Match Discussion: Round 8 vs Sydney @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[perverse]

Oh, and it's also a complete sham that the club has assembled a squad with only 1 bloke that fits that bill. Replacing Pearces material characteristics on the field shouldn't be that hard - it isn't - but we have literally no-one to replace his intangibles. It's unacceptable.

 

[Alex28]

Also, if we play Tex Hoy and Mann in the halves next week. I'm gonna write an official complaint to the club.

Sam Walker highlights how overrated Tex is.

Nothing more than a surname.

 

[Alex28]

AOB clearly doesn't rate Crossland at all. Only picked him at 9 last year, and only when he had no other option.

Was forced to pick him in the halves earlier in the year, but didn't give him a license to do anything. Crossland is supposed to have a very good kicking game and a bit of a running game - didn't get to do any of either.

And in the most recent press conference he talks about how Hoy or Crossland are an option to replace Green. Playing Mann and Hoy in the halves is clearly such a bad idea, that AOB thinks its an option shows how far back Crossland is. There's a reason he doesn't have a contract next year and that the club isn't negotiating with him.

I don’t really blame him. He is underwhelming.

Also, he is now probably all we have for a few months.

 

[Rod]

There's only one bloke at the club that has any chance of improving this team at all, and he's not available for months yet. If you all can't see and admit that Pearce makes a big difference to this team then you're being willfully ignorant. He's a loooong way from perfect, but look at us without him. We've gone from frustratingly mediocre and inconsistent to absolutely pathetic - not worth feeding. Unless Ponga pulls an 11/10 performance out of his arsehole every single week, we will not win a game against any team who actually has a bit of pride. Even Ponga doesn't give that much of a shit - hell he barely cares about football in general to be honest - and will never be the teams leader.

Pearce is our closest thing to a leader, closest thing to a captain, closest thing to a halfback. He might come up short of your expectations in all of those areas, but he's miles ahead of anyone else in the team. Miles. Not even in the same country. Our season went down the drain with Pearces pectoral muscle. He's the only bloke in the team with a genuine hunger for success. He still remembers what it tastes like. He craves it.

Let the flaming, bitching and moaning begin. It's the truth.

Agreed re: Pearce but I think this is harsh on Ponga. I do think he cares and tries hard, he's perhaps just not a 'leader' in the traditional sense.

The more I watch him the more I think he's a 6 though. He's not particularly good under the high ball or covering the last line of defence anyway so we wouldn't be losing much by shifting him there.

 

[perverse]

Agreed re: Pearce but I think this is harsh on Ponga. I do think he cares and tries hard, he's perhaps just not a 'leader' in the traditional sense.

The more I watch him the more I think he's a 6 though. He's not particularly good under the high ball or covering the last line of defence anyway so we wouldn't be losing much by shifting him there.

I think he cares about winning, anyone that plays any game or sport wants to win - but hunger is a different beast entirely. He doesn't crave it. There's no level of obsession or willingness to sacrifice to attain it that I've yet seen. To be honest it's not even that uncommon with freakishly talented people. The truth is he's probably never had to work that hard to be the best at whatever he put his attention to on any given day.

It's pretty well established that Kalyn doesn't really care that much about footy outside of training and game day. He doesn't watch other teams play, he doesn't put in extras. Talent will get you so far - and his talent is freakish, no question. That talent alone will not make him a champion, though. Most champions live and breathe the sport - and would play their next game immediately after a loss if it meant they had a chance to erase the loss they just copped. Kalyn will likely mope a bit with the boys in the sheds, go home and play some playstation and enjoy his day tomorrow - at least that's the impression that I get from him.

I'm a firm believer that the obsession is a key ingredient that turns talented players into greats. The absolute need they have to improve and to win. I'm yet to see it from Ponga tbh. That's just my read on it based on what I've seen from him over the years outside of game day. Maybe I'm wrong - I'd love for him to prove me wrong - but his inconsistency on the field only reinforces the belief in my head at this point.

 

[mozza91]

Totally agree re Pearce. He’s been pretty been horribly inconsistent over the last 2 years but the only time we’ve played decent football in the last 4 years is when he’s steering the ship.

Kind of a mute point as he’s out now but stripping him of the captaincy was utter stupidity.
As Peverse said he’s got plenty of faults but he’s the only leader we have currently at the club. Saifiti and Brailey are really good footballers but don’t have the right personality to be captaining a First Grade team.

 

[mozza91]

That’s harsh on Ponga. He was playing first and second receiver at times tonight as well going out the back for the block plays. He’s the only point of attack we have at the moment and he’s trying hard.

If he didn’t give be a shit there’s no way he’d put his body on the line like he does.

 

[perverse]

That’s harsh on Ponga. He was playing first and second receiver at times tonight as well going out the back for the block plays. He’s the only point of attack we have at the moment and he’s trying hard.

If he didn’t give be a shit there’s no way he’d put his body on the line like he does.

His efforts in D often tell me otherwise, to be honest.

He's an amazingly gifted athlete, with more natural and effortless talent than I can recall seeing in a player. I don't think he'll ever reach his potential without taking the extra steps - without loving the game and wanting to win more than anything else in his life.

There's a reason why fans of a lot of other clubs don't particularly rate him - and it's not jealousy. If he could do what he did to the Sharks a couple of weeks ago week in, week out - then I'd have to shut the f**k up. I don't think he gets to that point without the qualities that I'm trying to describe. Again, I hope he proves me wrong - but I'm just calling what I see.

