Match Discussion: Round 16 vs Warriors @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[Noname36]

19 I think. Ideally he’d get a game at fullback of Ponga was out with rep duties. We’d be better off starting Mann in the halves and maybe giving him 15 minutes off the bench.

Its not like he’ll ever play fullback here while Ponga is here so why not use the time to see what he’s capable of in the halves?

We don’t even know what side will run out, for all we know he might end up at fullback, or not even play at all, but id at least be wanting to let him have close to a full game to get comfortable.

It’s really the perfect situation for him. The side has been written off by everyone, ourselves included, he has no pressure on him whatsoever...and even if he did, the good kids thrive off it and it doesn’t phase them.

 

[General Knight]

Feels like this is going to be a throwback to a couple of years ago. It will probably be about the same type of team that comes out to what we had a few years ago.

 

[Loose Cannon]

He’s a good player with plenty of speed. More suited to fullback though.

Throwing him to the wolves at this stage isn’t gonna end well though, especially out of position.

Agree 100%.

Don’t want to see the kid blooded in a team down on this many troops.

As it is, we need huge games from Guerra, as the experienced leader, and Levi, to control the forward’s momentum.

Big ask, given their match fitness.

 

[mozza91]

Realistically if we lose by less than 20 we’ve done a good job. No team in the comp would win with 7 regular starters out and a handful of blokes coming back off long term injuries.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Mann fullback, Watson 6, Lino 7, Sione centre, Hunt wing. All of them have played together. Swap around positions if needed.

 

[Haffa]

He's playing fullback for the Junior Blues in the Origin curtain raiser.

That doesn’t mean he’s not a chance to drop out of that to make his FG debut. There is a reason he’s been named on our extended bench.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

The plus side to all of this is that we’re up against a team this weekend who have a habit of losing games that they should win. If we were playing one of the top sides this weekend I’d expect us to get smashed but the Warriors lost to a Penrith side last week who only had 11 players on the field at one stage. I’m not saying that I’m super confident but at least we’re playing a team that has a lot of choke in them.

We definitely need Jacob to have a big game in this one and hopefully everything that has happened over the course of this year will motivate him to put his best foot forward in this game. Also having Guerra back is a massive in for us, his experience will make a difference.

I’m assuming this game will be pretty ugly, we probably have maximum 3 tries in us so we probably need to keep the Warriors to 2 or less to win it so the defence will need to be spot on and we can’t afford to let their back 3 get on a roll. I hope Pearce has told Lino to kick it into touch at every opportunity so that we can play the game at our pace.

 

[Haffa]

Crossland in for Pearce.

 

[Old dog]

Crossland makes sense, Lino to 7, Crosslands 6 and they have played together quite a few times in reserves. Crosslands has a big boot for finding the line.

 

[Frederick]

Sounds like Crossland will be starting on the bench

 

[Silent Knight]

Sounds like Crossland will be starting on the bench

If Crossland is on the bench who are the starting halves? Lino and ...?

 

[Frederick]

If Crossland is on the bench who are the starting halves? Lino and ...?

Mann according to Toohey.

Watson fullback
Sione centres
Buhrer second row

Crossland to come.on when Levi goes off.
Crossland half
Mann fullback
Watson hooker

 

[Haffa]

Sweet. No Moga. Doubt we see him in FG again unless things get thin at centre.

 

[slotmachine]

Too much shuffling for my tastes, Moga couldn't be that bad out on the wing.

Panthers beat Warriors by 30 last year with 7 or 8 out, including their entire first choice spine. So stranger things have happened.

 

[perverse]

Too much shuffling for my tastes, Moga couldn't be that bad out on the wing.

Panthers beat Warriors by 30 last year with 7 or 8 out, including their entire first choice spine. So stranger things have happened.

Agree, too much shuffling the spine mid game for my liking. Still, we have our tails up enough at the moment to get through this one with good attitude and good defense. We could certainly get pumped, but I could see us grinding out a messy, ugly 12-10 win, too.

 

[Still Nutty]

To me the most disappointing/frustrating thing is not rep-affected team we have to field (well done to all our guys playing Origin), but the fact we have to face two teams below us on the ladder who are completely unaffected and now have every chance of beating us. Which would then put us back to 8-8 and fighting for our finals spot again, which would hardly seem fair.

If only we were playing another team at least a little bit impacted (e.g. Raiders, Cowboys) it might even things up as a contest between two decent sides missing a few top players. As it is, we lose the best 30% of our team vs Warriors, and almost certainly again vs Bulldogs when none of them back up two days later. Then we play the Roosters away. Massive 3 games that could define our season now, and it's up to a makeshift pack and spine to ensure we get at least 1-2 wins from 3 to hold our position.

I get the negativity but this is what 'good' teams have to put up with to develop a culture of being in the top tier within the NRL.

It was only last year that we were the team sweating on SoO to give us a shot at knocking off a depleted teams to give us a chance of picking up wins...I am much happier being in our position this year than the position we were in last year. I accept that we are still a bit more challenged in the depth stakes than some of the other teams having to deal with losing players to origin but that will come.

The truth is, the opportunity to play bottom based teams during this time of the year is the best bonus we can hope for as we develop into a club that regularly competes in finals football and has a genuine chance of taking a title and it is nice to be struggling with these 'first world' NRL problems

 

[Tom155]

Too much shuffling for my tastes, Moga couldn't be that bad out on the wing.

Panthers beat Warriors by 30 last year with 7 or 8 out, including their entire first choice spine. So stranger things have happened.

Have to agree

 

[Frederick]

I'd prefer if we ran out with:

1. Mann
6. Lino
7. Crossland
9. Watson
14. Levi

Let Crossland run the team from the first minute. He and Lino have been playing together in NSW cup this season so are familiar with each other's games

Watson and Levi are interchangeable, don't mind who starts and who comes off the bench. Both will provide a spark against a tired ruck

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Updated squad says Buhrer at half back..

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]