Valheru
Coach
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ok, obviously a lot to go through here but for this first part I'm going to address the performance itself.
Flat, very flat is how I would describe that and it was obvious from the first set of 6, there was no speed at all in what we were doing and urgency in both attack and defence. It was no unexpected for me because when you score so many points and the media talks your attack up, as sure as the day is long, you will come up with a poor attacking display.
We did bomb 3 tries in the first sin bin period as well, we just couldn't get over the line. The 2nd half was a lot better in terms of dominating field position but the raiders kept turning up and deserved their win. It was nice to almost tie it at the end but we didn't deserve it IMO. I felt sorry for Kez as he is 3rd string at best and he looked distraught to miss it but it ain't his fault.
3 Teddy - nearly dragged us over the line on his own.
2 Toops
1 Collins
So, on the performance itself, I'm not too bothered about it. These things happen and I would much rather it happen now than in the finals. I think Robbo was of the same opinion as in the presser he said he was intrigued to see what would happen when the attack doesn't click. We didn't get the job done but it was hardly a disastrous effort either.
The elephant in the room are these f**king injuries. I would be more than happy to accept the result and move on with a healthy squad. It was devastating to see Sam hobble off with what we all knew was going to be an ACL tear and then it was compounded with Brandon getting his due to foul play and then the Radley shoulder injury. I thought we were due some luck with injuries after the last 4 seasons but it's not to be. This is the 4th time in 5 years that we have lost two players to an ACL in the same game so that's at least 8 ACLs in that time. I would be intrigued to know the figures from the other clubs.
Obviously it puts a huge dent in our chances BUT we are still in 3rd place and we still have the cattle to give it a good go although absolutely everything will need to go right for us. Sam is impossible to cover but Sandon Smith gets his chance now and at least him and Sualii can cover the goal kicking. Brandon Smith to be quite honest on form is not that hard to replace, I really like Watson in the position and Dockar-Clay as shown tremendous upside. The Radley injury I'm not clear on if that actually is season ending but we will see.
At the end of the day it's next man up and they need to get on with things and give it their best shot. The one advantage we have now is no one thinks we are a chance, the pressure is completely off. it needs to be a seige mentality from here and as @Babyface O'reilly said to me after the game, we will be watching with low expectation but an open mind that this team can buckle down for 3-4 games and produce something special. This week's game is meaningless, our next meaningful game is finals week 1 regardless of who that is against and where. It would be nice to beat souths to at least put pressure eon Penrith to perform against the titans.
Flat, very flat is how I would describe that and it was obvious from the first set of 6, there was no speed at all in what we were doing and urgency in both attack and defence. It was no unexpected for me because when you score so many points and the media talks your attack up, as sure as the day is long, you will come up with a poor attacking display.
We did bomb 3 tries in the first sin bin period as well, we just couldn't get over the line. The 2nd half was a lot better in terms of dominating field position but the raiders kept turning up and deserved their win. It was nice to almost tie it at the end but we didn't deserve it IMO. I felt sorry for Kez as he is 3rd string at best and he looked distraught to miss it but it ain't his fault.
3 Teddy - nearly dragged us over the line on his own.
2 Toops
1 Collins
So, on the performance itself, I'm not too bothered about it. These things happen and I would much rather it happen now than in the finals. I think Robbo was of the same opinion as in the presser he said he was intrigued to see what would happen when the attack doesn't click. We didn't get the job done but it was hardly a disastrous effort either.
The elephant in the room are these f**king injuries. I would be more than happy to accept the result and move on with a healthy squad. It was devastating to see Sam hobble off with what we all knew was going to be an ACL tear and then it was compounded with Brandon getting his due to foul play and then the Radley shoulder injury. I thought we were due some luck with injuries after the last 4 seasons but it's not to be. This is the 4th time in 5 years that we have lost two players to an ACL in the same game so that's at least 8 ACLs in that time. I would be intrigued to know the figures from the other clubs.
Obviously it puts a huge dent in our chances BUT we are still in 3rd place and we still have the cattle to give it a good go although absolutely everything will need to go right for us. Sam is impossible to cover but Sandon Smith gets his chance now and at least him and Sualii can cover the goal kicking. Brandon Smith to be quite honest on form is not that hard to replace, I really like Watson in the position and Dockar-Clay as shown tremendous upside. The Radley injury I'm not clear on if that actually is season ending but we will see.
At the end of the day it's next man up and they need to get on with things and give it their best shot. The one advantage we have now is no one thinks we are a chance, the pressure is completely off. it needs to be a seige mentality from here and as @Babyface O'reilly said to me after the game, we will be watching with low expectation but an open mind that this team can buckle down for 3-4 games and produce something special. This week's game is meaningless, our next meaningful game is finals week 1 regardless of who that is against and where. It would be nice to beat souths to at least put pressure eon Penrith to perform against the titans.
