Bluey made a post about whether we are over the top in judging our current performance's based on where we are on the competition table.
Mmmmm. I think you are too pessimistic Bluey, and that's after my own tirade following the Canberra performance in Darwin.
I said at the time all I had left was hope - without a reason to support Ryles any further.
Hope is of course eternal, so nothing changes there. But I have seen a definte improvement in the teams performances and this can only be put down to Ryles and the strength of his perseverance.
So he has turned me around and am very comfortable being in that position than sitting on the sidelines and sniping him. We are also seeing some comforting vision of his assistants and the upsurge of our pathways, including the women as I believe a strong all round club is important at every level when it becomes to self belief.
Take the form lines between Dragons, Tigers and now Sharks and you could rationalise we could/would be competetive against any team in the comp. Throw in our game against the dogs and we are not far away, even if it turns out we have a middle of the road finishing position this year. I am even going to say we could have a big finish yet if injuries are kind to us.
If you add Lomax to that side on Friday, I have little doubt that we would have won. The Moses /Lomax combination has not been put in place yet and it is one of our weaknesses to say that we are not competitive chasing high kicks from Moses at present. It was a fluke that Russell kicked 3 out 3 on Friday night as well. When Lomax is playing that hope becomes delivered.
Finally, there is no doubt our forwards are our achillies heel at present. The short show that Samrani put on gives me some hope, while the exclusion of Cartright and Matterson is something I hope can be resolved. If those two were happy campers we would also be better.
So in general terms onward "Christian Soldiers" and don't write us off yet! If your not Christian don't worry, you will get over it! LOL
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A soldier is a person of action, not just words. He must fight and struggle. During wartime, his life is far from luxurious. In the dead of night, when he is most exhausted, the trumpet may sound, calling him to action, just when he would prefer to rest.
I knew you would love this Randolph, but the message is we don't give up and it really has nothing to do with 'spiritualism" and that should make every athiest and agnostic feel just as comfortable with the "good fight".
you describe a soldier, but referred to a sheep
Onward christian soldier refers to blind faith, yuck.....and they march "as to war" but they don't actually do shit but talk
it's not for real-real, just for play-play, but hey, don't let that stand in the way of your warrior metaphor
That's all we can do Randy
I'm optimistic about the style Ryles wants us to play. I think it's effective and suited to the modern game. There's energy and purpose about what we're doing, smart ball movement etc which is very promising however attention to detail needs to be A LOT better (offside from a kick? C'mon)
Now we need NRL quality at our edges and a couple of new middles. We also need to get a 6 for next year. So lots of R&R movements to happen before my unicorn returns. Get recruitment wrong and at best we bumble along without ever being a genuine premiership threat. Lots to do.
Mistakes are interesting Mutts. My mystery is why not collate a onging package of errors since the start of the season and play it back to them every monday morning. Things like that simple offside and one of my specials is running into the high kicks and jumping up to catch them to make them look spectacular. Ray Price hardly ever dropped a kick because he turned his back to the player and virtually they could not get access to the ball. We do have some that attempt this, but the judgement of when and how doesn't seem to be learnt. So many simple mistakes, if JAC watched that play the ball once every week, I bet you he would not repeat it......Christ we teach our kids the same way. Missed tackles is another obvious one and lets not talk about cover defence!
Face it most players are dumbassed and a dumbass can always be taught "rote".
Tell you what Mutts off topic I loved Shaun Johnson's commentary on how we were playing and he especially had some excellent comments on our halves.
Huge fan of Johnson's on and off the field. It's high time we had some fresh blood in the commentary especially one who doesn't hate us like Ennis does.
Get Walter and Roach off. They fucking dribble. Hearing Walters talks makes me wonder how he was an NRL coach. Its torture those two.
Then Ennis glazzes the players/teams he loves. Honestly can tell which NRL players are in his wank bank.
Players like Johnson and Wade Graham need to be given more chances in commentary.
Walters is so over the top, scared my son when i was feeding him watching the post game on Friday night. He yells into the microphone.
Ray Hadley called Steve Roach the best co-commentator he has ever worked with, he hasn't worked with many if that is the case. Brohman runs rings around him in both commentary and footy knowledge.
After a decade under the bush coach many eels fans are still suffering from PTSD and can't let themselves think positively even when positives are obvious to see .
Also the fact that we have had so much false hope over many many years is a another barrier for fans to get excited over positive performances or improvements .
On a brighter note, Arnold has his first session with a team of mental health professionals tomorrow so let's wish the dope the best of luck .
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