Not saying if we fail to make the 4 or the 8 it is BA's fault. Not at all, that title is merely referring to BA being the catalyst to us getting past NQ and Melbourne, games we are not expected to win and a loss could spell the end of our season (to the media hoping). BA can do it, i trust him enough to get us out of trouble but also coach well through adversity. Seeing that we are 48% chance of making the 8 despite being in 7th by the media is something we love, no pressure on us to win. NQ have pressure on them, 5 in a row, chance to jump into the 8, revenge for the prelim, at home. Us? All we have is leaving the top 8 for now, that is the only pressure. Minus Brown and RCG we have shown we can win without them, Greig is expected back in the next fortnight also which helps RCG suspension. But this mimics the Souths game for me, Souths are a better team than NQ also. Not saying it will be easy or we will win by a bit. Unfortunately i think it will be a close one, but we can lift. Who will help us lift? BA.
The job he has done, despite missing all those players from last year and throughout this year, he has gone unnoticed for the job he has done. Media want us out of the 8 as it creates stories about BA and us failing in the off-season to sell papers, but we win Saturday and i declare we make top 4. BA is the person to get us there.
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Agree that BA is the most important piece of the puzzle over the next few weeks. He has to get our boys up and playing really high percentage football if we're going to win either game. Defence has to be uncompromising and fuelled by effort.
His coaching of the role players will be most influential, because we know what players like Gutho and Moses will bring. The only exception to this is Paulo. BA must fire him up to lead the forward pack, just like he did against the Bunnies.
BA's coaching of players like Hands, Ogden, Offa, Russell, the new right winger (hopefully Blake) and Asi will be really important. They need to be given clear roles and know their performance and effort are vital to winning. They also need the confidence to execute. BA has a great track record of achieving this, so let's hope it continues.
Ps, I have a feeling Shaun Lane is going to return to his 2022 form this weekend. God I hope so. We are going to need big games from everyone.
His coaching in my opinion has got us this far. Yeah we beat average oppenents in NQ (During Origin), Canterbury, Manly (Origin), Redcliffe and Gold Coast but that came from good coaching also.
You are kidding right?
With all due respect Coryn, that is the one line in the game i cannot stand "The coach is not out there playing" It just makes me think what is the point of a coach if they are void of blame for a poor performance. With BA it is different with key players out, if we lose tomorrow i will not blame him, i am merely saying he can be the one to get us the win.
We still have a major problem with development imo, when the second string halfback in the club is a 33yo guy who is eligible to play fg, and we have to look at guys like Leumilumi to fill a void, you know that something isn't working. Our nsw cup is near bottom, which is unacceptable for a club with a good catchment area.
Moretti was going well, but Brad should use him more often.
Maybe if we had Sanders playing reserve grade instead of a dud like Jake or an old timer, our reserve grade side may well be travelling better and Sanders my have been inclined to stay.
Our NSW cup team has been in the finals the last 4 years in a row... can't expect finals every year. we are also only 3 wins out of the 8 this season and with the struggles our roster has had it is fair enough. we have awesome talent coming through in SG and Flegg that will be bolstering the cup team in the next 1-2 years as well.
CHIEF you only have negative things to write about this team, we are in a good spot atm considering the hurdles this year only a few wins behind 1st. Winning our next two away games secures us top 8 I believe and will put us in a good position for top 4 with players coming back.
Hey cuz, there's only 13 teams in nsw cup, how hard is it to make the 8 out of 13 lol. Amazing stat that to make the finals what an achievement
Why do we have no halfback in reserve??? And the player who is playing halfback can't even be called up. What a joker
LB, with all due respect, was it in BA's game plans for RCG to go in with the knees and get 4 weeks off? Was it in BA's plans to have Dylan Brown carry on like a palooka and sit out 7 games? Was it BA's plan to have Matterson and Lane sit out lengthy spells earlier in the year due to suspension?
As Coryn rightly points out, suspensions have hurt any sort of continuity this year and that is all on the players on the field (or off it in the case of Brown).
In my opinion Matterson's decision earlier in the year in not putting the team first could have a bit to do with team comradery and the decisions Dylan had made.. The Matterson decision to put coin before playing is still unexplainable and cost us a few wins that could have made life easier for everyone, even resting guys like rcg last week.
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