Team vs titans

[Ozzi_78]

We are just as likely to win as we are lose.

 

[Chimp]

I’m actually happier with Sifa starting, but would have put big Tuks on bench over Billy.

 

[Quigs]

Well all will be revealed in less than 24hrs.

I can't wait.

 

[Bookie]

Probably the best starting pack we’ve had all year.

 

[Eion]

Billy gives us nothing on the bench. Start Billy or pick tuks ffs

 

[DJDL]

Probably the best starting pack we’ve had all year.

With the weakest bench.
Ass raping incoming!

 

[Inferno]

I can't think of a year where we've been so disrupted with injury/suspension.

I'd be shocked if we had half a dozen games with our full-strength side or more than half a dozen games in a row with the same spine.

 

[tom of poland]

I can't think of a year where we've been so disrupted with injury/suspension.

I'd be shocked if we had half a dozen games with our full-strength side or more than half a dozen games in a row with the same spine.

Think back to when Jack Gibson was our coach, 85 to 87, we had really bad runs with injuries in those years. The tail end of the 1990 season got pretty bad too after a fairly solid start.

 

[Eion]

I can't think of a year where we've been so disrupted with injury/suspension.

I'd be shocked if we had half a dozen games with our full-strength side or more than half a dozen games in a row with the same spine.

We have had 9 games with our first choice spine (first 6 games the longest streak)
We have had 5 different spine combinations this year…and probably 6 after tonight.

 

[Frenzy.]

I don't know what happens. Gonna do the sanity thing and not watch or participate in this one.

I'm going to a 1 year old's birthday party instead. LOL

 

[bluefox68]

I don't know what happens. Gonna do the sanity thing and not watch or participate in this one.

I'm going to a 1 year old's birthday party instead. LOL

Enjoy watching the replay, Frenz…

 

[coolumsharkie]

What happens if this is a stunning success which I think it will be? Particularly if Blake decides to run the football. I actually love this team and think we will win it on Friday night. In fact, this will be our best performance of the season.

Happy to be wrong here and you nailed it. Though I don't think he's a HB per se, but when his running game is on and the forwards are doing their job.... Fitz has got to get this feature of his game in every match we play from here on in. There's obviously something that works with the DA/Blake combo as it was a copy of the Storm game except for the extra tactic of running back into the defense that really f**ked up Tits defensive line all night.

Kudos Fizman.

 

[DJDL]

Happy to be wrong here and you nailed it. Though I don't think he's a HB per se, but when his running game is on and the forwards are doing their job.... Fitz has got to get this feature of his game in every match we play from here on in. There's obviously something that works with the DA/Blake combo as it was a copy of the Storm game except for the extra tactic of running back into the defense that really f**ked up Tits defensive line all night.

Kudos Fizman.

There is no combo as far as I can see.
It's just "DA, keep the hell out of the way and let Blake run the show."

DA was there for kicking and nothing else.

Last night highlighted something I've been meaning to discuss on here for a few weeks.
I can't remember the match, or who said it, but one of the Fox commentators made a comment that Brails has taken on more responsibility with Nicho out, and is starting to run more and use more of his tricks.

It's a fair observation.

His mid-year form slump aside, Nicho is leaps and bounds our best half.
Everything positive earlier in the year came from him.
I back him in to regain that form, and the team to follow.

But he and Brails need to workout how to work together, and get the most out of both their skillsets.

Arguably our two best performances this year have been last night and Melbourne, where it all came from Brails.
If I was Fitzy, I'd be toying with the idea of telling Nicho to take a chill pill, let Brails run it, and to just pick his moments of when to come in and do his thing.

 

[coolumsharkie]

There is no combo as far as I can see.
It's just "DA, keep the hell out of the way and let Blake run the show."

DA was there for kicking and nothing else.

Last night highlighted something I've been meaning to discuss on here for a few weeks.
I can't remember the match, or who said it, but one of the Fox commentators made a comment that Brails has taken on more responsibility with Nicho out, and is starting to run more and use more of his tricks.

It's a fair observation.

His mid-year form slump aside, Nicho is leaps and bounds our best half.
Everything positive earlier in the year came from him.
I back him in to regain that form, and the team to follow.

But he and Brails need to workout how to work together, and get the most out of both their skillsets.

Arguably our two best performances this year have been last night and Melbourne, where it all came from Brails.
If I was Fitzy, I'd be toying with the idea of telling Nicho to take a chill pill, let Brails run it, and to just pick his moments of when to come in and do his thing.

Well combo was a word for the lack of one but yes this was what I was implying, or trying to.

 

[Frenzy.]

I think there's more to Blayke's good form than just looking at his attack last night.

He only made 24 tackles. Berrell made 28 tackles in just 27 minutes. Turns out, that's what he was there for. To pick up Tinkerbell's workload when he came on. BB was no where near the middle in D the whole game. He was defending as a half. 24 is about the amount Nicho makes most game.

There's the masterstorke - the game plan allowed him to be fresh and have more petrol to be able to have a run and be a distributor.

The game was won on a couple of big improvements in the team.

In terms of my fave stat, 4 forwards had PTB speeds under 3 seconds. 3 more forwards were under 3.5 seconds. That equals speed and momentum in attack and also means they were winning the collision and the ruck in general. Additionally the PCMs made up nearly 14 % of the total metres run. It's usually around 10%. So, the pigs put together their first real and total display of dominance in 3 years.

Next observation is that the speed of the defensive line was best this year. That equals being a momentum killer to the Titans and to be honest I think that speed of the line and the ferocity of the defense with ruck dominance both sides of the ball was the main reason for the win.

The box office plays didn't win the game. They rarely do to be honest. The tough stuff in O&D is what allowed for highlights plays. Earnt them the right to play to use a favourite cliche of the media monkeys.

Remains to be seen how long they can maintain that stuff because when it is all said and done they are still The Sharks of the past until they prove they're not for mine.