I mentioned on a blog last week that i do not care if it is by 50 or by a FG on the buzzer or in golden point, just want a win. That is what we got. Though not an impressive win, a win nonetheless. I will say it was not our worst performance of the year either, that still is still between Wests and Sydney City. We knew NQ were gonna improve, even had people behind me at the game abusing Gus Gould for saying on 2GB he believed that NQ would make it close, they were saying he is an idiot, i thought he was right they will give it a good go. Overall, i felt we were the best team and had control on the game. After the Drinkwater try, NQ did not really threaten too much other than that Townsend back-up where Brown mowed him down. It will be a nice break, now the question is has the bye came at the right or wrong time? Well had we beaten NQ easily then i would say it has, having two wonderful performances in a row. But having a good but not great performance on Friday we need a break, get some guys back and rest up, especially for someone like Ofahengaue who would benefit from 17 day turnaround. Honestly in the past we would not do well after a bye as we prefer momentum, though also in the past we do not beat Souths either so could be different this year.
Stats:
52% possession showed some control of the game, yet only 75% completions is not good enough, considering NQ had 83% and still lost. An impressive stat, nonetheless, having 7 more runs for 286 more metres, we dominated the run game again. Early in the first half it did not feel like we did yet second half we seemed to have some control just couldn't capitalise. 8 line breaks to 5, 29 missed tackles to their 32 is not great then again a win covers that. We put our offloads away for the night, with only 5 the whole night. Hell Hopgood does 5 on his own, but 5 overall the whole game? Odd gameplan to put it away for the night, we won so it doesn't really matter but still odd. One area that is not good enough is 14 errors to 9. Good teams capitalise against us, with 14 errors they will more and more. Need to tune some of these areas, thankfully we versed lesser opponents that we could get away with it.
Most Impressive:
Dylan Browna: My man of the match again, for that tackle on Townsend alone. I missed it live due to me putting my head down in disappointment of letting in a try, i heard people cheering and thought "The hell?" and saw us playing the ball. His running was great, defence again terrific and he is looking more confident in where to be when he is trying to get involved. He is developing nicely, for a 22 year old with 95 NRL games.
J'Maine Hopgood: Talk about a player who is developing nicely, he is getting used to playing 80 minutes. He started the year in that role, then by Round 5 was demoted to the bench due to his form dropping slightly and Matterson returning, his form dropped more so due to dealing with full-time FG week in week out. Now he has adapted, he is getting better by the week and i stand by him being our captain after Gutherson. That play on Hess in the end stopping the offload was match winning. He is even not missing as many tackles, he is selecting his offloads better and just becoming a more patient and excelling footballer.
Sean Russell: Russell is a "footballer", that is the common saying today. Not much of him, he is not the most athletic, has not got god given talent, but he goes hard. 19 runs for 192 metres, better under the high ball and holds his wing well despite dropping the ball on one no try. Russell after 9 NRL games you could say is slowly starting to get it, i am not sure he will be able to be our future Fullback, but by 2025 when his contract ends i think he will be experieced enough to be a quality Centre.
Clint Gutherson: 261 metres is a captains knock, he had a mistake in the backfield that led to Feldt's 2nd try but overall he was great.
Wiremu Greig: Becoming a footballer that you feel comfortable having on the field and want back on the field. 145 metres on 15 runs and a try capped off an improving night for Emu, who will go back to the bench soon when Reg returns.
Honorable mentions: Moses, Penisini.
Most Disappointing:
Maika Sivo: When you have an ageing halfback tackle you over the sideline with ease, there is an issue happening. Maika i am not sure if he playing hurt or is simply not willing to put his body on the line but my word he needs to start play up this build. A Fijian winger reputation Sivo does not live up to, he is a great winger, he has speed and athletic ability. Though sometimes you wonder if Sivo even wants to play. Not saying he doesn't want to be there but he doesn't seem willing to go above and beyond with his strength. Numerous times he could use broot strength to barge over but doesn't. Look at Fuifui in the 2009 GF, he went wide and barged over the line with speed and broot force, putting his body on the line, that is what we expect from Sivo. Hell Russell is much smaller, he puts his body on the line every run. Just poor from Sivo who after 96 NRL games, you expect better.
Josh Hodgson: I have defended him a lot this year, but giving away two penalties and putting in stupid choices. He came off after 31 minutes and did not come back on. Is Hands a phenomenal Hooker? No, but he is stable and good. He is what we need for this team, someone who has some movement and can navigate the ruck to free up Moses and Brown. Hands can do that well and effectively and is cheaper, that is how you build a roster. But with Hands playing more minutes, it needs to be brought up what to do with Hodgson. It is like buying RCG for 800k and have Greig on 200k and Greig plays 60 minutes a game while RCG only plays 25 minutes. Not great value for money. If Hodgson gets through 2023 unscathed he will want to play 2024, he has a contract why wouldn't he and he is entitled to play on if he chooses. Though we need to consider as a club if we keep him as a second option in reserve grade as it seems enivatable that Hodgson will accept his option but Parramatta wont causing his salary to drop massively, it might be ok to have in him in cup like a Rankin type player. But is not good for Hands to be sitting on bench at this time. Maybe bite the bullet and move Hodgson to the bench, but even then he is not an impact player. It is no denying now we are better with him off the field. You can see on his face, he knows he is not up to scratch.
