Rd 20 Review

Gutho - Excellent game by the ever reliable skipper. Great try saver at the end of the game and good try assist for Taka. However, he did get very kick happy which was very wierd considering his pass selection is one of the best as a fullback. 

Sivo - Ran the ball hard, espicially the carry at the end of the game where he steam rolled a couple of players. However, he needed to do this much more often during the game. His defence is very appaling espically without Jenko. I was watching the tries that came his side, and his defence was terrible. He comes inside the field and marks no one. Then he leaves himself to much to do and makes it impossible for him to cover the corner post.

Taka - I think its clear why we don't use Taka in the outside backs any more. He lacks the accelerate to cover his outside shoulder and was cleary exposed. His game otherwise was alright. BA was asking for nightmares by making him defend with Sivo and Smith.

Blake -  I thought he had an alright game. The first try and the one where Fergo dropped the ball, he showed no urgency to get back to help but otherwise the linebreaks cause down his side were either Moses or Fergo's fault. His aerial ability will be crucial in the finals.

Fergo - I will let Fergo be for dropping that catch but he still bombed one try and was the reason a couple were scored. He kneed the ball out his hand when Brooks tackled him. In regards to his defence, even though Blakes defence is questionable, he has to mark his fucking wing. He, like Sivo, get caught inside the field way to much. 

Smith - Provided a much greater attacking game than Field. His playmaking ability helped the attack alot, and also had a good final try of the game. While it was great, us supporters must not get blindsided by it. There are two parts to a game, where his attack was great but defence was shaky. He defended very good when playing hooker because the players are just running hard at him. However, when different plays and shapes were being run down his side, Smith and Taka were having horrible defensive reads. Thus, when versing the top shelf teams he would be exposed defending as a half. But albeit, it was his first game in the halves all season so I will cut him some slack and label him the Fresh Prince of Parra for his matching winning try.

Moses - Ran the ball alot today and is starting to get his groove back. He had a couple poor kicks for out on a full and and dead in goals. Defensively he was pretty good but mised a couple crucial tackles. Luckily Gutho's try saver stopped one of them from being a try. All in all, it was a much improved peformance. 

Paulo - Fuck this guy is a beast. His offloading skills is so good and such an essential component to our attack. He was probably MOM. Surely state of origin awaits him at the end of the year.

Mahoney - very good game from him today. Kicked one ball dead in goal but he had the right idea. I enjoy when he kicks from dummy half and I hope he does it more in the games to come. He really knows how to use Paulo really well for offloads.

N Brown - he is the leader of our foward back. Relentless effort and is ball playing very well for Moses in the middle of the field. His consistency and peformances have been really good this year.

Davey - provides plenty of spark and pure grunt in attack. He mamages to spin out of tackles and has a handy offload. Great effort and honestly should hold onto the starting spot in my opinion.

Evans, Lane - Solid peformances by them. I like Lane on the bench right now. He helps when RCG and Paulo are off the field.

Alvaro  - Solid 5 minute peformance by him. 

G Jennings - MOM. Never seen a better peformance in my life. Warmed the benches very well for our players. 

BA - Can people cut the guy some slack. Whenever a team peforms below expectations, its always easier to blame the 1 coach rather than the 17 players. So just fuck off if you only want to complain about him.

Overall team peformance - it wasn't the best of peformances but the win was really important so we could get into the top 4. Defensively we were not at our best tonight and exposed again on our edges. We didn't have much line speed and allowed Tigers to do the plays they wanted to make. Jenko and D Brown will make a big difference for Sivos side as long as Sivo marks his wing and doesn't rush out for no reason. On the other side as long as Blake makes his tackles, Fergo marks his wings and they both are communicating, we will be fine. Also Moses makes his 1 v 1 tackles. In regards to our attack, it has been getting better the past two weeks. We need to remain calm. I think Gutho just had a bit of a brain fart with his kicking game. While they were on, he needs to be 100% sure he can kick it accurarely or he risks an easy turn of possession and possibly a 7 tackle set as shown tonight. Moses was running more which is always promising. Our new starting 13 and our bench rotation provides more spark in attack and will only get better when at full strength.

You need to be a member of 1Eyed Eel to add comments!

Join 1Eyed Eel

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • I liked the expansive footy we played in the 1st half. Should have scored another 3 tries only to be ruled out by detail. Dunno what happened from 40-60 mins but we better not repeat that because the Storm will bin us quicktime.

    • Davey's try should of been a try. I know Taka was in the way, but Davey was already diving onto the ground. It would be the best try saver ever for Grant to off stopped it. Sometimes common sense should apply. 

  • I still maintain it’s our middle defence, not our edge defence that is the real problem. 

    • Our middle defence isn't as good as it was early season but our number one problem with daylight second is our right edge defence. The main issue being Waqa Blake but there are also certainly other culprits. I've been a big Arthur supporter but one weakness of his is a tendency to pick and stick. Surely a lack of a feasible alternative is the only thing keeping Blake in the side. I posted elsewhere I'd actually be picking Takairangi at right centre. 

      • Last night, Blakes defence was not that bad. It was rather Fergo not marking his wing and coming way inside.

        • Fergo is an origin winger and a good standard player. His defence is good enough but Blake just cannot seem to make a decision whether to come up and in or slide off his player. He ends up doing neither and leaves Fergo posted. 

  • Certianly not defending like a team who spent 3/4 of the season doing defensive training. Lets be honnest the tigers were not that enterprising in attack. 

This reply was deleted.

More stuff to read

Poppa replied to Poppa's discussion Players and Values and Judgements to make
"Well Lomax will be a lot more expensive, Carty would have been on minimum for most of the time and probably only 350/400 now. Carty is not that marketable unless he sell himself attached to the coach LOL"
4 minutes ago
Poppa replied to Poppa's discussion Players and Values and Judgements to make
"Thanks Hoe, agree with what you said.
I tried to specifically generalise about player valuations and use Lomax as an example. To answer Sluggo who was taking the piss, I can accept the premise he is making but I personally had overlooked Waqa as an…"
9 minutes ago
Poppa replied to Poppa's discussion Players and Values and Judgements to make
"Well thought out and expressed Slippery.... you raise good points about circumstantial valuations."
21 minutes ago
BEM replied to Cʜɪᴇғ -'s discussion Big News On Lomax
"Our dominant half is getting older and if we lose Sanders, there is no real alternative. 
Our forwards are getting older as well.
Our "premiership window" is closing fast so we need quality experienced players now instead of waiting to see if the…"
33 minutes ago
More…