We'll wipe away your smile

[DeeGan]

still smiling.

Did you attend the game?

Steve's first up went like this - scoot from dummy half to the right, BOOM, unheralded Adam Hutchinson puts on a great hit that draws a gasp from the large crowd. To his credit, Turner got up albeit slower than normal.

Steve Turner had a pretty quiet first half though looked dangerous when switched to fullback - I think he will challenge Billy for the number one jersey if that trial is anything to go by.

Out of the established Storm stars, he can hold his head high whereas some will see more playing time this weekend for failing to perform as Bellamy would have liked I read this morning.

 

[Lowdown]

Steve's first up went like this - scoot from dummy half to the right, BOOM, unheralded Adam Hutchinson puts on a great hit that draws a gasp from the large crowd

Wow - must be quite a proud prop to land a hit on the smallest bloke on the paddock. :sarcasm:

Turner had a strong match first up. Storm had a comfortable victory. No injuries to report. Plenty to work on, and a defensive line which looked exceptional. A lucky try off a kick is nothing to be overly concerned about.

They were held scoreless for 20 mins on each side of the half, and credit to the Titans were credit is due.

 

[DeeGan]

Wow - must be quite a proud prop to land a hit on the smallest bloke on the paddock. :sarcasm:

Turner had a strong match first up. Storm had a comfortable victory. No injuries to report. Plenty to work on, and a defensive line which looked exceptional. A lucky try off a kick is nothing to be overly concerned about.

They were held scoreless for 20 mins on each side of the half, and credit to the Titans were credit is due.

Hutchinson is a second rower - though the sarchasm noted ;-)

In the end, no matter who it was, Steve Turner got thumped and to put a finer point on it - "the smile was wiped away from his face".

I am not interested in headbutting a brickwall on this point, though Hutchinson did what a large majority of the crowd obviously were waiting for given the reaction ;-)

The end.

Moving on ...

Out of interest, did you attend the game? The "defensive line which looked exceptional" comment is quite an obvious one given the scoreline - how much did you get to see given I thought there was not outside coverage barring the 10-15 seconds on the news?

The defensive effort of the Storm was great though helped by a lot of dropped ball and lack of direction on our part when inside the 20.

Our scrambling defence kept us in the game - the scoreline could have been larger at halftime if not for some fine cover up work from the outside backs who made a couple of bad reads.

 

[Lowdown]

Here's that article I think Deegan was referring to:

Titans the brighter despite defeat

Roy Masters

Feb 19 2007
The Sydney Morning Herald

TITANS 6 STORM 32

THE losers were delighted and the winners grumpy following the trial between the NRL's newest team, the Gold Coast Titans, and last year's grand finalists, the Melbourne Storm, at Coffs Harbour's BCU Stadium on Saturday night.

The Storm won comfortably in the end, although their established stars were overshadowed by a young Gold Coast team which held the minor premiers to 12-6 at half-time.

Of his side's strategy of fielding a team of players expected to be mere mid-season back-up, Titans managing director Michael Searle said: "We got a lot of comfort out of the game because it established we have depth, particularly in the halves. This is an area we are paranoid about, particularly with our top two halves being Scott Prince and Preston Campbell.

"But if anything happens to them, we have found a half in Isaac Kaufman and a five-eighth in Josh Costello. They were the standouts."

Searle said coach John Cartwright was also pleased with the form of fullback Richie Mathers, an import from England, and rugby union convert Josh Graham, a centre who has transferred from the Western Force after having started his professional career with the Storm. Former Broncos back-rower Brad Meyers, back from England, also impressed.

The Titans' only try was scored by former Storm player Chris Walker, released last year because of ill discipline. "There is a touch of irony in that he scored our first points," Searle said, adding that Walker was on track to be offered a contract.

The Storm, meanwhile, were impressed by Matt Rua, who left the club at the end of the 2002 season before being rescued from the Queensland Cup. "The way he went, he's likely to be signed up," said football manager Dean Lance.

