Went to the game yesterday, and I've got to say I've walked away from games in the past feeling way worse than I did yesterday. As Flano said in the press conference, this is a journey for us, and in my opinion it's a pretty accurate reflection of where we are at realistically. I predicted a 42-6 loss, so the final score wasn't surprising to me. I was surprised by how long we stuck with them, especially with all the ball they had at the start of the game. That game was incredibly physical, some massive shots put on by both sides, and I think our conditioning is a couple levels below theirs, when the game got that physical, we were always in trouble.
To sum it up though, I think the team had a real dig, and quite simply, we were outclassed. That's what it comes down to. Too many good players for us to handle at this stage in our side's development. We just need to continue progressing and remain patient (I know we all hate that word because it's been shoved down our throats by the board for the last 14 years whilst they sat there and did f**k all), but this is year 1 of Flano. That won't stop me holding the board to account, and whoever else where it needs to be done, but we are clearly an improved side and that is what most of us expected. The difference in class yesterday came down to individuals. Individuals who continually let the side down week in, week out. Lawrie being the main culprit, Luc played okay but got a bit lazy and waited for the game to come to him, K Flano, sorry just not good enough to be in a team that takes that next step, Hunt let us down badly, especially almost single handedly taking the scoreline from 24-12 to 36-12 very quickly.
Sloan - I have mixed opinions on his game. I've seen some fans ranting as if he caused the loss, but there were a lot of other players who contributed to the loss more than Sloan who is a convenient whipping boy for some. He took absolutely everything they threw at him, at times under huge pressure. Massive tick, huge improvement. He seems to lack football smarts though, did get caught out of position a couple of times where he was defending in the front line and got to where he should have been too late. His support play for a fullback is also no where near where it needs to be. These things both come down to a lack of game awareness and an ability to preempt what might happen, rather than react to what has already happened. If you do the latter, often times you get there too late.
T Couchman - wow. I feel like with young players and young forwards especially, you can tell the difference with the good ones in games like this. He came up against the best forward pack in the comp, and he went to the game, rather than shying away from it. Quick play the balls, poked his nose through the line on most runs. His defence was good, and that chase on the Tedesco break was all effort, and stuff that you love to see. An extra 10-15m and he probably gets him. Clearly superior to Lawrie already, who again, was awful.
To sum it up though, I think the team had a real dig, and quite simply, we were outclassed. That's what it comes down to. Too many good players for us to handle at this stage in our side's development. We just need to continue progressing and remain patient (I know we all hate that word because it's been shoved down our throats by the board for the last 14 years whilst they sat there and did f**k all), but this is year 1 of Flano. That won't stop me holding the board to account, and whoever else where it needs to be done, but we are clearly an improved side and that is what most of us expected. The difference in class yesterday came down to individuals. Individuals who continually let the side down week in, week out. Lawrie being the main culprit, Luc played okay but got a bit lazy and waited for the game to come to him, K Flano, sorry just not good enough to be in a team that takes that next step, Hunt let us down badly, especially almost single handedly taking the scoreline from 24-12 to 36-12 very quickly.
Sloan - I have mixed opinions on his game. I've seen some fans ranting as if he caused the loss, but there were a lot of other players who contributed to the loss more than Sloan who is a convenient whipping boy for some. He took absolutely everything they threw at him, at times under huge pressure. Massive tick, huge improvement. He seems to lack football smarts though, did get caught out of position a couple of times where he was defending in the front line and got to where he should have been too late. His support play for a fullback is also no where near where it needs to be. These things both come down to a lack of game awareness and an ability to preempt what might happen, rather than react to what has already happened. If you do the latter, often times you get there too late.
T Couchman - wow. I feel like with young players and young forwards especially, you can tell the difference with the good ones in games like this. He came up against the best forward pack in the comp, and he went to the game, rather than shying away from it. Quick play the balls, poked his nose through the line on most runs. His defence was good, and that chase on the Tedesco break was all effort, and stuff that you love to see. An extra 10-15m and he probably gets him. Clearly superior to Lawrie already, who again, was awful.
