Ross probably would have done alright as well but I personally thought Denniss with the ball in hand, had some stuff in his locker that I haven't seen from Ross.

Sione has not played well all season but the more I see him play, the more convinced that he is a strike backrower. He runs good lines and defends well in the tackle but makes bad reads time and time again. Such a pity he has had such big concussion issues because I'd love to see him given a role like Luke Lewis. Real shame.

Re Sione, Yes, Yes, Yes.

Good game last night (his first in months). He could wear the 15 (if he gets signed) when Ramien gets here. And will be much better for it. If he can’t stand up to the backrowers load, there is no spot for him. Don’t wish any further harm from his brain bouncing around his skull, but he isn’t a turnstile infield, and we can’t afford to cater to his deficiencies for his personal wellbeing.

And before the apologists claim he was moved to fill the teams weaknesses, I am aware of our problems in that area, but defensively he is hardly better than leaving the 3 empty.

He scored last night, and came close a second time, from the same play. It was Levi to a battering ram, near the posts. Seems like a forward play to me.

 

[Old dog]

Not sure anyone is making complete sense of Sione, Ross, Denniss etc but changing a winning side does not reward the team. If Ross had been playing brilliantly then, if fit, he would be given his position, same would go for Sione if out injured. Denniss played well, not brilliant but as good or better than Ross, Sione played better than Ross has been doing so team should stay. Circumstances would be different with others, Ponga would be an automatic return as will Esee because his game is much better than some of those that played.

 

[Hit and Spin]

does anyone else think Denniss played well enough to hold that centre spot?
I thought he played better in his first game than Ross has all year.

Denniss must stay. He is a bigger body and Rossy just doesn't break the line any more and gets monstered by the opposing Centres who now all run at him. Simple decision. No room for Ross Dog.

 

[Noname36]

Ross wasn't dropped, he's injured.

Not sure why I'm bothering with crew who don't know that. Might give up. Laters.

I did think he was injured but then you kept going on about how he was dropped so I assumed I must have missed something and he was dropped for poor form or something.

I don’t understand why you’re crying then if he wasn’t dropped.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Had the game recorded and just watched it. Good win by the boys, I was most impressed by our attitude and intent.

To be fair we were probably unlucky not to have another 3 or 4 tries to really blow that scoreline out, Buhrer’s pass to Cogger and Denniss’ “forward” pass to Sio etc.

That being said I hope this win doesn’t come as fool’s gold. Parra we’re dead set toothless and injuries during the game didn’t make it any better for them. We were definitely more enthusiastic and deserved to win comfortably but I want to see that sort of attitude and agression against a good side and we’ve got two of them coming up in the Roosters and Storm. I’m not necessarily expecting us to win either of those games but we need to start pushing these teams a bit, so far against some potential top 4 sides we’ve been thrashed and the difference between our best and worst is still pretty big.

If we can pull out a spirited 80 minute performance in our next couple of games and stay with these teams then I will start to believe we’ve turned a corner because at this stage we were still terrible for 4 straight weeks and one win where we beat up an under strength Parra side coming last doesn’t do enough to convince me that we’re a good team all of a sudden.

 

[K-Man]

Had the game recorded and just watched it. Good win by the boys, I was most impressed by our attitude and intent.

To be fair we were probably unlucky not to have another 3 or 4 tries to really blow that scoreline out, Buhrer’s pass to Cogger and Denniss’ “forward” pass to Sio etc.

What were people's thoughts on that Buhrer pass no try ruling? I know the ref called held, but imo there is absolutely no way a held call would have been made if, for example, Buhrer was reaching out for the try line, or was inside the in-goal area struggling to get the ball down, where we see players given an eternity to wriggle around long after their momentum has ceased. Jamie had only just made it down to ground level and immediately got the pass away.

I'm cynical, but to me it just screamed of the type of play that's given a try if it's one of the big teams. It was too spectacular to be a legitimate play by the Knights.

 

[PhilGould]

He still had momentum and the ball-carrying arm hadn't touched the ground. Should've been a try. Ref called held because his view was obstructed.

 

[Spot On]

Try everyday of the week. Wouldn't have happened that way for the 'big' clubs.

The 2 refs in that game are of pretty poor standard tbh.

Ivan Cleary must be getting fed up with some of the stuff his side has to put up with too. How the hell they didn't blow off side penalties against the Roosters in the last few minutes when Tigers were camped on the try line yesterday was a joke.

 

[slotmachine]

Tigers were robbed against the broncs too. They should be in the top 4