- Iongi - Had a good game. Still work to do on his game overall but that is expected for someone his age. Should have had that try assist if Samrani was not in the way.
- Lomax - Did his job. Needs to stop slipping lol. Backed up well. Unfortunately he did not have much support in yardage.
- Samrani - As you can see he is a backrower. To slow in attack and defence for centre. Penisni will be back next week so I expect he will either go to reserve grade or bench. The first try his read and speed cost him.
- Russel - No consistency with his catch and pass. He needs to work on it much more. Barely any yardage meters.
- JAC - Poor error at the end of the game as he did not trust Russel. Great diving try. Poor yardage game.
- Brown - Felt like he had to run the attack by himself tonight. His reads on kicks and effort to get back into play was tremendous multiple times. Did well in both eels tries in running at speed to draw defenders. I felt in the first half he had another chance to create a chance of an offload but he passed way to early.
- Moses- He was definitely not full fit. His job today was just to kick and be an onfield coach. Rather Hawkins play rather than Moses back up from origin if that is the performance we get. Cleary cooked Moses today.
- Paulo - Ran hard. Could not get as many offloads out today. Saw Panthers really focus on him since he is the only big bopper in the side.
- Smith - probably his best game for us. Tackled everything and was everywhere. Certainly think he deserve to be our 9 for now rather than going to the market. Saw his running game too when given a chance.
- Moretti - Was solid but again was well contained by Panthers intensity.
- Williams - Was very strogn again. Came so close to scoring. Made the poor error in the first half though.
- Kautoga - Being his first year, you have to expect a sub standard game after a few good weeks. His catch and pass today was shit.
- Hopgood - Any more errors in the game? Like fmd man stop ball playing and just ran and tackle hard as a forward. Let Walker and others do the ball playing.
- Walker - Very limited ball playing today. No short passes with his forwards today which probably made it harder for eels to make yardage and generate quick play the balls. Gave a dumb penalty.
- Tuilagi - Ran hard at the Panthers but struggled to make the impact. His defence was fine from memory
- Matto - Did his job.
- Papalii - Probably not the best time for him to come on when we were getting dominated in the ruck and defending our line.
For me the main focus this weak is talking about the teams perforamnce rather than an individual. But before I say much, everyone has to realise Penrith were on tonight. They were desperate to win.
Defence:
We definitely look more solid defending our own line. The first try was caused by a poor defensive read rather than a poor system. The second try Lomax slipped. The last try I just applaud the play making off Cleary. However I was not impressed with our ruck control espicially in the second half. Panthers outside backs were making way to many meters in their yardage work. We struggling to contain them. Its what Panthers did so well in their sucess. Something we really need to continue to work on. Penisni will come in for Samrani against Dogs. Hopefully he plays to the defensive system.
Attack:
We need to be more clinical. Williams so close to scoring. Samrani getting it the way off a pass. Brown passing early to Kautoga who could not find the line. Panthers scrambled well but if we were more clinical we should have got a couple more tries for sure. Decent considering Moses was no where in attack.
We really missed the work of Penisni and Simmo in yardage today. Samrani and Russel were getting belted and its not JAC strong suit. We could barely make any meters today from yardage. Panthers will do that to you if you do not have the cattle. So we got exposed. Iongi, Simmo, Penisini and Lomax is great yardage at full strength. As long as Penisni does not drop the ball or make horrendous reads lol.
We have failed to score of one of our biggest assets this season. Lomax in the air. We have completely struggled with any attacking kicks for him. He is obviously on the tip sheet for every opponent so they try put blockers in front of his run. But still we need a plan around that and kicks that give him the chance to compete properly. Too often the kicks have been to deep for him to reach or too shallow. JR and the attack coach need a better plan around Momax combo. Even bomb in the middle off the field for him.
The second thing we are yet to take advtange of is JAC speed. Put a fucking grubber into the ingoal for him please. To'o was jamming all game yet we did not one kick behind him. We really need to implement this in our game because we never do it. Our catch and pass needs a massive work on to as so many chaaces JAC would have been away if it was excuted well.
Lineup:
We need another big bopper in the middle to help Paulo. Panthers were coming out and trying to smash us and we did not have the cattle to match it in the middle. Tuivita would be a massive help when is back. But still Payne Haas or Tino. I wont be picky. Just one of them please. lol. Tino would have been coached by JR at storm. I recon Haas stays at broncos. We did not use Papalii at a good time. To be fair Smith was playing great But we brought Papalii on and when we were defending and had no field position. Do not want him at 9 during those times.
Replies
Hopgood hmm I like the player but seems to be really struggling right now the guy has all the tools to be a really good 13 and or a prop if your playing small ball.He has a missed tackle and error in him but I still believe there's a player in amongst it all.
The issue and JR touched on it were errors and inherent execution problem.This will be remedied with time it's not happening over night.In that first half we had 60% possession and were down 6-4 at halftime.Let's be fair to Riff here they scrambled really well showing why there 4 time premiership winners.The worrying part when possession swung and they got more good ball who was going to take there opportunities step up the best in the game and that ultimately dictated the result.
We got a team we have a style we want to play that JR mentioned isn't copy cat but I beg to differ but it's what it is.We need to inject more athleticism in this side with whomever they recruit that for me is the key.
I cant work it out why didn't Williams reach out and put the ball over the line it wouldnt when he was still moving he even look to see try line
That was the best i seen Dylan Brown play all year
So from no on back to old Dylan Brown is it
To pull a try out of his arse is too much I guess. He's dogshit for 1,3 mil. Good riddance. With that sort of money he should be winning the odd game single-handedly.
Best thing he did was run a ball out from our in-goal. Was a great run, after that he was barely a pass mark for a 900kish ,5/8.
He had a bit of a dig though , yes , compared to weeks gone by.
As the incumbant NZ No.6 he's below average.
Dyllan has been playing like for the past month Arnold. Maybe you should watch every game twice. You miss a lot!
I felt Papalii was there due to Moses and Lomax backing up. He was the insurance policy if either went down. I expect him to drop back to Cup next week, Samrani to bench and Penisini back at centre. At some point this year we'll have a fit back line and a good group of yardage out of our own end.
Excellent job once again EA, no-one does a review (or preview) better.
Its a given Russell has the job ahead to improve his attack but he's come on in great strides with his defence to the point I view him as a Rock.
Luca along with Williams is dynamic. He's showing the same amount of energy and determination in defence as he brings in carting the ball up.
Okay we lost the match but we're definetly playing better football each week.
I think Cleary decided who was going to win that game. Mitch has a brilliant long kick, needs to come up with a better short kicking game.
Needs to be looking at the 40/20 opportunities on the 4th tackle.
Overall I think JR has this side improving in attack and defence. Keep improving, a couple of good buys for 2026 and were playing finals footy.
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