Tonight we saw what happens when the team is given a licence to thrill. Sandow played with a stable base but when he decided to play off the cuff the team was ready for it. His kicking game was good and the team chased admirably. Ben Roberts turned in a good performance, his only blot being the dropped ball from the kickoff. But what impressed me the most was how we put the Broncos to the sword. We didn't let up. When we saw an opportunity we took it. I know I shouldn't be drawing comparisons between our current crop and our legends of the 80's but when Mullaney drifted across field and then squeezed through the gap that opened it looked similar to the way Kenny would dummy and run. He had the defence back peddling and used his speed to beat his man.
Arthur's Army looks to have settled in under their interim coach. Our plays were fast and we were looking to offload. There were no one out hitups and forwards were passing between each other. It's something we've been lacking for a long time and it just goes to show that with the right structure in place we can beat the best of them. We played without fear and were prepared to chance our arm inside our own half. Hopefully we can continue this into next season and become a real threat. On a side note, Maitua played exceptionally well on the left edge and he was always dangerous whenever he got the ball.
Replies
super eel,it showed tonight ,sk structure and game plan was holding back our team,ricky wont need a 5 year plan to build the eels up.
we have the players to win games,what the board did wrong was, they let sk go to long,a tape on the shoulder long ago should have been put inplace,saying sk change your structure and game plans.
i see the last two weeks , ben roberts is back from n.s.w, and tonight horo was back at 18th man at the game,he was in the warm up too.
so i think rickys here right now running the ship,as i see it , dont play big bucks to ben roberts and horo to play n.s.w cup.
give them a go again. very wise i say.
ryan morgan going well now, a future star, sio going great,smith a good goer..
great win guys. more to come next week when we smash the tigers.
In all honesty, I can't help but think everyone is getting a tad carried away. Those tries that Brisbane let in during that 10 minute spate contained some of the most pitiful defence I've ever seen. I don't think they played a lot differently in terms of structure to how they've played over the last month, in particular - Joseph Paulo playing in the middle as an extra link has had us playing with a lot more width for a little while now.
What was different tonight was there was a little added confidence in everything we did. What is blatantly obvious now is Kearney just lost whatever magic there is that enables athletes to perform at their best, and Brad Arthurs has done a very nice job of restoring/fostering it or whatever.
However, they still dropped in intensity for periods during the second half, which is an issue we have to get out of our game if we want to start being consistently competitive again.
As for Maitua. Well, it would have been nice if he'd brought that to the party for the previous 20 matches or so. From very early in this season up until tonight, he has simply not played to what he is capable of and that was shown tonight. A totally different energy level to what we've seen all season from him and when we finally got some potency on the fringes from him, we suddenly look a different football team.
Phil, we have just won 2 in a row for the first time in 2 years, n have beaten the storm n broncs doing it, we scored 40 points tonight without hayne n our stand in coach has a 100% record already eclipsing SKs 21% record, being only the 7th coach in history to score 40 in his first game, with stuart being one of the other 7, cant we get a tad carried away, we havnt had much to cheer about this year, lol...
The boys by their body language and application to the game were enjoying their footy, and that my friend I have not seen for some time. Most of this season they have looked forlorn, lost and at times just pissed off. If the coach is drumming a game plan into you and repeatedly it is not working then you WILL become disillusioned. The only structure a team should follow nowadays is the defensive one it wins games if not premierships otherwise anyone can trip to the nearest park and play touch footy, your attack, (and if you have the personnel to run, pass the ball/second phase it !) should be unshackled ie cut loose when opportunity arises. Our defense tonight was very good and the attack was unshackled and we ran the pill at opportunity with the result that speaks for itself. The Broncos had a lot to play for and we denied them. Our attack needs some more work, with some players needing to take the line on with more purpose. Sio needs to get out of his game that stutter/skip step thing and attack the line with more purpose and thought. Roberts showed what he can do when taking the line with ball in both hands !
Phil I'll admit, up until this evening I didn't share your admiration for Joseph Paulo, nor your faith in his footballing ability. Some suggested that in Paulo we've lost nothing by shedding Feleti Mateo.
Whilst I won't go that far just yet, Paulo finally made a believer out of me tonight. This is probably the fifth game this season where I've witnessed him playing at a level far above most backrowers in the competition and I now consider him to be in the top 5 most potent and skilful backrowers in the comp.
Great to see Reni have a blinder too. Despite what some folks might say, let's not forget that Reni is only 18 months back from a lengthy drug suspension and is arguably in the twilight of his career. I cannot fault his weekly commitment and endeavour to our cause.
The Broncos defence may have been bad but in the past the Eels couldn't or didn't take advantage of it. Last night they did. Maybe it was just a little more confidence but like good teams, they put a side playing poorly to the sword. So often in the last couple of years, it's been the Eels being put to the sword. Hopefully this run continues and we hit the ground running next year.
Totall agree with you about Reni Phil, while I think the shackles have been loosened from Clayton's structured grip (finally and thankfully) its not good enough that players with the calibre of Maitua only step up in these last rounds.
The sort of committment he showed tonight may have just got us over the line in some of the closer matches earlier in the season.
Mullaney really reminds me of Nathan Gardner and needs to stay at the back... Although I was concerned by how far back he was at times. I said to my mate that if the broncos put a chip kick in we would be in trouble. They didn't until Matt Gillett put one through in the 2nd half and nearly scored. Cooper Cronk would have had a bit of a field day..
All in all it's amazing what confidence can do to a side.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next