When you pull defeat out of your arse that question posed is all you need to know..... we have been fortunate 4 winning games and probably all pulled out of our arses. No right to win any of them!
We have been playing busted all year.....next week if we can beat Storm this season is not the write off we all may have thought.
No boring Poppa Philosophy lesson today ......just some aknowledgements for some players who probably should not be in the team in a normal course of events;
That may change now, what do you think?
Brian Kelly....a mistake free game and when he hits it up, face it there is not much of him....he has learnt don't do it from a standing start.
Volkman..... just the surname, he has risen to a level that could get a title in a Marvel Movie.
Samrani..... he maybe more than a fill in centre.....has a knack of finishing what he starts whilst filling in!
TDS............fcuk I thought Rylie Smith was special but this kid put his ears back last night and showed he could be anything, his passing from dummy half will go unnoticed but it was bloody good as well.
Those 4 players would not be in our starting side normally....others did good as well, but those 4 deserve the praise, they won it for us!
Going to bed last night with all those positive things was so good, when I woke during the night..... I thought FCUK am I dreaming?
Sometimes little fish are sweet, being a fisherman of no note, I cannot be sure of that, but whilst I might throw back Parra regularly, I still love the bite and the fight!!
Replies
There is a couple of players that rightly or wrongly have been put on notice after last nights game.
Rylie Smith should be worried when I never thought he should be. With the signing of Edward's who can fill in across the pack including dummy half, from a bench spot and the way Tallyn has stood up poses some questions for Ryles. Well done Tallyn.
Will Penisini should be very worried. Samaraninis areiving to take his spot and probably rightly so.
Matale , wow welcome your about to oust someone from the bench.
I was on the Da Silva bandwagon and reactionarily went off him after the pre-season I felt he hadn't improved. I regret that now as he has improved. He is 21, just turned a few weeks ago. His vision to catch the markers split and the speed to take off. His other aspects like passing and kicking will come with more game time. His defence too has improved.
But yeah Smith has a lot of heart and effort but in attack. only offers a good pass to be fair. Im interested if Ryles goes into 2027 with Smith still starting. His 2026 hasn't been great but also busted for most of it. He at least has next week and the bye to rest up. But competition is good as Smith is free to negotiate in November.
Nice post. Samrani I felt showed what an athlete he is with his size. He is just a steady hand. Caught out Clifford's laziness with his try then was able to run the straight for Papali'i try.
Da Silva and Mataele had a coming of age game. That last portion hopefully kicks Moses' season off and hope he does go to Origin. Being in camp can rub off on players and take it back to their team. Moses could find some nice form from Origin.
Samrani has come of age this season and has gone from fringe first grader to earning a starting centre spot, i told my mate to take hom as a try scorer in his multi because he had a knack of finding the line and he delivered.
TDS is a more talented hooker than smith and will eventually win the starting spot over smith, my concern though is his style doesn't really suit moses whereas smith's does. Moses likes quick wide passes off the ground from dummy half whereas tds is a stand up ball playing dummy half, that's something they are going to have to work around.
Mataele has been a stand out in the middle when he has played this season, he should be in the 17 every week.
Agree, Samrani just seems to be in the right place at the right time and can find the line, he is not the quickest or have flashy footwork so eventually see him moving to second row but he is just reliable.
TDS was great last night and is damn quick which can create opportunities. Let's hope he keeps developing
Mataele has always impressed, can't understand how he hasn't been getting more time but hopefully that changes. I thought Moretti was going to be great after last year but he has stagnated or even gone backwards and doesn't seem to have the motor for first grade. Will need interesting to see what happens with big Sam coming back soon.
also really like what I'm seeing from Joash and the Volk. Their efforts and energy are infectious and they deserve to be in the mix every week, again like Samrani and even Nanva, they just don't let you down
TDS's ball distribution was my #1 bugger bare of him I don't know how long ago.
But guess what it's improved I think there's some obvious work that's taken place on that front.
Volkman is a hit or miss for me he's had his moments but he feels like a mistake just taking his opportunity now was never really on the radar but is making every post a winner not by design.
Samrani has edge backrower written all over him that's where he'll end up is it with us I don't know but that's where he's headed.
Brian Kelly has had a solid month of football simon s joining us he's not much of a player but he's the type you want as depth he's not a starting quality anything in my eyes.But on the positive side he brings physicality to the spot his strength.
For me outside of TDS those other 3 are ideal top 30 type players guys who can step in and do a job for a month or 2 in Joash's case and cover up holes but I'm not winning premierships or consistently playing finals footy with all of these guys in the starting lineup at once.