Match Discussion: Round 2 vs North Qld @ Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville / Wulgurukaba

[Seage]

The only GP game I can legit remember us winning was that 2004 game against the Broncos where Kurt Gidley kicked that bludger of a FG.

Aside from that… have we ever won a GP game since then???

Wasn't Pearcey's first game for us a Golden Point win against Manly? And Scott Dureau I think won us another one against Manly. That's the only other ones I can remember ( If I am even remembering them correctly).

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Wasn't Pearcey's first game for us a Golden Point win against Manly? And Scott Dureau I think won us another one against Manly. That's the only other ones I can remember ( If I am even remembering them correctly).

Yes you’re right. But it’s still a god-awful record and I feel like I get intense anxiety whenever we’re in a GP situation.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

2 fellas on debut also and we never win those games

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

How did Hastings hold up? Did he look fatigued towards the end?

 

[Apey]

It's kind of wild how clueless we look in attack. Yes we're missing Dom but that is not the problem because we're not even getting the centres and wingers good ball to start with. I really do think it's just a matter of the 6, 7 and 9 being out form, but Ponga has been fairly ineffective too, although that may just be a result of the former.

We will be better if we can get Brailey back and staying on the field ASAP.

If Hastings doesn't pull his finger out soon (or injured?), Cogger should start. He's not a 14. When Brailey is back, Cogger is 7 for NRL or NSW Cup.

 

[perverse]

How did Hastings hold up? Did he look fatigued towards the end?

Looked knackered, but i'd say he looks off the pace in general - not just physically.

 

[Knight Tales]

We played a side that made 11 - Eleven! - errors in the first half, committed 5 ruck infringements, were forced to defend 29 tackles in their red zone and scored 0 points in the entire half. And we lost. Let that sink in. The opposition will never play that badly again and we couldn't beat them.

The absolute lack of discipline on our side in gifting penalties and the general presence of Greg Marzhew cost us. Dan Safiti's bone rattler was the match turning point. Right until KP spilled that kick at the end to give them the ball. That ended up the real turning point.

Exactly all of this. It is not on O’Brien what happened. They let a massive chance slip through their fingers to really lay a foundation that they are a threat. That round 1 was ring rust. But now the pressure is already building. Cos the sides who started poor last year, and we jumped to make the 8, are looking strong. We are way off the pace.

 

[Alex28]

Wow, really? Tell me where Hastings is posting that so I can go give him a dose of reality. He's the main culprit.

I’m sure he can’t wait for a nothing like you to come along and tell him all about what he does wrong

 

[Old dog]

Thought Hastings was in a bit of pain after putting in a big kick towards end of game

 

[Woody90]

To be fair, Hastings did have surgery in the off season.

The attack being so poor is a weird one. I expected we wouldn’t come back fully clicking right away but objectively we had the best attack in the comp after the regular season last year and haven’t had significant player change (yes we lost Dom but like someone said upthread it’s been the spine that’s been the issue, and KPP/Lucas have slotted in well for Fitz). You wouldn’t expect us to be this bad assuming the coaching staff haven’t thrown what was working last year out the window.

I agree with whoever said that the issue is the spine all being incredibly out of form. Unfortunately the only way to turn around bad form is to work through it. Thing is though if we do manage to work through it like last year (we did go through this mid last season) - the absolute best we can hope for this year is pulling a bunch of wins together at the back end to slip into the bottom part of the 8 (that’s absolute best case scenario and not looking likely currently). You need to finish top 4 to be any chance of doing anything and it’s pretty depressing to know that will be out of reach by round 4/5.

I think one of our major issues tbh is that whether we can win or not is too dependent on our attack. All teams go through periods of being down on form where the attack just isn’t clicking, but the good teams have the fundaments right to be able to grind out enough games until they can turn the form around. If we can’t beat a team by 20-30 points we’re in big trouble because our side still hasn’t developed the composure to be able to effectively grind out close games.

 

[Woosh]

The other thing is that we just didn’t attack well at all. Did we spread the ball at all aside from the 20m zone? I don’t remember Gags or Best getting any kind of clean early ball even from 40m or 50m out. Gags got a couple of line breaks from broken play but we just didn’t provide our outside backs with any good opportunities to run the ball.

Leo had some strong carries yesterday but way too many runs in good attacking positions

 

[K-Man]

It was obvious in advance we had lost the game in the first half by not putting them away. Ponga’s little ‘interview’ running of the field confirmed as much, I expected him to be a little luke warm on the performance so far but he was delighted (because 12 point lead). If that was the attitude in the dressing room and from AOB then it’s no surprise at all.

Our attack really was deplorable. Utterly clueless. Almost a case of trying so hard not to make the errors from last week that we forgot how to do anything as a team. It’s bad signs when you play so poorly and lose badly in such different ways from week to week. R1 too many errors, R2 hopelessly impotent.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

It was obvious in advance we had lost the game in the first half by not putting them away. Ponga’s little ‘interview’ running of the field confirmed as much, I expected him to be a little luke warm on the performance so far but he was delighted (because 12 point lead). If that was the attitude in the dressing room and from AOB then it’s no surprise at all.

