Sharks Post Mortem

[Valheru]

Well that was a tough day at the office. I think most roosters fans identified this as the most likely game we would lose in the run to the finals but the manner of the beating in the first half was disappointing. TBH This loss was 4 weeks in the making IMO, even against Penrith we looked flat for the first 20, we should have lost to Canberra and last week we only played for 25 minutes. It was only a matter of time before we came up against a side committed to play. There were some mystifying decisions against us but at the end of the day we should never have allowed 26 unanswered points.

The positive though and it’s a big one IMO is that we didn’t give up in the 2nd half and showed enough pride in the jersey to make the score line respectable. It could easily have got ugly but the boys muscled up and hung in there and if not for some bad luck they may have made a legitimate comeback attempt. SBW can over play his hand at times and last night was a perfect example, the bloke just wants to win so badly he takes it on himself to do it all when things aren’t going well.

Obviously Cordner and O’Donnell are big outs but I reckon we are missing Mini just as much if not more. Not because he is a superstar or anything or that RTS isn’t capable at the back but our side looks a lot more settled with RTS on the wing and SKD in the centres and of course the leadership and experience of Mini is probably invaluable.

I don’t believe in the whole “had to lose one” mentality as it is a momentum killer but I get the feeling the players were ready for the finals in round 21, hopefully this is a wakeup call and finals form starts next week. We would want to win next week too, we can still finish 3rd at this stage which would be nothing short of a disaster.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

They score from a knock on and a phantom strip, we have a fair try disallowed. That's the game right there. That was their grand final the juice will wear out and we'll shit on them big time in week 1 if we meet.

FPN should've kicked that raging midget in the head too

 

[Bgoodorgoodatit]

I think it just goes to show how when you have a few players out it can really cost your team.

The game definitely didn't go our way but take out the strip on SKD and the bullshit first try and the only other try's we conceded were from Napa being lazy and not covering the inside man and the centre (don't even know his name) making a very poor read in defence.

Full strength I don't think we concede those try's and we win pretty comfortably.

Mini and LOD take a lot of experience out of our team and cords is one of our best players. I also agree that I the back line looks a lot more settled with RTS on the wing and SKD at centre. mini may not be as sharp as he used to but he's still a very important part of our team IMHO.

all in all its not a loss I'm worried about. more worried about how we bounce back against the titans in preparation for the South's game.

 

[BCH]

No try awarded to Sharks = TRY. Graham gets up shaking his head & swearing (he should have been cautioned for that given SBW was??)...if that's not a confession of guilt then what is?

Phantom strip on Pomeroy. Again, he gets up & shakes his head & swears to himself. Is it just me or every-time the opposition drop the ball in a tackle it's a strip and when we do it it's a drop ball?

Try awarded to Roosters = NO TRY. Trent says that type of situation was referred to earlier in the year (maybe at a coaches conference) & should be a try. Fair dinkum.

However, you could tell we weren't up for it early. Cords & LOD are clearly big losses. We just seemed to lack some physicality.

But I was happy with the effort & comeback in the 2nd half. I think that says a lot about the attitude of the side cause it could have got ugly.

Re penalty count. I believe we won 11 - 10. However, I think 4 or 5 of those penalties came quite quickly when were down 26 nil and when we edged back into it the penalties started flowing back to Cronulla. Geez it makes things hard.

 

[BCH]

Oh, and apparently Pomeroy has today been charged for a dangerous throw on Sheck.

Which, on the field resulted in no penalty & a reversal of the scrum feed to the Sharks......

 

[H.H]

Well that was a tough day at the office. I think most roosters fans identified this as the most likely game we would lose in the run to the finals but the manner of the beating in the first half was disappointing. TBH This loss was 4 weeks in the making IMO, even against Penrith we looked flat for the first 20, we should have lost to Canberra and last week we only played for 25 minutes. It was only a matter of time before we came up against a side committed to play. There were some mystifying decisions against us but at the end of the day we should never have allowed 26 unanswered points.

