Round 3 vs the Knights

[GongPanther]

I was disappointed we didn't score more points given how much possession we had in good field position. However, our commitment in the forwards was good. We didn't handle the transition well (the tries we let in were soft), but I think our problems in attack largely came from not having Cleary. Clearly was on fire in the first two rounds, and I have no doubt we would have won by a mile if he played today.

It is a huge worry if Cleary gets picked for SOO. I would like to know how the hell are we going to cover for him attacking wise after yesterday's dog's breakfast?

 

[hindy111]

good summary. Edwards can’t pass the best but he can score tries in those situations he would of straightened up and created doubt atleast

I dont think Edward's is super but he is far better then Aitkens.
Dylan breaks tackles and is dangerous runner of ball. Aitkens is soft.
This season is about Too, Crighton,Burton and other young guys development. 2021 will be a far better year.
I said this a while ago and stand by it. The Morris boys would of done wonders for this teams attitude. You need some heart and steel and leaders.
I like Whare but for an experienced guy he doesnt offer this.

When Cleary is back do you keep Burton? Luai to me looks dangerous from dummy half.But Burton looks to close to Cleary. He is cool and calm. What works better? He impressed me for a kid. If only he nailed a field goal.

Can Capewell play centre? Fix the defense first. This guy has heart. Will be a great pick up.

Tyrone May needs game time. Hopefully NSW cup is back soon.

Penrith took foot of pedal at 14 nil. They fired up again at 14 all and looked the better side again. When Tanou and Korisau where off they looked terrible at times. They offer so much.
When Edward's is back he needs to follow Korisau at all times. Often the guy makes 15 mtrs and has space to add a pass and another 10mtrs but no support. Aitkens was not backing up at anytime in game.

 

[hindy111]

1. Edwards
2. Naden
3. Crichton
4. Whare
5. To’o

Would be my back 5 ASAP.

Edward's
Crighton
Capewell
Whare
Too

 

[herbert henry1908]

I think Mansour has been playing better than Whare. So I would put Naden centre

I think you’re right about Mansour, but I still prefer that lineup. Better balance.

 

[herbert henry1908]

It is a huge worry if Cleary gets picked for SOO. I would like to know how the hell are we going to cover for him attacking wise after yesterday's dog's breakfast?

SOO isn’t until after the finals this year.

 

[GongPanther]

SOO isn’t until after the finals this year.

Even better! Bloody hell it's not easy to adjust to all the changes.

 

[chrisD]

Attack was ok. Got close a few times, young halves, half the spine out, first game back and Newcastle defended very well. Our line defence was disappointing.

 

[martielang]

It was effectively a Rnd 1 game, we got a point, I wouldn't be looking to closely into it. Tbh if we claim 3 out of 4 points without Cleary I'd take it.

Struggling to see how Mansour was the main issue yesterday. The Kiks no pass was hardly a gimme like some are making it out to be, otherwise I thought our back 3 were more than solid.

Our forwards were strong, rolled forward all game against a decent pack.

 

[franklin2323]

I think you’re right about Mansour, but I still prefer that lineup. Better balance.

Atleast you are getting 200 metres off Mansour. Whare offers zero atm which is a shame cause I like him as a player

 

[franklin2323]

I dont think Edward's is super but he is far better then Aitkens.
Dylan breaks tackles and is dangerous runner of ball. Aitkens is soft.
This season is about Too, Crighton,Burton and other young guys development. 2021 will be a far better year.
I said this a while ago and stand by it. The Morris boys would of done wonders for this teams attitude. You need some heart and steel and leaders.
I like Whare but for an experienced guy he doesnt offer this.

When Cleary is back do you keep Burton? Luai to me looks dangerous from dummy half.But Burton looks to close to Cleary. He is cool and calm. What works better? He impressed me for a kid. If only he nailed a field goal.

Can Capewell play centre? Fix the defense first. This guy has heart. Will be a great pick up.

Tyrone May needs game time. Hopefully NSW cup is back soon.

Penrith took foot of pedal at 14 nil. They fired up again at 14 all and looked the better side again. When Tanou and Korisau where off they looked terrible at times. They offer so much.
When Edward's is back he needs to follow Korisau at all times. Often the guy makes 15 mtrs and has space to add a pass and another 10mtrs but no support. Aitkens was not backing up at anytime in game.

Luai would be perfect in that roaming role Crichton was playing early on.

Capewell can but we need him on the edge defending

That is Edwards’s strength supporting the play. Aekins is so far behind in that regard

 

[franklin2323]

It was effectively a Rnd 1 game, we got a point, I wouldn't be looking to closely into it. Tbh if we claim 3 out of 4 points without Cleary I'd take it.

