Well that game was an absolute debacle. There were so many things wrong with us that I don't know where to start. Over the last twelve to eighteen months I've noticed that our starts determine how we are going to play for the rest of the game; we are not good at chasing points but we are also difficult to beat when we start well. The biggest problem with our start in this game was that our line speed in defence was absolutely non-existent. In my post a few days ago, I mentioned that one of key ways of beating the bulldogs is to get up in their faces; doing the opposite and having a stagnant defensive line is a big no no because those big bulldogs forwards will make cannon fodder of you when they get a head of steam up. Basically you need to rush up to stop their forwards from reaching maximum speed. Moving up in defence is also important to stop our outside backs being pressured and having to retreat out wide; if our outside backs looked inept in defence its not because they can't defend but because we invited so much pressure on ourselves by standing still and giving Josh Morris and Chase Stanley a free run at us. We did not do these key things for the entire first half and we payed the price. It was only in the second half that the penny dropped and our line speed improved but by then it was too late.
It is also clear to me from watching us defend that we lack a leader when we don't have the footy. Mbye's try is the biggest example I can give of this. Understand no circumstance should that try have been scored - it is basic stuff to mark up in defence and organise your numbers on the open and blindsides in conjunction with the oppositions attack. Many people will blame Luke Keary for that; I say it was poor leadership which lead to us been undermanned on our right hand edge in the first place. Personally, I thought it was a big big mistake not playing Sam Burgess. This was a massive game being the Good Friday clash against the Bulldogs and with all the injuries that we've got, I would have gotten Sam out on the field at all costs.
A couple of people on here have complained in the past that we play with too much structure and don't play with enough freedom. For those of you who have this view, this was which proves exactly why you need structure in attack and don't play off the top of your head - we went out there and looked like a team that didn't know what to do when we had the football. We didn't have any decoy runners, there were not set moves, we didn't have players charging onto the ball into holes - the list goes on and on. Part of the problem is Luke Keary - I personally believe he is rapidly becoming one of the most overrated players in the comp. His timing and decision making is all over the place and he doesn't seem to play with any vision. By that I mean when I'm watching him, I can't see any logic behind what he is trying to do most of the time; it is like he tries to execute an arbitrary series of set plays. Cody Walker for me can leave the field with his head held high because I think he did the best he could. However, what I will say is that he is in the side to run the football and he needs to do that more often. As soon as he started doing that in the second half, the game opened up.
Another big problem for me is McInnes at dummy half. I understand that he was a highly decorated junior footballer but this isn't junior football, its first grade and from what I've seen, he just hasn't cut the mustard. His two biggest problems are that he can't make any real metres from dummy half, which is so important based on the way we play. However, more crucially, he lacks any real direction out of dummy half and can't control the tempo. If you look at the way we play in the first half when we had the footy, everything was sooo slow and labored - that comes from the hooker. Its no coincidence that when Damian Cook came on the the second half that the tempo quickened and we started getting down the bulldogs end of the field. I will say here and now that I think Madge has made a monumental mistake in not starting Cook because I think he was the one player that could have helped turn things around in the game through what I mentioned above. I'm sure McInnes is a nice lad but he has had plenty of chances and looks anything but a first grade footballer.
The selection of Kyle Turner is another big problem in the team for me and another mistake which I believe Maguire made. I was often critical of him last year and nothing that he has shown this season has made me change my mind. If I'm being brutally honest, I cannot believe he was awarded a new contract - the guy must be sleeping with the coaches daughter or something. My biggest problem with him is that he is a nothing player. What does he offer the team? He isn't big and strong, he isn't overly fast, he isn't a ball player, he doesn't have good footwork, he doesn't have any real ball playing skills, he isn't a hole runner, so why is he in the team? His spot could have taken by Chris Grevsmuhl, who was easily our best forward in the game. The guy is the absolute antithesis of Kyle Turner is that he is strong and mobile, aggressive, has a decent offload and can poke his nose through a hole. His style would have been absolutely perfect for a game against the Bulldogs. Funnily enough, I can remember Maguire leaving him out in a game against the Bulldogs last year too! I personally, believe that Michael Maguire for some reason has never really warmed to Grevsmuhl and doesn't rate him that highly. I mean the fact that he chose to resign Kyle Turner over him speaks volumes of the regard in which he holds him. Mark my words, I think we will regret letting him go to Penrith.
David Tyrell is a bit of an issue too. In 2014 he was a highly reliable workman-like forward. Now he looks old and slow and doesn't really offer us much. I was just looking through the stats on the NRL website and he only made one hit up all game. That figures because I barely noticed he was there. To compound this, was it just my imagination or did we replace him in the game with Jason Clark? That for me is the wrong thing to do because you are basically playing small against one of the biggest teams in the NRL. Jason Clark is a back rower and your bringing him on in a forward pack that already has Kyle Turner, Paul Carter and Nathan Brown in it - three smallish back rowers; Carter and Brown are nuggety sort of players, while Turner has the build of an outside back.
Other issues in the game involve our handling. We made way too many unforced errors when we had the football. Paul Carter has been in our top 3 players each week since the start of the season but he had a shocker today. Him dropping the football in his own in goal area was shocking but I thought he was asking for trouble by running almost directly sideways in the hit up that led to him being pushed back. In saying that, we can't be too hard on him because Inglis, Keary, Gray and Oldfield off the top of my head were all guilty of making unforced errors. We can also field a bit aggrieved with some of the refereeing decisions. I thought Tony Williams lost the ball on Josh Morris' first try - how on earth Curtis Rona came up with it, I'll never know! Also, I thought Aaron Gray was lifted up again off the ground after him momentum had stopped, Tony Williams blatantly played the ball incorrectly but was awarded a penalty, which led to a try and there is no way in the world that Garvey got the ball over the line. We were also robbed of a try with that obstruction call; I felt the Bulldogs defender took a dive and wouldn't have had any influence in preventing a try. In saying that, these decisions may have been incorrect but weren't the worst decisions of all time. But hey, we were poor and we still would have lost regardless.
In the final analysis, this sort of result can be expected from a team that is missing so many key players and from a team that is so inexperienced. Like I said, for those reasons I thought it was a mistake not to play Sam Burgess. Next week we need to look at getting some of our key players back and get our best team out on the paddock. I'd be dropping McInnes and Turner and bringing back Sam and starting Cook at dummy half.
