My 2 cents on the game;
- Firstly it was another pathetic performance against a side that will probably finish in the bottom 3 of the comp, the only reason the game was close was because they only had 2 players on the bench and because they were so poor, any good side would have put 40 on us.
- I'll start with the positives (and there are few), I thought Sammut was outstanding and has solidified himself as our halfback of the future. He was our biggest threat and made some nice hits in defense, the main worry I had was his kicking game but he made me a believer with that 40/20, he can definitely kick so I feel much better leaving him at the number 7, although we still need a kicking compliment as he will be pressured.
- I have always like Blair and yesterday I thought he played well, however I think he is too slow to play 5/8th (although he did impress me with some of his kicks). I think he needs to be in the side as he plays with some mongrel in defense (some really nice hits last night) and with the ball he has the ability to break tackles and create second phase play (try to Wesser). I actually think his future is at lock.
- Petero tried hard all game, as did Jennings and Aiton.
- I listened to Steve Roach after the game and he was talking about how Big T and Peanuts need to go and how Waterhouse and Wesser at least tried hard and looked to create stuff, I have to disagree with this. I though Pritchard was one of our best yesterday (not saying much), although he still needs to lift his workrate and come in and look for the ball when we are in trouble rather than hang out on the left side. However I thought his touches were quality and he did create some second phase play, he set up a try and made some try saving tackles in defense. Big T made a couple of high quality runs (A nice line break and a pass to jennings that he should have tqaken and scored), however his workrate is still way too low and he ashow not passion in defense, he needs to be motivated but I think he should remain on the bench as there were som good signs. In contrast, I thought Waterhouse, while he tried hard, was very ineffective. It seemed like every time he took the ball up he got smashed, I don't know if he has lost weight or if he is only effective running wide but he looked very ordinary last night. As for Wesser, the guy is past it. I defended him last week but not this time, he dropped a couple of passes from Sammut in backline movements that he should have taken that really deflated the team. He has bad hands, he can't pass or kick and he doesn't have that ability to create tries anymore, I think he has to go.
- Our backline defense was PATHETIC!!! There was no communication or unison at all. I thought our defense in the middle of the park was ok, but all they had to do was pass it out wide and run it through the hands and they could have scored 20 tries. One player was sliding, one was coming up, one was compressed, one was wide, Jennings is standing 10m behind Sammut, O'Halloran is standing 20m behind Jennings, etc. It was terrrible, surely Elliot needs to address this defensive issue and get the guys moving in unison, it was painful to watch and it is not a new problem it was happening all of last year. Zillman's try was pathetic, Tighe and Rooney need to give themselves uppercuts for that one.
- Talking about our backs, firstly O'Halloran needs to be cut and never come near a FG jersey again, the guys is slow as sh*t and the reason he is picked is beacuse he is 'consistent' and 'doesn't make mistakes', well he was majorly responsible for 2 tries and made at least one costly error late in the game, the guy offers nothing in attack, needs to be dropped immediately. Jennings is a gem although his defensive positional play is poor, he is fine tackling once he knows who to go for (similar to Tighe), thats why I think Jennings should be shifted to fullback, he would thrive there as he would get his hands on the football more often in space and he woudld be fine with the defensive duties. Tighe looks good with the ball, although he needs to learn how to pass as he left Rooney stranded at least twice where I'm sure Rooney would have scored, Tighe also looks suspect in defense although I'm happy with him for now. Rooney has to go, the guy looks the part but he offers nothing, yeah he tries hard but he gets smashed every time he takes the ball up and makes 3m, he has no speed and all he offer is height under the high ball, he has to go.
- In relation to our forwards, Worth is crap and needs to be dropped, F.Puletua was terrible and as I have stated before he needs to start or be dropped, his is terrible off the bench (particularly when he doesn't play at all in the 1st half), he was our best prop last year, he needs to start to churn out the metres early in the game. I thought Petero and Pritchard were by far our best last night, the rest were ordinary and ineffective. Woolnough is proving to be a major disappointment.
- Luke Priddis, when we won the comp he was reknowned for being a wiley hooker and taking the right option 9 out of 10 times, well now I reckon it is 50/50. He bombed a try after that Petero break, all he had to do was pass it to the right hand side and anyone would have walked in, instead he went left and didn't even get the ball off. Even on the try he set up, that pass he through is normally intercepted by a good side rushing up in defense, he got lucky. I don't know if we can drop him as I don't really rate Aiton but boy he was poor yesterday.
- I'm glad the turnout was bad last night and I hope it is worse next week, too many simple errors and stupid penalties (sound familiar), I don't know if it's Elliots fault or the players, some of them look beaten before they even come on the field, surely we can bring in some young guys who play with a bit more passion, either way very disappointing performance against a poor side, we deserved to lose by lots.
My team for next week
1. Jennings
2. Gordon
3. Tighe
4. Blair
5. Daniela
6. Lewis
7. Sammut
8. Civoniceva
9. Priddis
10. F.Puletua
11. Waterhouse
12. Pritchard
13. Smith
Subs
14. Iosefa
15. T.Puletua
16. Woolnough
17. Bell
