Watching the 05 grand final and...

[Matchball]

A few observations.

Benji has had his teeth capped since then and no longer has a bed of oysters for teeth.

Heighno actually ran the ball hard once upon a time.

Sheens has aged dramatically since 05.

Pat Richards was a weapon. Ultimate winger.

We owe that game to Scott Prince. The End.

 

[Perth Tiger]

Also the Ben Galea tackle (on Bowen from memory) was crucial, that could of been the turning point fpr the Cowboys but for that brillant one on one tackle

 

[woodyk2]

I got blind and fell over a fence doing my right knee.Three months out of action.Best mate and his brother are mad Balmain supporters so it was a top night.I think.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Other observations:

The speed of the Ruck has slowed by at least 50%

Laffranchi and galea were 2 of the most under rated players of the 00s, it still pisses me off how as soon as boot went to GC he became an origin player, he'd been doing with us what he did there for 5 years

That was close to the best 1/6/7/9 of the modern era

Our bench all had impact and all came on in the FIRST HALF

We haven't had anything close to a proper fullback sinice hodgson left

 

[azsportza]

For whatever reason you don't have this game on DVD - Someone has kindly updated the entire thing on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVftOdtfSjA

 

[Matchball]

Other observations:

The speed of the Ruck has slowed by at least 50%

Laffranchi and galea were 2 of the most under rated players of the 00s, it still pisses me off how as soon as boot went to GC he became an origin player, he'd been doing with us what he did there for 5 years

That was close to the best 1/6/7/9 of the modern era

Our bench all had impact and all came on in the FIRST HALF

We haven't had anything close to a proper fullback sinice hodgson left

Or a halfback since prince left.

Hodgsons goalkicking is also missed.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Rob lui was a fantastic 7 for us

 

[innsaneink]

Also the Ben Galea tackle (on Bowen from memory) was crucial, that could of been the turning point fpr the Cowboys but for that brillant one on one tackle

Matt Checchins call on the obstruction in our favour in the 1st half was a massive call also

 

[BuffaloRules]

Other observations;

It was the best 2 hours of my life.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Matt Checchins call on the obstruction in our favour in the 1st half was a massive call also

Agreed. Remember seeing it and blowing up when it wasn't pinged originally. I remember being so relieved when Checchin told Mander to look at it.

 

[super_coach]

Mid way through the second half we got ourself into a hole and Fitzy made a great dash and that seemed to lift the team and from that point it was in the bag.Fitzy drove us all mad but he did make some big plays for us

 

[Eddie.]

Fitzhenry was a shocking footballer. One game against the Dragons at Homebush he cost us about 4 tries in 15 minutes. Lacked ticker, no pace, no size. Had a decent jink and could run out of dummy half but he was hopeless by and large.

 

[super_coach]

doing dogo shifts at work and got bored so had a look at a few games from 2010 and 2011. If people really want to know why the wheels fell of in 2012 in my Opion it was the sacking of Lui. Okay they had no choice but their season went out the door with him. He might have had some defensive issues but he gave the team plenty of shape in attack and really took the pressure of Marshall and to a lesser extent Farah. Lets hope who ever gets the gig this year will have the same influence. Also will be interesting if Lui ever gets his football career back on track

 

[Ron's_Mate]

Agreed on Lui - if only he had put his aggression into defending and not taken it out on his wife. Imagine if had stayed with the Tigers and developed as a half, and also Tuiaki and Dwyer never got injured - what a great side that could have been.

 

[macnaz]

Imagine tnt and Kori on the wings..

 

[madunit]

Lui's departure had an effect on 2012 largely because Sheens always picked him at halfback, which meant Benji could only be at 6.

2012 would have been similar to 2010 and 2011 if Moltzen was kept at 7.

 

[super_coach]

Lui had a really good football brain with the attacking game to back it up with,Iam not sure outside Farah anyone at the club has these skills. Miller might get their but at present probably has a long way to go

 

[madunit]

for the majority of his time in our side, Lui was a passenger in attack and defence, but he was worthwhile cos he kept Benji at 6.

As his time went on, he very slowly got better and became a decent attacking player.

He was never a halfback though.

 

[macnaz]

Lui's departure had an effect on 2012 largely because Sheens always picked him at halfback, which meant Benji could only be at 6.

2012 would have been similar to 2010 and 2011 if Moltzen was kept at 7.

I agree 100%.

 

[Vic Mackey]

for the majority of his time in our side, Lui was a passenger in attack and defence, but he was worthwhile cos he kept Benji at 6.

As his time went on, he very slowly got better and became a decent attacking player.

He was never a halfback though.

Lui was a terrible defender but then again so was/is and benji and prince

To say he was a passenger in attack is complete garbage, there were plenty of games in 2010/11 where lui out played benji by miles

I maintain that he is a bigger loss then prince ever was