Round 1 V West Tigers

[Coffs dragon]

Sadly this team will never rise above a bottom 4 dweller whilst ever McGregor & Norman have any involvement.
They are a duo dud disaster that need to disappear!

 

[kit66]

I actually reckon Luc could have used a bit of that attitude with us. That was probably his biggest issue. He played ok tonight it wasn't the dominating performance some thought it was though. Never threw much at him in D to test him for a start and in attack well the amount of sets they had at us he was bound to get one eventually. We shut him down pretty well I thought. That grubber he dived on, was a mistake by Zac but I could see what he was trying to do, they had done a lot of defending, he shielded the kick and it did look strong but it just pulled up. He will learn from that but that was difference in the game really our kicks went just over the line and Benji's pulled up just short of it.

He was lucky to get that awarded, good camera angle at just the right moment. Similar luck and camera work might have seen Sims first bombed try awarded - one angle if stopped at the right second shows him grounding the ball.
Luch will get better, good luck to him, hope he goes well under a good coach and with his brother and Benji by his side he should have some fun.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Ben Hunt was terrible.

It was one of Hunt’s most disappointing games, but at least he ran to the line a few times. One of these runs should’ve resulted in a match winning try to Vaughan, who dropped the ball with the line wide open.

In comparison, did Norman make any effort at all?

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

I try to laugh at our halves, but given we are paying each a million bucks per year I can only cry. Jai Field and Josh McCrone would have done no worse at a fraction of the cost.

Nor would Clune 7 and Sailor 6 in fact I think they would offer more. Clune is more creative than Hunt and Norman combined, Sailor is fast and dynamic, Norman just glides sideways and shovels it on.

 

[Warabrook saint]

Master class in pivot play by Benji. If only we had him still even at his age

 

[SEAT 1A]

Difference today was the coach. Maguire identified weaknesses, tweaked some stuff and they won. Mary probably patted the boys on the back, said all good guys keep it up and there you have a 2nd half of rubbish.

As did Bennett in the Shield.

 

[Crush]

It was one of Hunt’s most disappointing games, but at least he ran to the line a few times. One of these runs should’ve resulted in a match winning try to Vaughan, who dropped the ball with the line wide open.

In comparison, did Norman make any effort at all?

Norman doesn't care at all, never has. Its just his 9-5 job, not his life.
His clothing brand is his passion.

 

[grouch]

Aside from 1 or 2 poor kicks I thought Hunt did just about everything he could to win the game... just bad execution and bad errors by his teammates let him down

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Norman doesn't care at all, never has. Its just his 9-5 job, not his life.
His clothing brand is his passion.

Not to mention his pompadour.

 

[kit66]

It was one of Hunt’s most disappointing games, but at least he ran to the line a few times. One of these runs should’ve resulted in a match winning try to Vaughan, who dropped the ball with the line wide open.

In comparison, did Norman make any effort at all?

Hunt put in some good long range kicks to get us out of trouble and got us two repeat sets from goal line drop outs. Kicked for 430 mtrs. Norman put in two terrible kicks that resulted in turn overs. Hunt wasn't great but had little support from Norman or his forwards coming out of their end. Can Brittain kick ? Not many teams leave all the kicking to just one man.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Hunt put in some good long range kicks to get us out of trouble and got us two repeat sets from goal line drop outs. Kicked for 430 mtrs. Norman put in two terrible kicks that resulted in turn overs. Hunt wasn't great but had little support from Norman or his forwards coming out of their end. Can Brittain kick ? Not many teams leave all the kicking to just one man.

If only I had a dollar for saying your last sentence....

Widdop had exactly the same problem for most of his time at SGI.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Ok, so we start the season with a (how the %^*# did we lose that!) loss.

There were some positives which I believe will further improve (if) as the season goes on.
However, the negatives are far to obvious to ignore, and imo, are:
1. Hunt/Norman combination isnt working. Hunt tries hard, too hard imo, and Norman hasn't fired a shot really since he's been with us.
2. Bench and use thereof - Rava injury aside, I doubt Tyrell was destined for long or any minutes in the middle so use of prop/lock rotation was staggering. For example:
Graham - played 41mins - 25 in first stint, 15 in second.
Vaughan - played 68mins - 52 in first stint, 15 in second
Lawrie - played 61mins - 32 in the first stint, 27 in the second
Merrin - played 31mins - all 1 stint
Kerr - played 39mins - all 1 stint

I think it was OT who said they were busting us through the middle, easy to see why as our forwards tired, they were left on, whilst the Tigers prop stints were around the 25min mark. Leaving Vaughan on for 52mins straight (even alowing for half-time) is laughable.
3. Game plan in attack hasn't changed.
4. Slow play the ball - 3 of our forwards taking over 4 seconds to play the ball. Refer back to point 1 our halves just dont have the time and space to work in ie: no roll on to create, hence our one out hit ups. When we had space and got the ball early we saw breaks that should have lead to points, which unfortunately, they didnt, but the signs were there (that being a positive).

