Round 9 vs the Sharks

[franklin2323]

I agree with all of this except the idea that Nadens defense is improving. He's pretty consistently good for one poor effort each week. He was very lucky Edwards bailed him out after missing Goodwin yesterday. He might be good enough with the ball that it doesn't matter though. He was a monster yesterday, albeit in a game where we had a ton of possession and few errors.

I'm more than happy for him to have the spot over Whare for the rest of the year. Just worried that against the best teams a centre pairing of Naden and Crichton will give the opposition too many defensive weaknesses to target.

Which is why I won't rule Whare out for the whole year. Atm it works to get Naden experience there but for the big games maybe not.

 

[franklin2323]

I loved the 60 odd minutes where we ripped a poor sharks side to shreds and scored 10 tries.

The other 15 minutes or so we were actually very disappointing and against the better sides they will make you pay as did Parramatta earlier this season.

I did enjoy the win but the fact is there were aspects of our performance that were simply not good enough.

The right side getting the tries were great. Scored 10 tries and bombed 3 more. The ease they scored would be a concern

Not so much the errors as that happens. Storm and Roosters were sloppy themselves this week.. They defended them and we didn't

 

[herbert henry1908]

Lol, a local pub in Forbes ran a free beer promo anytime Charlie Staines scored

 

[The Realist]

I didn't much like the 24 against either but lets put it into perspective. 1 was an intercept that most of the time would lead to us scoring or a 6 again - and the game was already in the bag.

The other was when we were down a man and the game was in the bag.

I am really only dirty about the 1st two Sharks tries and the absolutely brain dead errors that lead to the Sharks being in position to score them.

In saying that our defense has a few glaring problems. Nadan is concerning, he always has a big 1-on-1 miss in him trying to go a little too high and has been a problem since he 1st hit Grade. People tend to call defender like him a 'clutcher' or Lazy arm. Steph is still learning, and Staines is a little light. Martin also has a few misses in him - not sure if others have noticed.

I have also noticed that teams are targeting the Luai/Kikau combination. The tactic seems to be to run at that edge from around 15 out and ensure that Kikau is in the tackle. They then get a quick play the ball which means that Big Bill, who is slow to get up, can't get back in the line or at marker. They then run at Luai who can't handle it close to the line with a gap and no big body inside of him.

Luai is otherwise a good defender in general play but vulnerable close to the line. He does however have a habit of getting pinged at few times again on 6 again calls for holding on too long. Tamou does the same.

 

[kinghippo]

With the lack of reserve grade I think we should stick with a few of the young guys at least for the next 2 games.
Leaving Whare out for the next 2 games won’t hurt him as a player while Naden and Staines gain a lot from the extra first grade experience.
If tetivano is back I would have lenui taking burns spot ( can he cover back row?)

 

[John Hamblin]

I didn't much like the 24 against either but lets put it into perspective. 1 was an intercept that most of the time would lead to us scoring or a 6 again - and the game was already in the bag.

The other was when we were down a man and the game was in the bag.

I am really only dirty about the 1st two Sharks tries and the absolutely brain dead errors that lead to the Sharks being in position to score them.

In saying that our defense has a few glaring problems. Nadan is concerning, he always has a big 1-on-1 miss in him trying to go a little too high and has been a problem since he 1st hit Grade. People tend to call defender like him a 'clutcher' or Lazy arm. Steph is still learning, and Staines is a little light. Martin also has a few misses in him - not sure if others have noticed.

I have also noticed that teams are targeting the Luai/Kikau combination. The tactic seems to be to run at that edge from around 15 out and ensure that Kikau is in the tackle. They then get a quick play the ball which means that Big Bill, who is slow to get up, can't get back in the line or at marker. They then run at Luai who can't handle it close to the line with a gap and no big body inside of him.

Luai is otherwise a good defender in general play but vulnerable close to the line. He does however have a habit of getting pinged at few times again on 6 again calls for holding on too long. Tamou does the same.

