because its a bunch of nonsense dribble, like the other bloke pointed out.
your clutching at straws.
don't compare the dogs and eels. they are nothing alike in anyway shape or form outside of both having good number 1s. our pack is far superior, we have a much better coach and a far superior backline then the eels had.
again straw clutching.
you can claim your opinion it could of been blown out, though it wasn't and it couldn't of been, thats like saying my opinion is the dogs could of blown it out, its rubbish. the storm didn't stop the try, the bounce stoped that try. twice. anyhow clutch away.
Mate i'm not clutching at straws anywhere
look at the make up of both sides
Dogs gf backs: Barba, Perrett, Inu, Morris, Wright
Eels gf backs: Hayne, Burt, Inu, Reddy, Grothe
Out of those they're quite even backlines in terms of youth and experience mixed. Perrett and Burt probably on par at time of each gf Burt in 09 and Perrett this year pretty even. Inu in 09 played freakish than he did this year. Morris better than Reddy but reddys defence that year was awesome. Grothe better than Wright. Hayne carried eels and Barba was the Dogs main man for alot of attacking plays too.
Dogs halves: Keating and Reynolds
Eels halves: Mortimer and Robson
Again very similar. Mortimer burst onto the scene that year and was playing great footy as the same as josh Reynolds. Robson was very under rated that year he organised well enough to allow Hayne to do his thing. Keating improved 100% don't get me wrong but both halves fell short in the gf and went into their shells
Dogs front row: Kasiano, Ennis, Tolman
Eels Front row: Cayless, Keating, Fui Fui Moi Moi
Both packs imo (apart from Hookers) are pretty even. Fui had a blinder of a season in 09 as did Caylo. Kasiano grew as a player this year and Tolman just went about his business. Keating did well in 09 for us and was a good starting hooker to get the tireless tackling out of the way before being replaced. Ennis is a great leader this year and lost his niggle he did well this year
Dogs Back Row: Pritchard, Jackson, Eastwood
Eels Back Row: Hindmarsh, Smith, Lowrie
Pritchard and Eastwood played the ball playing backrower rolls this year and Hindy had his last best season in 09. Ben Smith excelled as a backrower in 09 and Todd Lowrie is just an Honest toiler hard working club man hence why he was always in the Storms pack. Jackson is a rookie did well but had nothing in the gf
Dogs Bench: Finucane, Graham, Stagg, Payne
Eels Bench: Mannah, Kingston, Mateo, Galuvao
The Eels bench that year was great. perfect replacements. Kingston played awesome and was a great attacking weapon for us. Mannah was picked for Origin the following year over Tolman none the less Mateo had an awesome year and Galuvao was an honest worker either up front or in the back row.
Dogs bench is a good bench too but i'd say they're pretty even again
Dogs had good ball playing forwards and the small guys like Barba, Morris, Keating worked off their offloads. Just like eels in 09 with the likes of Fui, Smith, Maeteo providing offloads while Hayne, Inu and Mortimer were the quick men making inroads even Burt was in there too.
Both sides have a very similar make up Big mobile packs with champion Dally M fullbacks and honest working halves.
The main difference between the 2 clubs was the fact that Dogs played well for majority of the year while it took us a good 14 rounds to really start realising our potential. Yes that comes down to the coach as well. Des is better than Ando but both those sides are very similar. Especially the fact their are 3 ex-eels from that 09 gf squad in your starting side. Keating played some good games before getting injured Inu was on fire for us that year and Wright debuted for us and really played well in the 2 finals matches he had against Dragons and Titans
we get stronger with tony, you get weaker.
