Qualifying final 2020: Parra v Storm GAME DAY thread (3/10/20)

[Pazza]

And had we not had to reshuffle the side, due to several injuries, we may not have conceded 36 points.

True.

But melbourne were attacking us down our right edge. Not because of injury but good game planning and awareness.

 

[Pazza]

Why didn't they execute their plays better? They're certainly talented, and well-coached, so why didn't they? Could it be that our defence put them under pressure, and they made some poor decisions?

I don't think enough credit is being given to our defence - we had a second-rower, with less than 20 games under his belt, defending at centre, for crying out loud.

I'm no fan of the 2020 versions of Sivo, and Ferguson, but if people think that not having Sivo didn't hurt us, they're crazy - we had to put a centre on the wing, a second-rower into centre, and shuffle our pack around.

Then Davey got concussed, and we had to shuffle the team around again.

Then we lost Ferguson - another reshuffle.

We faced a lot of adversity last night, and were even torn apart at times - but we only lost by 12, with 40% possession.

Bring on next week.

I think we are a fantastic footy side. One of the best in the league BUT.... If we wanna go to another level.... Like the roosters, storm and now panthers. Some this need to be looked at and its not just personel.

 

[Pazza]

If there isn’t a change with the assistant coaches our club is in serious denial.

Lets hope Oneill knows what hes doing...

 

[Matty Bhoy]

Is there an organisation more professionally run than the Storm? Is there a better coach ? I hate the mother f**kers but their model delivers continuous success. Yes they cheated a while back but so did we.

There’s was just a touch more blatant. Fk, even their cheating was professional as all hell.

 

[Eelementary]

True.

But melbourne were attacking us down our right edge. Not because of injury but good game planning and awareness.

Very true.

But Sivo's injury also impacted our right edge.

Papenhuyzen, Addo-Carr, and Vunivalu would probably still have exploited our lack of speed, but losing Sivo didn't help.

 

[Eelementary]

I think we are a fantastic footy side. One of the best in the league BUT.... If we wanna go to another level.... Like the roosters, storm and now panthers. Some this need to be looked at and its not just personel.

No disagreement from me - we have work to do, to be sure.

But I'm feeling encouraged for our future after last night.

 

[Eelementary]

Is there an organisation more professionally run than the Storm? Is there a better coach ? I hate the mother f**kers but their model delivers continuous success. Yes they cheated a while back but so did we.

Yep.

I hate them with the intensity of a thousand suns - but f**k they're good.

 

[strider]

Also - the Storm are geniuses at this 6 again caper. They concede it on the first tackle almost every set, so the ref is usually loathe to give another one same set. It is brilliant coaching. Meanwhile, we concede ours 3rd or 4th tackle. It was so blatant.

100% they do ... ie concede on the first .... its the same as melbourne have always done, believe the ref wont constantly penalise you so keep doing it

 

[strider]

Is there an organisation more professionally run than the Storm? Is there a better coach ? I hate the mother f**kers but their model delivers continuous success. Yes they cheated a while back but so did we.

They still manage to pay millions outside the cap, supposedly legal ... not sure many clubs can follow that model .... also agree they have some quality football personel to make it work, but the cash to set it up and keep it in place sure helps

 

[Incorrect]

Also - the Storm are geniuses at this 6 again caper. They concede it on the first tackle almost every set, so the ref is usually loathe to give another one same set. It is brilliant coaching. Meanwhile, we concede ours 3rd or 4th tackle. It was so blatant.

Yep, I said the same thing in a WhatsApp chat with mates during the game last night. The set restarts we got always seemed on 1st tackle. Pointless for us. Bring back the penalty!!

 

[eels_fan]

Had the storm executed their plays better this could have been a 60 point scoreline.

So when the opposition don’t execute their plays 100%, it’s just bad luck and not attributable to our effort, defence, pressure, energy etc.

yet if the shoe is on the other foot, everyone would be crediting the opposition for shutting down the eels structures and attack and forcing errors.

so basically, we can’t win either way....

 

[eels_fan]

With all the noise around Souths / Burgess I can see the knights getting a win today. I honestly feel at Bankwest we can comfortably beat the knights.

If Souths do win, the media is going to keep releasing info around Burgess and the club all week, they’ll crumble. They are also yet to put 2-3 games of good form together all year.

I see us playing Penrith at ANZ in 2 weeks.

and imo that’s anyone’s game, we were not that far off them last time despite the scoreline and we were without Dylan. G Jennings can adequately replace Sivo, and the upside is he is playing for a contract so might have some blinders

 

[Cumberland Eel]

Old Cam was like a minnesotan policeman out there last night.

 

[crocodile]

They still manage to pay millions outside the cap, supposedly legal ... not sure many clubs can follow that model .... also agree they have some quality football personel to make it work, but the cash to set it up and keep it in place sure helps

Millions under the cap. Don't you mean sombrero.

 

[Kornstar]

Storm have a relentless line speed and alway gang tackle and slow down the ruck with pressure holds and wrestle.

We showed the rest of the teams how to beat Storm and with more luck (= possession) things would have been different.

I admit that I’m a glass half full guy, but reading through the threads, don’t get the continuous pile on by some. We finished 3rd in the regular season and got beat 6 tries to 4 by the best team in the comp. Meanwhile the usual suspects are yelling in true not happy Jan style that they want changes ranging from the coach to the pack and backline.

As old mate @Avenger says, we’re still in this comp ball deep and next mission is a home game vs Souths or Knights. We are a tough talented side and have proved that you will have to fight hard to beat us. We are a huge chance to win next week and will prolly play Penrith in the GF qualifier.

JFC just enjoy the ride.

Line speed/energy in both defence and during a kick chase are one of our biggest weaknesses and it was never on show more than last night. The difference between the great teams and good teams is never more highlighted than games like last night.

