Round 1 Eels V Broncos

[Delboy]

Kelly is our backup halfback. Do you know of one better who was available?

Well, the big bloke wih the beard yelling at BA in the Thornett stand thinks he would be a better option, and he got the support of everyone around him

 

[Noise]

The crowd really turned on Kelly last night and for good reason, he was atrocious!

They sure did. It's been a long time (Paul Cariage maybe??) since an entire crowd turned on one player. And it was deserved. He was copping it from the north terrace and I had mates in the thornett and cronin stands who reported similar abuse. I'm sure the southern terrace was the same. The useless prick deserved it too.

 

[Gronk]

The crowd really turned on Kelly last night and for good reason, he was atrocious!

To be fair not many teams can plonk a reggies half in the middle who performs well. A typical reggies half is a dud with experience or a rookie with none.

Cornish will get a go no doubt. BA I am sure was giving Kelly first go because he was the incumbent backup. BA would also be mindful that Cornish is wet behind the ears and will not want to destroy his confidence if he has an absolute shocker. Refer Neil Hunt's kid.

 

[Kornstar]

They sure did. It's been a long time (Paul Cariage maybe??) since an entire crowd turned on one player. And it was deserved. He was copping it from the north terrace and I had mates in the thornett and cronin stands who reported similar abuse. I'm sure the southern terrace was the same. The useless prick deserved it too.

KT stand is where I am and it was pretty brutal.

To be fair not many teams can plonk a reggies half in the middle who performs well. A typical reggies half is a dud with experience or a rookie with none.

Cornish will get a go no doubt. BA I am sure was giving Kelly first go because he was the incumbent backup. BA would also be mindful that Cornish is wet behind the ears and will not want to destroy his confidence if he has an absolute shocker. Refer Neil Hunt's kid.

I understand why he was there and I don't expect him to be JT but I'm sorry he was absolutely terrible last night, probably his worst performance for us.

People expect more from him I guess because they have seen so much of him the last few years. Back ups usually only play a few games a year of any. So the general fan thinks he is more than a backup.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So as u say he was our worse defender. As good as a half back. But his kicking and defence was also bad.

So u agree that peats would've been a better option as his defence is better than a half-backs and he will kick and pass better than kelly

Peats can't kick. As bad as you think Kelly's kicking game was, he was the best kicker on our team last night.

 

[Eelementary]

Imo, there was a lot to like last night:

* ticker
* defense (for the most part)
* forwards competed well with the much better Broncos pack
* down our halfback and captain before the match, and our best attacking player before halftime

We will need time for our combinations to gel.

Also, someone please tell Moeroa to run hard and straight. Frustrating watching a guy as good and big as him step and stutter.

 

[Eelementary]

Peats can't kick. As bad as you think Kelly's kicking game was, he was the best kicker on our team last night.

I don't rate Kelly at all - but I reckon he's OK when he can play with a more dominant half, like Norman or Foran.

Unfortunately for Kelly and the team, Norman was injured, and it all fell on Kelly's shoulders, and, imo, he's just not up to it.

I respect him because he gives 100%, but he just doesn't have the skills.

 

[yy_cheng]

Would that be Excalibur ??

no Kellykill

 

[yy_cheng]

in training this week, Hayne should get in there and construct attacking raids against our Right hand defense.

Hayne can come in and run, short pass, or throw so no look cut out passes on the lhs to test our rhs.

I miss the no look cutout passes.

Norman seems a bit fancy and our players are still trying to work out what he wants to do.
I saw Jennings standing there a few time unsure of what the play was.

 

[Joely01]

I think overall a performance we can build the season off.

Take the starting halves out of any side and they probably get beat by that Broncos team by at least 20.
It was good to see some spirit and fighting attitude from them last night.
Little things like the way Jennings celebrated his try* and the boys continually having each other's backs after a forced mistake etc is good to see.

