Round 7 vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs Discussion

[Big Pete]

Dolphins vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs
Suncorp Stadium, Thursday 13 April 2023
Kick Off: 7:50pm

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Euan Aitken 4. Brenko Lee 5. Robert Jennings 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Herman Ese'ese 11. Kenny Bromwich 12. Connelly Lemuelu 13. Tom Gilbert

14. JJ Collins 15. Mark Nicholls 16. Ray Stone 17. Kurt Donoghoe

18. Poasa Faamausili 19. Mason Teague 20. Edrick Lee 21. Jack Bostock 22. Valynce Te Whare

1. Latrell Mitchell 2. Alex Johnston 3. Isaiah Tass 4. Campbell Graham 5. Izaac Tu’itupou Thompson 6. Cody Walker 7. Lachlan Ilias 8. Jai Arrow 9. Damien Cook 10. Thomas Burgess 11. Keaon Koloamatangi 12. Jacob Host 13. Cameron Murray

14. Jed Cartwright 15. Daniel Suluka-Fifita 16. Davvy Moale 17. Hame Sele

18. Taane Milne 19. Blake Taaffe 20. Ben Lovett 21. Michael Chee Kam 22. Tallis Duncan​

 

[Big Pete]

Tough assignment this week against a star-studded South Sydney line-up. The Dolphins welcome back captain Jesse Bromwich who will give the Dolphins a much needed boost in the middle.

Robert Jennings and JJ Collins are also set to be Dolphin #25 and #26 respectively as Bennett rotates through his roster. I don't believe there's any injury concerns for Edrick Lee, judging from the press release, it appears Bennett wants to give Jennings an opportunity against his former club.

Defence should be the focus for the Dolphins. The Rabbitohs are one of the best attacking sides in the competition, so denying them space and getting them into the grind will be key. The edge forwards and centres will need to work over-time to protect their halves.

In attack if the Dolphins can replicate what they did against the Cowboys the points should flow naturally. Isaako is playing career best footy at the Peninsula and I expect him to feature on the score-sheet at some point.

It's been a great start for the season for the Dolphins. A win here would cement them as one of the front-runners of the competition. With that said, it's easier said than done against one of the competition heavyweights. Souths haven't missed a Prelim final since 2018 and for good reason.

 

[Puff]

The Bunnies Mitchell is on when he wants and off when he wants. So, it depends on which Mitchell we play against.

Bennett knowing Mitchell well enough will know what it takes to rattle him and get him off his game.

We can do something here with Bennett's knowledge of the opposition.

I am going in confident we will put in a good show. We will do better than most think here.

 

[Big Pete]

South Sydney Rabbitohs 36 def. Dolphins 14 (Euan Aitken, Jeremy Marshall-King tries; Jamayne Isaako 3/3 goals)

4-3

The Dolphins went with the Bunnies for 40 minutes and led 14-6 heading into the break. However after Kodi fumbled that early opportunity in the second half, it was all Souths. They rolled the Dolphins through the middle which allowed them to spread it to their edges and they just tormented the Dolphins all night.

There was certainly some misfortune. It appeared Campbell Graham pushed Euan Aitken to get to a kick to get Souths back on the board. Then Brenko Lee inadvertently kicked a loose pass from Alex Johnston into Jamayne Isaako which bounced up perfectly for Cody Walker. There were some question marks on whether Isaako was in the field of play when the ball ricocheted off him but from the initial replays, it appeared he was in the field of play. Both those moments gave Souths all the ascendency

At 20-14, the Dolphins were still in the game, but once Kenny Bromwich was sent to the sin-bin for a head high off the ball, Souths raced in three tries to put the game to bed.

 

[to_ddeath]

Few things out of that rather annoying game

1. Aikens passing still an issue, butchers a 4 pointer plain & simple
2. Lee is horrendous & has to be dropped
3. Nikorima isn’t a solid 80 minute half
4. Minimum of a dozen Cook forward passes in second half & DeKlein picks up only 1.

Souffs obviously trying to show the Riff they aren’t afraid of them, hope they get whacked into next month after that

Next 2 games very winnable though, (Tits and Faders), show better discipline & they can win well in both

 

[League guru]

Few things out of that rather annoying game

1. Aikens passing still an issue, butchers a 4 pointer plain & simple
2. Lee is horrendous & has to be dropped
3. Nikorima isn’t a solid 80 minute half
4. Minimum of a dozen Cook forward passes in second half & DeKlein picks up only 1.

Souffs obviously trying to show the Riff they aren’t afraid of them, hope they get whacked into next month after that

Next 2 games very winnable though, (Tits and Faders), show better discipline & they can win well in both

Point 4, watching the game I couldn't believe how many forward passes Cook threw. Where are the linesmen?
Rugby League (besides Rugby Union) must be the only game where the rules mean nothing and used purely as a guideline.
- ford passes
- playing the ball
- markers interfering in the play the ball
- loitering in the ruck area
- leaving early in defence
- downtown on clearing kicks
- the list goes on
Then magically they find some obscure rule to randomly police.

 

[Puff]

They scored 18 points, I think, while we were down a man.

The scoreline flattered them. However, we didn't look like scoring in the second half.

The try where Aitken was knocked over was ridiculous.

Then there was a try where it hits our play who was on the touchline. It should have no try feed to the bunnies 10 out. They didn't check to see if when it hit our guy and went back into play, whether he was out or not, and his ass was on the line.

I think with the officiating in NRL, they just see what they want sometimes.

Aitken, I said at the start of the year, he would be a liability in attack. Thankfully we scored a few plays later. Hopefully we get another Centre in for next year, Farnworth and another means, no Aitken or Lee. Centre is our issue in this team. Love our forwards, love Hammer and the wingers. Halves are great, so on top of what we have coming next year, if we can add a Centre and a 7, we are the real deal in relation to finals footy. And I think Bennett's comments about Wighton shows we have space in the cap to sign a true marquee, and whether that stretches to a marquee 7 and a Centre, I don't know. But I hope it does.

I didn't mind Kodi and Katoa in the halves last night. They ran a lot at Kodi, so I wasn't surprised to see the drop off in the second half from him. I do prefer him to milf though.

Everything else I really don't have a problem with. Just a little more discipline in the tackles, reducing penalties and sin bins, and we are good as gold.