vs Dragons

[Philip_Smith007]

Matulino playing with some desire! 90m in first half. Lillyman 80m.
Not a fan of the 2 just before the half. Keep the pressure up, but guess they stuffed the last penalty in front up!
Fusitua playing well on debut, great last ditch effort to prevent try.
Mateo still not clicking.
Defense on these looks a bit better, who wouldn't thought ropo would of helped there????
Playing into the wind in the second half is going to be a challenge!

 

[Fast Eddie]

People are going to go on about doing the basics/fundamentals etc but I'd say the real problem with this team at the moment is they don't actually use the ball enough.

 

[Diesel]

The team is missing TL

another disappointing game, I thought the Dragons would get up for this game and next week it's away to NQ for a hiding no doubt

 

[Iafeta]

A fish starts rotting at the head. Elliott has been proven to be a fraud in the NRL and Scurrah is the goose who performed a coup d'état on Cleary. Let's not forget, from 12 possible club points, we have 1. We are disgracefully run.

 

[Iron Lion]

on evidence of the 3 games played today this club is going backwards, I really expected a top 4 side this year.

Juniors i can understand being weaker with promotions into NSW cup which makes sense but this football program looks terrible, none of these guys have improved and that broncos trial was a smoke screen.

The profiles are not even updated on the club website for fu@ks sake

 

[Alan Johnson]

Well it was certainly an improvement on last week but it almost looks to me like we're a team from a bygone era that can't quite cut it in the modern game.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Tomkin's clearly stuffing it up again, but tackled in the air by the letter of the law and not been able to recover his stuff up!
A couple of forward passes in St Georges second try set, plus 50/50 offside by Rein!
Townsend running in concrete boots?
Tompkins needs longer sprigs!
Communication on the last Mateo to Rapira!
Fusitua to flat on attack, but not use to Nielson passing!
Townsend clearly offside in the tackle, Ben Henery was 50/50 offside
Third time Johnson kicks for a try to Dragons!
A short 10m kickoff needs to be contested!
Tomkin's worth every cent so far! :sarcasm:
Schoolboy mistakes costly again!
The eden park curse continues and Dragons keep the second longest active winning streak alive!

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Whoever requested we not play a game at mt smart until almost halfway through the season should be instantly dismissed no questions asked.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

The team is missing TL

another disappointing game, I thought the Dragons would get up for this game and next week it's away to NQ for a hiding no doubt

Def missing TL, Townsend not up to first grade by his two showings.
0-3 start for sure!

 

[JJ]

FMD, some obvious questions to ask...

Money is no object to get a coach, and we're delivered Elliott - someone is a f**king comedian!

But aside from Matulino did anyone offer anything in attack?

Elliott is a numpty, anyone who watched Canberra and Penrith knows that, but that aside there are some players in that team with reputations, some even deserved reputations - what the f**k is up? Hoodoo, schmoodooo - pretty ordinary side, missing Dugan...

Widdop showed how a class half should play, and Merrin is a very fine player... very fine

 

[Fast Eddie]

We need the fan base to knee jerk and turn on Tomkins.


But in all seriousness they'll make the 8, I have little doubt of that.

 

[Diesel]

Considering we have played two supposedly wooden spoon teams in the last two weeks and have lost by more than 2 converted tries I dread to think what happens when we play a mid-table team

 

[SilentOne]

not sold on chad, when Thomas comes back would put him back at 6.

 

[JJ]

Townsend was ok, nobody thought he'd be brilliant - and TL won't be either

Forwards have been underwhelming, still some howlers in defence, and nothing in attack...

Again, Elliott is demonstrably crap...

I don't have an issue with Tomkins, he was mixed again - they've probably overpaid on him, and in a golden era of fullbacks in the NRL, he's likely to be middle of the road = certainly nothing to suggest he's in the league of Slater, Inglis, Stewart, Hayne, Dugan etc

 

[Fast Eddie]

Well personally I think making any judgements about overpaying Tomkins, where he is going to rank in NRL fullbacks etc after two games is pretty weird. Just like it would be if he had had two great games and people were saying he is the next Slater.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Considering we have played two supposedly wooden spoon teams in the last two weeks and have lost by more than 2 converted tries I dread to think what happens when we play a mid-table team

We'll do what we usually do, step up it where we should be playing and compete.

The Tomkins hate from some is both laughable and sad. He was never going to do what he did in ESL over here, and it's ridiculous to expect that and then complain when it doesn't happen.

We attacked poorly, Dragons defended well. The scoreline is a poor reflection on the performance.

Our attacking structure is poor and that's a concern, it's like we're sliding when we have the ball in hand, zero changes if angle or straightening of the attack when we go wide.

If we straighten things up I think we'll find ourselves being a hell of a lot more productive.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Townsend was ok, nobody thought he'd be brilliant - and TL won't be either

Forwards have been underwhelming, still some howlers in defence, and nothing in attack...

Again, Elliott is demonstrably crap...

I don't have an issue with Tomkins, he was mixed again - they've probably overpaid on him, and in a golden era of fullbacks in the NRL, he's likely to be middle of the road = certainly nothing to suggest he's in the league of Slater, Inglis, Stewart, Hayne, Dugan etc

Townsend is slow, misreads plays and defensively is a speed hump (5 missed tackles out of 15 made) at least TL can tackle, read a play and take on the line!

I think that is the issue with Tomkins, you pay the big biscuits and he as proven little, other that the ability to hold the ball till the defence is committed and pass, otherwise he is slipping over when stepping and drop a bomb under pressure equalling in try's to opposition!

Culture I think is a big issue, and I'm not sure how a coach breeds that out of a club in under 3 years?
Surely we have some ex-players playing for other NRL clubs who can shed some light on the situation "back home" compared to their Aussie club?
Off the record of course.

 

[warrior poet]

we missed leuluai... when does he come back? Johnson needs a more organised half to work off... townsend seem to be only nsw cup quality. i said the same thing last year but neilsen is a dud buy... like townsend he adds nothing to the team (hurrell or laumape should be in the team).
Once upon a time i never thought i'd ever say this but rapira and lillyman should be replaced, they are no where near what they used to be... we need to get a couple of props as mid season transfers (graham/kasiano/etc). Mateo played better in parts than he has for a while but i'm not sure what the club needs to do to get him to fire (he seems to be similar to inu... plays one good game every 5-6).
The only players from this game that i think should be safe are tomkins, johnson, friend, matulino, matagi, ropati and mannering. The rest are replaceable (either for the next game or permanently)

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Well personally I think making any judgements about overpaying Tomkins, where he is going to rank in NRL fullbacks etc after two games is pretty weird. Just like it would be if he had had two great games and people were saying he is the next Slater.

While he might not be stepping his way to tries on every touch, he should be getting the basics right in the fullback position!
Did they do bombs in the ESL?
Yes he needs more support in blockers, 3 tries so far have come from him dropping bombs.

 

[Fast Eddie]

The Tomkins hate from some is both laughable and sad. He was never going to do what he did in ESL over here, and it's ridiculous to expect that and then complain when it doesn't happen.

Eh it is what it is I suppose. Lets be realistic and say 80-90% of Warriors fans had seen this guy play maybe 2-3 games at most, he got wheeled out with that big media week and talk of his salary so they were expecting to come over and from round 1 be putting in 2009 Billy Salteresque performances. Bit of a hiding to nothing really.