We have all read the many post mortems by various Media outlets. No question, we came up short and were pribably March premiers and lost our mojo as season pregressd. Wjat worries me is that we have not addressed the key issues stopping us making he next natural step. Pros - we have the competitions leading ff loader in the forwards in Junior. WE have a top 3 tackler in Reed. We have a top 10 try assist in MOSES. When we are hot we have an incredible 60 minutes in us. The remaining 20 is what lets us down. When the first rotation starts and we lose our bookends we momentum and trust in the defensive line. This snowlballs ont Mitch and his kicking game goes off becuase he now kicking under presuure and often at the back of a poor set.
We need to find :
A rep quality Front Rower who charges at them, can pop a little ball before the line and more important doenst lose th ruck when tackled. Got be maintained and quick teh play the ball. Who is available, can we afford him. Will he be happt to be a No 14 and do some real hard stuff as the game ebs and flows as momentum starts to make its play, Penrith appears obvious as they try and keep their kids from the 2020 GF team. I would be looking at Quuensland Cup or similar. LODGE is not the answer IMO. Daniel Saifiti borther a YES. Not as developed as his twin bother but has similar characteristics Thomas FLOGLER frnm Broncos another good one. Either way need be capable of bg minutres an acvcurate defense.
Centre to replace JENNINGS. Few out there like Whare and Jimmy the jet. Can play but injury prone an both have issues that attrract media attention. NADEM being shopped arond as well. Think we need to invest in real speed . WAQA has real speed but his defensive issues are not yer corrected so may find himsef on wing r playing Reggies.
WE know know that the kicking game is more vital than ever . Mitchy can still deliver on that. His running game needs to lift big time. Run and plays eyes u football.
BA must work on the defence as No 1 Priority. Then he can develop a system in attack that straighens our attack uo. We can play sdeline to sideline of we have the,m back pedallu ort compressin the in the line. He can buy Bargain priced players but their skill set or strenth has to add to teh squad,. Not replacong life for like.of type of players we let go.
BSA work out wjay shape you want the attack to play towards.
Work out variation for tacvkles 1-3
Try and mainain tthe momentum when the Front rowers go off not be completely be dominated. May involve tacticallly kicking trwards sidelines so play set peices and take the 1-04 wuick play the balls and risk of sic again happening.
We have the team to go higher. Bu we need to stay heathy and YES we need to start brining kinds through after June, Stil have a sneeky feeling we have a decemt player cming on boad for 2021.
GO THE EELS
Replies
Some good points Squiz, but I do not see the club going after more props when we have RCG and Junior on decent $$$ and some young guys coming up. But I get the point.
Centre for me is the key; and defence, you hit that well. We must be ruthless for 80 mins; nothing short of that. Often tries on the edge were scored becuase our ruck defence allowed a fast play the ball, hence we were not well set. Must dominate this are of the field and inside communication and body position when leaving the line; square up more and less backtracking.
YES our attack is at times sideways with no goalpost to goalpost charging with runners / plays; to me we need to re-jig this a bit to maintain our strong attack; and if we can do that we can go ok. But the errors in defence must be rectified asap.
Squiz were you typing fast mate? some interesting spellings....
Agree we need a couple of centres the problem is finding them.Our recruitment at the moment reminds me of a few years ago when we bought old has beens and from memory two of them retired before the seasons end.As Toovey would say someone has to be responsible for this.
Yep, our backline needs some some more strike. If Naden sorts himself out in rehab, he’s worth a gamble on. Defence needs work but he’s young and a great runner with the ball.
Yes we have mainly bought players with potential. Not retiree's so far.
Oldfield (31 next year)
Opacic (27)
Lussick (25)
Roache (25)
Hipgrave (24)
Papali'i (23)
Poppa I can agree with the PC line but maybe I would not have said it as black and white as that (or can I not say this anymore?). I think govt. have a lot to answer for with their allowance of the victim culture which has gone on far too long, but will stand up to it? Not the two major parties. There is little resilience these days it seems, and I am not talking about Naden but society overall.
I also question now how penrith handled the Naden issue as from memory it was from some Warriors supporters who appeared to apologise? Maybe I am wrong about that, but what if they were Wests, Parra or C'bury fans and not 'warriors' fans? The incident was quickly dealt with. The Goodes incident and that girl was castagated everywhere....
Anyhow I think we need a strong and tough defensive centre, as to who? NFI. No to Roberts and Naden needs time to mature and sort things it seems.
Poppa - the way I read Mick's "rookie" comment is that BA did what you would expect from a rookie coach - and the problem being he continues to make these rookie mistakes after 7 years as head coach.
Therein lies out major problem imo - the coach has not progressed and remains stuck back in Bateman's Bay.
Oh Great Demented One - if you are not in to win it why do you waste your time getting out of bed?
That said I understand your thinking and to some extent (small as it is) can agree.
Professionalism is another subjective argument.
I have previously admitted Bushy has done some good things but like Mick have no faith or belief he will ever win a GF - I have comapred him to Brian Smith in the past and still maintain that opinion. Serial underachiever who chokes on the big stage.
Smith / Bushy both raised the standards at the Eels but the cupboard remains bare.
Seven years in and still nothing to show for the "effort"
Bushy will not be managed out imo, he will complete his tenure to the end of 2022 and if he achieves top 4 again in 2021 will no doubt get another extension.
The problem with that is if he is not offered an extension he may do a Smith (hopefully) or tank games until his contract expires.
The board need to have him front and centre on a minimum 3 monthly basis *NEXT YEAR*sigh* If he is winning he can smply say, steady as she goes, if he is losing then he has a difficult time explaining continued failure and THEN he could be managed out. I do not see this happening. Prior to pre season he should be in front of the board, or whoever actually manages him at club level and lay out, very clearly, what he intends to achieve in 2021, this becomes the bench mark to judge him by.
As for continuing to pressure him - I will not stop (YET)
Show me, don't tell me how good you are.
And like the board or whoever is supposed to manage him you have NFI as well.
If I don't judge him then the arselickers will win - and I don't lick or kiss arse I KICK IT!
Perfect summary Mick, thank you
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