Well I think it is fair to say that we wont be playing finals football this year. I do not know how we could possibly lose to the rabble that is the Wests Tigers. People will say that we were unlucky and we could have and should have won but remember, this we were playing against a team that was missing a host of their best players, including their five-eight moments before kick off and which had gotten beaten by another mediocre team by 56 points the week before and WE STILL COULDN'T the job done!
Here is where I thought we were lacking in tonight's performance; bare with me because the list is quite long! First and foremost is our line speed. This is not a new problem but something which has been apparent since the beginning of the season; we just move up far to slow in defence and allow the opposition forwards to make easy metres up the middle. I swear there was a period in the first half before we made our comeback where our defensive line was WALKING! Yes, WALKING up in defence! That is unacceptable!
Secondly, both halves were poor tonight and failed to orchestrate anything in attack. Adam Reynolds simply ran through plays mindlessly; he needs to engage the defensive line more and execute plays that are in accordance to the game situation. The way he plays is symptomatic of someone with poor tactical vision. I acknowledge playing what is in front of him is not Reynolds' greatest strength but he needs to better because even his kicking is lacking purpose at the moment. Luke Keary is simply not up to first grade standard and if he is selected next week I will personally contact Madge and as him for an explanation. As I have said before, the guy just plays off the cuff without any care for the players around him, the game situation or what is in front of him. The bombed try from the Sam Burgess line break is proof of this; if he used his eyes he would have seen he had 3-4 man overlap on the left hand side and could have scored easily. I think we will see Cody Walker in the team next week.
I also have a massive problem with our urgency when the ball is in our in goal area. This is what cost us big time tonight! It happened on quite a few of the tries, where the ball and players would simply look at it. I'm not sure whether this is down to poor attitude or just carelessness but it was a very bad look. In saying that, our defence looked sloppy all night. In particular, I was stunned at how easily our left hand edge was caught out for Nofoaluma's last try. Part of the problem too is that our outside backs are constantly backing off when threatened defensively; they need to be moving up and in quickly to shut down attacks quickly. This was clearly shown through the second try, although it would have helped if we had marked up so there wasn't an overlap!
Lastly, and this is probably just a minor thing given our performance, but I again have to question the use of interchanges and team selections. For starters, what was the point of playing David Tyrell is we were only going to use him for 12 minutes? The same can be said of the debutant, Siolo; what is the point of picking them if you can't trust them to do a job for you, especially when it means that we had to play Cameron McInnes out of position in the back row? Secondly, I don't like the fact that we leave one of the Burgess twins out of the game for the middle part. Tonight it was Tom but we've generally left one on the bench between the 20th and 60th minute quite often this season and it only serves to weaken us. Granted, they have not been playing all that well but surely in a team that is lacking size and physicality, it makes sense to have your two biggest forward involved when the game is in the balance. I'm not saying that he shouldn't come off for a rest during that stage but don't leave them off the field for that long. Lastly, Nathan Brown, the one player who looked like winning the game for us, was also given a long break right when the game was in the balance! Again surely you give him a quick breather and get him back out there! Why even take him off, particularly when you a bringing on a debutant that you don't fully trust!
On to the positives now and I'm really struggling here. I thought Greg Inglis was back to his damaging best. He looked to be playing with more confidence and showed that he still has his strength and agility. I would still like to see him receive the ball more closer to the defensive line from his halves but then again it is hard fault a guy who has made over 250 metres for you. I thought Sam Burgess really put in a shift tonight and played with aggression and determination; you can't ask for much more from him! Just as impressive were both of the twins; I don't know why it has taken them this long to be this aggressive but both of them got stuck in and made plenty of metres; aside from the opening two rounds, this was easily their best performances of the season. Damian Cook also made the game come alive and showed why he is our no. 1 hooker. He not only got the team moving forward when we needed a comeback but he also showed that he has tremendous vision and ball skills to match with that wonderful pass for Goodwin to score the last of our tries. Last but not least was Nathan Brown - what a player! He completely changed the game for us when we needed a lift and showed why he should be starting week in, week out; his hard running lifted the team and he created scoring chances through his offloads - an aspect of his game which we were yet to see! On the whole, I've been very impressed with his aggression all season and he has shown tonight that he has the makings of being a top class back rower.
Overall, these positive don't really count for much given the nature of the opposition. Madge was right when he bagged the team in his press conference. I think the time is come now for a few heads to roll. I get the feeling that Tyrell and Clark could have played their last games and Luke Keary will find himself back in reserve grade also. Kyle Turner doesn't add much but he always seems to get picked. Hopefully Alex Johnston is back next week, although wingers don't really win you games of footy! Its Parramatta up next and given that they have drastically improved since last week, I don't feel too confidence facing them.
