Tonight's Game

[Radioactive Man]

We threw it away i feel, made some very poor decisions and got some even poorer calls from the ref.

Thats about it.

 

[macavity]

im about to cry.

im going to get a valium.

 

[cram]

I did not watch the game for a variety of reasons but kept track of the scores via the net. As I said in the other post what happened in the couple of minutes before half time. Then simple mistakes in extra time, but I guess you put that down to fatigue and home ground advantage for the Eels.

But as Roopy says in the other post two weeks we keep two of the favourite teams to draws in ordinary time and we came back in both games so plenty to be positive about.

 

[roopy]

The boys must take a huge amount of confidence from that.
When they get over the early season errors there is not a side we can't beat - we have outplayed two of the best in two weeks - now bring on the rest.

 

[Spike]

Yeah I thought we played really well tonight coming back in the second half. The only thing was the sh*tty ball control.

 

[CJG 182]

Discipline, handling, and the ref f**ked us tonight.

 

[Apey]

the ref hardly f**ked us, some stupid calls yes, but what about some of our forward passes.

poor ball control and most of all discipline cost us the game

 

[roopy]

Positives were the defence of Dureau - they targetted him and he only missed a couple.
Vuna returned the ball really well and his no try was close to his only blemish - and he had no right to be there anyway.
The Dureau/Mullen combination looks like they have been playing together for 10 years.
Bedsy is in form already - now we just need the others to join him.
The forwards all stood up without a real weakness except poor handling.

I am actually confident we are a top 8 side after that game.

 

[Johns Magic]

That penalty against Dureau was a joke and changed the game just before half-time.

Smith seriously needs to re-think how he uses Paterson. I don't think he came on until the 55th minute, and as soon as he did we started ripping them apart. He has so much class, you can't leave that on the bench for that long.

I was very happy with our attack, we looked like the better team pretty much all night.

We need Cross in the side desperately. Tolar and Royal are tidy but don't give us a roll-on.

That was a game we should have won. I hate to say it, but one of the major weaknesses in Polynesians' games are their hands under pressure. We really shot ourselves in the foot.

 

[Avenger]

You guys will definitely make the 8. Its always a lottery in golden point. Bad luck.

 

[Nuffy]

This is nothing short of a miracle. Smithy has turned a deadset rabble into a confident team in essentially 12 months.

Sure they will be disappointed in the short term but what a confidence boost, they are in this comp in a big way.

We are missing 3 starting forwards and not missing a beat. If we can keep this team together for 3-4 yrs, we are going to win plenty.

The ref was a little patchy, the ball control lacked a little but Parra at Parra was a big effort.

Smithy is a genius.......................... thus far.

Most importantly, the team defends well and doesn't give up, which is something we haven't been able to say since the days of the Wok.

 

[Nuffy]

Re Paterson, I suspect that Smith wants him as fresh as possible, he'll let Ciraldo do the work and unleash Paterson.

 

[Jono078]

Well they can only blame their hands.

Parra were to quick and strong in the first half, then they sh*t themselves in the second and we assisted them with plenty of handling errors.

Overall though our team is looking quite good.

I thought the benchies, well the 2 front rowers let us down.

Wicks is up the top of the NRL in missed tackles. Fa'aoso is solid, but the Parra fans said before the game his hands are suspect.

I can see Matt White coming in the next game if not Ben Cross.

The backs done fairly well against the Eels backline.

Halves were good.

 

[macavity]

have to admit Wicks looked like he was nailed to the ground

and Faas looked like he had cans of spam for hands

 

[Johns Magic]

Re Paterson, I suspect that Smith wants him as fresh as possible, he'll let Ciraldo do the work and unleash Paterson.

I understand what Smith was trying to do, but he definitely left him on the bench for too long. Paterson isn't an impact prop, he's a classy second-rower. It's like leaving Buderus on the bench, unnecessary.

 

[Spike]

Yeah, I notice and it was commentated on with Fa'aoso. Everytime he was given a ball he looked like he was going to drop it or juggle it. He also carries the ball out in front of him ather than tucking it under his arm which makes it easier to jolt it free.

 

[roopy]

I think Pato is out of favour with Smith because he doesn't do enough defence and doesn't do his share of hit ups into the forwards.
He gets plenty involved running wide, but i think Smith wants an all working pack for the hardest part of the game.

 

[Gene Krupa]

I understand what Smith was trying to do, but he definitely left him on the bench for too long. Paterson isn't an impact prop, he's a classy second-rower. It's like leaving Buderus on the bench, unnecessary.

Yeah, I can't understand that. He should be filling the role Simpson does. He's too good to come on for 25 mins a game!

 

[Alex28]

Fantastic performance - just unlucky when it counted. I think some questions about the Knights got answered tonight.

 

[PrideKnight]

confidence and belief are the 2 things that stuck out for me. the team we met round the back was not the same dejected mob after a game last yr or before. just excellent. bring on the worriers!!