Our attack really was deplorable. Utterly clueless. Almost a case of trying so hard not to make the errors from last week that we forgot how to do anything as a team. It’s bad signs when you play so poorly and lose badly in such different ways from week to week. R1 too many errors, R2 hopelessly impotent.

I thought the same when I saw that interview.

 

[perverse]

It was obvious in advance we had lost the game in the first half by not putting them away. Ponga’s little ‘interview’ running of the field confirmed as much, I expected him to be a little luke warm on the performance so far but he was delighted (because 12 point lead). If that was the attitude in the dressing room and from AOB then it’s no surprise at all.

Our attack really was deplorable. Utterly clueless. Almost a case of trying so hard not to make the errors from last week that we forgot how to do anything as a team. It’s bad signs when you play so poorly and lose badly in such different ways from week to week. R1 too many errors, R2 hopelessly impotent.

Yeah I was actually taken aback a bit by that brief little interview. Sums us up in a nutshell. "Close enough is good enough".

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Looked knackered, but i'd say he looks off the pace in general - not just physically.

I'm just not confident with his staying power given that he has to perpetually manage his injury. He can prove me wrong.

 

[Apey]

Also another instance where we take a penalty goal and don’t score another point after it. No reason to go from 8 to a 10 point lead. Yes it got us to golden point this time, but if we score a try there, we win.

I reckon if you had to pick a few moments that lost us that game
1. Hastings kick on the 3rd, on their 30m line with the complete run of the ball, when up by 4 with 5 minutes to go
2. That penalty goal

Both just bizarre decisions.

Honourable mention: Ponga dropping a sitter in the middle of the field.

 

[Yosh]

Positives
Forwards: All the forwards played well yesterday. Everyone had over 90m in run metres and apart from Crossland, they barely missed any tackles.
The 4 halves problem: The team benefited from not having Cogger, Hastings, Crossland, and Gamble on the field simultaneously. Very happy to see AOB immediately rectify his mistake from last week.
Error Rate: There was a noticeable improvement in the team's error rate, showing a drastic reduction compared to the previous week's performance.

Negatives
Leadership Vacuum: The lack of leadership emerges as the primary concern, possibly affecting the team's strategic execution and morale. We suck at GP... Those are the times we especially need a leader to step up and take charge.
Underutilization of Centres: The team failed to exploit early ball opportunities for Best and Gagai. Best was used as a second rower all game and Gagai had to come infield to do any damage with the ball. Why aren't we playing expansive anymore?
Limited Offloading: Hetherington was notably the only player engaging in offloads. There was a missed opportunity every time KPP managed to free his arm, as the team lagged 10 meters behind the play. KPP wasn't brought in to be a battering ram......
Hastings' Performance: Hastings appears to be underperforming, lacking agility and failing to seize offloading opportunities from KPP. His general play kicking is terrible and he looks like he is playing at 0.5x speed for some reason. Probably his fitness level might only be at 50% and needs extra time to recover.
Gamble's Focus: Gamble seems overwhelmed, possibly due to the pressure of competing for his spot against Cogger or Pryce, affecting his on-field decision-making. We all just want Gamble to be Gamble!
Crossland's Execution: Despite his commendable physicality, defense, and work ethic, Crossland's service and decision-making from dummy half fall below NRL standards. However, there's potential for improvement in his role as a dummy half but that's like 2 to 3 years away I reckon. Need Brailey back to play at least 40 minutes a game.
Marzhew's Consistency: Marzhew's performance has declined from the previous year's balance of very high and sorta low moments to predominantly stinky low moments this year. One more game to prove himself or he needs some time in reserves.

 

[Alex28]

I think that Pryce and Cogger will be the halves for the bulk of the year, however they are new to the club (Pryce is new to the NRL) and they need a bit of time before things click.

Hastings and Gamble needed time last year before things clicked. Things will come together. Just needs a little bit of time - something this forum doesn’t allow.

Hastings didn’t look great at the end of the game - I’ll be interested if it is Gamble and Cogger in the halves next week - especially if Brailey is right to play.

Also, where are the ones who were calling for Brailey to be cut because we had Phoenix at hooker now?

 

[PhilGould]

Crossland has been bad to start the season but I'd probably wait until Brailey can at least get on the field for a week, let alone stay there, before taking a victory lap

 

[Alex28]

Crossland has been bad to start the season but I'd probably wait until Brailey can at least get on the field for a week, let alone stay there, before taking a victory lap

It’s not really a victory lap. When the team is humming, average players look good. Phoenix is a really good utility, however he isn’t a hooker. There isn’t much to celebrate with an injury prone hooker and no real adequate replacement…