We turned up to play and against any other team bar the Roosters at their best and i think we win or at least have it be a game until the final siren. We just do not have that extra gear that we saw from the Storm last night OR the Roosters game earlier this year.

The problem with continuous talking about coming 3rd is that the reality is we continuously lose to the Storm and Roosters in big games that really matter. Coming 3rd if f**king awesome, i am happy with the season overall and 3rd is a great achievement and way better than not making the 8 BUT if you can't beat the other teams in the top 4 (or 8 even) then you need to find a way to get better.

We know the things we need to fix, the Storm showed exactly what needs to be fixed last night, more effort in the areas of line speed, ruck and kick chase and we probably win or lose by a field goal.......it is fact, not some imaginary made up issue.

And BA said what it said during the gamely threads every week, we are dumb at football A LOT!!! The Storm are football smart and game aware, we are not.

Good question asked of Bellamy - when stuck in a bubble with nothing to do...how hard will it be to sit around for two weeks until the Preliminary Final?

Good question to ask of Penrith, too... Young squad who I think will do real tough in the next fortnight...

Storm are too professional to f**k up but the Panthers could easily f**k up. We need some young ladies (of legal age of course) to visit Cleary and the other young fellas and do some more TikTok videos.

Anyone know anyone who knows Penrith players, lets tear the club apart!!!!

 

[lingard]

Is Waqa Blake really a long term option at centre? His defence doesn’t look like it’s ever going to improve and he rarely sets up his winger. He seems to be able to run the ball up strong so maybe he’s worth a try on the wing since we’re stuck with him.

Except his defence on the wing is terrible, too. He couldn't defend a child's toy castle.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I agree - Davey to centre was a weird decision.

We would have been better off with Matterson to centre, Davey to second row, and Lane in the middle, imo.

Centre isn't such an important attacking position so it's not a big deal putting your worst attacker there. They're mostly running decoys and making the odd hit up on that side. But centre is a very important defensive position and Dylan Brown was defending there. Davey actually caused a lot of problems defending three in, and Will Smith made much better decisions defending there later in the game.

 

[lingard]

What day do we play merkins?

They're all merkins.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Line speed/energy in both defence and during a kick chase are one of our biggest weaknesses and it was never on show more than last night. The difference between the great teams and good teams is never more highlighted than games like last night.

We turned up to play and against any other team bar the Roosters at their best and i think we win or at least have it be a game until the final siren. We just do not have that extra gear that we saw from the Storm last night OR the Roosters game earlier this year.

The problem with continuous talking about coming 3rd is that the reality is we continuously lose to the Storm and Roosters in big games that really matter. Coming 3rd if f**king awesome, i am happy with the season overall and 3rd is a great achievement and way better than not making the 8 BUT if you can't beat the other teams in the top 4 (or 8 even) then you need to find a way to get better.

The Storm and the Roosters are two of the three best resourced teams in the comp. It's no coincidence that the three biggest cities have the most money to spend on footy. Here's the Roosters' five most recent losses in the finals:

2020: lost by 1 to the Panthers
2017: lost by 13 to the Cowboys (grand finalists)
2015: lost by 19 to the Broncos (grand finalists)
2015: lost by 2 to the Storm
2014: lost by 10 to Souths (premiers)

Here's the Storm's five most recent:

2019: lost by 8 to the Roosters (premiers)
2019: lost by 2 to the Raiders (grand finalists)
2018: lost by 15 to the Roosters (premiers)
2016: lost by 2 to the Sharks (premiers)
2015: lost by 20 to the Cowboys (premiers)

Here's our five most recent losses:

2020: lost by 12 to the Storm
2019: lost by 32 to the Storm
2017: lost by 8 to the Cowboys (grand finalists)
2017: lost by 2 to the Storm (premiers)
2009: lost by 7 to the Storm (premiers*)

So just like the Roosters and Storm, we are only losing finals matches to very good teams. We're just unlucky we keep coming up against the same one. But if we keep making the finals this will eventually turn around.

 

[Kornstar]

Is there an organisation more professionally run than the Storm? Is there a better coach ? I hate the mother f**kers but their model delivers continuous success. Yes they cheated a while back but so did we.

The NRL let them be that way though. They have leg ups that most clubs don't off the field.

On the field they have been allowed to get away with the dirtiest, grubbiest tactics since 2005. Even when they changed the rules to not favour the wrestle in 2009, they let them go back to their tactics in the GF to ensure their golden child didn't lose 3 out of the last 4 GF's.

In 2010 they were found to be systematically cheating the cap and their biggest stars (who are no doubt all probably immortals) were receiving dodgy gifts and their captain signed multiple contracts yet not one of them knew there was anything dodgy happening and there were no repercussions.

They lost 1 of their big 4, were slapped on the wrist and were easily able to build to the next premiership by once again getting a leg up from the NRL and referees in wrestling their way through and continues into 2020.

They are well drilled and they have all the effort areas every team would love but that is easy to do when you are allowed to ensure the opposition are rarely allowed on the front foot.

They have absolute monsters in their forwards and that generally doesn't work for other teams because the speed of the game makes it hard for them to keep up, however for the Storm it makes it that much more of an advantage because they are allowed to get those monsters an easy roll on because you aren't allowed to wrestle the Storm, you HAVE to let them go instantly once you tackle them and when they are tackling you they are allowed an age to slow you down and are only penalised when they really go too far but they get a hell of latitude in that area.

You only have to look at the players who leave the Storm to see how much they struggle when they actually get tackled and aren't allowed straight up or aren't allowed to hold players down as much as they used to be allowed.

Would love to see Bellamy coach a team like the Eels, Tigers or Titans and see how good he really is.