Round 22 Vs the Donkeys

[herbert henry1908]

Kenny didn’t hit a target all night & created as little as he has the last 2 months. Katoas distribution is miles ahead & was again last night. He looked dangerous & gave us another outlet. He’s out of shape but that tends to happen when you’re told your no longer required after 2 months of the season & wont play another game of first grade for the club.

Katoa also the primary contributor for keeping them out when Isaako made a 90m run, made 2 or 3 great tackles on either side of the field, along with Leota. But that doesn’t fit your narrative yeh?

Katoa was out of shape earlier in the season when he was playing regularly.

None of these guys are that good, we need a new hooker.

 

[OldPanther]

What's obvious is we need to change:

Hooker is an issue. Kenny is good defensively and Egan seems to straighten us up but we don't currently have a genuine 9 yet unless one kicks on during the off season.

Maloney somehow holds Cleary back. No idea how this happens. Maybe a mental thing with Maloney having so much experience and success.

RCG is done and we need to replace him ASAP

Leota has surprised me and been very good when starting. Might be what he needed to take the next step finally, I'm normally not a fan of him.

Yeo should've been rested once June 30 came. Looks half the player he'd normally be due to the shoulder injury. Also is very predictable.

Mansour needs to go with Naden moved to the wing and a centre put in there. We have a few in lower grades who could come in next year for this.

Whare has a lot of effort but just looks like he's a step behind these days, probably due to the fact he was never a speedster and now he's older his lack of x factor is showing.

 

[TheFrog]

Leota got a few extra minutes this evening and we got to see his offload which was good to see and should be encouraged.

Leota is improving every week.

If you replace either half tonight do we win?

They were our big advantage that we didn't use. The Broncos had big willing young forwards and took advantage of them. We had Origin halves and didn't.

What's obvious is we need to change:

We are still in the running. We only need to beat the Cows next week which won't be as tough an assignment. Sauce deserves to see the season out at least. He had a go.

 

[Pomoz]

Ivan is not the issue,the cattle is..

That makes no sense. Hook has us one win from first place after 26 rounds. Dave's mate and the "committee" has the same team at 8th place and probably won't make the semi's. Same cattle, in fact the youngsters are more experienced this year.

 

[kinghippo]

The plays that really showed us up last night were staggs try while we were a player up and isakos try.
Staggs try really set the tone for the game. Our heads dropped when he showed how easy scoring could be on that side and we never recovered.
Add in the fact we once again didn’t even come close to putting on points while they had a player in the bin and mentally we were done.

We somehow hung in for a lot of the game but I think that was more Brisbane’s lack of execution than anything else.

Isako just decided to run fast and mansour was exposed as the weakest link, mansour also got put into a clear break last night and his immediate reaction was to stop running and step inside. He makes great meters still but like whare he is no longer athletic enough for first grade NRL.

 

[Mr Angry]

Not rating a player does not mean you hate them.....

You just do not think they are NRL standard, probably a lovely fellow is Katoa, keep picking him at your peril. That said Ivan quite rightly cut him earlier and you started winning, he would not be there if Egan an Jarome were fit. Doubt Ivan will play him again.

Kenny had to elevated to just to play FFS, give him time, same with Egan, he has an upside and is still very young.

Just call out to Mick Ennis, they need a tudor who played hooker.

I am tipping Jarome Luai to end up a Warrior, just as Maloney is due leave, Burton emerges.

Will ask to leave for opportunity and you guys will allow it.

 

[10Grand]

These players are not the answer for Penrith.
Yeo Rcg Whare Edwards Mansour Naden Maloney Tamao Katoa Egan Kenny Winterstain,they r ok 1st graders but will never win you any games that matters.We have a massive roster problem need a cleanout..

 

[franklin2323]

Agree on hooker, but it’s also becoming apparent centre is a big issue.

Centres are just raw and not quite up to it yet. We have a few in that boat atm.

Hooker is the only one we can't fix internally so should be number 1 on the list.

If Ivan starts Yeo over Martin on that side. I think we handle them defensively better.

 

[franklin2323]

These players are not the answer for Penrith.
Yeo Rcg Whare Edwards Mansour Naden Maloney Tamao Katoa Egan Kenny Winterstain,they r ok 1st graders but will never win you any games that matters.We have a massive roster problem need a cleanout..

Of that list Katoa, Maloney are gone. Whare and RCG have been tapped on the shoulder.

Tamou is just playing to many minutes.

Kenny and Naden will be better after a pre season.

So the cleanout is on it's way

 

[10Grand]

That makes no sense. Hook has us one win from first place after 26 rounds. Dave's mate and the "committee" has the same team at 8th place and probably won't make the semi's. Same cattle, in fact the youngsters are more experienced this year.

How is it the same team,we have about 9 different players to last year..

 

[TheFrog]

These players are not the answer for Penrith.
Yeo Rcg Whare Edwards Mansour Naden Maloney Tamao Katoa Egan Kenny Winterstain,they r ok 1st graders but will never win you any games that matters.We have a massive roster problem need a cleanout..

