Rd16: Eels v Dragons LIVE game day thread 28/6/18

[forward pass]

I know I am stating the obvious, but that was a bloody good performance last night against the team to beat. Not much went our way. A couple of brain explosions cost us the game but all 3 tries from Saints were from kicks so it was a fair defensive effort.

One of the biggest issues we seem to have (and it cost us the Storm Semi last year), is sometimes in defence we just don't seem to be able to stop the play - especially when it is going nowhere. That final try last night could have been stopped on several occasions but we just could not shut it down. One ball and all tackle was all it would have took.

That was Normans best game for a long time (Was it his last?) and Hayne was outstanding. He needs more footy. He almost reproduced his Saints 09 Semi-final try early in the first half.

Mannah was good, so was Marata, Peni and King until he was inexplicably replaced by a known time bomb.

I think we have a few wins in us.

 

[Eelogical]

I know I am stating the obvious, but that was a bloody good performance last night against the team to beat. Not much went our way. A couple of brain explosions cost us the game but all 3 tries from Saints were from kicks so it was a fair defensive effort.

One of the biggest issues we seem to have (and it cost us the Storm Semi last year), is sometimes in defence we just don't seem to be able to stop the play - especially when it is going nowhere. That final try last night could have been stopped on several occasions but we just could not shut it down. One ball and all tackle was all it would have took.

That was Normans best game for a long time (Was it his last?) and Hayne was outstanding. He needs more footy. He almost reproduced his Saints 09 Semi-final try early in the first half.

Mannah was good, so was Marata, Peni and King until he was inexplicably replaced by a known time bomb.

I think we have a few wins in us.

Last night the Dragons scored all their tries via kicks. Against the Bunnies, they ran at will down one side of the field. Next game, I'm expecting four tries right up our middle. Each game we seem to possess a weakness that the opposition knows about well before we do.

 

[Gronk]

I know I am stating the obvious, but that was a bloody good performance last night against the team to beat. Not much went our way. A couple of brain explosions cost us the game but all 3 tries from Saints were from kicks so it was a fair defensive effort.

One of the biggest issues we seem to have (and it cost us the Storm Semi last year), is sometimes in defence we just don't seem to be able to stop the play - especially when it is going nowhere. That final try last night could have been stopped on several occasions but we just could not shut it down. One ball and all tackle was all it would have took.

That was Normans best game for a long time (Was it his last?) and Hayne was outstanding. He needs more footy. He almost reproduced his Saints 09 Semi-final try early in the first half.

Mannah was good, so was Marata, Peni and King until he was inexplicably replaced by a known time bomb.

I think we have a few wins in us.

+1. We punched above our weight against the champ and lost on points in the last round. Great effort FFS.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Hayne would have saved those tries...

If he wasn't strolling in back play sucking in the big ones.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Mannah was good, so was Marata, Peni and King until he was inexplicably replaced by a known time bomb.

I think we have a few wins in us.

King only missed one tackle in 62 minutes, so it was a good effort from him. But a fresh Smith for 18 minutes was a good call (he didn't miss any tackles either). Even his decision to kick long into space was a good one. It was just very poor execution. Everyone makes mistakes. It wasn't his fault that it led to a try.

 

[Eelogical]

+1. We punched above our weight against the champ and lost on points in the last round. Great effort FFS.

 

[Noise]

King only missed one tackle in 62 minutes, so it was a good effort from him. But a fresh Smith for 18 minutes was a good call (he didn't miss any tackles either). Even his decision to kick long into space was a good one. It was just very poor execution. Everyone makes mistakes. It wasn't his fault that it led to a try.

There is always space on the 3rd tackle because both wingers are in the line. You might kick early if you aren't making any ground and stuck in your 20. We weren't even struggling to make metres. 3rd tackle, 40m out is decent going. It's not as if we were chasing points. It was a dumb decision..... Maybe Smith was confused about the score and was channelling JR Smith.

 

[Eelogical]

If he wasn't strolling in back play sucking in the big ones.

Or signing autographs on the run.

 

[Chipmunk]

You wna go me? Cmon punk

Only if it's a spelling test

 

[Eelogical]

Only if it's a spelling test

Don't rush into this so fast. You didn't finish your last post with a full stop.

 

[Chipmunk]

Don't rush into this so fast. You didn't finish your last post with a full stop.

I didn't say it was a grammatical test.

 

[Gary Gutful]

I was being a dick. Who really knows what the answer is?

 

[JokerEel]

There is always space on the 3rd tackle because both wingers are in the line. You might kick early if you aren't making any ground and stuck in your 20. We weren't even struggling to make metres. 3rd tackle, 40m out is decent going. It's not as if we were chasing points. It was a dumb decision..... Maybe Smith was confused about the score and was channelling JR Smith.

He was doing the reverse JR Smith

 

[eel01s]

"One of the biggest issues we seem to have (and it cost us the Storm Semi last year), is sometimes in defence we just don't seem to be able to stop the play - especially when it is going nowhere. That final try last night could have been stopped on several occasions but we just could not shut it down. One ball and all tackle was all it would have took."

YES! I thought this too. We had about 6-7 players trying to stop the try on our right edge - yet nobody could wrap up the ball. For some reason no one jams in to stop the play. Yet on the opposition sweep plays, in comes Mennings or Taka every time!

 

[Kornstar]

"One of the biggest issues we seem to have (and it cost us the Storm Semi last year), is sometimes in defence we just don't seem to be able to stop the play - especially when it is going nowhere. That final try last night could have been stopped on several occasions but we just could not shut it down. One ball and all tackle was all it would have took."

YES! I thought this too. We had about 6-7 players trying to stop the try on our right edge - yet nobody could wrap up the ball. For some reason no one jams in to stop the play. Yet on the opposition sweep plays, in comes Mennings or Taka every time!

Some times it seems like they are scared to tackle or they are scared they will give a away a penalty with the type of tackle they need.

I would prefer they f**king smash someone and if it goes high so be it, at least the opposition will know we mean business.........we just stand back and hope the opposition f**k up!

 

[Gronk]

How about the look Smith copped from Brown and the reaction from Guth when he kicked that 41-35 or whatever the f**k it was....

Gutho declared his preferred hooker today.

 

[EelsFan05]

Gutho declared his preferred hooker today.

His boy's team were belted.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Pritchard's fault? When you're smashed in the possession stakes the cause is usually your kicking game.

 

[chiefy1]

+1. We punched above our weight against the champ and lost on points in the last round. Great effort FFS.

The dragons were busted and had multiple players backing up from tough rep matches with only 3 full days rest, whilst we were fresh and rested and almost at full strength barring mau and Moeroa, but the dragons had two big outs in Frizzell and Au mau

Don't get too excited people. Any other team in the same position would have wiped the floor with the dragons.

Under normal circumstances they would have put 30 on us

 

[Obscene Assassin]

King only missed one tackle in 62 minutes, so it was a good effort from him. But a fresh Smith for 18 minutes was a good call (he didn't miss any tackles either). Even his decision to kick long into space was a good one. It was just very poor execution. Everyone makes mistakes. It wasn't his fault that it led to a try.

Kicking on the 3rd tackle, off a quick play the ball, while both of your halves are on fire with their kicks and you're 4 points ahead of the opposition is a good decision?

Even if the execution was perfect (how many 40/20 attempts are actually successful?) it was a poor decision to give the ball back to the opposition, early in the tackle count, whilst they were desperate to score a try. The good decision was to take the tackle, get a quick play the ball and then get the ball into the hands of the players who were playing well.