Round 8 v Canberra

[Panther_Daz]

I know Round 8 is a bit early to be saying a match is must win, but I truly believe this match is.

 

[Whino]

After this match we are a 1/3 of the way through the season. We need to pull our fingers out and win a few in a row before Origin.

 

[billypilgrimnz]

As I said in the other thread, I would rather that Canberra had won last weekend because they are going to come out a little more switched on.

 

[Panfa]

Its definitely must win but i think this yr the cut off for the top 8 will be about 26-28 pts it was 32 last yr.

 

[franklin2323]

I know Round 8 is a bit early to be saying a match is must win, but I truly believe this match is.

You need 13 wins to get in the 8. So as of now it is 11 from 17 needed throw in a difficult last half of the year. a big month coming up

 

[franklin2323]

As I said in the other thread, I would rather that Canberra had won last weekend because they are going to come out a little more switched on.

Shorter turnaround will hurt them

 

[Buzzard Breath]

I have watched a bit of Canberra this year. Manly did something other teams have been failing against Canberra this year. Taking Canberra on and winning up the middle. This year success against Canberra has usually been on their edges but Manly had good success by going up the middle yesterday.

 

[Panther_Daz]

I have watched a bit of Canberra this year. Manly did something other teams have been failing against Canberra this year. Taking Canberra on and winning up the middle. This year success against Canberra has usually been on their edges but Manly had good success by going up the middle yesterday.

I have been saying all season we should be focussing our attack on playing up the middle with offloads and ball runners in support.

We don't have the fullback, halfback or hooker capable of executing any sort of set piece on a consistent basis.

Short passes between our forwards, forwards offloading with the likes of Aekins, Cleary and Maloney in support should be what try and do.

Instead we try and go around teams which does not work as our players in key positions aren't good enough.

We would be the team that scores the least amount of tries of a trained move that is finished off by a winger. Our leading try scorers after 7 rounds are on just 2 tries and they are Fish, Kikau and Maloney.

 

[Scotty03]

Tough game, but think slightly easier than playing Souths (although this one is away and we were at home with souths.)

I just think Canberra are very much playing like we did last year - winning games they probably shouldn't have.
Wighton has been one of their best this season which goes without saying.

Think our pack looks better then there's and we made some decent metres against Souths that have a much bigger pack and we gave away more penalties.

We give away less than 7 penalties, Panthers win.

 

[franklin2323]

I have been saying all season we should be focussing our attack on playing up the middle with offloads and ball runners in support.

We don't have the fullback, halfback or hooker capable of executing any sort of set piece on a consistent basis.

Short passes between our forwards, forwards offloading with the likes of Aekins, Cleary and Maloney in support should be what try and do.

Instead we try and go around teams which does not work as our players in key positions aren't good enough.

We would be the team that scores the least amount of tries of a trained move that is finished off by a winger. Our leading try scorers after 7 rounds are on just 2 tries and they are Fish, Kikau and Maloney.

So many times there is an arm free and no support. things like that is where tries can be found

 

[Panther_Daz]

So many times there is an arm free and no support. things like that is where tries can be found

They are too busy setting themselves up for the next play instead of worrying about the current one.

 

[Pomoz]

Tough game, but think slightly easier than playing Souths (although this one is away and we were at home with souths.)

I just think Canberra are very much playing like we did last year - winning games they probably shouldn't have.
Wighton has been one of their best this season which goes without saying.

Think our pack looks better then there's and we made some decent metres against Souths that have a much bigger pack and we gave away more penalties.

We give away less than 7 penalties, Panthers win.

A big if. Maloney and RCG are worth 4 a game between them. Throw in JFH, Yeo, Grant and a hostile home crowd and the refs need a new pea at half time.

 

[Pomoz]

Short passes between our forwards, forwards offloading with the likes of Aekins, Cleary and Maloney in support should be what try and do.

