Rd4 2024: 4pm Eels v Tigers GAME DAY THREAD @ Commbank Stadium Apr 1st

[84 Baby]

The way we played yesterday I am not convinced we win even if Moses was playing. I have seen us play that poorly on multiple occasions even with a full strength side.

Yes and no. We played shithouse but a lot of issues stemmed from too many players deciding they’d replace Moses. Gutho (I think he needed to from start), Drown (deciding that without Moses, we’d need to get the ball to Sivo every tackle), Paulo (off the f**ken scrum to the f**ken touchie FFS!) - Moses hopefully means we don’t do that shit.
Only Penisini & Ofahengaue wanted to actually take the line on. Everyone else, particularly in the forwards wanted to take the weak way - Moses can’t really help if his teammates decide to not put in.

 

[Gronk]

Drown (deciding that without Moses, we’d need to get the ball to Sivo every tackle),

I am not defending Sivo here, cos we yell at him too, but some of the passes he got yesterday assumed he was 8 foot tall. If he didn't have to jump arms stretched to the sky to catch the ball and instead it lands on his chest - life would have been better for all.

 

[King-Gutho94]

Olam was a player swap deal.

I feel like the Storm lack front rower depth we currently have 3 First Grade capable props unable to make the 17.

Makatoa or Ogden are players that could have been sold to Melbourne to help there stocks out while swapping with Olam is just couple of examples of the possibilities.

Horse has bolted it seems.

 

[Gronk]

I feel like the Storm lack front rower depth we currently have 3 First Grade capable props unable to make the 17.

Makatoa or Ogden are players that could have been sold to Melbourne to help there stocks out while swapping with Olam is just couple of examples of the possibilities.

Horse has bolted it seems.

They took 23 yo Shawn Blore. You reckon that's comparable ?

 

[84 Baby]

I am not defending Sivo here, cos we yell at him too, but some of the passes he got yesterday assumed he was 8 foot tall. If he didn't have to jump arms stretched to the sky to catch the ball and instead it lands on his chest - life would have been better for all.

He was shit but Drown and Paulo disappointed me infinitely more. Consistently made bad choices

 

[Delboy]

Api is not the type of player BA likes. he doesnt need his hookers to be smart

Read what I said

nothing to do with the coach, it’s about recruitment decisions which is on the HOF and recruitment committee, unwieldy and conservative.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Blaize isn't a fullback as much as the team wants him to be

He could still be playing SG Ball, so he has plenty of time to learn.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Our left edge is crap and I am going to go as far to say it's due to Brown as well as Lane...
Both players have been the only constant

Sivo too. The centre is the only thing that isn't a constant on that side.

 

[JokerEel]

Sivo too. The centre is the only thing that isn't a constant on that side.

Sivo played first 3 weeks?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

And all we had to do was move 1 player into halfback.

Talagi went straight into right half. Drown stayed at left half. What we lost was Moses' leadership and kicking game, which can't be replaced by anyone at our club.

Just like most teams do.....

Panfers move Schnieder to half
Broncs Madden to half

You don't see them shifting their whole backline due to 1 injury

Don't be fooled by Drown changing jersey number. That was to reflect the fact he needed to take more responsibility, and take pressure off Talagi. But Drown was already playing more centrally than Moses, who generally plays on the right, with the occasional set play outside Drown on the left (see the Manly game).

We didn't shift our whole backline at all. Talagi just came in for Moses, which was exacerbated by also losing Cartwright from the right edge.

 

[Vic Mackey]

as much as we desperately need a winger and a center, hooker should've been number 1 priority. We stuffed up by making a short term decision to rush lussick in last year in a push to make the 8. A decent hooker would transform our attack. Lussick's service is slow and he frequently takes the wrong option, kills our attack in the opposition 20. His kicking game has been better than expected but he isn't a threat at all running the ball. Overall we need more out of our 9 if we're ever going to be a premiership threat

Lussick was our best player yesterday. I thought our defence was ok, but it wasnt hard to defend 4 crash plays, especially when the ball is either thrown above or behind the receiver.

I think Ive said it before but I really think the Eels should sign Jake Simpkin. I think theres a decent first grader, well certainly better then anything you currently have at 9.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So what should have we done that would have won us the game ? Who should have played halfback ?

