Another day, another dollar as they say, plus I won on the Slipper so all is not lost. I think its worthwhile acknowledging some blokes busted their humps out there yesterday, and should not be under any spotlight. Nathan Friend is one, yes I know he was getting pushed back late in the day but FFS, put on 70 tackles plus run to every attacking tackle you have (admittedly we didn't have any) and see how you pull up. That was a herculean effort, and if nothing else, showed someone has a hell of a lot of fight for his club and the players around him. You could say Nathan has one word sorely missing in the player ranks - pride. If all the others, who are immensely more talented at this stage of their careers than Nathan, played with the same pride, grit and determination, this mob would be a top 4 outfit. Another one is Jacob Lillyman, when he came on he made a world of difference.
Then there are players in between who weren't horrible but weren't great. Hurrell, Mannering, Matagi, Matulino, Tomkins, Leuluai, Johnson, Rapira and we can excuse Bakuya since he went off early.
THere are others though that need to seriously be given a serious mauling at tackle practice this week. Townsend, three soft as butter errors. I love it when he goes to the line on the left hand side, he's probably the first five eighth in five years to make Mannering look extremely threatening because he attracts defenders. He goes to the line well. Once he overplayed it by half a yard and it cost us an intercept try, half a yard earlier and Mannering goes in untouched. The missed kick to touch was an appalling lack of concentration, and he dropped it off another half break. I think TL is a great gritty player, but Chad to me probably goes to the line better and probably has a touch more ability. He just fails to execute at key times so I'm torn on him.
Vatuvei, appalling effort at times. He has a weak carry on him, pretty much every game, pretty much at a key time. When he spilled the ball on tackle one after we had restrained yet another raid, that was a key moment. If we could have built some momentum by holding onto the ball then and there I'd have rated our chances. The bomb he missed, I don't know if I blame him, he was probably on the right line, his leap was good, very rarely does someone take a bomb on his inside shoulder to score.
But that leads to defence. Townsend, Neilsen and Vatuvei in no way shape or form communicate with each other. The blame is probably on Vatuvei and Neilsen for the wide pass Carney threw to score off, but I hold Townsend accountable. Watching the replay, the team is starting to spread and get forward, Townsend is a step behind and has infact turned his shoulders square. It throws open a gap which the other blokes had to hold up to cover.
Fish, had a horror show game. What was up with his hands? Seriously, did he get on the bottle before the game? First 4 minutes of the second half we drop the ball 3 times, twice by Fish. I don't know if I've ever seen that from Fish since his debut when Hayne unleashed hell on him.
To me, this really outlines the Warriors. Fish, Vatuvei, Townsend, the differences between their good games and their crap games are huge. They lack any consistency those chaps. Neilsen, he is, was, and always will be bog standard average. His much celebrated defence is a myth, as shown yesterday. He has the speed of a dead turnip and the ball playing skills of a juggling jester with no arms. I watched reserve grade, there is a very clear replacement in waiting. A bloke who frankly I can't recall having a bad game yet still couldn't find his way into the team. Ngani Laumape. Yes, I hear he came back out of shape, but he is destroying reggies. He should be in at centre for Neilsen.
BTW, loved Neilsen's interview after the game "How you going Danger?" "Yeah really good thanks..." Seriously? You just got the tom tits belted out of your team, and your side defensively.
Mateo is getting ragged on. Interesting. Mateo is, was, and always will be a player who goes well when there's go forward in front of him and blokes backing him up. When you have 39% of possession, its not the game to appraise a bloke like Mateo on.
The other person who needs blame is the coach. It has been a trait of his teams in the NRL that they give away cheap penalties in the ruck and offside penalties. One or two years maybe you say he's unlucky... but year in, year out you have to say there is an immense issue in the bloke being able to read how the referees are going to change their tune for the year. Most coaches adjust. He doesn't seem to be able to. I look at how his front rowers go. I've heard him talk about Matulino dropping the stats a bit and focusing on 'quality'. Ok, fine, but a guy like Matulino could become not quite as good, but a decent version of Steve Price. The bloke has a high constitution for work. He wants in. He just needs a coach who believes in him. He is over-coaching the hell out of him.
Attitude. The Warriors lack it big time. I would not be surprised if a group of players got on the flight on Friday or whatever it was believing their own press and believing it was a matter of rocking up. The Warriors are the club who most often drop these types of games. And everytime the other team gives a master class where you think they're world beaters. If you come to the game 10% off in attitude, you will never compete. Its not that the other team have come to life, its that we as a club have our blokes turn up unprepared. The players can do it. Look what happened after their 'players only' meeting after Penrith. To see such a dramatic turnaround from that shows that it was an extreme lack of intensity and focus, borne out of a terrible attitude, that caused the horrible start last year. They need to pull this card out early, right here, right now, or else they're in danger of going 2-4.
Scurrah. Hopeless. I still blame you champ for the coup d'etat on Ivan Cleary. Well done son. I remember you putting on a verbal rim job of Matt Elliott when you hired him. How'd that turn out champ? Time to go back to shampoos old son.
And finally, John Morris, go sit on a pineapple. One of the worst acting performances in NRL history. Son, you are a dead set gimp of a human being. 300 games, and about 3 good ones. You're the tinniest kumquat in the game, and your lay down sally effort on a mythical high tackle and springing straight to your feet is a disgrace.
