On the positive side I liked that we concentrated on keeping possession in the second half. Sharks had no bench, so keeping possession was more important than scoring tries for the first part of the second half. We wore them out so they were too tired to defend or attack and the opportunity to score came once they were tired and then we took advantage. However, was not happy with our game management in the first half. Some of that was without Moses, but still we seem to go back to our old ways of park footy. Liked BA's interview - think he has matured a lot as a coach. We seem to be at the tipping point. Will we continue to be a smart professional team that plays the game plan that will win or the hit-and-giggle park footy team that focuses on scoring tries and not working hard to set them up and having patience and waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger. I think Gutho is a major influence on this. He is a great fullback but still has a way to go to be a captain that knows when to settle and when to go.
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I was disappointed with that second half Wile. I thought the boys played too wide of the truck and tried to score all the time.. We were lucky they had no bench
The way the Sharks played last night was basically the same as the way we played against the Panthers in round 18 last year. They were brave and hung on, but had absolutely no gas to offer anything in attack or to defend higher up the park, even if they had their full compliment.
It was obvious when Moses went off he toook a lot of the game management with him.
If you paid attenttion it was Gutho who stepped in to steady the ship and build Smith's conifidence to take the reins.
Dylan also stepped up once they settled and by second half it was a though Moses had never been there in the first place. They had taken ownership of the game.
The way both halves allowed the game to grind and grind showed good maturity and patience on their behalf. Then when the Sharks ran out of interchnges and their big forwards were knackered they struck.
We are doing more off the ball now and with Reed moving around a bit more from the ruck it is starting to make 1 or 2 of the opposition to perhaps second guess.
It is my contention that dummy halves should never stand still, 2 steps, 20 steps or 200 steps will always make someone second guess themselves. Anyone can shovel a ball out to the first receiver, and at times that may be the 0nly option the dh has, but by constantly moving regardless of how far can be dusruptive to the defence.
Same with the halves, imo halves should run the ball no less than 40% of the time, it is the timing on the runs that matters though.
Smith and Brown did extra well once they settled and had a big part to play in grinding when it mattered most.
All in all (remembering this is only round 3) things are looking very promising imo.
We need to be established by the time SOO comes around and sometimes injuries early can be a blessing in disguise by getting a few younger blokes into the system.
Off topic I reckon we could lose as many as 5 players to SOO this year, this is where getting the young blokes in now, and maintaining our winning streak will pay big divedends at the big end of the season.
There seems to be a very positive vibe coming from the team atm, we just need it to continue.
It's difficult to judge, because the Sharks historically have been the kind of team that drags you down to their level. I also think that one of the traps of the new playing conditions is that as a team when you're running down hill, the temptation can be to continue trying to speed up the play to breakneck speed, often to the detriment of decision making. This is the kind of subtle nuance where the best playmakers will recognise that the speed of play is getting too fast and will just plug it into touch and walk to the play the ball, just as a circuit breaker.
So it remains the Eels appear to have adapted to new strategies and remain competitive under these circumstances.
It appears so
The Eels are starting to beleave in them self, and grinding out good wins. Think BA deserves credit on how the Eels are thinking like a team wanting to win, but also improve.