Match Discussion: Round 6 vs Broncos @ Central Coast Stadium

[Walk On Home Boy]

Ahh man... I'm more annoyed than I should be. It's somewhat comforting to know we have the Canberra performance in us.

 

[Apey]

Mann has been much improved last 2 weeks.

Happy that we got a win playing that out of sorts.

 

[slotmachine]

How did we come through injury wise?

Coach just said all good

 

[Old dog]

Mann’s best game so far, needed to be as Pearce was ordinary by his standards, would be happy for Mann to miss a game, get over niggly injuries, play Crossland/Hoy with Randall on bench. If Barnett fit then Fitz or Sione to bench and Guerra rested, we are looking good

 

[Reflector]

As much as Pearce had a shocker with the ball, always gives 110% in defense and never gives up. Lovely try at the end there.

Nicely controlled game. Simple but got the two points. Watson would have gotten a hattrick today. Hoy only out there to gain experience? Didn't do nothing again...

Pearce is the inverse of Milford. Milf has more natural talent under his left index finger than Pearce has ever had, but he's a total pea-heart.

 

[Knight Vision]

We played crap but our forwards won us the game.

Best prop rotation in the NRL at the moment. How good is it to see Klemm, DSaf, Herman and JSaf rolling down the middle.

Most disappointing moment in the game for miine was letting their winger run under the posts to score.

Most satisfying moment - As Ponga was lining up for the final kick some random in the crowd yelling " Darius you suck "

 

[Knight76]

Pearce needs to get the ball in to the in goal along the ground more often at the end of sets on their line. Too often we are going for the scoring play on the last, when we should be going for the repeat set and building pressure.

If he secured a few repeat sets nobody would be saying he had a crap game. It's a fine line.

His passing was a bit too flat a few times putting the ball runner under pressure but thats not all on him, it's a timing thing for the ball runner also.

 

[General Knight]

Best prop rotation in the NRL at the moment. How good is it to see Klemm, DSaf, Herman and JSaf rolling down the middle.

Add Frizel and Barnett and thats one scary pack.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Wasn’t pretty.

But given history, I am one who would rather win ugly by 6, (or the Penrith draw, or even lose a tight one), than win pretty by 30.

This game was good for them. It’s not enough, they will learn this under AOB.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

That was an odd game. We were clearly on top for 80 minutes but we were like a killer whale playing with an injured seal, we just kept letting it get away again and again until we finally had enough of that and put it out of its misery.

Seriously though when Dan scored at the beginning of the second half I thought we would put 40+ on them but then we didn’t score for another 30 mins or so which was a big surprise. I suppose we had the game in the bag at that stage but it was just as if we had them on the ropes and couldn’t land a knock out blow.

Overall I do think some people are being a little harsh on Pearce. It wasn’t a great game from him but he did some good stuff too. His ball to Mann was classy, he got us a repeat set at one stage and that try near the end was strong and he didn’t let us down in defence. He was a bit clunky though but I’m sure that will improve.

The Saifiti boys have grown an extra leg this year. Dan’s selection for nsw last year was perhaps a bit surprising at the time but he’d probably be the first picked if there was an origin match next week. Jacob is also putting his hand up big time. It’s hard to see him getting an origin spot given he’s coming off the bench but on current form he would probably walk into the starting side at a lot of clubs.

Although our attack was off tonight we definitely applied ourselves and overall it was a dominant performance. It was well below our best but that’s the most exciting thing right now.

 

[Knight Vision]

Pearce needs to get the ball in to the in goal along the ground more often at the end of sets on their line. Too often we are going for the scoring play on the last, when we should be going for the repeat set and building pressure.

this is an ongoing concern with Pearce's short kicking game and one that has plagued him throughout his career. Repeat sets from kicks are certainly not his forte and drove me crazy when he was playing SOO.

 

[Knight Vision]

Add Frizel and Barnett and thats one scary pack.

