Round 4 v Dragons

[Pomoz]

I think a lot of your problem is the forwards.
You needs guys who just run straight and hard. Latu - Matagai - RCG all do in the front row.
But then you have the side steppers or guys who are sort of forwards and sort of utlitlies. Bryce- Yeo - Peachey. They play big minutes and do not help with go forward.
The problem is the balance right there. Peachey can create but most the time he is just dancing around like a moron. Yeo is a good prospect and been better this year but along with cartwright to many times they just do not pin their ears back and run straight and hard. It does not give the halves any chance .What is soward meant to do on a play after peachey has danced around for 10 seconds and not made any meters? Just letting the defense set. You needs guys like Matagai style to just roll up the guts and get a quick play the ball for guys like Soward to be able to give early ball yo your backs who are your weapons.
Id only ever have 2 of the 4 guys between - Peachey-Cartwright - Yeo - Taylor.
Id lean towards Cartwright with peachey on the bench. Hard luck for Yeo but for the balance of the team you need a mongrel.

You speak far too much sense, are you sure you are an Eels fan?:shock: The same Peachey "wander round in a circle" effect is created when players run with the intent of offloading so they back in and don't run as hard. The defence and attack are both stood still while a wrestle occurs, killing momentum. Latimore does it all the time. Cartwright is both frickin huge and based on the fact he shrugs off tackles repeatedly, obviously strong, he should run hard and make the offload if it happens, but focus on a fast hard run and play the ball. I don't think he realises how powerful he is.

I think Soward needs to let TMM run a few plays as well. They have sheltered him so far and just let him shovel the ball and tackle. Ironically he has shown himself to be a better defender than Sowie.

I used to hate players who did that crabbing and dancing when playing league and touch, it makes the dummy halves job a nightmare. Play the frickin ball already !

 

[SweetandSoward]

You know when Will Smith played in the halves with Soward, he at least helped clear the ball or did a few kicks here and there.
Martin did nothing.
I think he needs to be more assertive. Demand the ball brother

 

[hindy111]

It is just my take on footy. Look at the dogs - No frills just roll the sleeves up and get the work done up the middle.
Peachey should only come on for the last 25 -30 mins of a game.

 

[Frankus]

Whole year rests on Moylan playing every game from here. Its that simple

Don't be so dramatic. Fix up our defense and we will be just fine. Our bench, all of whom are supposedly forwards, missed a total of 18 tackles and only made 74. Which is just piss poor. While Wallace, the most bagged off player in our side on this forum, made 39 and missed one.

 

[Fibroman]

If you go back to the glory days of 1991 and 2003, we actually had halves that regularly took the line on.

This is why we are missing Moylan so much. He is really our only player that runs straight at pace and puts the opposition defence in 2 minds.

Merrin has been solid for us, but I fail to understand why he has the #13 on his back when he never runs any wider than 3 metres either side of the ruck? He is playing as a front row forward, so stick the #8 or 10 on his back FFS and start ET in the #13.

Latu and Matagi were both good for us, so I would have them and McKendry for impact from the bench.

I'd be inclined to stick DWZ back to fullback if we have no Moylan.

Peachy needs to get out wider and let our halves get the ball to him instead of him dancing around the ruck area and crabbing across the field all the time.

Soward and TMM need to pump up and run at the line. Maybe Griffen needs to sit them down and show them some old footage of Brandy and Gowie.

One last thing. Michael Jennings can't pass the ball for shit, hasn't got good hands and isn't the best defender, yet he is one of the better centres in the game, so someone tell me why Peachy can't start a game with the #3 or 4 on his back and see what he can do. Couldn't be any worse than Willy Wonga.

 

[maple_69]

Martin will take the line on. They are just easing him into it. When Moylan is back it will be easier as we will have that extra option in attack so Martin can just pop up when it suits. He needs to be confident enough to demand the ball in that role though.

I think a decent option for the short term would be to bring Katoa onto the bench to offer some inciseveness that I think Wallace lacks at dummy half.

