R2 // Knights 20-26 Raiders @ Hunter // Sun 6.30pm

[Nuffy]

This is a team that can ruthlessly crush its supporters expectations, after last year I'll bet most of us thought we might have turned the corner but then 2014 with all its dramas and problems has brought us right back to earth.

I just dont see us winning a game until Mullo and Boyd come back and that means we could be 0-6 in the best case secnario. At that point we'll struggle to make the 8 because we aren't a team that can put on a long winning streak so 2014 could be defined by the first 6 weeks of the comp.

Will signing Taylor, Shillington, SBW or anyone else make any real difference considering what else is in the pack? We have a pack of old has beens and one dimensional young blokes and nothing approaching a credible hooker.

Does Bennett have the cache anymore to bring in big names. Thus far his recruitment has been underwhelming considering his pedigree.The biggest name he's managed is Boyd and that's a package deal anyway. How many of the other guys were on the outer with their club, in trouble or plain undesirable?

The Bennett / Tinkler era promised so much and beside 2 weeks of miracles last September, we aren't a vastly different club to the one prior to their arrival.

 

[Frederick]

Pretty sure all the attack was down aku's side...how else would gagai miss 8 tackles?

Aku wasn't bad, but he wasn't great. Still carrying too much weight

 

[slotmachine]

Does Bennett have the cache anymore to bring in big names. Thus far his recruitment has been underwhelming considering his pedigree.The biggest name he's managed is Boyd and that's a package deal anyway. How many of the other guys were on the outer with their club, in trouble or plain undesirable?

Completely agree. We've picked up a bunch of Bennett's old mates from Saints, BJ and Gagai who were punted from their previous clubs and Mason who no one else would touch.

The Bennett / Tinkler era promised so much and beside 2 weeks of miracles last September, we aren't a vastly different club to the one prior to their arrival.

It's harder to what the vanilla footy we trot out every week

To be fair we did go on a nice little run last season, but I'm convinced that was Bedsy dragging us over the line. Damn I miss him.

 

[Johns Magic]

Pretty sure all the attack was down aku's side...how else would gagai miss 8 tackles?

Wow...this is clutching at straws to bag someone for the sake of it if I've ever seen it.

Maybe it was because Dobson was defending on the right, next to Gagai?

Maybe it was because Croker and Edrick Lee are always their go-to side?

Maybe it was because Gagai did have a poor defensive game(and he did...Croker stood him up a few times one-on-one).

Maybe it was because Milford made both his big breaks on the inside shoulder of Gagai?

OMG I just noticed Tyrone missed 9 tackles...he plays on the left...wow McManus must have had a shocker!!!

Trying to judge a game by the stats only is a bit bizarre...and then trying to skew the stats like that....

Aku wasn't bad, but he wasn't great. Still carrying too much weight

He was the best winger on the field by a fair margin yesterday. I have no idea why he let that ball roll out towards the end, but bar that he had a very strong game and not one worth bagging him for. He also showed grey pace for his try.

 

[perverse]

Yeah, Aku was the least of our concerns yesterday. He went fine.

We're absolutely f**ked unless we can sort out our hooker situation... and we need Mullo and Boyd back. That solves a lot of our issues right there... then it comes back to our boring forward pack.

... and all this yearning about some mythical time pre-Bennett when we were a better team is a bit rose-coloured, too. We played some f**king terrible football back then, but we did pass it around more (sometimes), so it must have been more entertaining to watch for some.

 

[Nuffy]

I thought Uate was good for the most part, I didn't see last weeks game so can't offer an opinion on that.

Re his size, considering that these guys would have KPI's on all aspects of themselves re weight, speed etc, I would be surprised if he was too far outside of his range, I would think that the conditioning staff and coach would have a limited tolerance for such variances.

 

[perverse]

Most of the criticism was also levelled at him prior to last night's game as well. Easy to say it's an overreaction when he's had his first relatively good game in a while.

