Vic Mackey
Referee
- Messages
- 25,442
Whilst being 2-7 after 9 round is highly dissapointing no matter which way you look at it, I honestly don't think we're anywhere near as bad as the Ladder is telling us. At the start of the year we were the highest tipped side for the wooden spoon, whilst most in here had us around 14th. Currently we're coming 13th which is where we finished last year, however to me we're light years ahead of where we were in 2021.
The reasons I feel this are:
* Commitment: it feels pathetic saying this as this should be a minimum requirement for a professional sportsman, however this hasnt been the case for the side over the years. Apart from the Knights game and parts of the Sharks game we've been in the contest on every occassion. Against Manly we had every reason to drop our heads. 18-0, a man in the bin getting absolutly fisted by the ref, 3 dissallowed tries yet we fought back and were within touching distance the rest of the game. Make no mistake last year we lose that 60-0.
* Defence: Our defence has improved both in structure and contact. Points conceeded per game have dropped down by 8 points this year. last year we had the second worst defence in the, year before that we were 12th. Before last week we were 8th however have now slipped to 10th. Yet on multiple occassions this year we have repelled teams having 2 and 3 sets on our tryline, this never happened previously. There is still room for improvement however we are heading in the right direction.
* Injuries: I'd be surprised if another side has had a worse injury run then us this year. Our 3 best players from last year Doeuihi, Stefano and Laurie have a total of 10 games between them of 27 possible. 2 of those 10 Lauire and Stef were injured before halftime and didnt come back. We've also had the following miss: Talau & Blore (season), Hastings (3), Kepeoa (7), Roberts (4-still injured), Maulmalo (3), Tuilagi (2), Leilua & Nofa (1). We've had games where 3 of the 4 first choice spine are missing and on occassions 7-9 of our full strength 17 out. To put into perspective Sharks, Dragons and Eels havent had a spine player miss a game yet. Teams like Penrith, Easts, NZ, Dogs have had basically no injury worries.
* Off Seaon Buys now look marquee: 2022 was always a write off, however 2023 is looking very promising. Korisau and Papalli were seen as good signings when we got them however now look like genuine Marquee buys. Friday night was probably the game of the year and to me Api and IPapz were the best 2 players on the park. Api had 2 try assisst nad 58 tackles. Paps made 187m, 57PCM (most in the game), a line break and 48 tackles. Having watched him closely this year Korisau is so critical to penrith on both sides of the ball. He is very smart in knowing when to run or pass, in defence he leads Penriths line speed who have the best in the game. Papalli has gone to another level after winning the Second Rower of the year. He is easily a Top 5 Forward in the game and you could make a solid argument that he is the currently the best forward in the world. If these two were on the market now they would command much more then whatever we paid for them.
* Improvement in Players: the majorty of our squad are playing better then they did last year. Guys like Musgrove, Ofahenguae, Simpkin and Nofoaluma look much better. Hastings and Toa have been great buys. Hastings is already a very good quality NRL 7 and Toa is a tackle break machine who has been fantastic in his games and wing and centre (aint a fullback). There are still a few weak spots that need addressing however the team for 2023 looks about 80% there.
* Bad Luck - this feels like a massive cop out and in some ways it is, but we have just had no luck at all this year. From Luc being denied a fair try against the warriors (which we lost by 4), the clock being incorrectly stopped for a penalty goal V the Titans (it should run for 80 seconds before it stops, the GC scored with 67 second left on the clock to win the game) to regularly losing two players a game to injury it just hasn’t been our year so far. This has to turn eventually.
Personally I think we're a much better side then the 3 who are imediently above us on the ladder. If we can somehow resrict the injuries the next 2-3 weeks then we should have the whole squad bar Talau, Blore and Roberts to pick from after the Round 13 bye. With what we've seen from the team I'd expect us to win more then half the remaining games. It won;t get us to the finals but it will sling shot intot he off season for a good assault on 23.
Next year will be a huge transition year for the comp. We're already seeing it with Souths and Easts coming right back to the field. Next year Storm, Eels and Penrith are losing key players and wont be able to replace them from the market. The Dolphins coming in will spead the talent even thinner, sides like us who have been waiting will have a chance to shoot up the ladder. I dont think we're that far off and even though 2022 is a write off as far as finals go I think there are heap of positives we can get from the rest of the year.
