The primary issue we have is with our forwards going into collisions with undeveloped skillsets that stop them being consistently put on their backs as well as forcing 3rd tacklers to slide off quickly.
This greatly helps us to control the ruck and is the best type of nursery (CULTURE) where our halves/spine develop great organisational and attacking skillsets. (passing, running, etc).
For many years now our halves/spine have mostly played in games being flustered, put under lots of pressure because our forwards usually have lost control of the ruck for much of most games they play.
This means our halves/spine don't have the opportunity to really develop the NRL skills in the heat of battle where they become excellent front foot (and back foot) generals with a foray of strong attacking skills (passing, kicking, organising) like Cooper Cronk, Luke Keary, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Adam Reynolds, Cody Walker, Keiran Foran, Dale Cherry Evans, etc, etc, all of them playing behind dominant forward packs controlling the ruck, providing fast play the balls against retreating defensive lines and where these halves/spines get to practice becoming very good at passing, kicking, organising, etc = DOMINATION.
If we don't solve this issue ASAP our halves/spine will never know what DOMINATION really is and fully experience it and therefore a weak culture will continue radiating throughout our top 60 or so players.
Ray Price and Co were all about DOMINATION for 80 minutes.
For much of the 33 years since Ray & co retired, our club has practiced being DOMINATED instead of being the DOMINATOR.
THIS IS WHAT HAS TO BE FIXED.
Like the old motto, look after the cents and the cents look after the dollars and in the same way, get a damn good bunch of coaches, trainers and players who are deeply passionate about DOMINATION and this filters through the culture of our club where generational halves/spines carry on the DOMINATION culture season after season.
Mitchell Moses and co have never been given the real opportunity to burst forth their real skill sets as dominant halves/spine-players bringing greatness to the fortunes of our club's culture.
This really is not Mitchel's, Salmons, etc, fault. It's Brad Arthur's and all those currently useless in bringing forth this domination culture come skill sets, this includes getting the right players who know what it is to be dominate, battered bodies and all, round after round.
Maybe Brad is fixing this issue and is why we occasionally see this domination attitude appear like it did v Rabbits a few days ago and as it did v Storn 2017 Semi Final.
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U got this sign up as coach
Apologies, but I'm not getting what you are saying, your intentions.
Spot on. In 2017 all the talk was the Eels forwards playing above their weight & giving it to bigger forward packs. Sadly the play makers cop the crap for how the team is going, but it is the forwards that are suposed to get us on the front foot. Some of our forwards are not NRL quality & it certainly shows on the field. I noticed Junior putting a massive shot on a Burgess on the weekend only for the next Burgess to push through 2 of our forwards to score next to the post. If you see Junior when that try is scored, he is absolutly ropable. Against the Rabbits on the weekend I saw more forward hit ups than I had seen in a month. Our outside backs should take a couple of hit up's when returning the ball from a kick, but they seemed to be doing most of the hit up's in the previous 3 games. If any of the forwards don't get out there & put their bodies on the line hard, they should be sent to Wenty.
Remember seeing that again in the highlights with Junior Paulo being ropeable with what just happened after his previous smashing Burgess tackle. Says it all and makes you want to give up and join the rest of the no hoper's (so to speak).
And I agree that some of the forwards from our top 30 are not NRL standard.
Huge week to week task Brad Arthur is now facing in getting this insipid mob to play at the standards delivered in the v Souths game a few days ago and in the v Storm 2017 semi and save his NRL career.
Will be interested to see just how many 2019 players are to be moved on and just who they are going to bring in, players with that extra edge of weekly intensity, passion and intimidation.
CF, We need more sore losers. Mannah is a great guy, as well as perhaps the happiest losing Captain in history - in our worst decade since the 1950s. It doesn't help when the leaders were meant to be showing the way.
Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the greatest coaches of all time, with 39 titles, over 26 years, was once asked what's the single quality you want in a player: "a sore loser". It's because he also is a sore loser.
I saw more yelling and fire from Gutho this week as well. Moses, despite often been held to blame is a sore loser, too.
Ma'u didn't look all that upset when Burgess steamrolled over him to score and after he scored shoved his chest back, to the ground to say, all pumped: "I own you".
We need more sore losers. Top to bottom.
Agreed HOE. I wasn't a big 5/8 back in 1969/1970 and big guys and small wanted to smash me and many did but by the end of the game none of them ever wanted to take me on again because I would do anything to get them back while staying focused - many of these arseholes finished the games at least as sore and damaged as I was, some far worse, much of it caused by illegal actions. There was always a way to bring these arseholes down from their fantorgasmic high perches. I've always been a sore loser in a good way.
Great post mate, spot on about soft serve dreamer Timmy, we need to set the bar higher, make some serious changes, symbolic ones too and it should be starting with Tim getting the tap on the shoulder asap.
Snake. I thinkTim Mannah is still playing good football, making planty of tough contact metres. He is also starting to offload, although he left it a bit late in his career. He is a nice softspoken man, but i would not call him soft as he plays it tough in the hardest position on the field, He has been a faithful servant of this club on and off the field and should be allowed to choose when he should retire. You talk about player loyalty, what about fan loyalty to the players.
Like so many other players over the years since the late 80's/early 90's, you just don't know which one was going to turn up from one round to the next, a spartan on the front line facing Xerxes forces or an all is love Christian in a Roman Coliseum facing Lions (so to speak) and voracious gladiators.
Burgess targeted our two smallest forwards to score. You cannot keep these talented forwards out forever. The Burgess brothers score plenty os tries against other teams. We did well to contain them for most of the game.
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