Rd16: Parra v Souths GAME DAY thread (27/8/20)

[Avenger]

How good is it to be underdogs again. That's what sport is all about.

I can’t believe you used to anger me. I don’t want you to ever change. You are and always will be my inspiration, my wingman.
I owe you at least 3 rakije.

Love you, Pou.

 

[Twizzle]

get a room

 

[84 Baby]

not saying it is, just not ready get the razor blades out yet

But but... ok off to work I go

 

[84 Baby]

get a room

I reckon there’d be equal parts punching and “punching” going on in that room

 

[Happy MEel]

not saying it is, just not ready get the razor blades out yet

its just a game of footy, there are more important things in life

We’re all well aware it’s a game of footy. No one (Or at least I hope no-one) is pinning their long term mental health on the results of the Eels. However that in no way means we can’t be pissed off for a bit when the players turn up with that kind of attitude and dish up that type of performance. Particularly when it has been happening for a while now.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The crux of his reasoning is around mental weakness is it not?

So how do you fix that? Coaching or recruitment?

 

[Eelementary]

I guess one small consolation is that one month ago, nobody was touting the Bunnies as a Premiership contender, and now they are acknowledged as one.

But I suppose the big difference is that they have been steadily improving, and we have gone backwards.

 

[Chipmunk]

That’s a symptom. His reasoning is around that symptom just being inherent in the club somehow. Are you suggesting that the very club causes mental weakness? For the past 30 years?

It's an interesting question. There is evidence to suggest it might. Well, I would say more evidence to suggest it might than there is evidence to suggest that is does not.

Does he ever say that it is inherent in the club though? My impression is that he is really just referring to the team in the now, rather than anything from the past.

 

[Chipmunk]

So how do you fix that? Coaching or recruitment?

I think both can play their part. Recruitment for instance has probably improved some of the deficiencies from the past, but that recruitment hasn't obviously solved everything.

I think inexperienced players in some positions are going to be mentally weaker until they gain more experience also.

On the coaching side of things, has doing nothing about our right side defence when it is noticeably poor to all and sundry improved our mental weaknesses? Has it even made it worse??

 

[Twizzle]

 

[Happy MEel]

So how do you fix that? Coaching or recruitment?

Ideally you’d make adjustments in both areas. However, seeing as though we pretty much have our starting 13 locked in for next year, there’s not a whole lot we can do on that front. I’d seriously be looking at bringing in another centre though and trying to offload Blake. Same with Sivo. Let him learn the fundamentals of the game somewhere else. Perhaps bring in Johnston and Charlie Staines. I’d also keep an eye on the hooker situation in Melbourne.

As for coaching, the idiots in charge extended BA for no apparent reason recently so not a lot we can do there either, unless we’re prepared to fork out $$$. But a change in the wider coaching team is an absolute must and I don’t think BA should have final say in the appointments.

 

[TheRam]

not saying it is, just not ready get the razor blades out yet

its just a game of footy, there are more important things in life

Who said anything of the sort...Captain Hyperbole.

 

[hineyrulz]

Its just a game guys

Its happened before and it will happen again.

What the Eels shitting the bed and letting us fans down???


It’s what they do, it’s all they can do.

 

[84 Baby]

It's an interesting question. There is evidence to suggest it might. Well, I would say more evidence to suggest it might than there is evidence to suggest that is does not.

Does he ever say that it is inherent in the club though? My impression is that he is really just referring to the team in the now, rather than anything from the past.

My impression is he takes past prejudices of the club and applies them to the now. He talks about us having a soft underbelly (evidentially somewhat correct) because we don’t enjoy the “tough” elements of the game (up to last night we’ve been competitive in every game, which either means he’s wrong, we’ve been able to swing the games away from the tough stuff or it just so happens the oppositions don’t play tough) and he has evidenced this by his belief we “try to score off every play” (when was the last time we have even looked like we’ve been trying to score off ANY play, let alone every play?)
A large part of what he says is probably meant to be sound grabs which means he may understand more than what we hear, but it may also mean he doesn’t

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I don’t mean any disrespect, but we keep saying this year that "the measure of this team is how we respond", and we keep shitting the bed.

Do we keep shitting the bed though? That was the first time this year, for mine. Losing games you're expected to win isn't shittng the bed, it's expecting too much. We've also won a few games we were expected to lose. The problem is our expectations.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Him having no answers is a concern. He admitted as much in his presser.

He bullshitted to the media about our players milking penalties. Why would he be honest about our weaknesses? It's an in-house issue.

