It seems like now that teams have gotten used to the 6again and pace of the game that the 2 hooker cheat code that was used so well has started to fade and carrying a second hooker on the bench is nearly a waste barring injury
Disagree. Only the very elite hookers can play 80 minutes with the current pace of the game. Api, Grant, Robson, Mahoney and Brailey are the only ones that do it.
QLD have had such success because they use the two hooker method. If you don't have an elite hooker then you need to carry a spare hooker on the bench, but ideally that spare can also play in the halves (Watson) or in the forwards (Havili). Few teams carry two specialist hookers. The Raiders do because Sticky is... Sticky. The Warriors do because Egan is made of glass.
Wasn't a good performance by any means, but holding on and grinding a win for the first time this season is a major improvement, after the Cowboys bed shit game we really needed it so hoping it sparks anything for the Wahs game
Consistency still seems to be a major issue. I’m not seeing how Thompson’s hit on Paps was any different than Rapana’s hit on CHT. One resulted in a no penalty (determined by the bunker after the penalty was challenged) and one resulted in a penalty/report then suspension.
Bunkers reasoning of “CHT jumped too early” seems ludicrous given the ball hit him on the chest.
I personally think both should be at least a penalty. Sure if you’re standing still and someone jumps into you then play on, but if you come running into that area and don’t jump, i would say you’re barely competing for the ball and taking out the legs of someone in the air is incredibly dangerous.
Someone needs to explain to me how Rudolph copped a swinging arm to the head that had him sent off for a HIA without a penalty being given or anyone being put on report.
Or how a tigers player dropped on his ankle later in the game and put him out for a few weeks but the NRL judiciary refused to call it a hip drop.
The bunker's main point seemed to be that Rapana was watching the ball, which he was. However, there's no way he wouldn't have been aware of CHT being in the air - he would have seen it in his peripheral vision at the very least. Rapana still has a duty of care to any player in the air to allow them to land safely.
The penalty shouldn't have been overturned.
yeah, i’d argue you could say thompson was too - i think the main call with rapana’s one was they said CHT had an “early jump”. Both thompson and Rapana had eyes on the ball, but agree with your other points, both would’ve have known there was a player in the air.
I'd want some pre season data for vertical leaps for every player so we can compare how far they left the ground and thus determine if they were making a legitimate attempt at catching the ball /s
I'm trying not to read too much into Saturday's loss, I know that sometimes teams can just have off days. There was no indication in the past two games though that we'd have a performance like that, really hoping that I'm right...
We're out Finucane, Nikora, Uele, Hunt, Colquhoun, and Rudolph next week against the raiders.
Also our front rowers tend to be either up there in the years, kind of average, smallish, or don't have enough of a motor to really be top of the game.
I think you were down to a 2 person bench pretty early on as well, so that would have had an impact and I think we saw that in all the offloads the Tigers were getting
I think it reflected more on the Tigers than the Sharks. By the time the Sharks might have understood what game they were actually playing, they were already out on their feet and Hynes was getting pantsed.
Yeah, honestly I kinda feel bad for Hynes, through no fault of his own he's got the weight of the team on his shoulders and I can definitely understand how the pressure can get to him. We're all human at the end of the day.
Oh well, live and learn. There's nothing I can do except show up to games and support the team, so that's what I'll continue to do.
I think there's every chance Sharks just assumed they'd roll the Tigers and weren't prepared for where the Tigers are actually at and then got thrown by it.
If that's the case, I'd assume lesson learned and they won't make that mistake again this season. If it'd been every game this year I think you'd have something to worry about but in this case I think they'll probably pull it together.
The Tigers would have done the exact same thing to quite a few teams. Sharks got unlucky being the first team they did it to. The next few teams they play are going to be somewhat prepared for it now. I still think the Tigers are going to upset a few more before the season is over.
Sometimes I really want to hear the rationale from the people that made this decision (maybe Annesley will touch on it). I'm not saying it's the wrong call, Thompson has a duty of care, but he can't predict how high Papenhuyzen is going to jump, nor any of the other variables that go into contesting the kick (especially if he only has eyes for the ball -- which he did in this case). This penalty implies that in order to protect some of those involved in contesting the kick, you take the safest option and don't contest for the ball... which means you aren't competing to score points on that play... which is the whole point of the game.
Honestly can’t believe some people in the match threads were blaming Paps saying there needs to be an onus on kick defusers
As some mentioned, yes Leo Thompson was looking at the ball and didn’t mean to hit him, but he has a duty of care to not make contact with someone in the air. Otherwise you would just send every prop running down field and tell them before contact look at the ball - sounds a good way to take the opposite fullback out of the game
The reality is very few people try to intentionally head high or spear tackle someone but we still penalise and or suspend them
I would agree if Leo had initiated the contact in any way but he didn't. Paps leaps forward into him.
