Trial v Parramatta

[franklin2323]

You think Ivan will put our whole bench on at once after 30 minutes?

Didnt use the bench at all like a normal game.

Not at all but that much defence early on we will be stuffed later in the game should it happen through the year

 

[franklin2323]

But seriously, imagine the response if Hook was still coach last night lol

For some reason people like Ivan so his flaws get papered over while hooks got blown up

 

[OldPanther]

For some reason people like Ivan so his flaws get papered over while hooks got blown up

Their flaws are also on different levels. Ivan seems to be able to coach defence while his offense isn't exactly worth bragging about.

Under Griffin we were one of the worst defensive teams in the comp AND our attack sucked.

So while our attack isn't getting any worse or better(judging from the trial only) at least we won't be giving away so many points every week.

That's an improvement in my book. Same as I said for Griffin, Ivan needs an attacking minded assistant.

 

[hindy111]

First half almost like for like with first grade players. Missing of course May, Dallin and Joshie. Parramatta I think were all hands on deck.

Players like Edwards, Cleary only played 40 mins. It's a good bring down to earth for the team.

No Jnr Paulo. But yes full strength.
Gee Sivo looks promising.

 

[hindy111]

I'm 100% sure we held a lot in reserve seeing as we play them again in two weeks. Doesn't mean I expect much from our attack with Cleary at the helm, but it'll be a lot better than this. I think this result is useful if it causes the Eels to get all over-excited.

Over excited?
What do you think eel fans expect?
An 18yld half and a 19/20yld hooker in spine with Moses who has been garbage and Gutherson who is just safe and a high workload.
Bar Jnr Paulo not a whole lot upfront and a backline with Taka and GJennings in it. It is a building year for the Eels. Panthers goal would be top 4.
Eels if pushed close to top 8 would be great. Somewhere around 12th is more likely.

 

[OldPanther]

No Jnr Paulo. But yes full strength.
Gee Sivo looks promising.

You'll grow to absolutely love Sivo.

Over excited?
What do you think eel fans expect?
An 18yld half and a 19/20yld hooker in spine with Moses who has been garbage and Gutherson who is just safe and a high workload.
Bar Jnr Paulo not a whole lot upfront and a backline with Taka and GJennings in it. It is a building year for the Eels. Panthers goal would be top 4.
Eels if pushed close to top 8 would be great. Somewhere around 12th is more likely.

That Brown bloke you have up front is top quality. Runs hard, defends well and has a bit of ball playing as far as forwards go at least.

 

[Luke Bowden]

That’s loser talk

I call it “Rhyno” talk.

 

[mxlegend99]

For some reason people like Ivan so his flaws get papered over while hooks got blown up

No. All that matters is how we play and whether we're a premiership threat or not.

If Bellamy was our coach and we were making up the numbers he could get f**ked aswell. Being likeable doesnt excuse our team going nowhere.

We had a good first trial and a shit second one. Outside of defence in that first half the only positive is seemingly no more injuries.

Because we can't cover many injuries in 2019. Outside of our starting 13 the quality drops very quickly. We could comfortably cover injuries to benchies or our hookers with little change to our quality.

But a winger goes down and we go from international quality to reserve grade quality. A second rower goes down and we again go from international quality to inconsistent fringe first graders.

Thats not to say our depth wont have good games. They will. But quality and consistency drops incredibly quickly. Which is in line with the experience difference also.

 

[Luke Bowden]

20-0 Baby! it will be 50-0 in RD1 I’m so excited

Thank you for making our up coming victory even sweeter.

If honestly believe you are any chance of winning, you’re delusional.

 

[GongPanther]

20-0 Baby! it will be 50-0 in RD1 I’m so excited

Easy boy...we were missing Josh Mansour, Tyrone May, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Moses Leota, Viliame Kikau,not to mention we were in 3rd gear for most of the match. And thanks to the Parra season ticket holding refs,they thumped us in the penalties.

We are going to hammer your lot in 2 weeks time. You have been warned.

 

[Kilkenny]

A couple of observations from last night's trial loss.

First and foremost I thought the Eels played really well. There forwards really rolled over the advantage line very well all night and there defence was very solid.

I thought we did well to restrict them to only one try in the first half given they had all the ball and field position. The extra work we had to do in defence was always going to take it's toll in the second half.

The way the game was officiated virtually gave us no chance to compete. It seemed every time Parramatta were coming out of there own end they received soft penalties whereas we got nothing from the refs.

Drawing any conclusions from this game about how we are going to perform in 2019 is silly.

The only conclusion to be drawn from last night is the Eels will be tough to beat in round 1 and we are going to have to play well in order to beat them.

