Round One v Melbourne

[The yak]

I don’t have a vendetta against Luai. I love him as a player, love his swagger, his attitude and defence and at his best he's an invaluable bit of spark in a side that otherwise lacks it. I think we made the right decision (all things considered) keeping him over Burton. He's a club legend.

I just think he was routinely poor last year, albeit with a few exceptions, in a way none of our senior players were. He wasn't alone in being ordinary on Friday, but of all our premiership heroes, he's the only one who's place in the squad can reasonably be questioned imo. Plenty of time for him to turn it around ofc and I'm not suggesting Laurie in next week. But I don't see the idea of some competition for his spot being that crazy, especially if Laurie/Cole are burning things down in cup.

That is very fair.

 

[Kilkenny]

There is a lot of negativity around this loss which is to be expected in some respects.

It is disappointing not to score when we did well to earn decent field position and have so opportunities to score. I felt watching the game there were times the Storm were out on there feet but somehow scrambled to keep their line in tact. Full credit to them their goal line defence was outstanding.

 

[martielang]

Yeah but one competetive game prior to that he played like an immortal.

I get what you're saying, but Nath has many many more quality runs on the board than Luai. Throw in Luai moving on to "greener" pastures and it makes sense for him to be questioned in a way Nath isn't.

100% which is why I think NC should be judged as hard or harder than JL as he’s clearly capable of doing a lot more outside of a couple of kicks and an inside ball to a forward. He’s the far superior player but let’s remember his pay packet reflects that also.

Anyway, Rnd 1 we’ll be sweet. Drop them both for Luke and Peach halves pairing.

 

[Kilkenny]

100% which is why I think NC should be judged as hard or harder than JL as he’s clearly capable of doing a lot more outside of a couple of kicks and an inside ball to a forward. He’s the far superior player but let’s remember his pay packet reflects that also.

Anyway, Rnd 1 we’ll be sweet. Drop them both for Luke and Peach halves pairing.

Just watched Ivan’s presser he wasn’t overly happy, which I guess is understandable.

I wrongly felt watching the game we would get the job done, just needed to score and they would cave in under fatigue and pressure but somehow or another that opening try never came. Again credit to them I guess.

No excuses but I’ll be interested to see how Annessley addresses the overturning of our try. Lindsay Smith the decoy runner goes thru the line, so it seems, the defender makes a decision, isnt impacted with , Laui on the inside shoulder sure, but Smith is metres in front so hardly runs around him. There will be similar such try movements in the coming weeks and all will be awarded. We’re killing the game, we really are.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Just watched Ivan’s presser he wasn’t overly happy, which I guess is understandable.

I wrongly felt watching the game we would get the job done, just needed to score and they would cave in under fatigue and pressure but somehow or another that opening try never came. Again credit to them I guess.

No excuses but I’ll be interested to see how Annessley addresses the overturning of our try. Lindsay Smith the decoy runner goes thru the line, so it seems, the defender makes a decision, isnt impacted with , Laui on the inside shoulder sure, but Smith is metres in front so hardly runs around him. There will be similar such try movements in the coming weeks and all will be awarded. We’re killing the game, we really are.

Was 100% a no try but it won't be ruled the same all year which is the issue.

 

[Kilkenny]

Was 100% a no try but it won't be ruled the same all year which is the issue.

Okay, but why?

I haven’t watched replays.

The decoy runner didn’t stop in the line, which is a no no.

The Storm defender if he did have to change course it was minimal, no contact, and as the video ref clearly said on audio he made a defensive decision .

Where was the obstruction?

 

[murraymob]

Just watched Ivan’s presser he wasn’t overly happy, which I guess is understandable.

I wrongly felt watching the game we would get the job done, just needed to score and they would cave in under fatigue and pressure but somehow or another that opening try never came. Again credit to them I guess.

No excuses but I’ll be interested to see how Annessley addresses the overturning of our try. Lindsay Smith the decoy runner goes thru the line, so it seems, the defender makes a decision, isnt impacted with , Laui on the inside shoulder sure, but Smith is metres in front so hardly runs around him. There will be similar such try movements in the coming weeks and all will be awarded. We’re killing the game, we really are.

I felt the penalty was not on smith but luia he ran behind our player and we got a advantage fair penalty

 

[chrisD]

Attack will be fine, not worried about that.

Defensive structure was still good and that's probably the single most important thing. They came close but couldn't get around us.

Our middle was soft when Fish and Leota were not out there, Storm finished the stronger because they were easily pushing through our middle during the middle half of the game. At full strength it should be ok, I'd put Sorenson in the middle and bring Leota off the bench so there's some impact there. It is troubling that the drop in quality with a couple of outs is so large.

Still suck at fielding drop outs.

Intensity needs to pick up, at home to the eels that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[The Realist]

We have won 3 comps from being built like that, Teams know what is coming

My concern is that due to the cap, we aren't get better at it, and other teams are getting better at defending it plus are getting better at what they do with the ball.

I know there would be many who'd say 'If it's not broke, don't fix it', however I'd rather not wait till something finally breaks to fix it. We do need to evolve even if it's just a little.

