Week 1 Finals: Parra v Penrith GAME DAY THREAD @ Bluebet Stadium 9/9/22

[Happy MEel]

I like @Poupou Escobar. He’s an advocate and usually argues from a fairly solid standpoint. Truth be told, I’m a little disappointed tonight. Ronan Keating of all merkins provided some good advice…

 

[Incorrect]

Fmd what's the point of picking J Arthur

Perfect backup

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yes, and he picked out Jake. Who obliged accordingly. It was a really poor read

On the back foot it’s not the defence who makes the read, it’s the attack. Like I already described for you. As for Cleary it’s not the first line break he has made. The guy has speed and strength. It’s part of why he gets paid so much.

 

[Happy MEel]

On the back foot it’s not the defence who makes the read, it’s the attack. Like I already described for you. As for Cleary it’s not the first line break he has made. The guy has speed and strength. It’s part of why he gets paid so much.

So defences don’t make reads in response to attack? Wow.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Do you believe nepotism is a thing or just a made up word?

I believe it's a thing, but I also know how important trust is in many environments and I'm certain a footy club is one of these. In places like that trustworthiness makes a man more valuable, which can look like nepotism to merkins who don't understand the environment.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

It’s part of why he gets paid so much.

So it comes down to the Panthers having more resources.

(I’ve spent too long on the Parra forum).

 

[Poupou Escobar]

It is when you’re trapped on your goal line the entire time and behind on the scoreboard.

Well no because there was still time to be patient. Like I said, we only needed one try. We didn't score the first one by playing Parraball in our own half and we certainly weren't going to score a second that way.

 

[Noise]

I believe it's a thing, but I also know how important trust is in many environments and I'm certain a footy club is one of these. In places like that trustworthiness makes a man more valuable, which can look like nepotism to merkins who don't understand the environment.

Yea you’re right. There is no way a coach could pick a player based on nepotism, no matter the environment. Nobody loves their kid that much.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

If I wanted to be a little cheeky I would say that the cash we are still chipping in for Waqa looks like money well spent tonight.

His go forward has been dogshit for weeks now. He must be carrying an injury.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

No one expects JA to do that. That’s not the issue. The issue is that JA can’t contribute to the side in the current setup and we’d be better off having someone else in his place.

Got one of two team LBAs tonight.

 

[Incorrect]

Just got home from watching the game at the pub with a couple of mates.... Great first half of footy and gripping contest, we had them doubting themselves IMO.... Second half.... There's 2 irrefutable facts;

* Waqa Blake cost us 2 tries and basically the win by surrendering possession at key points and they scored both times
* Jakob Arthur was f**king awful in pretty much everything he attempted. There's no sugar coating it. He wasn't the reason we lost tonight mind.... But he was a massive part of us losing face in terms of premiership contendership... Just an awful performance...

Thoughts and prayers with Mitch for next week otherwise we're toast....

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Love how Pou tells us how much money he had on the winner AFTER the game...

What difference would it have made if I'd told you before the game? I didn't want to win the money, I wanted us to win the game ffs.

 

[Happy MEel]

On the back foot it’s not the defence who makes the read, it’s the attack. Like I already described for you. As for Cleary it’s not the first line break he has made. The guy has speed and strength. It’s part of why he gets paid so much.

Lol. Are you on the back foot on the opposition’s 20 metre line?

 

[the phantom menace]

On the back foot it’s not the defence who makes the read, it’s the attack. Like I already described for you. As for Cleary it’s not the first line break he has made. The guy has speed and strength. It’s part of why he gets paid so much.

So it wasn't a poor defensive read by Jake then... Are you seriously trying to gaslight on that moment of the game, of all things?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Well, let’s see who’s clueless.
Ill ask you the same question all the others haven’t had the balls to answer. I suspect you won’t either

is it acceptable for your half back to have zero runs, zero line engagements and play so far behind the advantage line that his runners are sitting duck, easy targets.

Sh9w me that didn’t happen tonight

He didn't run the ball because there were no opportunities. We don't want him making hit ups because he weighs less than 90kg.

When the opportunities are there he runs the ball, as he should. But we have a better running half than Moses and that's the merkin we want running the ball. You play to your strengths, and for Moses it's his kicking game. Leave the hit ups to the forwards.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Typical bullshit artist trait.

 

[the phantom menace]

Well no because there was still time to be patient. Like I said, we only needed one try. We didn't score the first one by playing Parraball in our own half and we certainly weren't going to score a second that way.

No necessarily - how can that be something you're certain of?

The Panthers played Pantherball in their own half, and they got the 40m break through Jake Arthur, and the resultant try a few plays after. Just because their previous try/tries didn't come in a certain way, didn't mean they they were certain not to score that way if they actually tried.

Disappointing effort tonight on here Poupou... not showing your best logical form by a long stretch.

 

[lucablight]

Well no because there was still time to be patient. Like I said, we only needed one try. We didn't score the first one by playing Parraball in our own half and we certainly weren't going to score a second that way.

I think at that moment the team felt like if they didn’t pull a rabbit out of a hat they were going to get overwhelmed.

Got one of two team LBAs tonight.

Did it result in a try? He contributed heavily to two that made the game unwinnable. Do you think Ivan gives the keys to Salmon if Nathan gets injured or tells Luai to run the show tonight?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

We could have, until Moses went down and we were relying on a 19 year old reserve grader.

Who should we have been relying on? At least Arthur's put on a line break with a pass. One of only two we made all night. The fact is Penrith were fresh off a week's rest and had plenty of defensive energy. At 13-8 we were unlikely to regain the lead and especially with Moses gone. If Cartwright had come on instead you'd be blaming him that we didn't find another try.

If you don’t think we were a good chance of pulling back the deficit at 13-8, I’m not going to bother engaging in a robust discussion.

I thought it was possible but unlikely. Our patience had already gone out the window.

Regardless, Waqa was the difference tonight. You don’t like scapegoats so I’m interested to hear your views on this.

He was poor but like Arthur's said, if we had better kick pressure then Blake wouldn't have been under so much pressure himself. It's a team game.

But Penrith is a dark, shitty ground and they're the only team used to playing there.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

He didn't put shit on anyone. Just said Cleary kept attacking where Moses would of defended.
Just so happens that's where young Arthur ended up.

Yeah well they have Kikau on that side. They sent plenty of traffic that way when Moses was there and actually less when Arthur was there.