Anyone else and we would've won for sure. The proof is that we lost. QED

 

[Poupou Escobar]

as much as we desperately need a winger and a center, hooker should've been number 1 priority. We stuffed up by making a short term decision to rush lussick in last year in a push to make the 8. A decent hooker would transform our attack. Lussick's service is slow and he frequently takes the wrong option, kills our attack in the opposition 20. His kicking game has been better than expected but he isn't a threat at all running the ball. Overall we need more out of our 9 if we're ever going to be a premiership threat

We need someone like Mitch Kenny or his grand final opponent Barry Walters.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Olam how much did the Tigers pay to get him. If it's anything below 400k i reckon that's a great deal for the Tigers.

It's a shame we had all these excellent centres and wingers at our disposal atm we couldn't fitted him in our squad.

He has already stiffened up there defence.

We probably already have enough players over 30.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

We will get to the end of the year and lament just 1 more win that costs us a crucial position on the ladder weather it be top 8, 6, 4 or 2.

And nobody's going to think how lucky we were to jag a random win against a complacent Panthers or Storm side. When we win as $3 underdogs it's just that we have a mad side and should play that well every week. When we lose as $1.50 favourites it's time to find a scapegoat. If you were honest with yourself you'd admit you can't have it both ways.

 

[JokerEel]

Talagi went straight into right half. Drown stayed at left half. What we lost was Moses' leadership and kicking game, which can't be replaced by anyone at our club.

Just like most teams do.....

Panfers move Schnieder to half
Broncs Madden to half

You don't see them shifting their whole backline due to 1 injury

Don't be fooled by Drown changing jersey number. That was to reflect the fact he needed to take more responsibility, and take pressure off Talagi. But Drown was already playing more centrally than Moses, who generally plays on the right, with the occasional set play outside Drown on the left (see the Manly game).

We didn't shift our whole backline at all. Talagi just came in for Moses, which was exacerbated by also losing Cartwright from the right edge.
[/QUOTE]
Wrong

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Hard to argue.

Moses has missed a penalty to win the game before at Penrith basically where Gutho kicked it from. 40m out about 5-10m from the touchline its a tough kick.

We know Moses is probably 50/50 when it comes to those clutch kicks anyway when its all or nothing.

The argument isn't that Moses would have kicked that goal, but that we would've kept our heads when we were up 14-6.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Are you certain they know what they are doing 12 years and they have won as many Grand Finals as you and I

Won as many as Brian Smith too, and as many as Ivan Cleary after the same number of years. Grand final wins lack the granularity for proving anything. Stuart, Hagan and Maguire won them ffs

Yep I do believe Sanders would have changed the game.

lol based on his form in reserve grade?

Brown would have played his normal game Gutho would not have had to take over at halfback..

Nobody's playing their normal game with a teenage rookie moving into the spine. The game plan is, like at any club that loses an experienced playmaker, for the existing spine players to step up.

We lost because the coach f**ked up plain and simple if we win you can come back and reply to me.

No mate, you have to prove why your choice of backup would've gone better than the coach's choice. He knows the players and the game better than you do. If he's a nuffy bush coach what does that make you?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Not really you have less chances of f**king up if you don't make as many changes.

Most he had to make is 2.

How did our utility go yesterday see he came on for the injured Sivo..... Oh wait no he didn't.

Oh yeah you mean the specialist hooker Brendan Hands? Like I said, if we get enough of a lead he might get thirty minutes. Instead he got twenty minutes, and in that time the score went from 14-6 to 14-16.

Btw don't reply we know the response is the same the f**king coach didn't think Sivo was injured enough come off....

Sivo had cramps ffs. Notice he's been picked again this week?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The basic way to attack a side one man down is to hit it hard up the guts for 2/3 tackles to draw in defenders , then quick switches to the sides to get overlaps. Don’t understand even with the Murph on the field constantly , how no instructions got through.

It's not a video game. You can tell the players all you want to only shift the ball when it's on. But the decision on whether the shift is 'on' comes down to the judgement of individual players, particularly the team's leaders.

The only backs signed under MON despite its obvious need, has been Simmonson and Harper, not elite and not a massive upgrade.

My pharmacist is a massive Eels fan, and today as I wanted for a prescription came over for a chat and finished with :- if we signed Api we win games like this by 20, then added if we had signed Olam we would win by at leat 12. That’s how shortsighted and poor our recruitment has been. Don’t like the bloke, but Richardson gets things done, gets into the Tigers and says changes are needed and signings are made quickly, can’t compare to our recruitment committee in any way , shape or form.

We recruited well when our side was shit too. It's easy to replace your highest paid players as they come off contract when they are obviously overpaid. We did the same thing around 2019-20. Who was our football manager then?