Match Discussion: Round 9 vs Rabbitohs @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[slotmachine]

more like we’ve hung in there and Ponga has saved

Without god ponga have we won a game? Probably not.

 

[Tom155]

Ponga is just incredible

 

[Tom155]

Our kicking is terrible without Pearce

 

[slotmachine]

2019 we are going to be a hot side. A healthy Pearce, a few new middle forwards, ramien and another centre. Bring it on

 

[Burns]

I don’t see what we would have won this year without Ponga.

 

[Spot On]

Hmm, beaten up by a big pack that runs harder and tackles harder.

 

[Dave_]

F**k I hate that timeslot. I forgot the game was on and just checked. What happened?

 

[Misanthrope]

F**k I hate that timeslot. I forgot the game was on and just checked. What happened?

Nothing. Triumphant victory.

#ignoranceisbliss

 

[slotmachine]

What happened?

Rolled through the ruck.

No one had a real stinker but most players would do a good thing then two or three bad things.

Also sio had a brain snap and bombed a try over the line when the score was 12-16

 

[Haffa]

F**k I hate that timeslot. I forgot the game was on and just checked. What happened?

It’s the only time we play these days.

Defence poor early. Fight back, Sio drops it over the line untouched, drops it up the other end. Game over.

 

[Haffa]

No one had a real stinker

Sio did.

 

[slotmachine]

Maybe cogger too.

Sione did something in attack today! Right edge still leaking like a sieve

 

[Swarzey]

I'm not going to stress too much. I think we forget that we still have a lot of youth in the team and while we're bringing in guys like Ponga, Herman and Watson who are incredibly talented and proving how good they are, they're still young and vulnerable to the issues that really impacted us last year. Without Pearce, we don't have the direction, the structure and more importantly the leadership to recover when the momentum shifts away from us.

I feel if Sio scores, the entire second half is flipped around, we take the lead and likely hold on but for Souths to go down the other end of the field and score, it was identical to so many games we lost last year. I'll defend Sio, he had a shit 60 seconds but was safe as houses otherwise and those 60 seconds shouldn't be enough to carry the blame for the loss. If the side was good enough, if they didn't have the remnants of the issues we had last year, then those 60 seconds wouldn't have mattered.

I felt Fitzgibbon, Guerra and Barnett being swapped around was pointless and almost a detriment to the side. Our shifts either side seemed to halt when it reached them and the Ponga/Fitzy combo was limited for the most part.

Shit night. Sucks that we can't just lose by a little but that's the reality of our year. We're still 5-4, a positive record and we still showed some signs of excellence and brilliance; we can win without Pearce, it's probably just for the best that we don't get our hopes up for a bit.

 

[Noname36]

Although Sio killed any chance of a come back we really lost that in the first half when we kept making errors and giving away penalties while we had the breeze.

Still playing like a young side and miss Pearce’s leadership badly there.

I didn’t think we were that bad. Like most of our losses this year scoreline certainly flattered the opposition.

I was really impressed with Watson. He’s not a natural half by any stretch but he’s a very energetic and dangerous runner. There was this exchange of passes between him and Ponga just before SKD’s last try that looked absolutely beautiful live at the game.

I know everyone hates Sione but I thought he was great tonight. Some really strong runs and defence. Defiently got the best of Inglis. Bad read for the first try but that was good play by Souths.

 

[slotmachine]

Strange world when Fitz is the best backrower at the club.

 

[Sydney Knight]

I feel a similar way this year. It's a disappointing game to lose but it's still feels better knowing we got beaten due to dumb errors than feeling like we just don't have the players to compete in most games like 16 and 17.

I'm not going to stress too much. I think we forget that we still have a lot of youth in the team and while we're bringing in guys like Ponga, Herman and Watson who are incredibly talented and proving how good they are, they're still young and vulnerable to the issues that really impacted us last year. Without Pearce, we don't have the direction, the structure and more importantly the leadership to recover when the momentum shifts away from us.

I feel if Sio scores, the entire second half is flipped around, we take the lead and likely hold on but for Souths to go down the other end of the field and score, it was identical to so many games we lost last year. I'll defend Sio, he had a shit 60 seconds but was safe as houses otherwise and those 60 seconds shouldn't be enough to carry the blame for the loss. If the side was good enough, if they didn't have the remnants of the issues we had last year, then those 60 seconds wouldn't have mattered.

I felt Fitzgibbon, Guerra and Barnett being swapped around was pointless and almost a detriment to the side. Our shifts either side seemed to halt when it reached them and the Ponga/Fitzy combo was limited for the most part.

Shit night. Sucks that we can't just lose by a little but that's the reality of our year. We're still 5-4, a positive record and we still showed some signs of excellence and brilliance; we can win without Pearce, it's probably just for the best that we don't get our hopes up for a bit.

 

[Spot On]

Big picture for me is that we just don't run and tackle as hard as the opposing pack.

Plain and simple.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

My thoughts on the game:

- That was the worst possible start we could have had. Down by 2 tries in the opening 5 mins, we did well to fight back but we should never have allowed that to happen. We gave Souths a 12 point head start which is absolutely criminal at this level.

- Our goal kicking is a real worry at the moment. I almost wonder if we need to have Sio doing all the kicking from the right and Ponga doing all the kicking from the left. Neither of them seems to be able to bring it back enough when kicking from their non prefered side.

- Our kicking game is terrible, Cogger tries hard but he just doesn't kick the ball far enough or high enough to actually put any pressure on the opposition, and not once did he try to roll it in goal when attacking their line either. Saying we need Pearce back is an understatement, but I think we really do need to bring Lamb back in when he's fit. His kicking game is notably better than Cogger's and I'm willing to give him another chance at halfback which is where he played his best footy last year.

- Ultimately we were beaten by a better team tonight, arguably that error from Sio hurt us in the context of the game but it just seemed like Souths would have too much for us tonight. Their completion rate was almost perfect and their forwards were all over us which gave their backs heaps of room to play. They're looking like a potential top 4 team this year so I wouldn't be too down about it.

- Sione had his best game for us so far this year I thought. Scored a try, set up 2 for SKD, made some strong runs and made Inglis his bitch on a couple of occasions in attack and defence. There were still a couple of errors in his game but the nett result was good imo.

We should be able to take a lot of confidence out of how we played tonight. I think we've got Penrith next week and they'll be tough but I think we can get them tbh.

 

[Sacrolishes]

Our attacknis just exciting isn’t it. Mostly to do with Ponga but I feel like the whole team as the year goes on is starting to gain a few notches of confidence under their belts. We’ll only get better there, rest of season needs to be focused on defence and mentality.

This team has shown that any team that doesn’t turn up to play we will beat, but also we’re still a few steps behind in defence and starting halves well.

 

[Zoidberg]

I guess any team with a 94% completion rate is going to win most games, and they were throwing it around too.
If we had got our goals we still would’ve been in striking distance too.
Even without Pearce, attack doesn’t seem to be a problem, it’s our defence letting us down nearly every week.