Match Discussion: Round 16 vs Bulldogs @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[Mr_Knightside]

This is a f**king joke, an absolute f**king joke. If there was ever a game this year where we could be confident of getting the 2 points it was this game and we have absolutely embarrassed ourselves once again.

I think we’re so used to being the underdogs every week and getting beaten down by better teams that we totally forgot we were actually supposed to win tonight.

Corey Denniss was absolutely terrible tonight, did absolutely nothing with the ball and the dogs scored all their tries down his edge. I had some hope for him but he let Kerrod Holland and a winger I’ve never heard of school him so he’s done as far as I’m concerned.

Seriously I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry after a game and to top it all off Griffin and Ponga are both probably out for a while now too so not much to look forward to for the rest of the year.

 

[perverse]

I will say that it's remarkable how consistently we've found new ways to be horrible over the years. The following players would/should not get a gig anywhere else in the NRL:
Cogger
Denniss
King
Sio
Stone
Lillyman

And then you've got the blokes who might sneak into a bench somewhere else if they're lucky in:
Barnett
Buhrer
Heighington
Yates

That's 10 of our 17 tonight that aren't very reliable at this level. We then went and lost 2 of our top 3 or 4 players on the field.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Another thing that really gave me the shits tonight is our insistence on attacking down the left all night when Sione and SKD have been pretty good in attack down the right this year. Dead set the ball barely went right at all. I know that Watson scored those tries down the left but the Dogs figured it out pretty quickly and shut it down in the second half but instead of doing something different we decided that if you don’t succeed then try try try try try try try try try again...

 

[Zoidberg]

Ross needs to be back next week after what Denniss showed tonight, hopefully Pearce will be back to replace Cogger who was awful again, and Levi to start at hooker with Burher as a sub.
Who’s that guy we got from the Tigers? Give him a go next week too, need bigger bodies up front for sure. Nobody to back up Herman with no Safiti’s. Seriously, f**k our injuries.

 

[Swarzey]

I'm pretty sure Cogger plays this poorly to spite us. Without Ponga and Watson's style (which he proved tonight shouldn't be f**king touched), everything fell to him and he did f**king nothing. Absolutely nothing. Couldn't get us field position, couldn't get us a repeat set, couldn't make our attack seem threatening, couldn't put up a single kick. A lot of people sucked tonight, absolutely, but by far and large he was cancerous, rotting away any opportunity in the second half.

I can't f**king wait until Pearce is back and we can boot this pub tier player to the Bulldogs. Now I know how Whoosh feels towards Sione, except I'm more justified in my anger.

And also this club is cursed. We have some of the best medical staff in the game and we still get f**ked over my injuries every f**king year.

 

[Haffa]

We’ve gone backwards in the last few weeks. That was a horrible performance. We have no depth and there are guys playing every week who would be lucky to make NSW Cup teams at other clubs.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Another thing that really gave me the shits tonight is our insistence on attacking down the left all night when Sione and SKD have been pretty good in attack down the right this year. Dead set the ball barely went right at all. I know that Watson scored those tries down the left but the Dogs figured it out pretty quickly and shut it down in the second half but instead of doing something different we decided that if you don’t succeed then try try try try try try try try try again...

Noticed this too.

Guess that is what happens when your halfback can't pass to the right. Or run, or kick, or play the game. Seriously, choked the life out of any attacking opportunity we had.

Papers should be stamped now. King and Denniss too.

 

[perverse]

I really can't say who sucks more overall between Lamb and Cogger. I think maybe Cogger is worse due to the lack of distance he gets on his long kicks, but geez they've both been truly diabolical this year. Lamb can also kick goals, which gives him another function that Cogger doesn't have. Then again I think Cogger at least has a better go in defence. f**k, just f**k.

 

[Spot On]

It's a broken record but we are at least 6 to 8 decent first graders from being a competitive side - and that's not setting sights on the top 8.

I am in no way surprised we lost this game - at all.

 

[perverse]

It's a broken record but we are at least 6 to 8 decent first graders from being a competitive side - and that's not setting sights on the top 8.

I am in no way surprised we lost this game - at all.

A lot of those 6-8 were injured or on the sidelines tonight unfortunately. We have had a massive injury crisis this year, and with no depth or luck, this is what we get. I still think we need more quality at the club, but really we need some luck too.

 

[Swarzey]

Luck is really at the core of it. We have had some fantastic weeks where we've shown real potential even without key players and then we get injuries or inconsistent suspensions, reshuffles constantly etc and we have displays like tonight.

