Rd14: Parra v Dragons GAME DAY thread (14/8/20)

[Poupou Escobar]

Yes but whether or not our ladder position is lucky relative to our for and against isn't really the point. What we need to compare the for and against to is what it would look like if everyone had the same amount of luck, including injuries. Obviously we can't know that but.

No we can't, so why bother with it? If we win the comp against a bunch of depleted teams are you going to complain?

 

[Suitman]

Opposition is running at him to tire him out, knowing he will play 80min and our only dummy half. No wonder he is clocking up 50+ tackles

It nullifies his attack, and fatigues his passing, plus our attack is more predictable knowing nothing going on from dummy half. He is still very young and inexperienced

Would be nice to have someone off the bench to come on for 15-20min give Reed a rest, and also provide some energy

It would also be nice if our coaching staff could realize this. Obviously not and everything is perfect because nothing ever changes.

 

[Noise]

It would also be nice if our coaching staff could realize this. Obviously not and everything is perfect because nothing ever changes.

It baffles me that we have gone into another season without a 2nd capable dummy half

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

No we can't, so why bother with it? If we win the comp against a bunch of depleted teams are you going to complain?

Because the speculation about how lucky we've been overall has about as much value as how lucky we've been with our ladder position versing our for and against. And yes, I'll be livid if we win the comp against depleted teams.

 

[hineyrulz]

It baffles me that we have gone into another season without a 2nd capable dummy half

Didnt they try and turn that park footballer Davies into a dummy half option???


We all know BA has never really valued what a dummy half can bring a side.

 

[Suitman]

It baffles me that we have gone into another season without a 2nd capable dummy half

It baffles me that we are so easily being worked out in attack. We attack too laterally, and teams just let us squeeze ourselves towards the sideline. They slide in defence, and because we have no other running options, we are mince meat.
The one time last night we threw an inside ball, we scored. Then, after that, there was nothing but boring one ups and throw it wide for the rest of the game, hoping something would create itself.

Sivo has copped a lot of shit lately, but I honestly believe it is mainly a result of what is going on inside him on the field. At least last year we were able to provide him some space and good ball and he rocked.
This year, the attitude just seems to be "get it to him and he will score". It doesn't work that way.
I wouldn't be dropping him because nothing that has happened in the past few weeks has been his fault. He still has 11 tries this season and is 4th on the top try scorers list. I do however think he's lacking a bit of confidence atm due to lack of opportunities.

(Disclaimer: I admit I yelled at him once last night to "run f**king harder you merkin!! At the tele.)

 

[lingard]

On Ferguson - I reckon it's a case of him, and Gutherson, being the ones to return the ball back with gusto that has seen his form "dip" (I still think Ferguson is playing well).

Sivo is too lackadaisical in his approach to returning kicks, and doesn't work hard enough, imo.

I mean this criticism in a constructive manner, and not a knock on Sivo - but whereas Fergusojngoes looking to make hard runs, Sivo seems to wait for the "right circumstances" before lining up a big run; as a result, I reckon that Ferguson - being a senior player - tries to work extra hard, and pick up some of the slack that Sivo is leaving behind.

I think the best medicine for Sivo is to roll up his sleeves, get stuck in, and do the hard yards - his game will progress from there.

I think he's carrying an injury. Which is all the more reason he should be rested. Dunno what's up with Fergo. I think Waqa Blake is a big part of it.

 

[lingard]

(Disclaimer: I admit I yelled at him once last night to "run f**king harder you merkin!! At the tele.)

No wonder his confidence is shot.

 

[Noise]

Didnt they try and turn that park footballer Davies into a dummy half option???
.

Lol, I think so

 

[hindy111]

The backline just looks a bit slow. Bar Blake none are going to create much on there own.
Unsure why Stone and Kafusi where given barely any minutes. Especialy how much work our middles had to do last week.
Mahoney just needs a break. The fact our bench had a total about 80 mins between them tells me 3 forwards is plenty. W.Smith would add some spark and is our best option for now for a 20 min cameo

 

[yy_cheng]

I think he's carrying an injury. Which is all the more reason he should be rested. Dunno what's up with Fergo. I think Waqa Blake is a big part of it.