He just needs to keep it up and build on it, really.

He was pretty good in our run to (and including) the finals last year, too.

His form is all over the place, really... but he still does lack a certain x-factor at the moment. Still, I was very happy to see him back himself and pin his ears back yesterday. Need more of that.

 

[Nuffy]

We're absolutely f**ked unless we can sort out our hooker situation... and we need Mullo and Boyd back. That solves a lot of our issues right there... then it comes back to our boring forward pack.

Gids is a massive problem, in that the player and club want him in the team but frankly his skill set isn't good enough anymore to justify his place in the run on squad.

I'm not bagging the bloke for the sake of it, he has been a loyal clubman and killed himself for the club in the bad times, but he is getting older and doesn't have the skill set to carry him through what is a tough and critical position.

I am worried that no one has the stomach to tell him that the time is up and will his brothers loyalty result in another contract at a time when we aren't getting value for money.

 

[Frederick]

Wow...this is clutching at straws to bag someone for the sake of it if I've ever seen it.

Maybe it was because Dobson was defending on the right, next to Gagai?

Maybe it was because Croker and Edrick Lee are always their go-to side?

Maybe it was because Gagai did have a poor defensive game(and he did...Croker stood him up a few times one-on-one).

Maybe it was because Milford made both his big breaks on the inside shoulder of Gagai?

OMG I just noticed Tyrone missed 9 tackles...he plays on the left...wow McManus must have had a shocker!!!

Trying to judge a game by the stats only is a bit bizarre...and then trying to skew the stats like that....



He was the best winger on the field by a fair margin yesterday. I have no idea why he let that ball roll out towards the end, but bar that he had a very strong game and not one worth bagging him for. He also showed grey pace for his try.

I wasn't blaming aku for gagai's poor defense last night. I was replying to this post below which said there was hardly any traffic sent down that edge

Most criticism Aku copped was due to poor technique under the high ball and piss poor defensive reads. He was hardly tested with either last night due to Minto being worked over with the high ball and lack of attack down his side.

As for McKinnon, he's a very, very weak clone of Smith and Scott. Carries the ball and hits in defence like wet paper towel.

Mason can't even get up quick enough to get on side after making a tackle. He's got to go ASAP.

 

[perverse]

I can't imagine Gids getting another contract. Surely he'll be told that England is the best option for him now. He's been a liability for years and has been paid a shitload of money to do nothing but f**k our team up when fit.

It's a shame to talk about the bloke like this - he gave us a lot at his peak during a really shitty time for the club... but it's definitely time to move on.

 

[Nuffy]

... and all this yearning about some mythical time pre-Bennett when we were a better team is a bit rose-coloured, too. We played some f**king terrible football back then, but we did pass it around more (sometimes), so it must have been more entertaining to watch for some.

Perverse, I don't think its rose coloured glasses but rather our overall expectations of the Bennett era are vastly higher and they are yet to be fully realised.

The Roosters went from 11th to 1st in I think 3 years and radically improved their roster in the same time frame.

What have we been doing in the same time? Are we any closer to winning a premiership with the team we have?

 

[Nuffy]

I can't imagine Gids getting another contract. Surely he'll be told that England is the best option for him now. He's been a liability for years and has been paid a shitload of money to do nothing but f**k our team up when fit.

It's a shame to talk about the bloke like this - he gave us a lot at his peak during a really shitty time for the club... but it's definitely time to move on.

I worry that everyone at the club loves Gids, as most of us do and no one has the stomach to have the tough discussion with him.

Can you really imagine his brother making the call?

 

[perverse]

Perverse, I don't think its rose coloured glasses but rather our overall expectations of the Bennett era are vastly higher and they are yet to be fully realised.

The Roosters went from 11th to 1st in I think 3 years and radically improved their roster in the same time frame.

What have we been doing in the same time? Are we any closer to winning a premiership with the team we have?