Hard to say though as we are a completely different football team with Moylan. Most of our problems he goes a long way to solving, otherwise they are symptomatic of a side early in the season yet to click. The problem be isn't likely to address is missed tackles and that's something we really need to sort out.

 

[franklin2323]

There's plenty of other teams struggling to score points given who we have out and a new coach etc. We aren't too bad

 

[betcats]

If you go back to the glory days of 1991 and 2003, we actually had halves that regularly took the line on.

This is why we are missing Moylan so much. He is really our only player that runs straight at pace and puts the opposition defence in 2 minds.

Merrin has been solid for us, but I fail to understand why he has the #13 on his back when he never runs any wider than 3 metres either side of the ruck? He is playing as a front row forward, so stick the #8 or 10 on his back FFS and start ET in the #13.

Latu and Matagi were both good for us, so I would have them and McKendry for impact from the bench.

I'd be inclined to stick DWZ back to fullback if we have no Moylan.

Peachy needs to get out wider and let our halves get the ball to him instead of him dancing around the ruck area and crabbing across the field all the time.

Soward and TMM need to pump up and run at the line. Maybe Griffen needs to sit them down and show them some old footage of Brandy and Gowie.

One last thing. Michael Jennings can't pass the ball for shit, hasn't got good hands and isn't the best defender, yet he is one of the better centres in the game, so someone tell me why Peachy can't start a game with the #3 or 4 on his back and see what he can do. Couldn't be any worse than Willy Wonga.

Most 13s play through the middle now that's just how the game is. Taumololo, Gallen, Merrin...Locks are just another prop now.

 

[ACTPanthers]

I really want whatever it is that makes some of you so positive! I understand we are a young team, that we've hung in there and kept them all close, that we have players to come back and will hopefully kick us into gear, but, you can't be genuinely this happy with being 1-3 - Yes, the Cows had a similar run last year, but this isn't the norm by any stretch - Yes, we could've won those close ones, but we didn't - There are positives out of these games, yes, but we're still losing them - I just can't see us getting anywhere near the top 8 this season with the attacking game plan we seem to be running - If our hopes hinge on Moylan or Carty playing off the cuff and winning us games based on individual brilliance because our attacking plans are failing, it's going to be a long season.

 

[betcats]

I think a lot of your problem is the forwards.
You needs guys who just run straight and hard. Latu - Matagai - RCG all do in the front row.
But then you have the side steppers or guys who are sort of forwards and sort of utlitlies. Bryce- Yeo - Peachey. They play big minutes and do not help with go forward.
The problem is the balance right there. Peachey can create but most the time he is just dancing around like a moron. Yeo is a good prospect and been better this year but along with cartwright to many times they just do not pin their ears back and run straight and hard. It does not give the halves any chance .What is soward meant to do on a play after peachey has danced around for 10 seconds and not made any meters? Just letting the defense set. You needs guys like Matagai style to just roll up the guts and get a quick play the ball for guys like Soward to be able to give early ball yo your backs who are your weapons.
Id only ever have 2 of the 4 guys between - Peachey-Cartwright - Yeo - Taylor.
Id lean towards Cartwright with peachey on the bench. Hard luck for Yeo but for the balance of the team you need a mongrel.

Our forwards have created plenty of momentum and space for Sowie and our backs to play off but Soward has ran the ball about 4 times effectively all year besides that he just wants to pass and kick all game, its not the forwards fault by any means Soward has plenty of space he is just doing f**k all with it for the most part.

Peachey and Bryces styles may backfire on occasion but they are the only ones so far this season who have consistently threatened the defence. Yeo is a hard straight runner more than anything he is not a similar player to Peachey or Bryce at all.

 

[Big Mick]

I'd like to see Bryce actually play like a backrower and run great lines all the time instead of trying to be a five-eight.

It is making me irrationally mad.

 

[betcats]

Bryce ran a nice line to score last week..Our backrowers hardly get a chance to run lines off a ball player. We all stand flat and our halves just pass it one out or turn it inside. I haven't seen us run a nice deep backline play all season.

