Of late weve been in great positions to put big scores on opposition who are nowhere near our class, but weve been fading in the back end of games.
Whats your opinion of why this is happening after a good start to the season?
Mental?
Fitness?
The use of the bench and selection?
Injury?
Mid season slump?
All of the above?
Genuinely interested to hear peoples opinions.
Replies
I think we are not using our bench as well as we could though you could argue that due to injuries our bench has been a bit thin. With the return of Evans and Kaufusi and Niakora back to bench hopefully they get more minutes and be more effective.
I put last weekends fade down largely to team selection error.
Why pick ur best rotional middle farward Niukore in the 2nd row when Evans and kaufusi havnt played in weeks.
Davey needed to start in 2nd row and Niukotre should have been used as main middle forward rotation.
Davery played 25 mins
Evan and kaufusi played 20mins
Taka played 10mins
I think you'll find in BA's mind that Niukore is also our number one backup edge forward ahead of Davey. One thing we definitely know from BA is that he favours those that have done the job for him over a period of time. Niukore has proven himself as both an edge & middle forward.
I think it's just mental fatigue. This can and should be managed, but it is a complex thing. I brlieve the plsyers are physically fit and have the skills, but their minds wander during parts of the games. We need to stay focussed on the game plan for the full 80 min. Easier said than done however.
Especially this season.
I reckon this is correct. They still seem fit but can't focus for the full 80 minutes.
All that matters is winning the grand final and it's a long way. Don't mind pacing ourselves.
Dogs are a good team with Foran and was never going to be an easy win.
We used to have a problem with scoring tries under match conditions but I don't think that is an issue any more. We have got some big scores and have that sorted.
The ref plays a big part. There are lots of 50:50 calls in a game and if these go all your way it is hard for a team to come back. The top teams with the best reputations get them going mostly their way. Most games this year we have got an even share of the 50:50s unlike previous years when they mostly went against us. But we have never had most go our way despite Annesley apologies, which seem to mostly involve isolated 50:50 calls our way and ignore other ones in the match that went against us.
That's because no one in the media sticks up for us and no one from our club does either.
This is where BA needs to point out the glaringly obvious, the fact that no one dares mentions ie Parra being down 6 regular players vs Manlys 4 or the forward pass try by Canberra in round 7 ir the discrepancies in the 6 agains.... These are the things that need highlighting but no one seems to care or put it out theee fir all to see and discuss. Only then will we start to be given a fair go by the media etc
The media always scrutinises eels because BA never gives excuses such as poor referees or injuries during any interview he has. He puts alot of onus on everyone in the group rather than giving them reason to loose their game. So the media just drives the idea into everyone's head that parra are not actual contenders. Like no one realised we went 3-1 without our star halfback in the team. Any other club, everyone would be yapping on about how they see it was a big boost to win 3-1 without their best player. In regards to the raiders loss, obviosuly we struggled to close the game out with Moses injured and Brown so young. We had no controlling half with a solid kicking game.
Last week panthers struggled against the titans. The refs helped the panthers so much and they barely won. So all of a sudden when eels still win in a scrappy affair they are no chance of a premiership while panthers are. I would love to see how panthers go without N Cleary. They nearly lost to the warriors last time without him.
So all in all, while eels havent been at their best, you would rather have this sluggish performances now than in the finals series. Panthers have to becareful that they dont peak to early as teams like eels and roosters seem to be preparing themselves to peak at the end of the year which is obviosuly what you want.
I still think to change perceptions and change the media narrative BA needs to point shit like the above out. No one else is so it needs to fall at his feet. Our only representation in the media is Sterlo and Hindmarsh but neither tend to point out the facts either. I know it may sound small, but pointing out we were down 6/7 regular first graders vs Manly may change opinion or the narrative a bit and allow the side some credit where it's due. All coaches do it BA should too - the players would appreciate it.
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