I went to Suncorp yesterday and I thought it was the perfect game to inject Bryce Cartwright. I was at the sitting up high and yes Mitch did some fantastic things and Browny accelerated into some gaps but overall our attack was pretty inept except for a 20 minute period. We needed a bit of off the cuff footy to inject some spark. I thought just before or after half time Bryce would have been perfect for a 30 minute spell and given a license to roam a bit and play some footy. But BA puts him on for the last 10 minutes and he touches the ball maybe twice. Now I know he misses the odd tackle but what I have seen of hium in the last 2 seasons, especially last year, is that he has learnt to pick his moments more and he can do some incredible things. He plays what he sees and does the unpredictable. My only assumption is that BA's game plans are just a bit to conservative for Carty and he doesnt want to put him on and take the risk that he might make a mistake or BA wants him out of the club. No player will hang around if they are continually not put on at all or given the last 10 minutes of a game. I hate to be cynical but at times I feel like maybe he wants JA to become the number 17 who goes on and plays the utility roll. In any case Im disappointed with the treatment of Bryce Cartwright and I think he has done some great things for us when he has been given opportunities. One can only assume he is not that coachable or something.
The other thing about yesterday that I was really disappointed in is that we went back to one out, short passes and runners on one side of the ruck only when coming out our end and we just couldnt make enough metres and we got trapped there. That was Sterlo's criticism of us last year and yet we went back to it yesterday again. We were kept in the game only by some individual pieces of brilliance.
It was also interesting watching the up and in defense from up high in the grandstand. They are so compressed and if a team can get the ball out fast enough without it getting closed down by the compressed D they can get around us. I know a lot of clubs use it but man there is such a small margin of error with it and it just seems risky againts the teams that can exploit it e.g Souths last year who went around us beautifully.
Lastly, this has been mentioned but I do wonder if we even develop different game plans for different teams. It certainly doesnt appear so. The eels are up on effort and we have improved our strong running, offloads and we have great halves. I do wonder if tactics must play a part and whether we have many. Hard to know without being a fly on the wall.
Replies
We were scoring plenty of points without him. Do you upset that by putting him on ? If we were stuck on 6 points then I'd agree , but we had a bit of a roll on so I guess we will never know whether it was the right call or not..
Whether BA has an issue with him or not , who knows ? Maybe he does. But so has a few other coaches before BA so I guess we will never know if that's also justified or not. Why he carries him on the bench if he does have an issue with him is also equally as puzzling.
Apparently our
1
6
7
and
9
are in the top 3 players in the comp in their respective positions and are all simply unlucky not to be state and /or country representives so we shoudnt need to be talking about bringing journeymen on to win us the game anyway .
We scored a few points sure but there was plenty more for the taking yesterday. I had a different view of the game than I usually get on TV and they were tired and we could have scored a lot more points than we did. The tries came from a few pieces of brilliance but I believe we needed to play some more footy and Bryce would have assisted in that. I think its a myth when coaches say we scored 24 points and that should have been enough. In the modern game some games are going to be high scoring and you have to score more than the opposition. We needed to go after the game even more when we were down by 3 tries.
And yes why put the bloke on the bench just to have him sit there. I feel for the bloke.
Yeah I have no idea why he carries him not to play him. Or why he keeps under utilising the bench fullstop. One thing I did notice though was the fact we played a man down and we're behind by a cricket score , however our fitness was good enough to come home with a wet sail. Take out two total fuck ups by Gutherson leasing to try's and Brown not being a dumb cunt and putting in that grubber instead of giving it to Gutherson on the inside and we win the game.
Do we attribute this to the fact we aren't using a whole bench most weeks ?
Even though we are coughing and spluttering , I'm not panick stations and am quite comfortable with him not using a bloke that is only a low percentage of changing that outcome yesterday. Last year we got mentally up for the business end of the season, amd this year I stil think at our best are a far superior team to last year. Yesterday it was clear from the get go that the script has Easts winning that game. We did ourselves no favours , but fuck we were officiated by blokes that shoud've been wearing balaclavas becuse they were out to rob us.
It was interesting because the Roosters had a clear plan to lay all over our players. They got a few six agains against them but were happy to do that to slow us down. They were laying on our guys way longer than we were.
Yes I think the bench is there to help and bring on some spark. Teams that bring on a utility to open up the game ofetnm benefit. But we just bring on like for like. We will be there but I am not convinced yet that we can play the kind of footy that will win us a GF. Time will tell.
Yes well if he had a problem or was unsure about his future at parra, why sign him for a further 2 seasons whilst Papalli and others remained unsigned, it just stinks ba is a total failure
I wouldnt say a total failure Chief. He has improved our club and made us a consistent finals team. That isnt failure. The next few years is a big ? with so many players allowed to leave. BA has his deficiences and weaknesses but whether we win a GF or not he will go down as a very good coach who improved the team and culture of the Parra Eels
I've never been able to figure out Brad Arthur's use or selection of his bench players. It's a mystic maze
The forwards I get it. One big bopper goes on for another. But the utility thing. He just doesnt seem to want to use one
QLD! Awesome you got to represent us all up there.
I will have to rewatch the game but from memory, I think Carty played a role in what would of been a try at the death there. DB unfortunatley, under fatigue made his first mistake for the year by not looking inside. Sliding door moment for sure.
If you take away the also super uncharateristic error by King CG that lead to Teddy's soft try, the aforementioned try assist would of actually been a try that won us the game.
Now before you say, thats a lot of 'what ifs' I agree, a lot of what ifs indeed. However that doesnt mean we failed to utilize Carty at all. The bounce of the ball can change a game with the click of a fingers.
Our coaches cant control the bounce of the ball. They injected him into the game at the perfect time, he had an opportunity to help us win and he did his job.
We got really close yesterday and lost to a very good football team that had major positinal advantages out wide and also got the rub of the green.
Tactically. We dont vary too much. But on Sunday, alot of our assignements in defense were to limit cross field kicks, which we executed all but once.
Offensivley, we stand and deliver a smash mouth type football that utilizes our squads strengths, thats what a good coach does. A coach who has the support of his players and a coach who has confidence in his group. We do not intentionally give away repeat sets like sneaky cowards. The other thing we dont do, lose often.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next