However, coach Craig Bellamy was disappointed with the overall display, telling the team that players seeking to be noticed performed well while established ones did not.

Anthony Quinn, who has joined from Newcastle, was effective and Steve Turner, the focus of a bitter off-season contract dispute between the two clubs, was dangerous when moved to fullback.

Bellamy said he may rethink his plan to field a rookie team against Manly next week and, instead, choose a squad which includes those who were pedestrian against the Titans.

Well - Bellamy is not one to issue superlatives after even the best performance. He is a master at keeping players on notice and on edge.

 

[DeeGan]

Here's that article I think Deegan was referring to:





Well - Bellamy is not one to issue superlatives after even the best performance. He is a master at keeping players on notice and on edge.

Cheers.

Agree on the comment re: Bellamy.

Overall he can't be too disappointed surely. As alluded too, he has not injury conerns, the team won and the less established talent he trialled made an impact. A pleasing result for mine.

 

[Lowdown]

I am not interested in headbutting a brickwall on this point, though Hutchinson did what a large majority of the crowd obviously were waiting for given the reaction ;-)

I'm glad the crowd got what they wanted. If it makes them feel better that someone laid a hit on Turner then so be it. I guess you can thank Bellamy for picking a full strength squad, and Turner on the wing in order to facilitate such therapy. Moving on...;-)

No I wasnt at the game...but one try off a kick (and a very fortunate try - perhaps only Walker and a few others are able to score tries like that) is fairly obvious assesment of the defensive effort. You say the Titans dropped the ball and lacked direction. My take on this is that the defense plays a big part in these. Its not all about tackling and closing gaps. Its about stifling the attack, pressure on the playmakers, dominance around the ruck etc etc. Again to concede one try is pleasing in the first trial.

That and several comments on the various forums from Storm supporters in attendance mentioning the defensive effort, so without being there...I put these together and get a mental picture .

Please feel free to put your views forward if you thought the Storm's defensive line looked anything but exceptional.

 

[DeeGan]

I posted:

The defensive effort of the Storm was great though helped by a lot of dropped ball and lack of direction on our part when inside the 20.

Defensively the Storm were strong, this was the highlight of their game on Saturday night. We were our own worst enemy inside the 20, simple as that. Yes, this is brought upont by defensive pressure from the Storm who hurried us in to mistakes and bad decisions - no one here is hiding from that fact.

If my post was taken as taking any credit away from the Storm - it was interpreted incorrectly. I could have elaborated perhaps on the comment.

The fact remains we dropped a lot of ball and lacked direction when attacking inside that 20 metres. Was this attributed to the Storm side's defence? Of course, anyone who knows a little about the game at this level knows more often than not the opposition is on top when defending.

 

[Lowdown]

If my post was taken as taking any credit away from the Storm - it was interpreted incorrectly. I could have elaborated perhaps on the comment.

No dramas at all...I'm cool with your comments. I took it you were simply asking to see if I was at the game to add credence to my comments, and I simply provided the reasons how I came to this assessment.

As Rugby League fans, there is one thing we have in common - the ability to talk up our teams, and see everything slanted slightly (some are slanted more extreme) more one way than the other. I'm guilty just as many others are. Would I have used 'exceptional' had I thought more about it? Probably not. I would have used 'appeared exceptional' ;-)

Seriously - with you being at the game, you are more credentialled than I to pass comments on the game. I am interested in your comments about Turner v Slater, though. Whilst I admit Turner is a walk-in to nearly many other teams as a fullback, with Billy in the number 1, it seems unlikely that he'll be moved anytime soon (unless a spectacular loss of form). Was Slater performing poorly or simply quiet? The few clips I saw showed Slater supporting well on some breaks, including his try. I also heard he was not put under any pressure by high balls or tested in that respect. He was also said to be returning the ball strongly to the line which is a good sign for Storm fans. His groin injury a few seasons ago really hampered his confidence in this respect.