 

[lingard]

Because Flanagan is a rookie (and potentially was dropped for other reasons), he isn’t a first grader yet while Bunji is at the other end of the scale. These are players who have excuses for not performing and being dropped can help remove those problems. Waqa should be in the prime of his career! He should know what problems he has and how to fix them. If BA needs to drop him then Blake is in the same situation as a rookie and a 40 year vet, meaning he is being overpaid if he’s not being paid as one of those 2. I think Blake is a good player with one minor deficiency. That minor deficiency though is a f**king basic though in that his tackling technique is horseshit. It’d be more effective if he just ran straight into his opponent.

And yes they should f**ken try harder cause they didn’t try at all last night. I said it weeks ago this was the game to go maximum effort like the Cows game. Obviously BA doesn’t read my posts.

I don't disagree that Waqa is probably being over-paid. Or that he isn't really a first grader. His defence, as we've all said, is atrocious. And his attack is very erratic. He's got the most ridiculous hair-cut I've ever seen on a man, and he appears to be without any normal brain functioning. What is wrong with him? And, Christ, if he hasn't learnt how to play by now, how are our coaching staff (particularly our coaching staff) going to teach him? I say drop him.

 

[Eelementary]

Do we keep shitting the bed though? That was the first time this year, for mine. Losing games you're expected to win isn't shittng the bed, it's expecting too much. We've also won a few games we were expected to lose. The problem is our expectations.

That's a fair point.

But I'm concerned about our overall performances; I mean, it's great we beat the Sharks, but despite defending well, we only won because Johnson missed 3 kicks at goal.

We beat the Bulldogs using strong defence, but there was a period where the Dogs scored 2 quick tries, and made us look amateurish.

I try to not expect us to go into a season, only losing 1 or 2 games all year, because it isn't realistic

But I don't think it is unrealistic to expect the team to be up for games more often than not; despite winning more than we have lost in the last 6 weeks, I'm not sure if we were up when we should have been.

We were arguably not up for it against the Dragons, Manly, and we started poorly against the Tigers (before our class won out in the end).

I am a little concerned, also, that the side doesn't seem to be capable of playing smart footy; in the first 10 minutes, we looked comfortable.

All it took was to force a silly pass, on our first genuine attacking raid, and we turned the ball over, and conceded a try.

On-field leadership will help address this, but is it enough?

I've never been a big fan of coaches blasting players; I'm not sold on whether there are benefits from this approach or not.

But I do believe that Arthur needs to put a rocket up Moses - injured or not, he stunted our attack by forcing silly passes, and he simply did not have the composure to help us grind back into the contest.

I believe the coach needs to draw a line in the sand, and tell his team, "These are my expectations of you - this is what I want to see from you."

Maybe he has done that, but it would seem that he hasn't been firm enough on the team.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Has no speed? He’s walking out there?

IDK, you think moses having an extra yard or two of pace would of stopped us leaking 38 points? Or helped us score more than 38 points?

Considering he used to be the one coming out of the line to pressure playmakers, yes it would've made a difference. Our whole defensive structure has changed.

Plus our right side attack would be better. In fact our whole attack would be better because Moses would be more involved. Do you realise Drown has been getting more ball (except on last tackle) ever since Moses got injured before round three?

 

[lingard]

If you want to win premierships just ask yourself, extension for 2 more years or not, if we were managed by Nick Politis, would he put up with these sorts of performances?

Especially if we go into the semis and offer very little. What do you think Politis would do and would he not see if the old coot were interested in coming here or at the very least just get rid of the guy who consistently fails to deliver and bring in the very best of what is on offer either experienced or rookie? But to keep doing the same thing year in year out is madness and anathema to success.

We have a gun side now. There are no more excuses. The bloke can't coach to win a premiership. It is that simple.

We actually don't have a gun side. But that in itself is a problem when you consider Arthur has been at the helm for seven years and this is the best squad he's been able to assemble. Look at our spine: a rookie hooker (who, in my opinion is being poorly used); a rookie five-eight who is developing but is really a half-back in disguise; a (still) erratic half-back who goes missing (still) when he is needed most - and who is, in my opinion, a very good five-eight in disguise; and a fullback who is a workaholic, with great attitude, but not really a fullback. Does that sound like a recipe for success?
Add to that Ferguson who is at the end of his career, Waqa Blake who will probably never have a career; Michael Jennings who is also near the end of his career. Sivo, who is over-rated to buggery. We do have a good forward pack. If we used Mahoney better, we have the sort of forward pack that could win a premiership. But the backs - and the way they are used - suck.