ROUND 9 v MANLY

[Souths Till I Die]

As bad as us. And he is copping shit. Swap him with sam and it'd be 'well he was still our best player' excuse we trot out for sam

Merrin has had a terrible year. He is no where near sams level this year.

 

[DiegoNT]

Merrin has had a terrible year. He is no where near sams level this year.

They are at similar levels. The problem is no one at souths will admit it about sam

 

[Pommy]

2015 we made the finals
But it wasn't good enough.
Sam was the miracle cure, sam at all costs, sam is worth losing players over.
We are now staring down consecutive bottom 4 years.
Enough said

We were shit before Sam came back. Seriously we had a great start to 2015 but that period and the end of last season have been the only two decent periods we've had sine the GF.

Any team losing a million dollars out of the cap for th season is going to be struggleling. Especially in such a key position.

Still waiting on these 5 players forced out because of Sam.

 

[DiegoNT]

We were shit before Sam came back. Seriously we had a great start to 2015 but that period and the end of last season have been the only two decent periods we've had sine the GF.

Any team losing a million dollars out of the cap for th season is going to be struggleling. Especially in such a key position.

Still waiting on these 5 players forced out because of Sam.

We made the finals without sam.
We are bottom 4 with him.

 

[DiegoNT]

 

[Pommy]

We made the finals without sam.
We are bottom 4 with him.

Well that's that then case closed.

 

[themacemaceman]

In the words of the great Axel Rose..... where do we go now...where do we go?

 

[southsport]

We've had problems ever since the "Madge has lost the dressing room" rumours in 2015, we've never recovered from that point on.

 

[Smirrors]

Any team losing a million dollars out of the cap for th season is going to be struggleling. Especially in such a key position.

Manly are without Stewart and Matai who are taking up 1.2 million of the 2017 cap. You were saying? Also with Lussick who was their leading forward from 2016.

 

[Smirrors]

Because at the end of the day these guys are all friends doing what they love and getting paid very well.

 

[DiegoNT]

Because at the end of the day these guys are all friends doing what they love and getting paid very well.

Yea i know that. Been flogged in games but had a laugh with friends from the opposing team after the match.

That post was aimed at a certain poster in here who thinks players should be robots because they are paid well. He has criticized players he hates for smiling after a loss before, but i was trying to trigger him with a player he likes

 

[Pommy]

Manly are without Stewart and Matai who are taking up 1.2 million of the 2017 cap. You were saying? Also with Lussick who was their leading forward from 2016.

And they're a form team of the season are they? Haven't had any issues all year?

 

[Rabbit toes]

We've had problems ever since the "Madge has lost the dressing room" rumours in 2015, we've never recovered from that point on.

Was it Madge or Rusty?
I'll say it again, Coffs Harbour was the catalyst. Look at the players who were involved in that situation. Shining in the new clubs respectively. Look at us, further down the ladder.

 

[Pommy]

Yea i know that. Been flogged in games but had a laugh with friends from the opposing team after the match.

That post was aimed at a certain poster in here who thinks players should be robots because they are paid well. He has criticized players he hates for smiling after a loss before, but i was trying to trigger him with a player he likes

I hope he was laughing with his hands on his knees.

Was it Madge or Rusty?
I'll say it again, Coffs Harbour was the catalyst. Look at the players who were involved in that situation. Shining in the new clubs respectively. Look at us, further down the ladder.

We were f**ked before Coffs Harbour.

 

[Rabbit toes]

I hope he was laughing with his hands on his knees.



We were f**ked before Coffs Harbour.

Agreed but Coffs was the straw that broke the back

 

[callmack1]

What the f**k. Seriously what the f**k was that? It was awful. Terrible. On par with our worst games of last year. I thought last week would seriously fire us up but it was quite the opposite. No energy, no life. We were so flat and had absolutely nothing. The boy's looked so lost and it was like they didn't want to be there. Our defence went out the window as did our attack.

After such a good game last week I thought we were building. I think we can all agree we were great last week. However, what I saw tonight was a disgrace. I love my team but that was just disgusting. I am livid and serious questions must be asked. A terrible game, even Newcastle show better effort than us in that game. I am livid!

Most of my player reviews will sound pretty much the same for tonight.