Instead we try and go around teams which does not work as our players in key positions aren't good enough.

To add to that, we are so freaking slow when we make a break going around the opposition, the opposition backs have time to play 'Rock, paper, scissors' to decide who runs us down. Sometimes they go "nah, let our front row run em down".

 

[unKwn]

Raiders wont lose back to back.

Them by 6

 

[Scotty03]

To add to that, we are so freaking slow when we make a break going around the opposition, the opposition backs have time to play 'Rock, paper, scissors' to decide who runs us down. Sometimes they go "nah, let our front row run em down".

Our backline is slower than most other teams however if we had better support runners it wouldn't be an issue.

I watched a highlight of the Jersey Flegg side that went 90m to score. I reckon nearly every player was going to get run down, but after 6-7 support passes we went in under the posts.

This is what you need when you lack speed. We don't have that at the moment but is something we can change quickly.

 

[Pomoz]

Our backline is slower than most other teams however if we had better support runners it wouldn't be an issue.

I watched a highlight of the Jersey Flegg side that went 90m to score. I reckon nearly every player was going to get run down, but after 6-7 support passes we went in under the posts.

This is what you need when you lack speed. We don't have that at the moment but is something we can change quickly.

I agree and luckily, we can use our superior fitness to ensure we have lots of support play. Oh wait... To be fair, we are 9th for support plays not the worst by far. The trouble is we are 14th for tackle breaks and line breaks. We don't get to support breaks very often.

Why so few? I think pace is an issue again, but it could be strength. My eyes tell me our backline always draw in three defenders to stop them moving forward, because the WZ's, Blake and Mansour are strong as hell. Just not fast and agile)(Blake excepted).

 

[Scotty03]

I agree and luckily, we can use our superior fitness to ensure we have lots of support play. Oh wait... To be fair, we are 9th for support plays not the worst by far. The trouble is we are 14th for tackle breaks and line breaks. We don't get to support breaks very often.

Why so few? I think pace is an issue again, but it could be strength. My eyes tell me our backline always draw in three defenders to stop them moving forward, because the WZ's, Blake and Mansour are strong as hell. Just not fast and agile)(Blake excepted).

I actually think the issue is with our offloads. We are 14th in the league!

We little offloads we don't create a lot of 2nd phase play that aids line breaks. I know a lot of people were pleased when he was gone however B Cartright and Merrin provided this very thing more than others. It doesn't always come off however we see almost none.

We also have the 15th worst completion which suggests we don't have as much opportunity to tire down defenses for long period without giving the ball back (same could be said on penalties.)

Overall though I think we need more 2nd phase/ offloads if we want to see more breaks.

Kikau does this mostly for us, and when he gets it right - linebreak to Blake.

 

[franklin2323]

They are too busy setting themselves up for the next play instead of worrying about the current one.

Watch the way Manly or Canberra attack. Nothing fancy just players in motion and keeping the ball moving. So hard to defend against

 

[Panfa]

We always lift against canberra i expect to win this game they are coming off a loss have some injury concerns and have taken the game to wagga wagga this is a great opportunity to kick start our season and stuff theres.

 

[Pomoz]

I actually think the issue is with our offloads. We are 14th in the league!

We little offloads we don't create a lot of 2nd phase play that aids line breaks. I know a lot of people were pleased when he was gone however B Cartright and Merrin provided this very thing more than others. It doesn't always come off however we see almost none.

We also have the 15th worst completion which suggests we don't have as much opportunity to tire down defenses for long period without giving the ball back (same could be said on penalties.)

Overall though I think we need more 2nd phase/ offloads if we want to see more breaks.

Kikau does this mostly for us, and when he gets it right - linebreak to Blake.

your post emphasises it's complicated. There are many little things we've got wrong. Offloads, fitness, penalties, handling. They all add up to lots of tackling and not much pressure on the opposition's defence. We have been good at getting repeat sets, but we do nothing with them.