Top 4 and seriously challenging for the title

 

[Old dog]

Pearce’s kicking game is based on him having options, he is the go man on last tackle, we know it and so do the opposition, Mann tonight had his best game but no pressure was taken from Pearce for kicking, especially in final 20 metres, Mann was generally wide and Ponga rarely sighted. Does Pearce want the control or is Ponga reluctant to move in, Mann tended to play left side was it a coach move. Was Pearce not so good because Mann was, did Ponga play less left because Mann did, hopefully coach knows but me thinks we are on the brink of being VERY good. All will be answered in next 3-4 weeks

 

[Knight76]

Ponga did take more of the kicking for length tonight. Helped Pearce out a bit.

 

[Silent Knight]

We played crap but our forwards won us the game.

Best prop rotation in the NRL at the moment. How good is it to see Klemm, DSaf, Herman and JSaf rolling down the middle.

Most disappointing moment in the game for miine was letting their winger run under the posts to score.

Most satisfying moment - As Ponga was lining up for the final kick some random in the crowd yelling " Darius you suck "

Enjoy my friend...

 

[Yosh]

Pearce probably knew better than anyone that he was having a shocker in attack. However, he didn't go disappear into a hole, he made sure that defensively he was the best out there and in the 78th minute scored a solo try. That's a winners mindset. As much as I want Joey to be playing for us, I'm perfectly happy with Pearce at the moment. Who would be a realistic improvement at this stage? We ain't going to sign a Cleary or get Cronk out of retirement so Pearce is good enough for me.

 

[Silent Knight]

Pearce probably knew better than anyone that he was having a shocker in attack. However, he didn't go disappear into a hole, he made sure that defensively he was the best out there and in the 78th minute scored a solo try. That's a winners mindset. As much as I want Joey to be playing for us, I'm perfectly happy with Pearce at the moment. Who would be a realistic improvement at this stage? We ain't going to sign a Cleary or get Cronk out of retirement so Pearce is good enough for me.

I’d rather have Mitch than Nathan Cleary. Penrith’s entire attack strategy is pass it to Kikau and hope for the best.

 

[Silent Knight]

People hang sh*t on Pearce but let’s have a look at some of the other club’s halfbacks shall we...

Donkeys - Brodie Croft
Sharks - Chad Townsend
Bulldogs - Lachlan Lewis
Cowboys - Jake Clifford
Storm - Jahrome Hughes
Roosters - Kyle Flanagan
Titans - Jamal Fogarty
Dragons - Adam Clune
Rabbitohs - Adam Reynolds
Warriors - Blake Green

Would we trade Pearce for any of the above 10 halfbacks? I wouldn’t. Most are far too green, a couple are past it and one is more of a fullback.

In terms of an actual halfback upgrade I’d look at only 4 current NRL halfbacks: DCE, Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses and George Williams. None of whom would come cheap and out of those 4 only one is a premiership winner.

We just have to trust in what AOB is doing, especially with our forward pack. Hell Brent Sherwin won a premiership in 2004 off the back of a very strong forward pack.

 

[Knight Vision]

Enjoy my friend...

gold

 

[Knight Vision]

People hang sh*t on Pearce but let’s have a look at some of the other club’s halfbacks shall we...

Donkeys - Brodie Croft
Sharks - Chad Townsend
Bulldogs - Lachlan Lewis
Cowboys - Jake Clifford
Storm - Jahrome Hughes
Roosters - Kyle Flanagan
Titans - Jamal Fogarty
Dragons - Adam Clune
Rabbitohs - Adam Reynolds
Warriors - Blake Green
.

No doubt we have one of the best number 7's in the comp. But let's have a look who is the partner in the halves with these guys in terms of skill and what they can bring to big games compared to our Mann.

Where do we rank in terms of halves pairing?

Donkeys- Brodie Croft - Milford
Sharks - Chad Townsend - Johnson
Bulldogs - Lachlan Lewis - Foran
Cowboys - Jake Clifford - Drinkwater
Storm - Jahrome Hughes - Munster
Roosters - Kyle Flanagan - Keary
Titans - Jamal Fogarty - Taylor
Dragons - Adam Clune - Norman
Rabbitohs - Adam Reynolds - Walker
Warriors - Blake Green - Nikorima