It's probably mose's fault and a tad of Blake.

Moses passes to Matto alot and sometimes Blake gets it.

They don't use Fergo like they do our left side with Sivo.

Blake hardly passes. With Takas there, takas used his winger heaps more

 

[lingard]

Sivo needs a spell. His intent, his commitment, his desire is just not there.

Dylan also looks tired and his options reflected that tonight.

we are not winning next week vs storm, so I’d take the chance to give a couple of guys a spell for the week so they can get their heads right, bodies right for the final 5 weeks and finals.

Dunster for Sivo, Field for Dylan, Taka for Waqa, Davey for Lane. Id also give Paulo the week off if his ankle is even slightly crook when he cools down. If we had a backup hooker i’d give Mahoney a week off too.

I'd totally disrespect the f*cking Storm, and put in a reserve grade side next week. Rest all our players!

 

[Mr Parramatta]

I think he's carrying an injury. Which is all the more reason he should be rested. Dunno what's up with Fergo. I think Waqa Blake is a big part of it.

I think Waqa has changed our attack “big time “ unfortunately not for the better, his defence as we all know very questionable, personally expected so much more from WB, huge disappointment thus far.

 

[Eelementary]

I don't think we've been that lucky. We've been lucky to have minimal injuries but for-and-against is granular enough to show the true quality of a team. Ours is fourth best and we're sitting third, so only a slight element of luck. We are also fourth in the betting, which I think accurately reflects our chances.

I think our defence is quite good (and the stats back it up) - but our attack is schizophrenic.

One play, we set up tries like Gutherson's on Friday, and the next, we dump it off to Paulo, or Nathan Brown, for a hit up.

I know Mahoney, Brown, and - to a lesser extent - Gutherson are all relatively inexperienced, but a backline as potent as ours, steered around by talented halves, shouldn't struggle to score points in the attacking rezone, imo.

Moses seems to be gambling on flashy plays since his return from injury; prior to his injury, his mentality seemed to be "score points, or if we don't have an opening, try to get a repeat set".

Lately, all his options seem to be to try and create points.

Now, that's most likely due to scoreboard pressure, and rustiness, but it's an issue nonetheless.

Mitchell Moses is a bloody good halfback - we have all seen him at his best.

But he is far from his best lately - even his defence, which had improved dramatically in recent months, has regressed.

But we don't exactly have options available, of we were to give Moses a break - Field is a back-up; Salmon (while talented) is inexperienced, and would leave two inexperienced halves to play together; Taikarangi isn't a full-time half; and Smith can't really be trusted in the halves to make good decisions.

Our only genuine option, if we were to rest Moses, would be to slot Gutherson at 5/8, Brown to halfback, and put Smith at fullback (which I think is Smith's best position, anyway).

Or we could put Field at 7, like we did when Moses was injured - but I get the impression that Arthur has soured a little on Field.

As it stands now, I don’t think Moses is offering us enough; our forwards are invariably winning the battle, but Moses seems to be coming up with poor options more often than not, putting more pressure on Mahoney, and Brown.

Moses is too good a player to stay down for long, but for our sake, he needs to get back to his best asap.

 

[Gary Gutful]

We've never been a team that does structured attack well and now more than ever is a time when the rules actually reward being more ad-lib.

I honestly think the weather the last two weeks has been a major factor. Our biggest issue was that we were lining up really deep like we would if we had a dry track. We didn't adjust by trying to play flatter and more direct with shorter passes.

...and the comment about Moses. Not sure I completely agree. How many repeat sets did he get us against the Sharks?

 

[Eelementary]

We've never been a team that does structured attack well and now more than ever is a time when the rules actually reward being more ad-lib.

I honestly think the weather the last two weeks has been a major factor. Our biggest issue was that we were lining up really deep like we would if we had a dry track. We didn't adjust by trying to play flatter and more direct with shorter passes.

...and the comment about Moses. Not sure I completely agree. How many repeat sets did he get us against the Sharks?

He was very good against the Sharks, true.

And I don't expect him to get us either a try, or a repeat set, with every trip to the attacking red zone - that's simply not realistic.

