Match Discussion: Round 8 vs Sea Eagles @ Lottoland

[Zoidberg]

I think we just need to work on options. Teams have been rushing up on Pearce and that puts him off. If we work on McCollough watching for this and either running or passing the other way (which is probably the opposite of what he’s been told), oppositions will not keep rushing him.

 

[Knight Vision]

Are we at the point where we think at the end of 2021 we don't resign Pearce and use his million a year and go hard after a player like Moses, keary or cleary

Or would we be better of using that money elsewhere and hope that crossland develops enough by then

I think we're getting close to the point of realizing we possibly should partner him with our prospective future halfback and give the lad time to gain experience alongside Pearce. If the prospect isnt already at the club then we need to go buy one.

I dont see any top line half out their that is realistically a chance of leaving their current set up.

 

[Knight Vision]

I think we just need to work on options. Teams have been rushing up on Pearce and that puts him off. If we work on McCollough watching for this and either running or passing the other way (which is probably the opposite of what he’s been told), oppositions will not keep rushing him.

and kick a tackle early, put in some block runners, allow Mann or Ponga to have a crack now and then. Mix it up.

 

[Spot On]

I think we just need to work on options. Teams have been rushing up on Pearce and that puts him off. If we work on McCollough watching for this and either running or passing the other way (which is probably the opposite of what he’s been told), oppositions will not keep rushing him.

Teams rush Cleary every week. Have a look at last week's game and then check how many kicks Penrith made in total and how many Cleary was responsible for. All but 3. He kicked for close to 600m against decent opposition.

Pearce just needs to adjust... and improve.

 

[ryana87]

I see a lot of "he'll come good" or "needs to improve"

At a million a year and current highest paid player at the club, he should be litterally be our best player (or there abouts) every game..... None of this, "he just gets a bit overwhelmed when players rush him"

 

[Knight Vision]

Teams rush Cleary every week. Have a look at last week's game and then check how many kicks Penrith made in total and how many Cleary was responsible for. All but 3. He kicked for close to 600m against decent opposition.

Pearce just needs to adjust... and improve.

No doubt he's not Joey. He is still one of the best halves in the comp, for mine there has been a dearth of really good quality halves across the competition for a long time now.

Pearce has always been the same player, a good quality second tier half. Dont expect anything flash or brilliant, just competitive, dont expect banana kicks or repeat sets, just someone that can boot the ball......and most of all dont expect someone who can spot an opposition half with one arm and take advantage of the situation......pressure is not Mr Pearce's friend.

 

[perverse]

So Pearce is the scapegoat this year. Noted. He's not the one out there dropping the ball, letting blokes through the middle, losing the wrestle and the ruck... but righto.

What I don't get, and this has been an issue for years, is that we often fail to see the correlation between the effort and attitude of the team and the form of the players. We prefer to lay blame at the feet of individuals when oftentimes the problem is systemic. We've been flat since the Canberra game. Kalyn has been just as absent as Pearce and co, because we're not doing the tough stuff right across the park, and particularly in the middle.

Against the Cowboys it was apparent from probably our second set onwards that we were not in the right frame of mind. We spread the ball too early and looked for easy points and solutions rather than getting stuck in up the middle and around the ruck and earning our right to spread it. The Cowboys were good enough on the day to take advantage of this open invitation to beat us.

We've looked like a team that believes its own hype and wants to go out there and play champagne footy... while completely disregarding the effort plays and 1%ers that saw us successful in the first few games of the season. Go back to basics, sort out the little things/effort plays, and Pearce/Ponga will come back into it. The opposition can't rush up on our playmakers if we're winning the ruck and the defense is retreating. It's actually not very complicated, as I see it anyway.

Pearce is here until at least the end of next year, and I don't see a viable succession plan coming along between now and then, so that stint could be a bit longer too. Who do we replace him with? Crossland? Lino? Who could we buy in that fixes the issue? Let's be real.

 

[Knight Vision]

we often fail to see the correlation between the effort and attitude of the team and the form of the players. We prefer to lay blame at the feet of individuals when oftentimes the problem is systemic. We've been flat since the Canberra game. Kalyn has been just as absent as Pearce and co, because we're not doing the tough stuff right across the park, and particularly in the middle

very true, it's the mind set of the team at present more than any individual ,

it was obvious to me with the Broncos only try, most were jogging back after him and they allowed him to improve his position under the posts........Watch the Roosters or Storm and they fight for every blade of grass , every mm of ground, they simply dont jog back after an interceptor and by hell they dont allow him to score under the posts.

 

[Yosh]

I just want to see the team put some pressure on the opposition kicker and play the field position game.

Anybody find out why we only put up bombs now? Pearce has a great long kicking game but we seem to be targeting mistakes from the back three instead of just playing it safe? I'm not sure, I'm sure AOB has some sort of plan but I wish we knew more about it.

Lee has also been a bit meh for me the past few weeks. We haven't utilized his special abilities as much as I had hoped. If we can't make use of his special skills, should we give Star Toa a run?

 

[perverse]

very true, it's the mind set of the team at present more than any individual ,

it was obvious to me with the Broncos only try, most were jogging back after him and they allowed him to improve his position under the posts........Watch the Roosters or Storm and they fight for every blade of grass , every mm of ground, they simply dont jog back after an interceptor and by hell they dont allow him to score under the posts.