That's 10 of the 17 that started last night. I don't think its quite that dire. Yeo needs a shoulder recon. Edwards has been playing well and did again last night. Tamou has been consistently good this year. Naden needs an off-season. Kenny perhaps too. Mansour might be nearing the end. Whare looks likely to move on if someone wants him. Likewise most of the others.

 

[TheFrog]

I am tipping Jarome Luai to end up a Warrior, just as Maloney is due leave, Burton emerges.

Just as Luai was called the messiah after one game, now it's Burton. The club has carried Luai for long enough that he should be given first crack at the 6 next year. Burton can be a backup to the halves or might find a place in the backline.

 

[10Grand]

This should be our lineup..
1.new dude
2.Too
3.new dude
4.new dude/chricton
5.new dude
6.burton/luai
7.Cleary
8.new dude
9.new dude
10.new dude
11.new dude
12.new dude
13.new dude
14.Jfh
15.kikau
16.Yeo
17.Leotta
18.Spencer
I luv this lineup esp the new dudes

 

[Pomoz]

Well that was a difficult game to watch. The usual A+ effort derailed by the usual D- dumb football, poor fitness and plodding attack. A couple of points:

• Cleary - once again he resorted to catch and pass, minimal running and zero ball playing. One run and he scores through his footwork and strength, but as a halfback he was so poor. This week was the same standard as the crap he delivered against the Bulldogs. Catch and pass. To be honest, it is the same effort he has delivered most of the season. Lots of effort, good defence, little guile, minimal running. Catch and pass. OP has suggested maybe when Maloney goes he will be a better player and stop taking a back seat. Personally I don't see it but let's hope OP is right or we have a $1m halfback with less creativity than Adam Sandler's script writer.

• How does Dave's mate manage to finish the game with an interchange up his sleeve (7 of 8) when so many players were clearly gassed (Kikau for a start)?

• We weren't as fit as the Broncos. The pre-season at Pie Face has really hurt us this year. We need to toughen up our fitness regime. Maybe go for a run, or, maybe even lift some weights or something, anything.....

• Our season is captured by the 10 minute period Turpin was in the sin bin (terrible tackle and deserves a few weeks suspension). We dominate possession and can't score even against 12 men, in fact we concede a try. Dumb football, lots of errors and pedestrian in attack.Turgid anti-football that is wooden spoon worthy.

• Kikau isn't fit enough under Cleary's 'Pie Face' training regime and can't play 80 minutes. Ditto Katoa, Kenny, Martin and Yeo.

• What do they actually do at training to practice attack? Do they put cones out on the field, run their plays and because they score against the cones figure their attack must be good?

• Our effort is always there, We don't give up. We made as many metres as the Broncos and they had length of the field line breaks boosting their stats. We had equal time in possession, but our completion rate was poor at 70% and with 14 errors. You make mistakes when you are tired. We are either just not fit enough, or we have too many poor footballers with bad hand/eye coordination and low football IQ's making bad decisions. Maybe a combination of both.

And somebody please give Katoa the number for Uber Taxis. Maybe if he can get a taxi to the ruck he might get there in time.

 

[martielang]

Katoa was out of shape earlier in the season when he was playing regularly.

None of these guys are that good, we need a new hooker.

I’m not disagreeing with that, but to somehow point the finger at Katoa as a key contributor to our loss is just ridiculous, especially as the whole arguement is based on 1 missed tackle on a player that was making line breaks through the middle of our pack from minute 2 of the game.

He’s the definition of a scapegoat. The exact same people who were using Hook as a scapegoat.

 

[Pomoz]

How is it the same team,we have about 9 different players to last year..

Not now, but at the start of the season. Cleary has chosen to dispose of Blake and DWZ and pick the team he has now. That's on him and the results speak for themselves.

 

[martielang]

I know Mansour made a monumental defensive error but think he’s probably getting unnecessary heat. His centre didn’t make a tackle the entire night which lead directly to that decision. I thought Naden was worse by the length of the straight. Maybe I’m goin to hard on the kid & he’s just on the normal down after a month in the NRL, but it actually looked like a lack of effort on his part.

We are that short on outside backs, it just makes the decision to push Blake ever more baffling.

 

[Pomoz]

I know Mansour made a monumental defensive error but think he’s probably getting unnecessary heat. His centre didn’t make a tackle the entire night which lead to that decision. I thought Naden was worse by the length of the straight.

He made 4 errors, gave away 2 penalties and had an effective tackle percentage of 47%. Other than that, he played well...........

 

[martielang]

He made 4 errors, gave away 2 penalties and had an effective tackle percentage of 47%. Other than that, he played well...........

Did he? I must be getting old, I remember one dropped ball & that bad read but didn’t remember the rest.

 

[Dave's mate]

He made 4 errors, gave away 2 penalties and had an effective tackle percentage of 47%. Other than that, he played well...........

That looks like Jimmy stats