If Mitchell Moses had played against the Bulldogs yesterday afternoon would Parra have won? I think the Eels were definitely robbed by some really disgraceful refereeing and bunker calls against Parra and some that should have gone against the Bulldogs that were let go.
I think that if Moses played the Eels would have won for a number of reasons. His leadership was sorely missed, his kicking game, his captaincy in questioning some of the poor refereeing calls and just his presence on the field. Williams as acting captain should have spoken up numerous times but he didn't to my knowledge.
The incident where Burton blatantly pushed JAC out of the way when it's obvious JAC would have scored a try. That should have been challenged by Williams and definitely called by the linesman and bunker. Should have been a penalty minimum and a professional foul.
I still don't understand why Moses was left out of yesterday's game as it would have been the ideal way for him to prove his ability to play in Origin 2 even if Moses only played half a game or came on in sections still would have benefitted both ways.
The other extremely questionable decisions by referee and bunker like the Papali try just before half time. The supposed shoulder charge on Burton by TDS that led to the Bulldogs winning. The obstruction by TDS late in the 2nd half were all incorrect in my opinion. Let's hope IF Moses does play Origin 2 that NO injuries happen to him or it will possibly be same as last year
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Moses? If Pezet played I think we would've won. If Paulo played at least.
The likes of Volkman, Joash, Kelma, Moretti, TDS are doing alright but they can't drag a team. We need a leader which Williams did his best to but we need more. Iongi needs to be more courageous as a speaker/organiser and stamp his authority among the playmakers when Moses is out.
I think having Ryley would've helped too btw.
That list of 5 players were responsible for half of our missed tackles count.
Tackle applications across most of the team are not FG standard.
Teams still make metres because we are throwing multi players too high at the body.
Legs tackles are taking too long to be done and by that time opposition players are still standing in the tackle or gaining extra yardage, then making quick play the balls whilst we are still getting square at marker and adjusting our line.
I thought Ryles should have brought Edwards back on for TDS the last 15 minutes to battle for the win.
TDS is young yes, and his footy IQ and nous is still in early development however he makes costly errors at crucial times in games.
Critta and Kiraz ignored club medical advice (allegedly) to play for their club yesterday, knowing the importance of a win.
I will leave it at that without bringing Moses or any other person / factor into it.
Perhaps Moses also knew the importance of a win, and decided it's not very high. This year has turned into another development year, where it's better off giving game time to rookies and depth players.
That said, I'd not be surprised to see Moses on the hunt for a team with a chance of playing for a premiership. He's not got that many years to left to get one.
The Dogs don't have much chance either yet Critta still played
Maybe Moses didnt pass the club medical to play yesterday but is expected to be ok in a weeks time?
Maybe is Moses played he reinjured himself in the first five minutes and we played short all game and got flogged?
maybe the dogs took us lightly because Moses didnt play and would have been more locked in if Moses did play?who knows what would have happened?
Ryles said as much. In the presser he said if Mitch wasn't picked then he'd likely be playing against Canberra, but that he hadn't passed the week's injury return protocols.
You would think then if Moses didn't pass the weeks injury return protocols then he's unlikely to play Origin 2.
Nah, Ryles was referring to the Dogs game. He said Moses wasn't fit for that. But that he'd be fit for Canberra if he weren't selected for NSW.
Mitch doesn't need to train with NSW until Thursday and that's his fitness deadline for the Blues. If he doesn't train then, then he's ruled out.
There's a lot to take out of that match. The Dogs were almost at full strength and still needed the ref to beat our NSW Cup team. It wasn't a pretty match, but I was proud to see us hold on. The Dogs would be embarrassed of that performance, they were, so to speak 'dogshit'.