 

[Panther Pete]

Ivan’s post match interview.
https://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/news/2019/03/03/oak-plus-post-game-ivan-cleary/

 

[OldPanther]

A couple of observations from last night's trial loss.

First and foremost I thought the Eels played really well. There forwards really rolled over the advantage line very well all night and there defence was very solid.

I thought we did well to restrict them to only one try in the first half given they had all the ball and field position. The extra work we had to do in defence was always going to take it's toll in the second half.

The way the game was officiated virtually gave us no chance to compete. It seemed every time Parramatta were coming out of there own end they received soft penalties whereas we got nothing from the refs.

Drawing any conclusions from this game about how we are going to perform in 2019 is silly.

The only conclusion to be drawn from last night is the Eels will be tough to beat in round 1 and we are going to have to play well in order to beat them.

Pretty safe bet Katoa will be the hooker after that. I prefer Egan but he was forced into the halves for a lot of his time and Katoa played his part well.

 

[martielang]

Their flaws are also on different levels. Ivan seems to be able to coach defence while his offense isn't exactly worth bragging about.

Under Griffin we were one of the worst defensive teams in the comp AND our attack sucked.

So while our attack isn't getting any worse or better(judging from the trial only) at least we won't be giving away so many points every week.

That's an improvement in my book. Same as I said for Griffin, Ivan needs an attacking minded assistant.

So our attack & defence sucked, yet we were equal 4th when he was punted while also leading the comp mid way. C’mon oldie.

Our defence was very solid for most of the year, especially our cover defence. Our missed tackle count was high due to the way we defended, getting in the face of the opposition (leading to them making errors) & backing our cover defence if we missed first up.

#griffgod

 

[Kilkenny]

Pretty safe bet Katoa will be the hooker after that. I prefer Egan but he was forced into the halves for a lot of his time and Katoa played his part well.

Given the way our hookers play I personally don't think it makes a whole lot of difference who get's first crack, they are much for much really. I would select the one who can play the most minutes, ideally the full 80.

It goes without saying what a huge loss to our side Kikau is, but I also think for the balance of this side we need Moses Leota fit and well. His straight, hard running with low centre of gravity bends the opposition defensive lines more than RCG, Tim Grant & James Tamou. Against the Eels for Round 1 my starting pack would be RCG, Katoa/Egan, Tamou, Yeo, JFH & Moses Leota. I think we need to get on top early and win the forward battle in the first 20 minutes.

 

[billypilgrimnz]

Over excited?
What do you think eel fans expect?
.

I'm talking about the team itself. Why would I care what the Eels fans think?

I used "if" because the Eels team would be idiots to get complacent over the results of that game, but stranger things have happened.

 

[OldPanther]

So our attack & defence sucked, yet we were equal 4th when he was punted while also leading the comp mid way. C’mon oldie.

Our defence was very solid for most of the year, especially our cover defence. Our missed tackle count was high due to the way we defended, getting in the face of the opposition (leading to them making errors) & backing our cover defence if we missed first up.

#griffgod

I thought the beginning of last year was fantastic. Other than that we have been terrible defensively under Griffin. The team had never been fitter though which was nice.

 

[herbert henry1908]

I don’t usually read too much into trials, but not scoring is a bit concerning.

 

[franklin2323]

We had a good first trial and a shit second one. Outside of defence in that first half the only positive is seemingly no more injuries.

Because we can't cover many injuries in 2019. Outside of our starting 13 the quality drops very quickly. We could comfortably cover injuries to benchies or our hookers with little change to our quality.

But a winger goes down and we go from international quality to reserve grade quality. A second rower goes down and we again go from international quality to inconsistent fringe first graders.

Thats not to say our depth wont have good games. They will. But quality and consistency drops incredibly quickly. Which is in line with the experience difference also.

As I said very similar to last year we had a decent followed up by a bad one. The difference was trial 2 last year I could see that fitness was the aim. No such thing yesterday.

The difference is the roster. This is Hook's roster. Trying to play Ivan's style then add in our backup centres being Jed and Fuimaono.

The same excuses when it was hook were ignored but is accepted for Ivan. That was my point

 

[franklin2323]

Their flaws are also on different levels. Ivan seems to be able to coach defence while his offense isn't exactly worth bragging about.

Under Griffin we were one of the worst defensive teams in the comp AND our attack sucked.

So while our attack isn't getting any worse or better(judging from the trial only) at least we won't be giving away so many points every week.

That's an improvement in my book. Same as I said for Griffin, Ivan needs an attacking minded assistant.

Compare our points for the last 3 seasons to even 2014 season. 2017 as bad as it was. Was only 3 less than 2014 (and 2011 when Ivan made GF). 2016 and last year we scored more. It is all perception.

As for defence. The jury is out with 8 changes instead of unlimited and no field position or ball we would of got smashed