The reality is we were simply not good enough.
The Bulldogs smashed us in the forwards. They were relentless.
We did a remarkable job in line defence up to 20 minutes to go, but the writing was on the wall well before Galvin came on.
The Delusion
Many on here were crying in their soup because we missed getting Galvin. Sure enough, the Doomsdayers were in force.
Image (getty): The Galvin Show reached a climax yesterday when the young rockstar scored; the cherry on top
Some believe he would have made a difference for us. BUT if the negotiations went the other way, we still would not have won that game with the errors we made. The fact that our halves were playing behind a completely dominated forward pack.
The Wake Up Call
Today was a wake up call we needed, while the dogs showed they are the real deal. Low error rate, strong discipline and a commitment to a plan.
Now that is complimentary to the Dogs and fair enough, but Muttman made the relevant point — it was always about "errors".
We made 15 v 5 errors (Foxlab). No team can win a game with the amount we made. And many were yardage errors coming out of our end in our red zone.
Image (getty): The Dogs' won the middle and the grind
The High-Speed Grind — Again
The Dogs, as the Panthers last week executed the high-speed Grind last — good go-forward (1999m v 1176m run metres), ball control (90% v 66% completions) and aggressive kick chases to reduce pressure in their defence and fatigue.
It increasingly tightened their dominance on the game as it wore on, as it gradually slipped from our hands.
The Dogs dominated field position, territory (58% 1st half, 68% 2nd half) and possession (55% 1st half, 64% 2nd half).
The Dogs had 47-6 tackles in our red zone. Incredibly, we had 0 opportunities in their red zone in the second half. Those stats are almost unheard of. Did they break any records?
The stats match the eye test. As the game wore on, the grind continued to tighten the noose around our necks.
Our resilience would eventually fail through shear exhaustion and lack of oxygen. It's very Panthers 2020-2024.
The referees certainly helped the Dogs' cause with possession and territory — set restarts and penalties were 12 v 6. We have historically one if the poorest long-term records against Atkins and Sutton. Whoever selected them for this game, didn't miss their mark. Nothing to see here, obviously.
How we stayed in the game at half-time and in the game for 60 odd minutes despite the Everest-like mountain of possession, officiating assistance and territory defies belief.
Is it Us, Them or both?
The real issues are two-fold.
One, did the "dogs" make us do them or was it just poor play and discipline and the lack of any imagination in our game plan?
Two, who is responsible for that? Whether it is Moses or Ryles is not the point. I am not looking for scapegoats. We have plenty on this site that will do that for me every day of the week 24/7 as a full-time profession.
Images (Getty): The longer the game wore on, the more Mitchell Moses was on the back foot — in Dylan and Moses' 100th game together.
Moses is a very good half. World class and essential to us — but he is not the superstar some may believe. I would drop him from the Origin side as he offers nothing to compliment that team. If Cleary was injured, I would have no problem with him stepping back in. But he is on a hiding to nothing playing 5/8 to Cleary.
The Final Word
The ongoing "tease" has now been exposed and it is up to Ryles now. He needs to recognise this in his match day plan and his selections. What happened to Matterson?
Personally, I think the wakeup call showed we were over-confident that everything we were doing was ok — on the right track. Sure, the "effort" was there as was the goal line resilience and defence. But, once again, the execution and polish— as it has been on many occasions this year — was poor.
What's next?
"We'll continue to work on our roster", Ryles added in addition to the theme of consistency and gradual improvement. Perhaps, Ryles hinted at it right there. The cattle he has has put in and showed resilience and unity beyond their experience levels — and we're a work in progress. How long until we cash in on that?
Replies
Yeah agree just wish BA was still coaching aye Coryn?
Right now we are a finesse team that no longer has a physical enough edge to it and teams especially the good ones just target us around the ruck stay patient and we wear down and enter the errors that's the formula right now against us.
Funny that, I haven't seen that formula working too well against us since round 7 and we have been in games up to our eyeballs against all comers. What we lack is a few players especially in the forwards but other then that I've liked what ive seen from this team since round 7.