I believe we are, yeah. Do you remember our forward pack pre-Bennett? It wouldn't have won a premiership if given 50 cracks at it.

Our backline is improved, too. As are our halves. Actually, the whole team is just miles ahead of where we were pre-Bennett. They have a lot more heart, too. Usually when the going got tough in those days we would allow 4 or 5 tries in without much opposition... lots of hanging heads all the time, etc.

 

[perverse]

I worry that everyone at the club loves Gids, as most of us do and no one has the stomach to have the tough discussion with him.

Can you really imagine his brother making the call?

Nope, I can't... and that's what bothers me. Gids has been living off reputation from 5 years ago.

Fortunately it won't be his brother to make the call, it will be Bennett. The thing is, though... he's spent so much time talking up him and his importance to the team, he'll have to swallow some pride and admit fault on that one to correct the mistake.

 

[The Showstopper]

Ennis is what we need. A grub? yes. Passionate? absolutely. An inspirational competitor? Yes. Stands up for his pkayer always? Yes.a quality dummy half? Yes. If we do not sign a quality 9 and think Clydesdale will just hit the ground running we are kidding ourselves. Adam needs a quality mentor. Ennis is just that and a homecoming to finish his career would be a fitting end. We need a player who rattles cages. A shit stirrer. We have zero intimidation. Ennis creates that us against the world and the world is gonna lose vibe.

 

[Sacrolishes]

I know it's probably already mentioned. But the reffing had a really bad stink about it. A lot of calls there felt made up against us.

Besides this there were a couple times we had built pressure but then would give away a stupid penalty.

Also I'm still very worried about our teams fitness. It's affecting them in there decision making.

The mood of the side seems way off too. When Houso got dumped in his head by f**k knuckle Edwards not one player rushed in to get Edwards off him. No support. I have a feeling the pre season crap that has gone on May have effected the playing group more then we expect.

And finally the forward pack really concerns me. But we got one game away from GF with this pack so obviously they can do it. They just need to be week in week out bad ass muthaf**kers!!!

 

[otori]

Something were consistently bad at is creating pressure and forcing repeat sets. As someone already said, kicking to Edrick Lee is pretty dumb but Dobsons go to tactic seems to be bomb the in goal. We didn't look likely to score off many of those kicks IMO. Even with Mullen, it's something we haven't done well since Joey pissed off.

 

[Noname36]

Perverse, I don't think its rose coloured glasses but rather our overall expectations of the Bennett era are vastly higher and they are yet to be fully realised.

The Roosters went from 11th to 1st in I think 3 years and radically improved their roster in the same time frame.

What have we been doing in the same time? Are we any closer to winning a premiership with the team we have?

Absolutely. Do you seriously think the side we had pre-Bennett, with the way they played, could have made it to a GF qualifer? I certainly doubt it. Before Bennett and the likes of Smith and Scott came with him we hadn't won a semi since 2006 which, surprise surprise, was the last time Johns played in one.

People need to stop dreaming of the magical time pre-Bennett where we were world beaters. It didn't exist. Sure we played some fancier footy some weeks but our defense was consistently deplorable apart from one season under Smith and I never once felt that the side could make it as far as we did last year. We just didn't have the right mentality.

 

[Zoidberg]

Just watched the press conference and it makes me less mad for some reason. Can see the loss gets to Gids and Wayne doesn't see it as apocalyptic as we mostly do, he knows there is hope.

I also have this feeling (maybe a hoping) that we are going to put in a very, very good performance soon. Not necessarily this week but I can feel it coming. Hopefully, if it does happen, it's not just a one off.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Perverse, I don't think its rose coloured glasses but rather our overall expectations of the Bennett era are vastly higher and they are yet to be fully realised.

The Roosters went from 11th to 1st in I think 3 years and radically improved their roster in the same time frame.

What have we been doing in the same time? Are we any closer to winning a premiership with the team we have?

You are seriously asking that when we were one game from a GF last year?

Please tell me when that happened last?