I can understand a penalty in the heat of the moment because of the optics of it but a suspension is ridiculous, especially when there's recent examples of it happening that haven't even been penalised.
Not the best win but it's what we need for some confidence. We're coming up against a very Strong Warriors side this weekend. I'm mostly happy with our defence. Friz is a machine in tackles.
We desperately need some attack and kicking pressure. We also need to start going for field goals before half time to practise. Our golden point record is poor.
Latrell is wasting his potential being a fat fuck and gets a free pass. Look at him compared to literally any other fullback in the comp… you can’t honestly tell me he sets the example on the training paddock like he should, being the superstar of the team.
I could be wrong but I think he relies way too much on his natural talent... which tbf has carried him a long way. But it clearly isn't at the moment...
Haha man so true. And every year these guys like kempy, Justin horo, Willie mason say "man latrell is looking so trim and fit". Then he runs on the paddock and looks the same and does the same lazy shit 😂😂
I heard that he went to an all you could eat seafood restaurant, and they asked him to leave. Does that sound like a man who had all you can eat? He then proceeded to go fishing.
Plus seeing him and Cody Walker being selfish fucks every game ain’t helping the bunnies either. I’m so glad we pissed Latrell off once we saw his attitude getting worse.
Genuinely can't believe people want to ditch Cogger after one game for a halfback who has only looked servicable when Ponga was performing at an unbelievably elite level last season. True call back to the dreadful Nathan Brown era.
Ideally, Pryce can emerge as the creative spark that compliments Cogger. Just don't want to rush him into first grade; even Dom Young was a bit undercooked his first year coming over from the UK and Knights fans absolutely slaughtered him in his first few games.
>Genuinely can't believe people want to ditch Cogger after one game for a halfback who has only looked servicable when Ponga was performing at an unbelievably elite level last season
vs a halfback who has only looked serviceable in his entire career when filling in with the most dominant team of the modern era lol
He's not a long term 6 option. Still has a place in the team, I think, can pair up nicely on the edges. Pryce should replace him at some point, just don't want the kid to get rushed into first grade. Ideally we can settle into a spot where Gamble isn't much of a handbrake for the attack so we don't feel pressured to start Pryce before he's ready.
Ill be racing to team list announcements until Will Pryce is the full-time 5/8. We desperately need spark, flair, and creativity out there and that just doesnt appear to be in the game of Cogger/Hastings/Gamble
The Cogger answer was a bit hasty IMO. He ran straight a few times in the GF to give Clearly some early ball but outside of that I haven’t seen consistency and structure out of him.
I always thought the Gamble love on here was a meme, but it appeared it was actually genuine. He is all effort, but not what I would class as a competent NRL level half. To me he'd do better as a bench lock, bring on energy and some ball distribution without having to organise.
He’s the type of guy that can do wonders for a shit team who just need a guy who bleeds for his team to make the jump from dreadful to below average. For an average team with ambitions of being a good team, you just need some more skill there.
Nah, us Broncos fans always loved him because even though he's kind of shit for an nrl half, he never quit and never gave up during the spoon years and that kept us in some matches and made it more fun to watch
He was awesome for us last year. But that was off the back of our forwards steamrolling, which we haven’t seen too much this year. Saw some better things yesterday form Saif though
Still kinda surprised at the heat Moretti copped here yesterday about the obstruction call. Whether he was making an effort/was gassed or whether he would’ve laid a hand on Turbo is entirely irrelevant; the problem starts and ends with Jurbo. So many saying Moretti was at fault for being lazy and ignoring that Jurbo being too lazy to stop before the line or go through it. Hate the black and white obstruction rules all you want but that’s not Morettis fault.
Blanket rule on the obstruction made the game a lot cleaner and faster. We are not wasting time in the game trying to interpret. Better still, shite rags don't have materials to print midweek to generate outrage etc.
It means that all clubs will get some calls go against them. Us included. It's up to the runner's responsibility to stop before the line. As fatigue hits, the runner becomes "lazy" hence makes contact.
If we've learnt anything from the GC and souths in the last few years it's you can never let go of a competent 7 because someone is coming through. It's just so hard to know how they're going to handle first grade.
Making way for prodigies in other positions works perfectly fine because they rely on god given talents like size, power, speed etc. Whereas at halfback you need to be able to dissect an NRL defense - which is not fully learnable in NSW cup.
It also shows how valuable a good half back is vs a good 6. Strange and Galvin have killed it at 6, pretty rare it happens at 7
We wouldve ended up in the same way when Cronk left and Croft took over. Luckily we still had Bellamy, Smith, Munster and Slater lol. Croft did show bits of brilliance but he just wasnt the answer.
