Valheru
Coach
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Well I think we all enjoyed that immensely, what a stunning performance! It's not hyperbole to say that was one of the best wins in club history given the players we had missing and the opponent.
I was shocked we won but I wasn't surprised we made a game of it. It must be said that in round 1 we were severely compromised and even then we gave it a good crack in the first 15 minutes and then it went to shit when Radley went off. We did concede 50 but that was more a case of the game getting away from us and the Broncos scoring circus tries. I also thought Penrith in round 1 looked very leaky and not themselves and that held true for round 2.
Before I comment on the game itself, we should reflect on exactly what this team did. Below are the forwards that were unavailable for this game
Collins
B Smith
Leniu
Radley
N Butcher
E Butcher
D Va'a
X Va'a
Those first 6 players are an NRL quality starting pack and arguably would be our starting pack with the notable exception of Angus. We also had 7 players in the 17 with 5 games or less of NRL experience which makes this a truly remarkable performance.
In terms of the actual game, I thought we defended very well after conceding the first try. That was a real bad effort from Wong and he needs to improve on that as that is the 2nd time in two weeks he has let in a soft try. I don't want to sound like Mary McGregor but from there we only conceded tries off kicks in the middle part of the game. There is nothing we could have done with the To'o kick and the Cleary grubber was perfection as well. I would like to see a better effort on the cross field kick that went near the posts though. The last try was when we had 12 on the field and Chad was injured too so huge pass mark there.
In attack, the kids ran the ball with power and enthusiasm and we absolutely cut them to pieces on the edges, manufacturing all our tries via line breaks.
A few shout outs to some key players...
Marky Mark - is coming a long tremendously, he looks like a Campbell Graham type centre damaging in attack and stoic defensively. You can tell Toops trusts him in defence and if he didn't we concede that try at the end as Toops resisted coming in on the centre when it mattered.
Speaking of Toops - when will this guy get the respect he deserves? That is not the first time he has made a tackle like that to win a game under the most extreme of pressure. He is also 6th on the all time try scoring list and I reckon he finishes top 3 by end of his career and if he stays injury free he will get the all time appearance record for the roosters too.
Sandon Smith - was excellent as well, I hope this is a coming out party for him.
Naufahu Whyte - he is a beast of a man and took it upon himself to give it to the Penrith pack. It does depend on what we want to do at lock but I think at full strength he should start at prop with Collins leaving Leniu on the bench which is where he is at his best
Connor Watson - He was sublime at hooker. He is still best used as a utility in a perfect world but we will be fine at the position this year until Robson arrives at the club. ZDC is an admirable replacement for him mid game too
Angus Crighton - That was some NSW form he brought to the table. Along with Whyte, he led from the front and pummeled the Panthers pack
Blake Steep - The most underrated performance of the week IMO. He played over 50 minutes int he middle of the park and although he didn't get through a tonne of work with the ball, he made 34 tackles with only two missed including two try savers.
A special shout out to Foket, Losalu, Makatoa and Savala who acquitted themselves well in the toughest of circumstances.
Overall it was a great night to be a chooks fan and if there is still a single person who thinks Robbo is under pressure they need to give themselves an uppercut because performances like this don't occur without top tier coaching. If we do win a comp with these kids featured int he next few years, we are going to look back at this game as the making of that team.
3 Teddy - I didn't mention him above but that is an indication of how truly special he is. 21 runs for 154m with 2 line breaks, 2 line break assists and 3 try assists can not be overlooked and anything this team is capable of this year, especially until Sammy comes back is going to run through him
2 Whyte
1 Angus
In regards to season outlook, I believe this team can make the finals especially when we get our troops back. Just got to hang in there for the first part of the season until the round 10 bye when (hopefully) everyone including Sammy will be back. Robbo wasn't confident we would have anyone apart from Leniu return this week so might be a tough gig in NZ but with titans at home next week winning one out of the two would be fine.
I was shocked we won but I wasn't surprised we made a game of it. It must be said that in round 1 we were severely compromised and even then we gave it a good crack in the first 15 minutes and then it went to shit when Radley went off. We did concede 50 but that was more a case of the game getting away from us and the Broncos scoring circus tries. I also thought Penrith in round 1 looked very leaky and not themselves and that held true for round 2.
Before I comment on the game itself, we should reflect on exactly what this team did. Below are the forwards that were unavailable for this game
Collins
B Smith
Leniu
Radley
N Butcher
E Butcher
D Va'a
X Va'a
Those first 6 players are an NRL quality starting pack and arguably would be our starting pack with the notable exception of Angus. We also had 7 players in the 17 with 5 games or less of NRL experience which makes this a truly remarkable performance.
In terms of the actual game, I thought we defended very well after conceding the first try. That was a real bad effort from Wong and he needs to improve on that as that is the 2nd time in two weeks he has let in a soft try. I don't want to sound like Mary McGregor but from there we only conceded tries off kicks in the middle part of the game. There is nothing we could have done with the To'o kick and the Cleary grubber was perfection as well. I would like to see a better effort on the cross field kick that went near the posts though. The last try was when we had 12 on the field and Chad was injured too so huge pass mark there.
In attack, the kids ran the ball with power and enthusiasm and we absolutely cut them to pieces on the edges, manufacturing all our tries via line breaks.
A few shout outs to some key players...
Marky Mark - is coming a long tremendously, he looks like a Campbell Graham type centre damaging in attack and stoic defensively. You can tell Toops trusts him in defence and if he didn't we concede that try at the end as Toops resisted coming in on the centre when it mattered.
Speaking of Toops - when will this guy get the respect he deserves? That is not the first time he has made a tackle like that to win a game under the most extreme of pressure. He is also 6th on the all time try scoring list and I reckon he finishes top 3 by end of his career and if he stays injury free he will get the all time appearance record for the roosters too.
Sandon Smith - was excellent as well, I hope this is a coming out party for him.
Naufahu Whyte - he is a beast of a man and took it upon himself to give it to the Penrith pack. It does depend on what we want to do at lock but I think at full strength he should start at prop with Collins leaving Leniu on the bench which is where he is at his best
Connor Watson - He was sublime at hooker. He is still best used as a utility in a perfect world but we will be fine at the position this year until Robson arrives at the club. ZDC is an admirable replacement for him mid game too
Angus Crighton - That was some NSW form he brought to the table. Along with Whyte, he led from the front and pummeled the Panthers pack
Blake Steep - The most underrated performance of the week IMO. He played over 50 minutes int he middle of the park and although he didn't get through a tonne of work with the ball, he made 34 tackles with only two missed including two try savers.
A special shout out to Foket, Losalu, Makatoa and Savala who acquitted themselves well in the toughest of circumstances.
Overall it was a great night to be a chooks fan and if there is still a single person who thinks Robbo is under pressure they need to give themselves an uppercut because performances like this don't occur without top tier coaching. If we do win a comp with these kids featured int he next few years, we are going to look back at this game as the making of that team.
3 Teddy - I didn't mention him above but that is an indication of how truly special he is. 21 runs for 154m with 2 line breaks, 2 line break assists and 3 try assists can not be overlooked and anything this team is capable of this year, especially until Sammy comes back is going to run through him
2 Whyte
1 Angus
In regards to season outlook, I believe this team can make the finals especially when we get our troops back. Just got to hang in there for the first part of the season until the round 10 bye when (hopefully) everyone including Sammy will be back. Robbo wasn't confident we would have anyone apart from Leniu return this week so might be a tough gig in NZ but with titans at home next week winning one out of the two would be fine.
