The wave continues, better off calling us Mick Fanning as we ride it. A win, though not convincing, a win nonetheless. Considering where we were after 30mins, the first thing that went through my mind was more so concerning how the media and this site was going to take a loss, how low we could go. Does this win pull us out of the abyss of uncertaintity we have leading into what could be our last finals in the so called window? Well we do not know, next week we will know if we slaughter the Warriors, then the following fortnight after that will tell us with Brisbane fighting us for a spot in the 4 and Penrith who have the wound succombed by us in round 9. Great performances past them and this win can be seen as a one that sort of got us on the road to success slightly, if we faulter to them then this win is merely a mask covering issues we have and was purely the case of quality prevailing to get 2 points.
Post this match i didn't know how i felt, after wins i am buzzing, the last time i was buzzing was after the Canberra win as we had back to back wins with Canterbury coming up after a bye and felt that is where we are hitting our stride, then we know what happened, making the Roosters win more puzzling as to why we normally do not play like that, to this win where i was confused to how do i take that performance? Was it ok to keep the best performance against the best teams or concerning that we didn't put a team like that away if we seem that quality of an outfit, we were the better team, but what does that say about Wests who put 20 on us and we played very average.
51% possession in favour of Wests, they also had 87% completion percentage compared to our 75%. Shows how we managed to come away with a win with a poor performance. Play the ball speed was the worst i have seen from us in a while, a flat 4 seconds, Wests had 3.87 seconds for their play the ball speed. 7 offloads to 5 for us, one aspect of our game that has evaporated a little bit, going from around 15-20 per game to only having less than 10 in the last fortnight. Wests had more missed tackles with 40, though we had 37 which is not very good either. If you hadn't watched football all year and only knew Wests were sitting 15th, you would think Parramatta are not far in front of them, instead we are 9 places in front, do we put it to a bad night that managed to get away with or simply just getting our way back into form.
Most Impressive:
Mitchell Moses: My man of the match, wouldn't say he took the game by the scruff of the neck but did enough to get us back into it. Nice try to start the second half. His kicking and play making got better as the night went on and looked patient once we had the lead. However, why did it take us getting the lead for him to be patient? Should be that all the time, pick and choose his moments. He is better at that then say in 2017 to 2019 but still needs to be flexible in how he takes on games. 9 tackle breaks too, which is quite amazing really.
Isaiah Papali'i: An audition type game to show the club and fans what their money bought? Perhaps, but a better game for Ice where the last few weeks he has been fine but nothing great. 154 metres with 5 tackles breaks. Ice also had a good try infront of his new home fans. Welcome back to your rightful spot on the edge, where i thought you were a better middle, happy to be wrong.
Oregon Kaufusi: Has actually put together a decent 2022, i have never rated Kaufusi though have said he is a handy forward to have in a squad. Off the bench is where he is suited. 8 runs for 90 metres, nice stats to accumilate, surprised he was not named over Niukore and Makatoa to start, though i see what BA wanted in that he preferred impact from Kaufusi off the bench not having any other real punch to use.
Ky Rodwell: Wasn't a superstar game by any means but a nice game from a player who could be our future in the forwards. Rodwell is getting used to first grade, have a 97% tackle effeciency rate in his 3 games this year. Getting some good minutes too, seems he has earned the trust of BA which is always important wanting to play more games.
Honorable mentions: Sivo, N.Brown
Most Disappointing:
Will Penisini: It was not his night, not sure if week in week out NRL is taking it's toll or just in a patch of out of form performances, but he looked understrengthed and out matched. Heard some suggestions to move him back to NSW Cup, i wouldn't go that far but he has to be better. He is still 19, impressive feat for a 19 year old to play week in week out NRL. He will have a long career, though at the moment seems patience is needed for Will, he is far from the finished product.
Bailey Simonsson: He has had worse games, but was targeted with the high ball and well let Wests back into the game late with his defence and high ball ability. Had Doueihi made the converstions we could have been in a little trouble. Effort is not Bailey's issue, he is a goer, but still growing into his role at the club at the moment. With Sivo here in 2023 and Dunster returning also he is not doing any favours for himself to be a guarenteed starter for 2023.
Reagan Campbell-Gillard: Very uncharacteristic start from Reg. He was knocked around quite a bit and looked distracted and honestly lost. Not sure if he was unsettled by his Origin snub and the talk around him or confidence in his form and the form of the team in recent weeks. RCG got better after half-time but a very odd night for Reg.
Refereeing: On both sides, very poor night. Penisini forward pass, Lane knock-on, penalties early on both sides just made the game feel uneven early one ruining momentum on both sides. It was ridiculous and not first grade standard.
Makahesi Makatoa: Feel bad on this one as he is a good bloke and a great story. Though last few games he has shown he is a squad player, nothing more. Got a start and looked well average to be fair. Maka is a goer, but i have seen nothing in his 16 games this year to say he is a top 17 player for 2023. Was not an awful game but as a starter you would expect a little more.
That is it for round 17, heading into the pointy end of the season, into a tough part of the draw with 6 of our last 8 at home and 6 of our last 8 with teams that are in finals contention, all but Manly currently in the 8. As for changes, only Paulo and Matto returning if Origin works out for Junz, meaning Brown and Opacic will more likely miss out, Niukore moving back to the bench.
Replies
I have to agree with the refereeing
It was terrible for both sides however I do think if we get the first 2 tries that in my opinion and most others were tries we win this game by 30+.
For and against could be the difference between 4th and 7th this year and every point counts
I tend to agree.
We were sloppy and poor to concede 4 tries which isn't premiership standard at all.
However, we were robbed of 3 genuine tries which would have blown the margin out much wider and possibly demoralised the Tigers enough to make them score less points late in the game.
Not to mention some of the tries awarded to the Tigers which were dubious at best...
Good blog as always LB, well written.
Fantastic blog again LB. Appreciate all your effort mate. You add a lot to the site.
The ref ruined the match, imo. A very stop-start affair; a penalty-a-thon.
Video Ref didn't have the best night, either. We should've been awarded the first two tries, and Nofo's last try was a bobble, imo. Though we probably deserved it.
Tigers were up for the game. Aggressive and in our face. If it weren't for Moses being on in a few moments and running (unlike last week's sheetshow), I'm not sure we win. We still have a long, long way to go.
The Shaun Lane no try was a joke on it's own. After that i knew we were in for an ordinary night with refereeing.
No it wasn't, it was an obvious no try. Lane didn't have full control of the ball and it touched the Wests player's arm. That’s a knock on every day of the week.
Just like Nofalouma's try where he lost control of it...
I still think you have run with the rhetoric LB
I think they hit RCG with everything, thinking he was the forward Parra had to fall back on. Reg was going as strong at the finish as he was at the beginning, impossible to understand how he made your most dissappointing list.
You also note that Moses did not take charge earlier, the reality is we were head 12 nil and two tries against the run of play and the half back didnt take charge......24 point swing and we are back in front at half time......hmmmm.....not sure you really understand the game from a perspective of putting yourself in one of their positions.
Same goes for Bailey, as I said in another post, I was more dissappointed on aspects of his game that didn't take the error's into account. Those high kicks from Doethe were very difficult, Gutho ran in circles Bailey caught most of them plus a great slips catch from a line drop....defensively he was left stranded for the second and maybe at fault for the first, along with a couple of others.
The referreing was an absolute disgrace........he needs (that ref) to be made an example how not to ref a game!!!
Not so much about understanding their position Poppa, I mentioned Mitchell was great without being spectacular, he did get us back into it by being patient towards the backend of the 1st half.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next