If we have anyone but Kelly in at halfback last night we go close to winning, with Foran and Norman playing we go on and win the game I think.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Well, the big bloke wih the beard yelling at BA in the Thornett stand thinks he would be a better option, and he got the support of everyone around him

Lucky coaching's not a democracy then.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

KT stand is where I am and it was pretty brutal.



I understand why he was there and I don't expect him to be JT but I'm sorry he was absolutely terrible last night, probably his worst performance for us.

People expect more from him I guess because they have seen so much of him the last few years. Back ups usually only play a few games a year of any. So the general fan thinks he is more than a backup.

People expected more from a backup playing as the sole half against probably the best defence in the comp?

And how can they not know he's a backup when we have Norman and Foran on the roster?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I don't rate Kelly at all - but I reckon he's OK when he can play with a more dominant half, like Norman or Foran.

Unfortunately for Kelly and the team, Norman was injured, and it all fell on Kelly's shoulders, and, imo, he's just not up to it.

I respect him because he gives 100%, but he just doesn't have the skills.

Exactly. He was never meant to be the sole or even dominant playmaker.

 

[Gary Gutful]

I agree. He wasn't great but then I didn't really expect him to perform like Foran would have.

 

[muznik]

Well,I came on here to see what other fans thought of our 1st game of the season & was surprised to see sooo many pages to this thread.

Reading thru I quickly realised its because there is a shite load of posts debating the skills of our head coach........ Stephen "Lads" Kearney ?????

So skipped most of it because... its two thousand and f**king sixteen !

I was disappointed with the new recruits last night. A lot of them were caught out in defence a number of times on the right side. Thought Jennings had a quiet one & needs to get involved more.

Kellys copping a lot of flack but I guess I just didn't expect anything from him so he didn't disappoint me to the same degree. I was however majorly disappointed in our conditioning staff that couldn't manage to get our major signing, that has been trumpeted as our saviour, on the field for the first game of the season.

I know the Broncos are a frontrunner but I didn't think they played that well & we certainly had an opportunity to upset them.

Having said all that I did think we showed a lot of heart that has sometimes been missing in the past. Just our execution was off a little.

Hopefully things will improve when we get our full side on the paddock.

 

[Delboy]

Sometimes the tv doesn't provide a wide view of the whole game, unfortunately he is a plodder. He tries all the time, defends OK and kicks OK but adds zero overall

Last night was probably among the worst games he has ever played, even in the first half when he had the attacking role inside the 20, he was so slow to react the ball was hitting the runners flat as he didn't read the runs. Sitting up high it's obvious he really lacks vision and speed of hand, we can all agree that there aren't many decent back ups, the frustration is that he has basically failed his auditions over the past 2 years and they are looking at the coach for reasons why he was retained.

Certainly there is no democratic fan vote, but the majority of fans can see ability, and that's a major question, if there is no improvement in 3 or so years in a position, should be continue to be selected. That's the frustration and it's starting to fester, coaches can't have blind faith if it doesn't work time after time

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Just our execution was off a little.
o.

Probably expected when both our halves were out.

And it doesn't help having a new centre / winger / fullback in our side.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

If he had improved he wouldn't be a backup, Delboy. How do you not understand that?

 

[hineyrulz]

Pou the voice of reason to the rescue!!!

With Morgs and Seffa gone he only has his little buddy the product left.

 

[Gazzamatta]

In my opinion, Kelly had an ok first half offensively but his second half when asked to do more, was very poor. One short pass he threw to Scott was a shocker but there were so many lowlights to choose from. Defensively, he was pretty average the entire game. He didnt miss many but was very much bullied which creates doubt in the minds of those next to him.
I think we were well beaten in the ruck. This part of our game didnt appear to have improved greatly to me. The Broncos made easy meters most of the game. Merroa and Paulo were very dissappointing in this area. Gower would be a welcome addition as would Choc. Still lots of work to do defensively. The Broncos played it safe. The Cowboys wont.