Team v Bulldogs

[Meth]

1 - Tuivasa-Sheck
2- Watene Zelezniak
3- Leiataua
4- Nicoll-Klokstad
5- Montoya
6- Metcalf
7- Martin/Johnson
8- Fonua-Blake
9- Lussick
10- Barnett
11- Laban
12- Halasima
13- Walker

Res- Ale, Niukore, Sifakula, Roache

 

[Blair]

Whatever happens now we can at least know that Johnson's last game for the Warriors wasn't the 66-6 drubbing by the Titans.

 

[JJ]

Whatever happens now we can at least know that Johnson's last game for the Warriors wasn't the 66-6 drubbing by the Titans.

lest we forget that the Titans beat us 66-6... fmd, no disrespect to them but the f**king Titans

 

[vvvrulz]

lest we forget that the Titans beat us 66-6... fmd, no disrespect to them but the f**king Titans

Dessie's Titans are far from useless, absolutely toweled a strong Broncos.

 

[Rich102]

Certain coaches can certainly lift a team.

 

[JJ]

Dessie's Titans are far from useless, absolutely toweled a strong Broncos.

Wasn’t saying they were useless, but not even a tool 8 team atm… and 66-6

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I know I can be a bit dramatic at times, but I genuinely think (if you use the metric "how much better/worse does this player make the team compared to their replacement") there's an argument that SJ is the worst player in the comp this season (and by extension, funnily enough, TMM is the best). I cannot stress enough the extent to which SJ should not be playing. He is in the midst of a historically bad farewell season and there is no reason to expect improvement.

I guess all we can hope for now is we somehow fluke a win in the last game so he can sign off in some sort of style and doesn't end on 10 straight losses.

Also, this very much has the feel of an all-to-common Warriors season where we finish on a massive losing run, and what was shaping as a fringe top-8 year with some encouraging moments, ends up with us running close to last.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I know I can be a bit dramatic at times, but I genuinely think (if you use the metric "how much better/worse does this player make the team compared to their replacement") there's an argument that SJ is the worst player in the comp this season (and by extension, funnily enough, TMM is the best). I cannot stress enough the extent to which SJ should not be playing. He is in the midst of a historically bad farewell season and there is no reason to expect improvement.

I guess all we can hope for now is we somehow fluke a win in the last game so he can sign off in some sort of style and doesn't end on 10 straight losses.

Also, this very much has the feel of an all-to-common Warriors season where we finish on a massive losing run, and what was shaping as a fringe top-8 year with some encouraging moments, ends up with us running close to last.

Superficially true of course but bloody harsh, and it of course makes the (incorrect) assumption that SJ vs TMM was the only differentiating factor in those games. I hope he gets to go out on a win as he deserves better.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Superficially true of course but bloody harsh, and it of course makes the (incorrect) assumption that SJ vs TMM was the only differentiating factor in those games.

Yeah of course TMM isn't actually the best player in the comp, and that metric doesn't actually give you the worst player in the comp, because it's biased towards/against players in key positions.

I do however honestly think that the sample size is now big enough to say that the presence/absence of SJ is a key differentiating factor. When you are up to 8 straight defeats with a guy who is known to be the team's key playmaker, and you're comparing that to an equal sample size of 8 straight games without SJ where the opposition haven't scored more tries than us once - to me that means we've reached the point where we can confidently say that SJ being in the team is a major cause of the team playing poorly.

Perhaps a different way of looking at it is that Webster's SJ-centric game plan has turned out to be a disaster, while the more ad hoc game plan we have when SJ is unavailable has turned out to be miles better than plan A.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Yeah of course TMM isn't actually the best player in the comp, and that metric doesn't actually give you the worst player in the comp, because it's biased towards/against players in key positions.

I do however honestly think that the sample size is now big enough to say that the presence/absence of SJ is a key differentiating factor. When you are up to 8 straight defeats with a guy who is known to be the team's key playmaker, and you're comparing that to an equal sample size of 8 straight games without SJ where the opposition haven't scored more tries than us once - to me that means we've reached the point where we can confidently say that SJ being in the team is a major cause of the team playing poorly.

Perhaps a different way of looking at it is that Webster's SJ-centric game plan has turned out to be a disaster, while the more ad hoc game plan we have when SJ is unavailable has turned out to be miles better than plan A.

That part id agree with. It’s not SJs abilities per se but what the other players do when playing around him this year.

 

[Rich102]

This is a very good point and I hadn't considered it before.
With SJ in the team the team really does what SJ dictates. And some of the younger players are a bit wary of doing something different. Whereas with TMM things are a bit/lot more flexible and players are prepared to try things.

I look at the NSW cup team and they play a lot more ad-lib; having a go and trusting in each other. Sure they give away points, but if they score more points than they give up they win.

We know Webster is very structured and defensive. Maybe it's time for a bit of jungle ball.