I agree to a point BUT we have had a number of tough games leading up to the Sharks. This is only the second time this year we have conceded more than 16 points and we have played the Storm,Roosters,Eels, Knights etc. Our defence is far better than last year.

 

[kinghippo]

I loved the 60 odd minutes where we ripped a poor sharks side to shreds and scored 10 tries.

The other 15 minutes or so we were actually very disappointing and against the better sides they will make you pay as did Parramatta earlier this season.

I did enjoy the win but the fact is there were aspects of our performance that were simply not good enough.

We fell away a bit from our previous performances with errors and penalties. Our completions were down dramatically and the turn overs especially in our own 20 were telling. As a counter to that though we had all our reserves on for a lot longer, we reseted players a lot more than normal.
Sharks earned the first 2 tries on the back of possession, we gave them one, the large amount of sharks points wasn’t technically as bad as it looked.

 

[franklin2323]

With the lack of reserve grade I think we should stick with a few of the young guys at least for the next 2 games.
Leaving Whare out for the next 2 games won’t hurt him as a player while Naden and Staines gain a lot from the extra first grade experience.
If tetivano is back I would have lenui taking burns spot ( can he cover back row?)

Tamou will be due a rest then JFH and Leota so will be plenty of chance to give Leinu game time

 

[Luke Bowden]

Our front row is really going well, I don’t think any of them have had a bad game.

I think we can afford to rest and rotate them a bit. Particularly the bench, we missed nothing with Spencer this week. Great position to be in.

 

[betcats]

I’d like to see Leota get a start if we rest Tamou or fish, he’s having a great year.

 

[Abacus]

I know we always talk about Wade Graham being that one that got away, but does he actually do much outside of Origin? He’d be on big money, His stats across the season are pretty bog average. Went missing big time yesterday.

Hard to single out a player when a team has 56 put on them but as far as his exit from Panthers, his manager was looking for Wade to be paid as a rep half after 30-40 games.

When it was put to them that due to his size his future was in the back row, the negotiations deteriorated & Wade went to the Sharks to play their peptides season in the halves (finishing 13th) before becoming a back rower.

He certainly would have been handy over the years, but if terms had been agreed Wade would more likely have been another overpaid/underperforming player for Gus to clean out - particularly as at the time he was heavily influenced by Lewie.

 

[herbert henry1908]

 

[Kilkenny]

Wade is done. Great player in his day his record reflects that but injuries have caught up with him and as happens he is now in irreversible decline and highly unlikely to recapture to form of his better days.

 

[WestyLife]

Haha "gamble responsibly"

 

[BxTom]

Got me beaten how Sharon Woods wasn't cited for his head high tackles. I saw 3 in the game, only one of which he was penailsed for. Why are the NRL allowing free shots on Panthers players?

 

[The_Frog]

Wade is done. Great player in his day his record reflects that but injuries have caught up with him and as happens he is now in irreversible decline and highly unlikely to recapture to form of his better days.

He's only 29, no reason he can't play well for another 3 or so seasons, but he was well below par in this game. Maybe he's carrying injury.

 

[Mr Angry]

Good on the kid, it is weird to enjoy a young man smash your team.

But f**king good on him. I love a Country kid.

 

[GongPanther]

I loved the 60 odd minutes where we ripped a poor sharks side to shreds and scored 10 tries.

The other 15 minutes or so we were actually very disappointing and against the better sides they will make you pay as did Parramatta earlier this season.

I did enjoy the win but the fact is there were aspects of our performance that were simply not good enough.

The overall inexperience of our side will continue to have these lapses. After this season, we'll be a much tighter unit.

 

[soc123_au]

Good on the kid, it is weird to enjoy a young man smash your team.

But f**king good on him. I love a Country kid.

It was so good to see his mates there in the corner. I reckon they would have had a big one last night.

 

[age.s]

It was so good to see his mates there in the corner. I reckon they would have had a big one last night.

A big one? They'll be doing well to avoid waking up in Thailand with tatoos on their faces.