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Round 24 v Storm

Luke Bowden

First Grade
Messages
7,182
Yeah, I think you will be proven right on this one. He is building nicely, he certainly isn't a clone of his Dad, which I think is what most people were hoping for.
It’s not about being right or wrong, I just saw the way he’s been playing and trusted our system. Doesnt take Jack Gibson to do that.

He was never going to be like his Dad, but his power game will come as he finds his feet.

Definitely going to give Ivan some selection headaches next year with Ice coming in.

Rylie Price and Harrison Hassett are the two I’m most disappointed in. Price is injured now, but they haven’t really progressed that well.
 

Murraymob1

Juniors
Messages
1,268
To be fair to the forwards the players out hurt the rotation of the bench especially Martin who can play long minutes when needed .Garner also gives us a few positions of the bench .We look at the negatives yes but what about the positives
We win no doubt if Nathan plays our game management is different when we where in front
At full strength our forwards handle and return in plus everything they have
McLean at 18 is showing he is the future.His body will continue to fill out
 

soc123_au

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
19,678
It’s not about being right or wrong, I just saw the way he’s been playing and trusted our system. Doesnt take Jack Gibson to do that.

He was never going to be like his Dad, but his power game will come as he finds his feet.

Definitely going to give Ivan some selection headaches next year with Ice coming in.

Rylie Price and Harrison Hassett are the two I’m most disappointed in. Price is injured now, but they haven’t really progressed that well.
Yeah, I know it's not about you being right or wrong, but fair play, you called it when most had doubts.

He still isn't the complete package, but there is enough there to be pretty confident that he will keep getting better as he gets more experience. A few times he has run when he should have passed and visa versa, but there is some talent there for sure. Probably not up to big minutes yet, so next year with a bit of luck with injuries Ivan finds the sweet spot for how much time he gets.
 

soc123_au

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
19,678
To be fair to the forwards the players out hurt the rotation of the bench especially Martin who can play long minutes when needed .Garner also gives us a few positions of the bench .We look at the negatives yes but what about the positives
We win no doubt if Nathan plays our game management is different when we where in front
At full strength our forwards handle and return in plus everything they have
McLean at 18 is showing he is the future.His body will continue to fill out
He is going to be a weapon.
 

Exsilium

Coach
Messages
10,283
We absolutely needed a loss. It’s been an average season by our standards. We’ve not had enough tough games this season and it’s shown through our erratic performances.

One thing we do better than other teams is that we don’t generally repeat poor performances.

Between now and the finals, we have to strengthen our back row.

If NC injury is a reoccurrence of his earlier one, I’d say he’s at long odds to play unless we make it through week one and two.
 

Fangs

Coach
Messages
13,365
Hard to cop Howarth as best on field.

If Martin played he would have belted that bloke back to the stone age.

The refs literally managed that game. Shocking decisions against both sides. It was a frustrating watch and Klein is simply a terrible official.
 

Murraymob1

Juniors
Messages
1,268
We absolutely needed a loss. It’s been an average season by our standards. We’ve not had enough tough games this season and it’s shown through our erratic performances.

One thing we do better than other teams is that we don’t generally repeat poor performances.

Between now and the finals, we have to strengthen our back row.

If NC injury is a reoccurrence of his earlier one, I’d say he’s at long odds to play unless we make it through week one and two.
Only positive it not the shoulder he did before
 

Luke Bowden

First Grade
Messages
7,182
Hard to cop Howarth as best on field.

If Martin played he would have belted that bloke back to the stone age.

The refs literally managed that game. Shocking decisions against both sides. It was a frustrating watch and Klein is simply a terrible official.
Klein ruins games.

Some of his decisions (both ways) are mind blowing
 

age.s

First Grade
Messages
7,757
I haven't gone in on Tago much. I think the defensive issues are kinda overblown (although there are issues) and he's still a weapon with the ball and a beast physically. He's had a below par year, but I'm still very hopeful that he overcomes it, if not this season then next.

One thing that does worry me though is he's becoming a really dumb player. Although it wasn't the biggest error a Panther made last night, his escort penalty was an awful moment and took all the wind out of a team that habitually drags back games in their dying moments. It looked like he reacted a fraction late to the play (a common theme for him this year), and compounded that by making a bad decision to impede the runner despite not being in a position to do so. The two errors compounded each other but they both stemmed from a lack of foresight, both in the moment and the broader context of the match. I don't feel like he's always been like this, but he's certainly building some bad habits that aren't going away.

The thing is, while Tagos the most obvious culprit, the teams football IQ is way down across the board. Last night it was Tago, Smith and Fish coming up with poor moments in concentration, last week it was Tago, Turuva and Martin. Over the season, the spread of players having these awful moments is extremely wide, virtually the entire team has these moments in them, which again is an argument to why just dropping isnt the answer. We're not a straight up dumb footy team (a la the Elliott years) but we're not trending in the right direction.

If I had to guess, I'd say the psychology of the group is off a bit. Not drastically and not in a way that Ivan can necessarily just solve either. But maybe the pressure of being at the top for such and unbelievably (unprecedented) long time in a sport as gruelling as this, along with subtle changes in group dynamics have altered an underlying element of the group's capacity to focus when it matters. It's clearly not a massive thing, we still sit outright second and can turn on by far the best football in the comp when we click, but for that our heads need to be in the right place and they clearly weren't last night in the biggest game of the season so far.
 
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age.s

First Grade
Messages
7,757
Hard to cop Howarth as best on field.

If Martin played he would have belted that bloke back to the stone age.

The refs literally managed that game. Shocking decisions against both sides. It was a frustrating watch and Klein is simply a terrible official.
The Storm were lucky in that their poor decisions (ie, Klein missing the Tago escort) both didn't result in points and/or were overturned by the bunker.

Sometimes that's how it goes.
 

snickers007

Juniors
Messages
1,603
Mitch Kenny charged and will miss next week's game for a high tackle. What in the ever loving f**k?

Kenny with a Careless Grade 2 - first offence. 1-2 weeks.
NAS with a Careless Grade 1 - second offence. $1800-$2500 fine.

How?

NAS lined up a dude who was standing upright, and stationary, and hit him in the back of the head with his shoulder.
Kenny was bracing for a tackle, and hit a guy who just had his legs taken out, and dropped 60cm within half a second.

They have no idea.
 

WestyLife

First Grade
Messages
7,321
Hard to cop Howarth as best on field.

If Martin played he would have belted that bloke back to the stone age.

The refs literally managed that game. Shocking decisions against both sides. It was a frustrating watch and Klein is simply a terrible official.

Klein is a game manager not a referee
 

The Realist

Juniors
Messages
1,870
If I had to guess, I'd say the psychology of the group is off a bit.... can turn on by far the best football in the comp when we click, but for that our heads need to be in the right place and they clearly weren't last night in the biggest game of the season so far.

You could tell on the field and through their prep that the Storm were highly focused. There was a lot of chatter between their players, and they had a real intensity about them.

Conversely Panthers Squad seemed to have 'just another day in the office' look about them.
 

Murraymob1

Juniors
Messages
1,268
I
You could tell on the field and through their prep that the Storm were highly focused. There was a lot of chatter between their players, and they had a real intensity about them.

Conversely Panthers Squad seemed to have 'just another day in the office' look about them.
believe after last night at full strength we have them covered
 

soc123_au

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
19,678
I

believe after last night at full strength we have them covered
Same, I'm not to worried. They were pretty good last night, not sure they have much higher ceiling than that. We know that we can be much better than last nights effort. Bring the vs Sharks performance again and we will be golden.
 

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