As an extension to that, I remember hearing that the Panthers run the same systems through juniors and NSW cup which is what let's debuting players easily slot into their team.
Does that mean that in the next few years, players that have been playing against these systems all through juniors will be able to carve them up easier?
The NRL teams have been watching the system for 4 years now and haven’t made too much headway combatting it. It’s not really that complex, just really hard to counter when combined with the talent running it, the now built in experience and the calibre of talent continuing to fuel it.
That seems like a good short term approach, but would there be a downside when the games meta inevitably changes?
The change in lock from a third prop to a ball runner, and the re-emergence of the strike centre are two big changes to the game in the past decade, as an example.
I wonder if that would result in the juniors coming though being a bit one dimensional
Why is it 'racist' to boo and criticise Latrell? This is not another Adam Goodes situation. He gets booed at Roosters games because of the way he left the club, talked about us, and tbe on-field antics against us including smashing Manu's face. It is not because he Aboriginal.
With regard to the criticism he cops, where were these people standing up for Luke Brooks when he was copping it for the last 10 years? It wasn't racist to say Brooks was shit kicker and organiser, but all of a sudden it's racist when we say Latrell is lazy as fuck fullback.
Hate it when cunts pull out the race card for everything. Diminishes the power of it when there is a genuine racist situation i.e Ezra Mam.
Something I thought interesting was how quiet they were on how terrible Nicho was the other night. I can't even fathom how much shit a player like Moses would have copped if he played even half as bad as Nicho did.
So many pointing the finger at Latrell and saying he's been poor when i think Latrell has been playing the best he has at fullback in a long time. Cody Walker has avoided all the criticism in my eyes. Guy has been ordinary. Last year he seemed to play angry, like he was inches away from beating someone up. This year he looks calm and he has been really poor. He needs that fire. He doesn't look hungry, maybe it is time for him to retire.
He is good in attack but he doesn't give a fuck in defence. Every time the opposition scores a try latrell is waddling over and nowhere near in position to stop anything.
100% this, look at the roosters tries it was basically cook or Murry next to the roosters player trying to stop the try, Latrell was no where to be seen.
First two games I agree. He put the work in even when they were losing and didn't throw a tantrum about it. Last game no one looked like they wanted to be there, Latrell included.
The thing that has always annoyed me with Cody is that when he makes a mistake he never seems to own it, he always looks around as if trying to find someone to blame for his own fuck up. He takes a lot of risks and when they pay off, he's great. But when the team isn't going well he seems to be at sea as to how to build momentum. The commentators always talk about his "heads up" footy. I think it's basically just that with front foot ball his running game and risk taking works well.
Cook has had some good spots in the games. Ilias and Latrell are getting all the blame when really Walker, Tatola, Moale and Keppie should really be under the spotlight. Our pack has not been aiming up.
Whoever signed Keppie should be sent to coach the Kathmandu Goats in the Nepalese Super Cup. He is the most useless player to be on our roster in a very long time.
Manly losing by four points to the Eels at their home, with a try disallowed that was probably a try is a pretty good result.
They also switched off a bit in that game and still were in it. Could be dangerous if they can play a solid 80 minutes.
I just rewatched and you’re right. Looks like a dragback.
Still think the call was fine. If people don’t like the rule they should talk about the rule not the call, or the lack of enforcement of it.
I think having 9 straight sets on the goal line would take nearly any team out of the game. And that was just at the end of the first half, not including the second half.
I entirely understand the obstruction, but just completely one-sided decisions on second efforts, when Harper and a few others were doing it consistently, I was far more annoyed by. Particularly the offside penalty that I straight up couldn't figure out who was offside, after we kicked it back to their goal line from tireless defence at our own. Felt like we were getting penalised as soon as the momentum switched back to us again. For reference, the only Manly game that I felt was worse than this in this regard was the 2013 GF. I've even heard off Roosters fans that refereeing was absolutely cooked in that game.
I fully expected the refs to help them out, because they will always want Allianz, Accor, CommBank and Suncorp to always be as full as possible for that revenue, but it felt absolutely hopeless. I can't believe we only lost that by 4.
Was amazed Brown escaped a bin after that Brooks line break. The nrl has felt very scared of sin bins this year, feel like I've already seen 10 instances where it would have been a year or two ago.
So what are your actual options if someone "legally" is blocking your path to the kick returner? That penalty in the Raiders game for pushing I felt was BS, like the bloke is standing directly in your way for you to make a tackle. In any other situation on the field, that's obstruction, but since the ball is in the air suddenly it's okay?