Friz had his best game for a long time yesterday. Was this a preemptive look into thd future wifh us, or someone else?

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

About what I’ve become used to except today I thought without Brooks we would win.
Although I think Zac is a centre I’m happy to give him plenty of time. His defence was good, positional play ok & I did notice him talking in defence.
I think Tyrell did enough to keep his spot.
Friz looked better on the left & ran some good lines.
Hunt as usual has copped plenty on here but he can’t be accused of not putting in, plus his defence saved 3 tries.Lack of go forward didn’t help.
I was really surprised at the hate coming from Luc towards some of his ex teammates, most notably Zac & Lawrie. Going out of his way to sledge in their faces & push or rub their heads. Big brother must be teaching him.I was a fan of his but he can get you know what from me now.

You're right, it does seem like Hunt gets a lot of criticism but most of it is justified.
McCrone was a good defender too but that didn't make him a class half back.
Hunt was brought to the club to lead the team in attack above anything else.
His kicking game is below par and that alone would make a massive difference to our fortunes.
We scored 2 first half tries yesterday and failed to convert some other chances.
One from a freaky kick and the other a gift.
Norman is not the playmaker we were hoping for and struggles to combine with Hunt.
While we wait around for our halves to fire, our attack looks pedestrian.
Was also surprised with the sledging - wonder what's behind it..

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Master class in pivot play by Benji. If only we had him still even at his age

We did have him for 2 seasons.
You have to ask yourself why he couldn't reproduce that form for the Dragons?

 

[Dragon Revival]

The forwards worked their guts out apart from Graham who is past it. Hunt was busy and Norman was playing tip football. Pereira was solid but too small. Ravalawa got injured. Lafai
was innocuous. Williame was solid. Lomax was rocks and diamonds but had little support at fullback. Kerr got little time. Merrin made little impact. Frizell, Sims and Vaughan were great. Lawrie was fair. The 2 hookers were solid. Fuimaono was good. At the moment the only way we can win is through the forwards who are ageing. Ramsey needs to be promoted when available on the wing. Team for Round 2.
Lomax
Ravalawa if fit or Saab
Williame
Fuimaono
Ramsay
Sailor
Hunt
Sims
Frizell
Ford
Vaughan
Luke
Host
Bench
Merrin
Kerr
Lawrie
Gale
Graham dropped.
Two spots on the 30 Man Roster are needed to be filled.
De Belin-He will never play again.
30th Spot-A fast, tackling centre/winger.
Graham should also retire on medical grounds and his spot filled.

 

[Old Timer]

He was named started and played a full game at FB v Sharks last year.


Has never played FB in reserves
He played one game at FB in Flegg 2018

George
It is fantastic when you square up the ledger and set the record straight.
Far too much crap which masquerades as fact is posted in this place.

 

[SGMax]

The tackling may have been better but they need to learn that field position is king.

Even the Tigers players were commenting at half time that getting up the field was easy.
Too many opportunities to attack our line and eventually we cracked to kicks and a good run from a scrum.

Bennett had them primed for battle and they put the opposition under pressure over a few sets by making them play in their own half....each set starting deeper and finishing further from the Dragons try line.

Defence will always be a problem while they are happy to stop and wait for the opposition to run at them.
Easily giving 10 to 15 metres each tackle is not good defence even if your line is not broken.

 

[Dragon David]

Nor would Clune 7 and Sailor 6 in fact I think they would offer more. Clune is more creative than Hunt and Norman combined, Sailor is fast and dynamic, Norman just glides sideways and shovels it on.

You are so right Forbes Creek Dragons. How doesn't any of our coaching staff see this is beyond me?
I noticed from comments in the CC and JF thread that Clune did not play. Hopefully he is not injured and he will be slotted in the next game. Again, we had plenty of chances to win but our poor execution failed us badly.

 

[possm]

We will never know just how good of a thing we had with the Widdop and Hunt pairing. They were disrupted to all hell, but when given lengthy game time they were so so much better than what Norman brings to the team. Widdop and Hunt were two styles which complemented each other. As were Hunt and Milford at Brisbane.

Norman offers nothing. He is passive until he feels like doing something, and then he's reckless.

I'd say Widdop is just as much of a dudd as Norman is. Just look at his performance in the ESL to confirm this obsivation. No one will improve until they truely believe their place in the 17 is under threat. Drop Norman, Lafai and Graham and bring in Clune, Fuimaono, Blacker and Saab if Ravalawa is injured.

The above action will send a message to the team that if you don't perform, you lose your spot.

 

[Vic Mackey]

I was really surprised at the hate coming from Luc towards some of his ex teammates, most notably Zac & Lawrie. Going out of his way to sledge in their faces & push or rub their heads. Big brother must be teaching him.I was a fan of his but he can get you know what from me now.

On the tigers website there’s an interview with Luc before the game and he said he Frizzell and Lawrie had been sledging each other all week, sounds like they’re just mates giving it to each other.

I know for a fact he never wanted to leave Saints but was told he wasn’t wanted so I dare say he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder over that, however my guess it’s more at the coaching staff then the players.