One of lifes lessons is to remember you can never stop learning.
In Parra's case such a statement would provide laughter and the usual....what after 38 years.....well there are plenty on this site past that date and are still learning, yours truly is constantly reminded, as I should be.
Lets start with the coach, huge error changing the rotation on a day when more than enough attrition had been taken for reasons out of his control.
Morgan Harper had not really been given a chance to show his worth for reasons outside of his control, in this game he had his chance to be judged and showed he is worth not much. one or two good things and he tries hard. Basically a back up and that's all.
Our much vaunted forward pack that had been lauded by all and sundry lost its shape, taking Carty out of the mix meant we had limited agility into the pack, a pack of workers completely stuffed by not starting Hopwood and holding back Junior to give them a chance, working him earlier meant none of the forwards with the exception of Hopwood were capable of setting anything up. Lane has lost what ever he had and everyone should have noted how more effective big Joe was coming on in Junior's place, implying in the process that the work he does in the first 20 minutes is much more important than the second 20. i.e. its a lot easier to be effective in the second 20, hence Juniors huge impact. Matto fits into the same category and he needed support, when he was one up all day.
Quick summary at this point.....forwards are much more effective when placed correctly. Greig needs to take Lane's place in the pack if not the position. Hurry back Carty (who would have thought how integral he has become),
Finally Sivo was carrying a leg injury in the last 30, cannot judge him on that. Dyllan had a poor game in leadership, but again I think you will find he has a rib injury. he sat wide a lot of the time. Russell is just a winger and falls into the back up category.
Things to do, Sanders comes into half and becomes the main kicker. Young Tulago goes to centre, takes over from Harper. More thought has to go into the team kicking game. No imagination in their red zone when we were going backwards.
Our Reserve Grade side is a disgrace and we will develop nothing through them in their current structure. I watched Sanders to start with yesterday and his support was disgraceful. He will be much more effective in First Grade around better players and finally Matt Arthur can become another Harry Grant.....too early yet but next year for sure!
Finally one for whoever (Rasberry) was responsible for us not getting Justin Olam from Melbourne, he was a huge difference for the Tigers in what he gave through the centres. He plays for us and we win!I I don't understand how we missed him? Its obviously the R&R team or someone specifically not wanting him. No excuses for this one in a period that R&R have a lot of thinking to do in the next 2 weeks.
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I 100% agree on Sivo as i stand by he was not that bad yesterday. He did not do a lot wrong. He is becoming the new JA as the punching bag for when we lose. People who do not watch the game see we lose and now go "Sivo did it".
As for Sanders, i just do not think he is the answer. There is not much else and the kid will have to debut at some point but just don't think putting all the responsibility on him straight up will work. At least when he will go to Canberra he will have Fogarty alongside him.
I wonder what Greig has done wrong, Moretti is playing well but he is the perfect starting stint Prop for us.
At the end of the day Sivo wasn't great and looked like we was blowing hard in the 30 degree day and will be better for the run but how was he responsible for the loss? He still won his match up with his opponent in my opinion on points which he usually does. He is a scapegoat when we lose I agree because unless he's busting through tackles at will he has had a 'shit game'. Wingers don't lose you games generally. If you go looking for a winger to blame you are looking in the wrong place as a general rule
Good blog, Pops. Agree with you Michael. Blaming Sivo is kicking an uneven deckchair off the Titanic. Sivo was poor (injured?) but not the reason we lost. We lost because we played dumb (e.g. silly errors & lapses), were switched off at critical times (nothing new), & overall the Tigers wanted it more than us.
Even BA's poor decisions to start with Junior (better off the bench) and Matto - both who were very poor - could have been countered if we play with a little more nous and we're just a tad more focused & switched on. It's not like we've never won without starting with Junior and Matto.
Sivo was terrible. Atrocious. Not a punching bag for disgruntled fans, he rightly deserves criticism for that display. Sivo has two main jobs. Score tries and make yards early in sets. He held onto the ball to stroll over for a try so tick for that. But his kick returns and yardage sets were pure hot garbage. Charlie 'lightweight' Staines man-handled him with ease. There's a winger in Reggies, Tago who has way more go in him than Sivo currently does. Ethan Martyn was also lighting up the turf in Reggies. Both of those deserve Sivo's spot in NRL.
Sivo was visibly limping most of the game. He could barely retreat on kicks. He was clearly carrying an injury. Brad made him play injured most of the game and didn't take him off even though he was a liability. It was clear from the stands he was playing busted. He must have rolled an ankle or hurt his leg early because it started early in the first half.
Hmmm, his hit up from his very first touch was absolute rubbish. I didn't notice any reduction in his output. He started crap, was crap throughout and finished with a limp. BA will have him first picked this week.
Agreed. His first hit up, Sezer ran at him by himself and smashed him. None of us are saying he is the reason we lost. But he is still been shit the past 12 months.
Only one person to blame...Gutherson.
If he had nailed that last kick, the narrative on here would have been...gees we played shit but got away with it.
BA changing the bench nearly didn't work, I think he realises now that Paulo and Matterson are better off the bench.
The halves have a lot to learn, but will get better.
BUT...because Gutho missed that goal, it's a whole new narrative..
BA needs to be sacked immediately.
Brown and Talagi won't work, need an organising half in there.
Could go on forever with all the crap, and it's all because Gutho missed that goal.
Yes if Gutherson kicks the goal it would be a "We won although it weren't convincing". Then the brain dead masses on social media can type their "robbed" comments or "Parramatta paid the refs" or some other nonsense that implies Parramatta is fixing matches (Which seems to happen every time we win) or lose, yes people accuse us of match fixing even when we lose.
True, there is a huge tendency on here and amongst Parra fans generally to overemphasise a loss in the context of a season. It's round 4 and no sides are undefeated and pretty much all have had a pretty poor loss. Manly looked great rounds one and two and were absolute faeces on the weekend.
With Moses we looked as good as anyone in my opinion
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