Johnston: Not good. Got caught out of position many times, got rag dolled, poor defence and made some poor decisions coming off our line.

Hunt: Not bad, probably our best back tbh. Made a few good runs and had some good reads on defence. Still didn't get involved enough.

Talaki: Not great. Yes, he made some good runs but he's still terrible on defence. His error attacking their line set the tone for the whole game. I can't understand for the life of me why Madge still picks him.

Jennings: Again not good. A few errors and still has soft defence. Could have scored if he just held the friggin ball!

Goodwin: Average. He had some bad defense plays and didn't really get involved at all. Very quiet.

Walker: Wasn't too bad. He tried hard and still looked dangerous at times. However no one went with him and his last tackle plays need improving.

Reynolds: Not good at all. In a game where he needed to stand up, he layer down. One of his worst games in a long time. Terrible kicking game and not good in attack. Really disappointing.

T.Burgess: No effort. He went back to just trotting at the line instead of running hard. Made some poor efforts in defence. There was one moment where he chased a Manly player from marker, we was close but just gave up. No effort.

Cook: Little impact. Still won't take a tackle, disappointing compared to his usual standard.

Turner: Wasn't bad. Yes he missed a few tackles but he tried hard. One of the only forwards putting an effort in.

Sutton: Average. He made some nice runs but overall lacked impact.

Crichton: Wasn't bad. Some okay passages of play but still not up to his usual standard.

S.Burgess: Not great. His worst game for a long time. Lacked energy and impact and didn't inspire anyone. Disappointing.

Farah: I didn't think he was too bad. He over played his hand a wee bit but the effort was there.

Clark: Little impact. He wasn't bad, just didn't do much.

Murray: Good energy and had a couple of good charges but didn't really provide that much compared to last week.

Musgrove: Can't fault his effort. He was one of the only forwards running hard tonight.

I'm really disappointed with that. We were great last week, so direct and great energy. Where did that go? It baffles me. We looked all at see and there was probably only three or so players that actually looked like they wanted to be there. ZERO energy.

Some questions need to be asked of Madge and the group as a whole. We have two weeks to take a good hard look at ourselves and sort this shit out. Turn it around boys.

 

[Silent Knight]

In the words of the great Axel Rose..... where do we go now...where do we go?

I can offer you a few choices for your consideration...

1. The Maroubra Carpark Toilets.
2. The local Centrelink.
3. The local dental clinic.
4. The boarded up Souths on Chalmers.
5. Rusty's farm for a pep talk and some classic TOFOG.
6. The Sydney Opera House roof.
7. Stay where you are at Historic Homebush.
8. Round up the lads and march on Sydney Town Square.
9. The local soup kitchen.
10. Get on a plane with Hamburgers and fly over to Bath to have a bath.

I hope I have been of some assistance to you on where to go.

 

[souths_reborn]

Tonight was a disgraceful performance. I'm not going to bother going through all the tries because there were too many! However, what I will say is that what happened tonight is purely down to attitude. What gets me is that the tries we conceded were really soft and were down to basic errors; every single try we conceded tonight could have been prevented! Why our attitude was so poor I cannot understand. In every game this season we have been competitive, have made the opposition work hard and in many instances have been the better side for the majority of the contest. The only thing I can put tonight's lack of effort down to is getting robbed last week by the referees. What happened against the Broncos was no excuse; yes we were hard done by but what happened is not the first and certainly won't be the last instance of a team getting ripped off through bad refereeing decisions. Moreover, what is done is done - we need to move on and our players should be professional enough to understand that.

While our entire team should be held accountable for tonight's performance, I really think Adam Reynolds' place in the team needs to come under review. The guy is basically in the team for his lack tackle options and he is struggling to land even the simplest of kicks in the right spot. Moreover, many of his errors are proving the catalyst for the opposition to build pressure on us. Halfback is such a crucial position and it was no secret that we actually played better last week with Cody at half and Sutton at five-eight. Furthermore, Cody playing at half actually increased his contributions more and allowed him to build pressure. I would consider taking Adam Reynolds out of the team and letting him regain some form in reserve grade. I'm not saying we need to get rid of him, I'm just saying he is out of form in the same way cricketers go through form slumps.