The reasons I feel this are:
* Commitment: it feels pathetic saying this as this should be a minimum requirement for a professional sportsman, however this hasnt been the case for the side over the years. Apart from the Knights game and parts of the Sharks game we've been in the contest on every occassion. Against Manly we had every reason to drop our heads. 18-0, a man in the bin getting absolutly fisted by the ref, 3 dissallowed tries yet we fought back and were within touching distance the rest of the game. Make no mistake last year we lose that 60-0.
* Defence: Our defence has improved both in structure and contact. Points conceeded per game have dropped down by 8 points this year. last year we had the second worst defence in the, year before that we were 12th. Before last week we were 8th however have now slipped to 10th. Yet on multiple occassions this year we have repelled teams having 2 and 3 sets on our tryline, this never happened previously. There is still room for improvement however we are heading in the right direction.
* Injuries: I'd be surprised if another side has had a worse injury run then us this year. Our 3 best players from last year Doeuihi, Stefano and Laurie have a total of 10 games between them of 27 possible. 2 of those 10 Lauire and Stef were injured before halftime and didnt come back. We've also had the following miss: Talau & Blore (season), Hastings (3), Kepeoa (7), Roberts (4-still injured), Maulmalo (3), Tuilagi (2), Leilua & Nofa (1). We've had games where 3 of the 4 first choice spine are missing and on occassions 7-9 of our full strength 17 out. To put into perspective Sharks, Dragons and Eels havent had a spine player miss a game yet. Teams like Penrith, Easts, NZ, Dogs have had basically no injury worries.
* Off Seaon Buys now look marquee: 2022 was always a write off, however 2023 is looking very promising. Korisau and Papalli were seen as good signings when we got them however now look like genuine Marquee buys. Friday night was probably the game of the year and to me Api and IPapz were the best 2 players on the park. Api had 2 try assisst nad 58 tackles. Paps made 187m, 57PCM (most in the game), a line break and 48 tackles. Having watched him closely this year Korisau is so critical to penrith on both sides of the ball. He is very smart in knowing when to run or pass, in defence he leads Penriths line speed who have the best in the game. Papalli has gone to another level after winning the Second Rower of the year. He is easily a Top 5 Forward in the game and you could make a solid argument that he is the currently the best forward in the world. If these two were on the market now they would command much more then whatever we paid for them.
* Improvement in Players: the majorty of our squad are playing better then they did last year. Guys like Musgrove, Ofahenguae, Simpkin and Nofoaluma look much better. Hastings and Toa have been great buys. Hastings is already a very good quality NRL 7 and Toa is a tackle break machine who has been fantastic in his games and wing and centre (aint a fullback). There are still a few weak spots that need addressing however the team for 2023 looks about 80% there.
* Bad Luck - this feels like a massive cop out and in some ways it is, but we have just had no luck at all this year. From Luc being denied a fair try against the warriors (which we lost by 4), the clock being incorrectly stopped for a penalty goal V the Titans (it should run for 80 seconds before it stops, the GC scored with 67 second left on the clock to win the game) to regularly losing two players a game to injury it just hasn’t been our year so far. This has to turn eventually.
Personally I think we're a much better side then the 3 who are imediently above us on the ladder. If we can somehow resrict the injuries the next 2-3 weeks then we should have the whole squad bar Talau, Blore and Roberts to pick from after the Round 13 bye. With what we've seen from the team I'd expect us to win more then half the remaining games. It won;t get us to the finals but it will sling shot intot he off season for a good assault on 23.
Next year will be a huge transition year for the comp. We're already seeing it with Souths and Easts coming right back to the field. Next year Storm, Eels and Penrith are losing key players and wont be able to replace them from the market. The Dolphins coming in will spead the talent even thinner, sides like us who have been waiting will have a chance to shoot up the ladder. I dont think we're that far off and even though 2022 is a write off as far as finals go I think there are heap of positives we can get from the rest of the year.
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