However, I feel we had ample opportunity to put the game to bed against the Dragons, and his last tackle options were poor, for the most part.

I recall seeing a similar pattern in 2018 - we did well enough to get down to the business end, but struggled to make anything come of it.

As I said, he is certainly capable of it - he has shown it numerous times before.

But with an inexperienced 5/8, hooker, and a fullback who only recently got to 100 games, I believe Moses needs to put the stamp on the team, and take control of pur attack.

Perhaps his calf muscle is a worry - certainly, Moses is at his best when he takes the line on, and he hasn't been doing much of that lately.

After calming down since Friday, I don't think there's a need to panic - but there is justifiable cause for a little concern.

 

[Gary Gutful]

He was very good against the Sharks, true.

And I don't expect him to get us either a try, or a repeat set, with every trip to the attacking red zone - that's simply not realistic.

However, I feel we had ample opportunity to put the game to bed against the Dragons, and his last tackle options were poor, for the most part.

I recall seeing a similar pattern in 2018 - we did well enough to get down to the business end, but struggled to make anything come of it.

As I said, he is certainly capable of it - he has shown it numerous times before.

But with an inexperienced 5/8, hooker, and a fullback who only recently got to 100 games, I believe Moses needs to put the stamp on the team, and take control of pur attack.

Perhaps his calf muscle is a worry - certainly, Moses is at his best when he takes the line on, and he hasn't been doing much of that lately.

After calming down since Friday, I don't think there's a need to panic - but there is justifiable cause for a little concern.

Don't disagree about him taking on the line. I thought he was running pretty freely off the ball on Friday night.

Part of the reason he didn't goes back to what I said about them being way too deep in attack for the conditions. Big sweeping side to side shit gets gobbled up in the wet.

Paulo wasn't quite the same after his injury, but he seemed to get it. He threw a couple of great little short passes early on that opened them up.

Joey needs to have a session with the halves on how to play wet weather football. Or maybe Paulo does?

 

[Hollywood Jesus]

Nathan Brown? Really thought he was great again yesterday. Agree Sivo needs a wake up call and needs to be dropped. He’s believing his own hype. Needs a “rest”

I think that he was great to start with - ran with gusto.

Then he stopped doing that, started doing the crap 4th tackle crap, and slowed down his charges.

He's lost his ball out the back and become one dimensional, and that dimension is like Penis Torpedo - run a million miles an hour into the line, get smashed, 0 post contact metres, achieve nothing.

Heart? Yes. Impact? No.

 

[Hollywood Jesus]

You want to drop NBrown?
I reckon we need to limit his minutes to about 55 and give Stone and Marata more.

Fair enough. I'd be happy with that change, I guess.

Sivo issue is what he brings to what he costs you. Close to line he is great but the guys slow,poor reads in defense and garbage under the bomb.

Sivo is average at best.

His kick returns are beyond poor - gets the ball 3 metres behind the dummy half, runs, gets smashed, gets 0 post contact metres and ends up with a total gain of 1 metre. So, basically, Sivo wastes a tackle when we need it most. And you always have to worry about him dropping the ball like an idiot.

As for his tries, 9 out of 10 can be scored by an average winger. All the work is done by Gutho, Brown or Jennings and Sivo just walks over. Yes, he has his Tedesco moments, but they are not worth the negatives he brings.

As for his bomb taking ability, the less aid the better.

Sivo is the worst player in our 17. There, I've said it.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Fair enough. I'd be happy with that change, I guess.



Sivo is average at best.

His kick returns are beyond poor - gets the ball 3 metres behind the dummy half, runs, gets smashed, gets 0 post contact metres and ends up with a total gain of 1 metre. So, basically, Sivo wastes a tackle when we need it most. And you always have to worry about him dropping the ball like an idiot.

As for his tries, 9 out of 10 can be scored by an average winger. All the work is done by Gutho, Brown or Jennings and Sivo just walks over. Yes, he has his Tedesco moments, but they are not worth the negatives he brings.

As for his bomb taking ability, the less aid the better.

Sivo is the worst player in our 17. There, I've said it.

Agree Sivo needs to pull his finger out. I reckon we could have put a drunken hobo on the wing the last few weeks and had better results.