Many people are going to be questioning our coach after tonight's debacle. However, what happened tonight was purely down to attitude. I actually think Michael Maguire has done an excellent job this season and has really made a conscious attempt at addressing many of the problems that plagued us last season. Many people on here however seem to have unrealistic expectations of our team. People need to accept the fact that we are not a top four team and we were never going to win the comp this year for the simple fact that we have a lot of young players that are still in the developmental stage. Furthermore, Madge is a coach, he is not a miracle worker and he is not the one out there playing. You can't sack a coach or coaches every time the players decide the don't want to turn up! What kind of precedent does that set? Have we not learned that through what has happened at the Wests Tigers? Overall, I think it is a bit premature to say the players have an attitude problem. I am willing to let this one slide on the basis that the players are still hurting from last week even though that should never be an excuse. However, things need to change quickly and the players need to toughen up and take a good long hard look at themselves.

 

[souths_reborn]

We were shit before Sam came back. Seriously we had a great start to 2015 but that period and the end of last season have been the only two decent periods we've had sine the GF.

Any team losing a million dollars out of the cap for th season is going to be struggleling. Especially in such a key position.

Still waiting on these 5 players forced out because of Sam.

You bring this argument up every time Souths play badly. My issue with your argument is that you are looking at results without really analysing them. I'm not going to get into too much detail because we've been over this ground so much its not funny. However, what I will say is that what happened tonight was not Sam's fault. Sam is not responsible for attitude of his team mates. Yes he is our captain but he can only do so much. Ultimately, it is the playing group themselves that need to be accountable for their performances. Remember, tonight's loss was down to attitude rather than a lack of quality - every single try we conceded was preventable! So there is no use in trying to tow the line that our squad isn't good enough and that Sam has result in us getting rid of better players. Moreover, I'd go so far as to argue that the young players that we have coming through i.e. Crichton, Braidon Burns, Cameron Murray etc look far more enterprising options than our 2015 squad.

 

[souths_reborn]

Bull f**king shit.
This team was Inglises team between 2012-2015. He was by far the best player in the comp. He was great week in week out. When we were poor in 2015 we still made the finals on the back of him being our player of the year. He came back into a team on a 7 game losing streak last year and was our best player as we finished the year with 4 wins on the trot.
In 2016 we became Sams team. Get rid off 5 players for sam. Anyone criticise sam and out the club they go. We've become a bumbling fumbling hopeless team since it becomes Sams team. we play like sam. Flashes of brilliance followed by huge bouts of inconsistency and going through the motions.

Greg Inglis is a match winner and I love having him in our team but I wouldn't say it was 'his team.' The reason why he was so good was because he was able to capitalise on the platform laid by Sam Burgess and our other forwards. Part of the reason why he has appeared to be in decline over the last few season is because of the poor form of our forwards, namely the Burgess twins, and the lack of a quality hooker. In saying that, Inglis by no means should escape without any accountability. I think there were times last year when he should have lead from the front and increased his contributions by getting on the ball more - that is why we moved him to five-eight for a few games. I think what is happening is that you are trying to find an explanation for tonight's poor performance but can't find one and so you've made Sam Burgess your scapegoat.

That he isn't the player he was. He's not a superstar. There's literally half a dozen locks who could be better then him.
The whole 'he was the best player tonight ' arguement is bullshit. Swap out Mcguire, Jtrbo, merrin or de belin and they'd be the best player in our team. They'd be the best on a smaller contract with less drama and without 2 deadweights filling up our cap

You've got to be on the piss or something? Did you not watch last weeks game? The guy put in arguably one of the best performances by a forward all season? The reason why people are reluctant to criticise Sam is because he delivers week in, week out! I'm not sure what you are expecting him to do? I think a lot of people seem to think that he isn't as good because he isn't smashing blokes or scoring as many tries as he previously did. Part of the reason why these predicaments are occurring is because a) the shoulder charge has been banned meaning that it is harder to pull off the spectacular hits that make the highlights reel and get shown on youtube etc. and b) Madge likes to deploy him up the centre of the ruck. Personally, I think we could use him in a more dynamic role and have him run those lines back against the line of defence and charging at small players close to the try line like he did a couple of years ago. However, if you think based on those two things that Sam isn't one of the premier forwards in the competition then you are sadly mistaken.