 

[Jono078]

The Ponga discussion is a fascinating one I find.

I’m on the Perverse side of things here.

I’ll be really curious to see how Ponga reacts when Brimson is selected ahead of him.

 

[mozza91]

I think the whole not giving a shit thing is a front. When I hear him talk he second guesses himself a lot and actually seems to lack confidence.

But on the field he’s wholehearted. He was previously pretty sound defensively but I think he’s lacking confidence with his tackling after hurting the shoulder last year and since the reconstruction.

 

[Reflector]

I think he cares about winning, anyone that plays any game or sport wants to win - but hunger is a different beast entirely. He doesn't crave it. There's no level of obsession or willingness to sacrifice to attain it that I've yet seen. To be honest it's not even that uncommon with freakishly talented people. The truth is he's probably never had to work that hard to be the best at whatever he put his attention to on any given day.

It's pretty well established that Kalyn doesn't really care that much about footy outside of training and game day. He doesn't watch other teams play, he doesn't put in extras. Talent will get you so far - and his talent is freakish, no question. That talent alone will not make him a champion, though. Most champions live and breathe the sport - and would play their next game immediately after a loss if it meant they had a chance to erase the loss they just copped. Kalyn will likely mope a bit with the boys in the sheds, go home and play some playstation and enjoy his day tomorrow - at least that's the impression that I get from him.

I'm a firm believer that the obsession is a key ingredient that turns talented players into greats. The absolute need they have to improve and to win. I'm yet to see it from Ponga tbh. That's just my read on it based on what I've seen from him over the years outside of game day. Maybe I'm wrong - I'd love for him to prove me wrong - but his inconsistency on the field only reinforces the belief in my head at this point.

What you wrote here sums up the difference I always felt watching Inglis vs. watching Slater.

 

[perverse]

Yeah look I didn't mean to turn this into a Kalyn bashing session. My main point wasn't even about his on-field effort (although I do think that comes and goes, even within the same match at times), but moreso his off-field effort and general mindset. I'm thankful to have a talent like his at the club at all - and we can't rely on him for everything all the time. I do think he is probably close to his ceiling without finding ways to take extras steps with his game, though. Great players find ways to impose themselves on a match - consistently and regardless of how much they are aimed up on by the opposition. Through his talent he has it in him to do anything in this game - but I worry that he won't get there without being pushed to.

 

[Rod]

The defence with him is a weird one with for sure, it must be a confidence/effort thing because 2 years ago he made 30 tackles in an Origin game defending in the middle.

 

[GidleyTwinz]

That’s harsh on Ponga. He was playing first and second receiver at times tonight as well going out the back for the block plays. He’s the only point of attack we have at the moment and he’s trying hard.

If he didn’t give be a shit there’s no way he’d put his body on the line like he does.

There's a big difference between 'not giving a shit', and footy not being an all consuming passion. The 80 minutes a week I see of him, he's clearly giving it his all - but there's consistent commentary that football isn't his only focus (both Brown and Adzy have made comments on that).

He's our best player, and he plays like it consistently - that's why I don't think it's fair to question his effort levels. But at the same time, he has the natural talent to be an immortal - but how much has he really improved over the last few years? It's fair to say that (it seems) he doesn't love the game the same way Joey did, or Leiws did, or Thurston did.

 

[perverse]

On another subject entirely - don't you love how we only used 3 of our 4 bench players again tonight? Is this some sort of big brain, 420 IQ shit from the coach or what? Is having players be that little bit extra juiced part of our game plan?

 

[Rod]

On another subject entirely - don't you love how we only used 3 of our 4 bench players again tonight? Is this some sort of big brain, 420 IQ shit from the coach or what? Is having players be that little bit extra juiced part of our game plan?

It's particularly baffling when a lot of our bench guys this year (especially Sue, and Jones in a couple of games) look really solid when they come on.

 

[Knight Tales]

AOB has hit a major crossroads as a coach here already. It is non secret he inherited Brown’s roster and he either does not know what to do with it or his coaching style is not up to scratch, or worse, beyond them. Seibold needs to be brought in and give his views on a bigger canvas cos both these guys are Bellamy products. That is what baffles me most about it all. One thing is unarguable and that is Bellamy has an almost biblical gift with player unity. He makes his players hate losing and worse letting their mates down. It is not fear he coaches but absolute self authority and accountability to yourself first, second and third.

 

[slotmachine]

On another subject entirely - don't you love how we only used 3 of our 4 bench players again tonight? Is this some sort of big brain, 420 IQ shit from the coach or what? Is having players be that little bit extra juiced part of our game plan?

They all got a run?

 

[Haffa]

AOB gave the team a couple of days off to refresh this past weekend. He said maybe it wasn’t enough. This doesn’t look like a tired team, it looks like a clueless one.

He sounds like a father sending his kids to the grandparents for the weekend to get some quiet time for himself.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

The discussion around Pearce and his importance to the side in this thread highlights just how fickle this fan base can be at times

Late last year and early this year nearly everyone to a man wanted him sacked, deregistered, hung , drawn then quartered. Now that he's been injured for a few weeks and the great saviour Green has been outed as the broken down plodder that he is, Mitch is back to being our Messiah

Never change fellas