Nothing can seem to go right for us and it's hard to imagine that ever changing.

 

[slotmachine]

2 tries 3 line breaks 9 tackle breaks 162m for Watson. That's a night out

 

[Silent Knight]

Eels, Titans, Cowboys and Tigers are the teams we face next. You can bet your arse the coaches of those teams will be showing a video of our game tonight and saying to their players: this is what you are coming up against, if you can't beat that thing, you shouldn't be in the NRL at all.

I expect our next opposition to show us no respect at all. We deserve none.

 

[perverse]

Nothing can seem to go right for us and it's hard to imagine that ever changing.

I was just wondering to myself whether other teams go through this every year? Is it even possible to have a fully fit spine and keep your best players on the field in the NRL? Are we the only ones that have these issues year after year?

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Eels, Titans, Cowboys and Tigers are the teams we face next. You can bet your arse the coaches of those teams will be showing a video of our game tonight and saying to their players: this is what you are coming up against, if you can't beat that thing, you shouldn't be in the NRL at all.

I expect our next opposition to show us no respect at all. We deserve none.

Seriously at this point it’s hard to see us winning another game. Any other team in the comp would have had a regulation win tonight but we somehow found a way to embarrass ourselves.

 

[Gravy]

There's nothing more I can say hasn't been said already in the comments

What a woeful performance as a team and some of the individuals

Instead of piling more negativity on what really was a disastrous display, I would like to point out a couple of positives... and yes there actually were a couple.

1. Watsons performance tonight and KP proving last Sunday his defence can certainly handle the front line, while still being effective in attack is making believe that Pearce/KP halves combo with Watto at Fullback will be an exciting combo one day

2. Of all our really shit players tonight and for most of year i.e. Cogger, Denniss, King, Stone, Yates, Sio Lilyman, none of them are signings of Brown and Mooney and all will be gone very soon (well except sio and Lilllyman but both were only short term stop-gap players, but both will be gone)

Once we get a full strength team together and add guys like Ramien, Glasby, Fergo and a few other we will be fine. We have still come a long way and been much lower than we are now. Still a season lowlight though...

 

[Swarzey]

I was just wondering to myself whether other teams go through this every year? Is it even possible to have a fully fit spine and keep your best players on the field in the NRL? Are we the only ones that have these issues year after year?

Thing is I don't think it would be as bad if we didn't have halfbacks as poor as Lamb and Cogger as our reserves. I don't expect someone who fills into that role to be exceptional, but a lot of other clubs seem to be able to find and hold onto a solid halfback who can do a good enough job for the rest of the players around him to excel. It is hard keeping a fully fit spine on the field and it's impossible to argue that a fit spine is not critical to success; successful clubs usually have a good year when it comes to injuries.

We're not the only ones to have this but it seems worse for us given what we were already dealing with coming into this season; a pretty fresh side with sweeping changes to key areas. Injuries have just compounded those issues.

 

[Silent Knight]

I just had a laughable random thought. Imagine if Rick Stone was our coach tonight. He'd probably be praising our 'battlers' and saying they fought hard in adversity. And Kalyn Ponga never would have gone off injured because he'd be tearing sh*t up with NQ and Stoney would be proud to say Jake Mamo is our first choice fullback.

I guess things could be a whole lot worse than they are right now...

 

[Zoidberg]

I was just wondering to myself whether other teams go through this every year? Is it even possible to have a fully fit spine and keep your best players on the field in the NRL? Are we the only ones that have these issues year after year?

I hear people say how the dogs, eels, cowboys are going through a hard time, try getting 3 wooden spoons in a row for rebuilding years, then finally getting some decent signings and see them get long term injuries one after another.

 

[Spot On]

A lot of those 6-8 were injured or on the sidelines tonight unfortunately. We have had a massive injury crisis this year, and with no depth or luck, this is what we get. I still think we need more quality at the club, but really we need some luck too.

We need 6 to 8 more on top of our best line up this year Pervy.

I'd only want Pearce, Watson, SKD and Ponga from our backs.

Herman, one of the hookers, Guerra, Fitzy and Dan S from the forwards.

Sione will be there somewhere.

That's 10 players.

Moga might get back? Jacob Saifiti might be first grade standard?

Add in Ramien, Edrick and the Great Gatsby. That's 15. Maybe.

The rest are in reserves.

Who have I missed?

We are still well short on decent depth imo.