 

[franklin2323]

I really want whatever it is that makes some of you so positive! I understand we are a young team, that we've hung in there and kept them all close, that we have players to come back and will hopefully kick us into gear, but, you can't be genuinely this happy with being 1-3 - Yes, the Cows had a similar run last year, but this isn't the norm by any stretch - Yes, we could've won those close ones, but we didn't - There are positives out of these games, yes, but we're still losing them - I just can't see us getting anywhere near the top 8 this season with the attacking game plan we seem to be running - If our hopes hinge on Moylan or Carty playing off the cuff and winning us games based on individual brilliance because our attacking plans are failing, it's going to be a long season.

Look at our draw at the backend of the year. Rather these results then get a false sense of where we are like we did last year at 2-0

 

[franklin2323]

Bryce ran a nice line to score last week..Our backrowers hardly get a chance to run lines off a ball player. We all stand flat and our halves just pass it one out or turn it inside. I haven't seen us run a nice deep backline play all season.

We haven't passed it to Dallen on the attack once this year. always go the Hiku/Mansour side. McKendry and Cartwrights try are what we should be doing more

 

[Exsilium]

I'd like to see Bryce actually play like a backrower and run great lines all the time instead of trying to be a five-eight.

It is making me irrationally mad.

Finally someone has said it.

Whilst he is creative and the "most likely" to make something out of nothing it annoys the hell out of me when he doesn't just run hard and use his size and footwork to gain an advantage for his team.

His crabbing makes him an easy mark and does nothing. If we had people constantly running off his hip, play and after play then sure but it's just not happening.

And the offloads....he's starting to become Feleti Mateo 2.0. The one percent plays are what frustrates me the most. Hold the damn ball and do your job.

 

[ACTPanthers]

Look at our draw at the backend of the year. Rather these results then get a false sense of where we are like we did last year at 2-0

It's no where near a given we'll be in a position to win in the back end of the season either though - Like I said, if we're pinning hopes on individual brilliance, it doesn't look good.

 

[Luke Bowden]

I'd like to see Bryce actually play like a backrower and run great lines all the time instead of trying to be a five-eight.

It is making me irrationally mad.

100% agree.

 

[franklin2323]

It's no where near a given we'll be in a position to win in the back end of the season either though - Like I said, if we're pinning hopes on individual brilliance, it doesn't look good.

No individual Brillance needed really just composure and some sort of an idea in attack. A fit Moylan/Seg/Whare to this team imo is makes us atleast 2 tries better per game. Can you say we haven't been atleast 2 tries off Brisbane and Bulldogs who will be in the 8? Or Dragons and Canberra will be around the 8?

 

[betcats]

Finally someone has said it.

Whilst he is creative and the "most likely" to make something out of nothing it annoys the hell out of me when he doesn't just run hard and use his size and footwork to gain an advantage for his team.

His crabbing makes him an easy mark and does nothing. If we had people constantly running off his hip, play and after play then sure but it's just not happening.

And the offloads....he's starting to become Feleti Mateo 2.0. The one percent plays are what frustrates me the most. Hold the damn ball and do your job.

His sideways running is being exaggerated now he runs hard a lot. He is making 100m a game while being one of our most dangerous players. His decision making certainly needs work but it was his hard straight running that got us back into the Brisbane game and his sideways running that created the try out of nothing to tie the game up.

Bryce isn't a normal backrower and asking him to play like one would be limiting him. IMO he carries his weight and does the hard yards, my only problem with him this season is forcing the offload.

 

[ACTPanthers]

No individual Brillance needed really just composure and some sort of an idea in attack. A fit Moylan/Seg/Whare to this team imo is makes us atleast 2 tries better per game. Can you say we haven't been atleast 2 tries off Brisbane and Bulldogs who will be in the 8? Or Dragons and Canberra will be around the 8?

But that's the main problem, is our plan of attack is non-existent or extremely lacking - So yes, even with Moylan/Seg/Whare in, we are still hoping for something off the cuff - Sure we've been a couple off those teams, but, IMO, I can see us being "a couple off" most teams this season - It looks as though we have absolutely no attacking plan at all - My point is, I think some people need to be a little realistic in regards to what this team can do with the plans we have in place (or lack thereof)