 

[The Realist]

There is a lot of negativity around this loss

I think that is how you perceive it. I barely got agro at all after this loss and was not particularly surprised or 'upset'. Even my wife noted as such. I shook it off with a comment about how we started slow last year as well.

It's just that after a loss there are more points to discuss on a forum like this and more reason to.

 

[Iamback]

My concern is that due to the cap, we aren't get better at it, and other teams are getting better at defending it plus are getting better at what they do with the ball.

I know there would be many who'd say 'If it's not broke, don't fix it', however I'd rather not wait till something finally brakes to fix it. We do need to evolve even if it's just a little.

I wouldn't put it all down to the cap, Ivan has always picked guys to not make errors and are good in defence.

That we have done well and kept the guys that fit that mould, That mind set needs to change before the side can get the tweeks it needs.

It may take Injury or during Origin for the changes to happen but we have the options to make the 17 more balanced then we have seen so far.

I don't want to many changes, Just someone on the bench that can change the tempo.
Laurie for example would be perfect for that scrum move we did on the weekend.

Tight game, Nothing happening. Bring him on against tiring middles and stuff like that.

That is sort of stuff needed to go with what we do well

 

[The Realist]

I wouldn't put it all down to the cap, Ivan has always picked guys to not make errors and are good in defence.

That we have done well and kept the guys that fit that mould, That mind set needs to change before the side can get the tweeks it needs.

In the recent past when our attack looked stagnant, we had players who could just pull something out of nothing. Critta last year was basically our lone X factor player. Before that, Kikau was a player who was hard to stop all game. We could break down sides down the left because Kikau was so dangerous - he either scored himself through sheer power, or teams left themselves a little open marking up heavily on him, allowing space on the outside, or space for Luai on the inside to step through or slide the grubber in.

 

[Hooked]

In the recent past when our attack looked stagnant, we had players who could just pull something out of nothing. Critta last year was basically our lone X factor player. Before that, Kikau was a player who was hard to stop all game. We could break down sides down the left because Kikau was so dangerous - he either scored himself through sheer power, or teams left themselves a little open marking up heavily on him, allowing space on the outside, or space for Luai on the inside to step through or slide the grubber in.

Yep, we have lost most of our point-of-difference players in attack over the past 2 years. Guys that can create something out of nothing. A chance or even a half chance. They have been replaced by guys who are doing the job, but we have lost a touch of unpredictability in attack. That shows more in tight matches.

Wrecking ball Kiks. Irreplaceable. Just means the halves have to be smarter putting a 2nd rower in a hole.
The guile of Api.
Big game Crichton. May will be alright, but Crichton was a freak.
Impact of Spencer. Replaced by a worker.

Marty will be happy. The side is turning into plodolicious.

 

[Iamback]

In the recent past when our attack looked stagnant, we had players who could just pull something out of nothing. Critta last year was basically our lone X factor player. Before that, Kikau was a player who was hard to stop all game. We could break down sides down the left because Kikau was so dangerous - he either scored himself through sheer power, or teams left themselves a little open marking up heavily on him, allowing space on the outside, or space for Luai on the inside to step through or slide the grubber in.

That is what we should be looking to use the last 2 bench spots for, I don't think anyone wants a rep player moved on but get a better balanced squad is possible

 

[maple_69]

Yep, as I have said 2023 was by far his worst of the grand final years, odd considering his World Cup form to start it. 2020-2022 you could make the case he was the best 5/8th in the competition. Now if I was building a team from scratch out of any NRL players I wouldn't consider picking him.

Defensively still a top tier 5/8, and opposition teams still have to be careful of his running game but in the core skills of a half - Passing, kicking, decision making he has regressed. The people saying that he looks a little lost without Kikau are looking more right as time goes on.

Last year is hard to judge I reckon. That edge was a rolling disaster all year with Peachey in for half the year and a rotation of edge forwards, new winger who couldn't finish, not to mention Luai in and out and then pulled into more of a halfback role. Never got a chance to get anything going and the focus went to the right.

Not saying he had a good year, but there were some broader issues impacting how he played for sure. Give him a couple consistent months with Sorro and May and hopefully we'll see a bit more fluency and timing on that edge.

 

[chrisD]

May looked great, very promising. Tago and him are where I'm expecting the attack to come from.

 

[Aliceinwonderland]

May looked great, very promising. Tago and him are where I'm expecting the attack to come from.

I tend to agree.

 

[Kilkenny]

The weekly Graham Annessley round up left no doubt the Taylan May no try was the correct decision by the bunker. Luai caught the ball on the inside shoulder and ran around the decoy runner causing an obstruction or potential obstruction. I’ll watch with interest in the coming weeks to see the consistency around similar try scoring incidents.

 

[WestyLife]

What I took out of the game was Luai cut out passes to turuva. The halves played far shorter last year to the second rowers a lot. If I had to make a guess is May/Tago are going to be the main point of attack this season with Cleary and Luai playing both sides and interchanging as first/second receiver.