I can see what Payten will be looking at with us, grind us to a low scoreline then press, use heat to advantage and throw it around. They are the best second half team in the comp. Look at round 8, we pushed NQ early on and didn't make a divot, NQ bided their time then pounced with fatigue and in the second half.
Added to that we are a midway team in that we are better late first half to mid second half then drop off towards the end.
Now pretty even in experience, Payten and BA have neither been in a prelim, both teams haven't been in a prelim for a while.
But is the heat a concern? Is Canberra not even firing a shot masking us for an onslaught for next week? I though NQ weren't convincing conceading 30 against Cronulla next week but will Payten make them razor sharp as he prides himself on their defence?
This is a very difficult game ti get a read on, tonigjt was a we should win but we might lose it ourselves. Next week is a game that could favour us in that we are not expected to win, but Cotter, McLean and Robson will slow it down in the ruck, grind the first half away then pounce with fatigue in second half. This is also where BA needs to be careful with his subs, Paulo coming back on with 5 to go in 1st half is not needed, in the heat up in Townsville use the second half to your advantage, having Nanai, Leilua as the edge, Holmes in the centres roaming NQ are gonna primed from the week off but we are also coming in unscathed and confident.
Plus do not be surprised if Payten works his way to get a player to knock Moses out early, even to a point where sacrificing a penalty or sin bin for Moses to come off HIA, massive chance if he goes off next week he will be out as it'll be 3 weeks straight, is it worth it for a sin bin? Well yes as with all due respect it JA who did his job tonight, no Moses means no win pretty much.
Plus our record in the past in NQ is awful, but records are meant to be broken, is it our time or are we a year off still? Let's hope it's the former.
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Weve got this game, im very confident, just got a good feeling.
Parra needs to get up there 3-4 days before the game. Get used to the heat. BA's going to have to make smarter use of our bench giving our forwards more breathing time during interchanges. Moses needs to be protected when kicking, kicking behind a blocker is imperative. They will defo target Mitch. They know we'd be rudderless without him. We all saw how he marshalled the team today.
With more than half our experienced pack, moving on...THIS IS IT. THIS IS IT Boys. The last chance, the last dance before Reed, Marata, Oregon, Opacic and Ice move on.
If it weren't for the north Qld heat I'd say we have this in the bag - the Cowboys Sharks game was fun to watch, but it wasn't finals level footy. Both teams were shocking in defence.
Against Canberra we were clinical, the only try was a length of the field effort due to a rare Gutho missed tackle. We shut them down early and never gave them a sniff. Vossy said in commentary when we have a 10 point lead this year at any point in the game we win 100% of the time (now 13 games). It shows how important it is for us to start hard, win the battle in the middle and exploit the defence of the Cowboys that lets in points.
The North Queensland heat will be the deciding factor. I know it's pointless to say at this stage, but we really, really need a full bench for this game because if we get into a grind or have to play from behind we are going to get exhausted as hell in the heat and humidity.
Let's go Eels!
With the heat up there, he has to get the bench right. Can't carry his son or Makatoa. I thought JA was awful last night in his cameo and I was glad when he went off. They need to be training all week up there for mine to acclimatise to the heat.
See I thought JA was fine, did his job for the time being. Does it justify him on the bench? No, but he did his job for the moment.