Struggling to see how Mansour was the main issue yesterday. The Kiks no pass was hardly a gimme like some are making it out to be, otherwise I thought our back 3 were more than solid.

Our forwards were strong, rolled forward all game against a decent pack.

I saw it as the Fullback hung back waiting for the pass. So with a few tackles left in the set just took the tackle

 

[herbert henry1908]

Atleast you are getting 200 metres off Mansour. Whare offers zero atm which is a shame cause I like him as a player

Naden offers the team more on the wing. He’s a poor defender and his height for kicks will be of more use out wide. Naden is also a big body who can do a lot of the work Mansour does.

Mansour has 1 try for his past 24 matches, I can’t cop that from a winger. No matter his work rate. We need try scoring threats on both sides of the field.

 

[franklin2323]

Naden offers the team more on the wing. He’s a poor defender and his height for kicks will be of more use out wide. Naden is also a big body who can do a lot of the work Mansour does.

Mansour has 1 try for his past 24 matches, I can’t cop that from a winger. No matter his work rate. We need try scoring threats on both sides of the field.

Whare offers more though?

 

[mxlegend99]

It was effectively a Rnd 1 game, we got a point, I wouldn't be looking to closely into it. Tbh if we claim 3 out of 4 points without Cleary I'd take it.

Struggling to see how Mansour was the main issue yesterday. The Kiks no pass was hardly a gimme like some are making it out to be, otherwise I thought our back 3 were more than solid.

Our forwards were strong, rolled forward all game against a decent pack.

He's not the main issue.

But a Fullback ,Centre and Winger who can't score even easy tries or pass when in space are pretty big issues. Whare bombed a try over the line. Mansour doesn't get close the first time he has an open line, the second he has miles of space and ignores his support. Aekins on multiple opportunities killed our attack just as it looked like it might be about to open up.

Edwards in for Aekins theoretically improves us. But after the Edwards we got back from injury in 2019 I wouldn't be so quick to expect he will be in form upon his return.

Naden in for either Mansour and Whare atleast gives us a guy who can sniff out a try. He has butchered some easy ones too. But he has scored some unlikely ones.

Kenny was horrible while on aswell. We lost direction at a crucial time with him on the field. When Nathan returns I would look at Luai on the bench until May returns.

 

[Tronald Crump]

Knights fan here, I wish he hadn't...

He has been good for my centres in SuperCoach though

 

[Tronald Crump]

We had 59% possession and were outscored 3 tries to 2 by a mid-game injury depleted side with no spine at all. No Ponga and then losing Pearce 4 minutes in should have been enough for even us to run away with it.

We dominated field position and possession yet struggled to score and Knights with no spine at all and a huge defensive workload managed to score very easily when they got to our line. Makes us look bad on both sides of the ball.

It's good to be undefeated still. But we threw away a point yesterday and a chance to boost our for and against. Come finals time our form now won't mean shit. But that could have helped us on the ladder big time. Thankfully we didn't hurt our spot on the ladder either. Means f/a only matters vs Knights for now.

That in a nutshell really.

 

[Panfa]

Aekins was safe but never broke the line beat a man 1 on 1 or chimed into the backline to create an overlap he's gotta go.Chrichton is too good a player not to be in the starting 17 he's either at fullback covering for Edwards or on the wing for mansour or partnering naden in the centre's.Burton needs to show more in attack you can't just kick the ball he defended well but our backs saw hardly any ball 2nd half.like it or not I think our best halves combination is may at 6 Cleary 7 luai is too erratic and Burton not game enough to take the line on.Martin and leniu need to slot straight back in to the forwards.All the talk yesterday was about the knights and how courageous they were we were missing 6 players Edwards naden Cleary may Martin leniu please.

 

[martielang]

Whare offers more though?

It's a hard one with Whare. You bring Naden in & our attack improves without doubt but the exact opposite happens to our defence.

 

[martielang]

Tbh not sure where all this May talk is coming from. 18 months out, wasn't particularly good the last couple of times he's played. I struggle to see how he's close to our best option at 5/8th.

Luai looked good when he got the ball in his hands. Problem was he didn't get it near enough. Whether that's his fault or fault of the coach, who knows.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Whare offers more though?

He doesn’t. Never said he did.

My preferred backline is based on balance, not which player is better. Dropping Whare means Naden in the centres, and he’s a horrible defender.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mansour’s effort. If he could play in the centres I’d have him there over Whare in a heartbeat.