Obviously you are still missing BA's much loved chasing the collision and front loading our efforts.
Ancient history.
Its funny though all that front loading effort and winning the collision is now to the fore.
Funny isn't it a game where physical contact is involved who'd have thought winning the collision was important.
Give me Ryles tactics and processes over BAs shitty boring tactics and processes any day.
Hes only had this below par squad for 14 weeks and you can see massive improvements. Unlike BA who couldn't fix our defensive issues in 10 1/2 years.
Give me a team that knocked on the door for 4 straight seasons and actually won footy games.
I don't know what this is yet but we are writing this season off and JR and co are having trouble recruiting decent talent and holding onto there own Hell JR wasn't even there first choice as the coach.While I'd like to think the clubs in a good space on the mentioned front there miles from it.
Bottom 4 team but at least we look good right tactically though that counts for something.
Me substance over looks don't care what it looks like as long as we are winning.
I think your criticisms are fair enough Coryn but I am not sure what you expect Ryles or for that matter the Front Office can do in the context of the season's stage. We are for all purposes totally blind (as we should be) as to what they are doing behind the scenes.
The stats are there for all to see....I am not seeing lack of effort or want....just immaturity.
Chin up my son, things get better in this world if you "stay confident".
I think he's got to have a look at his game plans.The ball movement looks good but the errors are continually coming.What JR has to do is coax more out of what we have that's his job as a coach.
The front office can do nothing they are JRs lackie they won't act unless the coach ask them to pull the trigger.We've seen how these guys act in isolation and JR and co failed to land Galvin and we managed to lose Sanders and DB.For a team on the rebuild we sure are going about it in a way that makes it look like a circus.
If he wants us to learn the hard way we'll keep doing it.Tweaks move the attack closer and get more ball playing out of his fowards wheather short pass or off loads.
If he doesn't want the spoon the next month could well dictate the mentioned.We need wins and we need them now.
Its all there to see we pose no threat to the big guns we are basically an also ran making numbers up.
Ive seen enough this year it's all about not winning the spoon.Just get this season done with and start again next year and build off of what good comes of this year.
@Nightmare Off-Season
Yes mate your opinions not only count but are rarely wrong.
I especially agree about these upcoming games, but strangely enough our defeats by Penrith Senior and Dogs Penrith Junior I think are an important part of our learning. That said losing either of those next games will really hurt.
Thanks for your ongoing support.
You are right about the selections and getting cocky about things going alright. You see Ryles continue to get wake up calls and that is ok. Come 2027 if it is still happening then big trouble. But unlike Kearney who looked deer in the headlights, Ryles looks calm and content with making mistakes right now as he knows the puzzle is not done with what he can do.
As for the roster comment, i think that is him hinting that moves could be made in the market. I am still holding out hope that the free cap space will be used to recruit top players out of their deals as that is the only way of getting top players. He said they would wait to see who is available and he is right in that approach as he knows there is nothing on the market, there was not much to start with but at the end of the year is when teams manipulate their roster to make signings on players for the upcoming season and as players sign for 2027 or for Perth is when moves are made to get out early or replace that player early, dominoes fall and we sit back. It is also good as the amount of teams going for that player is limited as most clubs caps are pretty much set, teams can make room but it is more difficult unlike us who has the space.
Like the rumours of Jayden Campbell popping up, Carrigan even. No matter how much is true rumblings around and things happen leading to players all of a sudden becoming available. We did that with the likes of RCG and Matto in 2020, both we got after the 2019 season. We got Matterson early 2020. JAC this year. Coryn mentioned the same thing earlier today. Of late, other than Galvin, we have not really gone in hard for a player. We may have had a discussion and left it at that, or had interest but a certain price they would not go over. Galvin was the only one we went above and beyond for. Is it picky? Or is it they did try behind the scenes and failed miserably like St. George Illawarra have? If it is picky it can be good and bad process. Good that we are trying to get the right players and not ones that we just got as we needed someone. But can be bad too as no guarentees you get them and if you miss out there is nothing else,
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