Bailey Simonsson: Only a couple of mistakes led to him being here on this list. Defensively was OK but made some poor reads, got the jitters after stuffing up the broken play where the ball bounced away from Gutho causing a scramble of recovering the ball from both sides. 4 errors is a bit rich for my liking.
Joe Ofahengaue: One of the most limited club debuts since either Lee Te Maari or Ian Henderson. I re-watched the game to see how he did it and it seemed it twinged running back into the line, first indication of it being hurt was when Drinkwater scored he leaned down and rubbed his calf. Not saying he soft or anything, but it seems more precautionary as he has had calf issues in pre-season. But it is disappointing nonetheless he only got 10 minutes.
Ofahiki Ogden: Would have thought with the amount of players in disappointing list we would have lost or played dreadfully. Ogden wasn't awful but he made a few costly errors. In a time where each game matters to keep a spot in the top grade, Ogden may have lost his opportunity to jump Makatoa. Though i will say i think it falls on deaf ears anyway, as once RCG, Matterson and Paulo are back both Ogden and Makatoa miss out in the 17 anyway with Ofahengaue in the frame too. Though just felt it is time for Ogden to show he is either the 4th or 5th prop in this squad and lost that opportunity.
A win is a win, it is what i wanted. Performances was OK, but I'd rather us get a game like that out of the way with a poor performance then give it our all again and fall flat on the long weekend clash. Canterbury we seem to have the wood on of late, one thing is they are trying under Ciraldo so no easy feat against them. If Mahoney is out then that is a massive loss for them and could help us more.
As for changes, it depends on injuries and returning players. Paulo and Davey definately return with Moretti and Doorey dropping out. BA said RCG could be close, i doubt he is back for Canterbury. If Ofahengaure is out, i expect Moretti to keep his spot on the bench.
Enjoy your upcoming long weekend, god bless Parramatta.
Replies
Great read, LB. Thanks for the write-up.
Like you, just wanted the 2 points and didnt care how. But, thought it was impressive enough as the Cowboys did throw a lot at us.
With so many forwards missing we all wanted our spine to stand up, which they did.
Obviously now a lot depends the DB news. Fingers crossed.
NQ have sort of turned a corner, they are too talented to be that bad. So either it was Payten had issues with them or vice versa and now they've worked it out or maybe leadership lacking?
Who knows but a big win over Melbourne helps them.
LB, I was in Bali and off to the sports club to watch and my mate got a call from Sydney to say his mother just died. So I didnt get to watch it live but watched a replay of it on You Tube afterwards and got a feel for the game after we drank with the rest of the family to end my friends mothers life, which was not unexpected I might add. Useless information there but I thought I had to provide an excuse for missing the game.lol
I think you are now well established with this report every week and I like reading your report and gave me further perceptions of the game.
Can I offer some advice.....as your "most disppointing" involved players who made errors and maybe justified.....I would like to recommend you watch the Bronco's game and particularly focus on Adam Reynolds..... the number of errors he made was to say the least surprising, but no one seemed to focus on them, to the point he is high in consideration as the next NSW half back. I'm not sure how his coach excepted them, other than to realise no one is perfect and they won.
Now I am saying this because we heavily focus on our players for both the positive and the negatives and maybe we need to get a better balance on the fact that they are human and maybe focus on the unforgiveable ones....there's usually a few. Fine margins exist sometimes between them, Browns fantastic try 2 inches inside the deadball line in our Souths game is a good example. 2 inches the other way is an error by Moses and a failure for Brown to get there on time.....ah balance...its a wonderful levellor in life!
Anyway thanks for your report and hopefully my critique only adds value and you understand where I am coming from.
Thanks for your reply Poppa, of course no post is perfect. I add in disappointing in broad terms of either a play or an overall performance. Your perception is valid of course. As you say a player could make mistakes but win the game and everyone notices that instead.
I guess it is also expectations, everyone has different expectations on different players for different reasons, either fairly or unfairly. That can lead to different responses to performances and the way the game can be seen. I see it a lot at games with Hodgson, people expect him to be awful so he makes one slight step in the wrong direction and gets criticised, yet say Hopgood may do ecxactly the same thing and nobody notices.
It is a nice reflection for me Poppa, i like to think i know a little bit about the game the amount of hours i put into it, though i love it. The workings of the game i am behind most people who played it higher levels than me in my friends group but in most discussions i keep up with them very well with arguments. I like to keep a level head while also learning from others along the way too, my father was the one who taught me about the game, i was still learning when he passed and now i am sort going along myself, my brother knows his stuff too playing a high level and just listening to him is amazing, but also the fact i keep up with him and he trusts me knowledge also (being someone who can say you don't know anything when he feels like it) gives me some proudness i believe.
I feel doing this list has helped me in different ways but also the discussions it raises develops me more to see different points of views on the game.
No worries LB, you being a student of the game probably makes no difference to actually playing the game accept for one thing. All games (sports) at the elite level are that but the experience of actually talking to those blokes and understanding their thinking is the real thing that is hard to comment on.
I have had a lot to deal with elite sports people at different times and different reasons, I have found it is not the pecularities of that sport, its the competitiveness within it that puts these guys aside.
Sometimes we need to understand these things individually because you have probably heard me make reference to "they are not Chess Pieces" too many people put them in a basket and feel that pulling out 2 castle's a knightand a bishop means they only do what they are allowed to......whereas a pawn has less restrictions and less ability. On a board overall (think field) its how they come together that you can then judge the piece for doing a job.