 

[DeeGan]

No dramas at all...I'm cool with your comments. I took it you were simply asking to see if I was at the game to add credence to my comments, and I simply provided the reasons how I came to this assessment.

As Rugby League fans, there is one thing we have in common - the ability to talk up our teams, and see everything slanted slightly (some are slanted more extreme) more one way than the other. I'm guilty just as many others are. Would I have used 'exceptional' had I thought more about it? Probably not. I would have used 'appeared exceptional' ;-)

Seriously - with you being at the game, you are more credentialled than I to pass comments on the game. I am interested in your comments about Turner v Slater, though. Whilst I admit Turner is a walk-in to nearly many other teams as a fullback, with Billy in the number 1, it seems unlikely that he'll be moved anytime soon (unless a spectacular loss of form). Was Slater performing poorly or simply quiet? The few clips I saw showed Slater supporting well on some breaks, including his try. I also heard he was not put under any pressure by high balls or tested in that respect. He was also said to be returning the ball strongly to the line which is a good sign for Storm fans. His groin injury a few seasons ago really hampered his confidence in this respect.

Cheers ;-)

As for Slater vs Turner.

I, with the Melbourne fans that were in my area, agreed that the Turner looked far more lethal from the fullback position as opposed to Billy Slater. Reasons for that - could have been a mixture of things that lead to that:

- Slater was at fullback for the majority of the first 40 minutes (if not all) when the Titans were at the best. He was not given as much opportunity - the holes weren't opening up as much for him in that period.

- The first 40 minutes the Storm were feeling their way a little - Slater could not benefit in attack.

- The Storm were on the front foot more often than not in the second stanza (as the 20-0 scoreline in the second half suggests) and Turner was able to pick and choose his spots more regulary at fullback. An overwhelmed young outfit were hanging on in the last quarter.

Turner supporter brilliantly. He had one try disallowed (called back for a forward pass) and was always in the thick of any attacking raid.

Slater did nothing overly wrong, he was safe from the back and did his job - a couple of things he tried didn't work (e.g. attacking the edges and being put in too touch) though you get it all from Slater in a game, he tries things and I don't think Bellamy will mark him too harshly.

If they were trialling for the position - Turner is up 1-0.

 

[Lowdown]

If they were trialling for the position - Turner is up 1-0.

As I've said before...competition for positions is a beautiful thing...

 

[Ice777]

While i could be wrong, i don't think we'll see Turner taking over fullback anytime soon. The reason why i think this is because Turner is a more adaptable player as in he can play on the wing or fullback if needed. No matter where he plays you don't lose much either way performance wise.

But with Billy IMO to get the optimum perfornance out of him he has to play fullback. When he's played elsewhere he doesn't look anywhere near as attacking or dangerous as what he does in the number one jersey. I also think it's the reason why Inglis never really took over fullback as well. If you had to pick one position for Greg to play i reckon he plays his best at fullback, but at the same time when he's not playing there you don't lose much at all because the kid just seems to dominate anywhere he plays.

By taking Billy away you're negating his firepower in some ways so i can't see any point moving him elsewhere when we have Turner burning up the wing. While i know he'd rather play fullback he's become accustomed to playing on the wing and he's more than happy to do so and let's face it, it does a hell of a good job of it as well. IMO you gain so much more having Billy at fullback and Turner on the wing than vice versa where i think you lose more than you gain.

Anyway that's my take on it, leave Stevie boy on the wing where he's proven and you pretty much know he'll cross the line and leave Billy to do what he does best and that is play fullback. Hopefully he's learnt his lesson from the brain explosions from last year which i think he has and i'm tipping we'll see the Billy of old this year. With the success we had last year and doing without him for a large part of the season, i think he's become somewhat of the forgotten man in terms of what he's capable of but i'm tipping big things from the boy this year ;-)