Match Discussion: Round 3 vs Roosters @ Allianz Stadium

[Noname36]

I think Levi would be fine. Even if he's not in great form he never lets us down. Can Griffin consistently play 80? Because if so we wouldn't even need another hooker.

Although Buhrer could relieve Griffin I don't love his dummy half play. I'd keep him in his current role for injury cover.

 

[Haffa]

Browny says that Connor Watson may need shoulder surgery, looking at 12 weeks out

Shit that hurts.

 

[Tom155]

That sucks, would think Levi has to come in to the side

 

[Spot On]

On Griffin, yes his passing from dummy half isn't the fastest, but it's highly accurate. Every pass lands on the chest of its intended receiver

I was pleasantly surprised to see him put a few kicks in albiet late. But that is a good sign. We can not have one kicker in general play. Ponga, Griffin and Lamb must all be allowed to contribute when it allows.

Pearce was just a big target for the Roosters defence from start to finish. They rushed up on him all night and we really didnt have much of a plan B.

Hopefully those options will develop more over the season.

As predicted, Keary killed us and shows what a great running 5/8 can do to a side when his pack gets to roll forward.

 

[aqua_duck]

Levi would at least provide a running threat out of dummy half for us.

 

[Noname36]

Any more injuries and we start to look very thin in the halves.

We didn't release Cogger did we?

 

[PhilGould]

Roosters did an outstanding job at shutting down Pearce and Pong every time they touched the ball. Even then Ponga created half chances out of nothing a few times.

Lamb will have a prolonged period now to make that #6 jersey his own and I hope he does better than he has the last 2 weeks.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

We weren't as bad as the score suggested tbh. I could argue the Cowboys were worse than us on Thursday night and didn't even look interested, at least our guys were putting in. On Thursday Melbourne bombed 2 or 3 clear tries in that game too while the Roosters took every quarter chance that they had against us, so we definitely weren't that bad.

We just need to take this on board as a learning experience to be honest, and I think we might be in for another tough one next week because the Dragons are looking very good at the moment. There's no shame in being beaten by a top side unless you're not putting in.

While I don't think the result would have changed there were some fairly rubbish tries that went against us. Luke Keary being magically onside was BS, and there was definitely a push on Buhrer when he was diving for the ball yet that they didn't even go to the bunker, and then there was the runaway try when we were attacking the roosters' line.

Ultimately we lost that game by not playing the conditions and having poor discipline. Also our forward pack just isn't at the same level as some of the others in the comp, we did well to contain Manly and Canberra but tonight we were shown up big time. We need to see some more aggression from our big guys.

Sad to hear that Watson is out for a while but the silver lining is we get to see Lamb and Pearce play together long term which will be good.

Also I would stack the bench with big bodies for next week.
14. Buhrer
15. D. Saifiti
16. J. Saifiti
17. King

 

[Hardcore_Fan]

The saifit boys really need to lift their game next week if we are any chance. Lillyman and ese ese have been carrying our entire pack so far.

The dragons have the best forward pack in the comp.

 

[Glendale]

Agree with everyone’s sentiment. We had no luck tonight and failed to capitalise on our opportunities whilst being up against a side who is a class above us. Also that freakish try right on halftime I feel really killed us- we go into halftime 18-8 it’s not too bad, 24-8 halftime against the Roosters is game over already.

Sucks to lose Watson for him and for us, now we have no genuine utility player so I am worried about what happens if we get injuries in the backs. But I do feel Griffin and Levi will complement each other really nicely as a dummy half combo. I feel like Levi is really good at the stuff Griffin lacks in and vice versa. I am looking forward to watching them over the next few weeks. Also I am a believer that Lamb and Pearce is our best possible halves combination so looking forward to that aswell.

 

[Old dog]

A few boys were AWOL tonight, bad luck for Watson, lots on here howled at Sione for HIA, not for concern, he came back on, cleared, and no comment from anyone, can understand trainer being concerned. Starting pack was good except for Barnett who doesn't look fit. Moga and Ross had ordinary game, Safiti boys ran with no zip and Buhrer was busy but not threatening. Pearce, Lamb and Ponga tried but pack was outplayed.

 

[Knight Vision]

I don't know why Ross is getting a free pass from everyone...probably because he's "Tha Rossdawg", but he was out of position all night tonight, in attack and defense

when I was in the Army there was a saying often use " a chain is only as strong as its weakest link" . No one dared be that weakest link.

In our case Rossdog represents where we are as a team. He's not in the top 10 - 15 wingers in the game and is a player we will never win a comp with. His enthusiasm shone over the last couple of years but in a decent team his mediocrity is what shines through.

 

[Glendale]

when I was in the Army there was a saying often use " a chain is only as strong as its weakest link" . No one dared be that weakest link.

In our case Rossdog represents where we are as a team. He's not in the top 10 - 15 wingers in the game and is a player we will never win a comp with. His enthusiasm shone over the last couple of years but in a decent team his mediocrity is what shines through.

I would argue he is better then mediocre. Yes he has made a reputation as one of the better players in a dog sh*t average team, but it wasn’t just his enthusiasm that earnt him the credit in the bank- let’s not forget he is quite a skilled footballer. He has always had a few issues in defence, often gets caught off his wing. While yes he’s had a few average games to start the year, the combination between him and Moga is obviously still developing and Moga has played a big part in making Ross look bad so far. It’s round 3 and Moga didn’t train much in the preseason. Give it time, he has earnt a bit of it imo. Also I believe wingers in premiership sides don’t need to be world beaters, they’re often the budget players who just do their job, that’s all we need.

 

[Yosh]

Moga seems uninterested and he and Ross don't seem to be enjoying playing with each other... Moga needs to up his intensity because he looks like he is isn't interested. We seem to have no dynamism in the backs... We looked like three back rowers and a primary school kid compared to the back line of the Roosters... I was hoping Moga would be a threat but seems like a dud player so far but I guess he needs some time.

How good is Herman and Ponga? Ponga I knew would do well but Herman looks a champion player.

Also, why do we never offload?

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Also, why do we never offload?

I always wonder this myself and it's probably one of my biggest bug bears with the way this team plays. I assume Brown is trying to keep the game plan simple and I get that you have to earn the right to offload and there's not much point in doing it if you're not going forward but it looks like we don't even know they we're allowed to do it.

At the moment whenever someone does get their arms free to create second phase play there's no one even running through to get the ball because they don't expect it to happen. Not to mention teams do it against us every week so I can't work out why our guys haven't realised that it's a viable tactic.

 

[Old dog]

Moga looks ok with ball in hand, runs hard but his passing game is bad but at least he did try and offload. Sione busted the line got hands free looked to left to offload no one in sight.
Agree we have a problem with it, might be coach playing safe, just make ground, keep possession.
Ross and Moga not even in same book let alone same page and it showed in body language.
Don't recall any of the forwards looking to offload,meat her was bad but roosters did it.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Has anyone else looked at the stats on NRL.com from last night? Are they even close to being accurate?

Apparently the top metres made in our team was 78 and several of our forwards only made 20-30 metres. Also supposedly we only made just over 500 metres as a team which seems really low. I know we were pretty poor last night but surely not that bad!

 

[Tom155]