The positive though and it?s a big one IMO is that we didn?t give up in the 2nd half and showed enough pride in the jersey to make the score line respectable. It could easily have got ugly but the boys muscled up and hung in there and if not for some bad luck they may have made a legitimate comeback attempt. SBW can over play his hand at times and last night was a perfect example, the bloke just wants to win so badly he takes it on himself to do it all when things aren?t going well.

Obviously Cordner and O?Donnell are big outs but I reckon we are missing Mini just as much if not more. Not because he is a superstar or anything or that RTS isn?t capable at the back but our side looks a lot more settled with RTS on the wing and SKD in the centres and of course the leadership and experience of Mini is probably invaluable.

I don?t believe in the whole ?had to lose one? mentality as it is a momentum killer but I get the feeling the players were ready for the finals in round 21, hopefully this is a wakeup call and finals form starts next week. We would want to win next week too, we can still finish 3rd at this stage which would be nothing short of a disaster.

Agree with this, especially Mini. For the balance of the side we need him as well as his leadership. In saying that, geez RTS was spectacular at times.

Thought Napa did really well too despite a couple of bad errors (he's still very raw) but he's just so physical and his smashing of Gallen was a highlight of the year for me.

I saw alot of positives so provided they can learn and re-focus from here, it should do us good in the long run.

 

[Valheru]

Yep Napa showed why he will be a fixture in the team for years to come but shouldn’t be anywhere near the finals once LOD returns. He is a very good young talent but at this stage he is a little too aggressive at times and makes one too many errors to risk playing him in the finals.

On the dodgy decisions against us, the first try is just so frustrating. I guess according to the rules it was a try but can anyone deny he was trying to put the ball down, failed miserably and touched it? If it was a pass 20m back the ref calls a knock on straight away. The no try against us was completely bewildering, if they are going to officiate like that than the players will have to work out how to disappear because that is fair dinkum the only thing he could have done.

Anyways, I agree with the sentiment that it is how we bounce back this weekend. It is the most important game of the minor rounds IMO, a win will seal a top 2 finish and 2 home finals.

 

[Lucas-Con]

I have no problem with the no try that was a clear obstruction but the first try I felt was not a try and also the apparant strip for a penalty that was a knock on and it should've been roosters feed.

 

[Horrie Is God]

If we hadn't've fought back so hard i'd be pissed off..

But i'm actually a strange mix of confused & proud..

We walked into an old fashioned ambush last night, that could've ended up extremely ugly on the scoreboard..

Toddy had one of his untouchable 40 minute periods that he can pull out of his arse..

There were obviously some mystifying refs decisions too..

But we dominated the 2nd half & it was only the dodgy calls that stopped us from getting back level..

$BW looked unstoppable when he started playing 5/8th in the 2nd half..hope we see more of it..

We'll learn a lot more from a loss in a game like that, than if we'd snuck back & won it, so i see plenty of positives..

Any complacency that'd been building up should now have disappeared..

Hopefully Cordner is healing well..& quickly..

Mini back next week will help too..

Go Easts..

 

[Chook]

We missed LOD big time. With him out there we are not dominated.

Farkin sharks, they win one half of a game of football, get all the ref calls go their way and all of a sudden they are contenders.

Can't wait to meet them in the finals.

Chook.

 

[Big man]

You lost the game through the middle, when JWH and Moa left the field your forwards struggled to contain the shark forwards, they made easy metres and you couldn't get out of your own half. It appears you are two good props short off your bench, players like Liu, Guerra and Napa will not cut the mustard against the top four teams.

 

[neutralsupporter]

You lost the game through the middle, when JWH and Moa left the field your forwards struggled to contain the shark forwards, they made easy metres and you couldn't get out of your own half. It appears you are two good props short off your bench, players like Liu, Guerra and Napa will not cut the mustard against the top four teams.

WTF? Moa and JWH didn't have their best game