The main difference between the Broncos game and the Cowboys game was that the Broncos weren't good enough to beat us even at half effort. They were dead set tragic. O'Brien called it during the week - that we weren't travelling as well as we thought we were. It's a shame he wasn't able to fix it. I'm not going to go throwing blame around without adequate information, but the team preparation clearly isn't getting them in the right place mentally. Whose fault that is will probably depend on who you ask, but i'd say it's a shared responsibility between the coaching staff and the playing group.

Lots of praise for O'Brien lately, but he needs to find a solution here. He's got the cattle by my measure.

 

[slotmachine]

2018 is a distant memory but Pearce was red hot that season, he would have won the Dally M if not for injury.
Up and down like a yoyo since then.

 

[Spot On]

2018 is a distant memory but Pearce was red hot that season, he would have won the Dally M if not for injury.
Up and down like a yoyo since then.

So true. Last year's winning streak, absolutely on fire.

I'd simply be happy for him to get his kicking game right and hammer teams that way. Consistently, every week.

His defence is sound and always has been although I think he was a lot better defended earlier in his career. He aint young anymore though and I think he struggles a touch more in that area now.

As for his attack and providing something with the ball through passing and running... well, we all hope it can improve dramatically.

 

[Burwood]

One aspect of Pearce’s game that has improved this season is that he’s not getting caught on the 5th tackle anymore. For the last two seasons, you could pretty much bank on him getting tackled on the 5th at least twice a game. Can’t recall it happening at all this year.

 

[Spot On]

You expect your captain and million dollar half to lead. If that is not his mindset, if that is not his go then who the f**k is going to follow???

JFC - Imagine Cam Smith going into a game with the wrong midset. Never, ever happens.

Let's get real.

No Pearce isn't in the middle missing tackles and dropping the ball but he sure has been responsible for failing to do his job when we have the ball.

Scapegoat or an obvious problem at the moment with our captain, half, kicker of the footy, on field general and million dollar player?

As Peter Sterling keeps saying ... being on the back foot is no excuse... good players always find a way.

 

[Zoidberg]

Anybody find out why we only put up bombs now? Pearce has a great long kicking game but we seem to be targeting mistakes from the back three instead of just playing it safe? I'm not sure, I'm sure AOB has some sort of plan but I wish we knew more about it.

How I see it is, we want to get the opposition to start their set in their 10/20 and get our defence to keep them as deep as we can. We don’t kick for touch as we prefer to keep the game moving with no set restarts and play at our pace (as we seem quite fit). Doesn’t work great when our defence allows too many soft metres though.

 

[Loose Cannon]

How I see it is, we want to get the opposition to start their set in their 10/20 and get our defence to keep them as deep as we can. We don’t kick for touch as we prefer to keep the game moving with no set restarts and play at our pace (as we seem quite fit). Doesn’t work great when our defence allows too many soft metres though.

There may be some truth to those tactics re fitness/keeping ball in play. There is a way to kick centre field and find the turf, however, and it is something Pearce has never achieved. The chase is far more effective if the back three a chasing the rolling ball, rather than standing directly under it, regardless of how high Pearce can kick it.

Kick length, and therefore field position is sacrificed the way Pearce approaches the clearances.

 

[perverse]

You expect your captain and million dollar half to lead. If that is not his mindset, if that is not his go then who the f**k is going to follow???

JFC - Imagine Cam Smith going into a game with the wrong midset. Never, ever happens.

Let's get real.

No Pearce isn't in the middle missing tackles and dropping the ball but he sure has been responsible for failing to do his job when we have the ball.

Scapegoat or an obvious problem at the moment with our captain, half, kicker of the footy, on field general and million dollar player?

As Peter Sterling keeps saying ... being on the back foot is no excuse... good players always find a way.

Sterlo is talking out of his arse if he said that verbatim. I've never seen a team with a star halfback and busted forward pack win a competition. Teams that lose the middle and/or ruck do not win a majority of football games in 2020. You'll pull games out of the fire here and there, but our first halves to games in particular have not been good enough to compete across the board, 1 through 13.

At the end of the day this conversation has been well covered before, I'm not going to go there again. We know why Pearce is paid as much as he is, we know why we had to get him, we're better off for it. If you're so down on him - what's the solution? You just whine about it until he plays well again? When are you going to start on Ponga? He's on a good wicket too.

 

[Apey]

Well we can be back in the top 4 if we beat Manly.

 

[Apey]

On Pearce, I'm not convinced we can win a comp with him but he was a huge signing for us and I'd give him every chance to. He definitely needs to pull his finger out of his ass as far as his kicking game goes at least. We've always known he's not particularly creative, he is there for his game management, which he needs to get right.

 

[Yosh]

On Pearce, I'm not convinced we can win a comp with him but he was a huge signing for us and I'd give him every chance to. He definitely needs to pull his finger out of his ass as far as his kicking game goes at least. We've always known he's not particularly creative, he is there for his game management, which he needs to get right.

That's harsh. I reckon definitely have a chance but we need peak Pearce consistently to do it. Joey could win a comp playing at 70% but Pearce needs to be producing 120% week after week I admit.