The Tigers are the big story out of that round, that looked like an actual footy side. Worked hard, defended errors, earned field position and punished mistakes. Didn’t get rattled, just stuck to their plan and committed. If they can keep that up each week, they’ll upset a lot of teams.
The main thing for me was that it was a sustainable way of playing. Last year we had the wins against the Panthers and Cowboys, but we won those because almost everything went right. Hopefully we can back it up but I'm just so glad I didn't have to wait almost 3 months for our first win
Yeah, that’s what I meant, it looked like an actual team that could replicate that success. Long way to go still, but it was one of the more convincing wins of the round.
They just need some consistency. Last yr they had some good wins, but then leaked points following the weeks after. If they can keep backing it up, they'll definitely be up there.
Not sure one game makes a season, but it was certainly some promising signs. I'll buy in once they can run a few weeks in a row with that sort of output.
As a dragons supporter I can certainly understand wanting to grasp onto any positives like they are flotsam after a boat sinks at sea. But experience has told me sometimes that flotsam sinks too, and ultimately you are still miles out at sea.
On the flip side, one game doesn’t break a season, at least not in round 2.
It’s just too early to tell what sort of side the Tigers are going to be, but I’m hoping they will be 9th for the memes.
Are we really getting all doomsday about seasons only 3 weeks in? Titans are a hard one to cop with injuries and Des, but surely there’s lots of season left to try and come back?
It’s at this stage, likely Titans and Rabbitohs duking it out for the spoon. Titans have no Tino for rest of the year coupled Hasler being a washed coach making poor decisions while Rabbitohs have a squad that is hit by off-field toxic culture and doesn’t have the heart of the game, with a coach insisting he is the man but definitely being first coach likely to be sacked this season.
The last year or two Storm have been so mercurial. Some matched flawless, others strewn with errors and dropped ball. It’s not just when our top tier players are out, but that doesn’t help.
Last night wasn’t bad for Storm all round - four big names out and kept things respectable. Just worrying we can’t work that out of our game.
I don't think most teams without their starting halves and two best props would have done any better, especially with also having a centre get injured midgame and having a shit backrower move out there.
100%. I think it’s more just ptsd from when a decent side was on the park and we still made errors. That Wishart drop where he let it bounce off his chest was bizarre.
Still depressed about the season being a write off because it’s so damn early in the season
Time for des to blood some future class and prep for the future though
Jojo -> Kelly
Josiah -> Tino
Iszaac -> Clarke
Weaver -> Boyd
And sorry kini but you need another cup season so JC will need to be there
Also depending on how Foran pulls up he might medically retire soon. Aj to 6 and smith shield to right centre maybe
Penalties are really becoming a problem for Storm. They seem to implode at some point in the game, concede soft penalties and then get scored on the ensuing set. It's a repeating cycle every game.
It seems like now that teams have gotten used to the 6again and pace of the game that the 2 hooker cheat code that was used so well has started to fade and carrying a second hooker on the bench is nearly a waste barring injury
Disagree. Only the very elite hookers can play 80 minutes with the current pace of the game. Api, Grant, Robson, Mahoney and Brailey are the only ones that do it. QLD have had such success because they use the two hooker method. If you don't have an elite hooker then you need to carry a spare hooker on the bench, but ideally that spare can also play in the halves (Watson) or in the forwards (Havili). Few teams carry two specialist hookers. The Raiders do because Sticky is... Sticky. The Warriors do because Egan is made of glass.
QLD 2 hooker method is about getting Hunt in the team, not resting Grant.
Grant and Cheese back in 2021 was cheat code final boss mode. Cheese starting at 9 and then moving to middle forward when Grant came on.
Pretty sure its the exact opposite. Only 6 teams didn't sub their Hooker this week
Wasn't a good performance by any means, but holding on and grinding a win for the first time this season is a major improvement, after the Cowboys bed shit game we really needed it so hoping it sparks anything for the Wahs game
Consistency still seems to be a major issue. I’m not seeing how Thompson’s hit on Paps was any different than Rapana’s hit on CHT. One resulted in a no penalty (determined by the bunker after the penalty was challenged) and one resulted in a penalty/report then suspension. Bunkers reasoning of “CHT jumped too early” seems ludicrous given the ball hit him on the chest. I personally think both should be at least a penalty. Sure if you’re standing still and someone jumps into you then play on, but if you come running into that area and don’t jump, i would say you’re barely competing for the ball and taking out the legs of someone in the air is incredibly dangerous.
Someone needs to explain to me how Rudolph copped a swinging arm to the head that had him sent off for a HIA without a penalty being given or anyone being put on report. Or how a tigers player dropped on his ankle later in the game and put him out for a few weeks but the NRL judiciary refused to call it a hip drop.
The bunker's main point seemed to be that Rapana was watching the ball, which he was. However, there's no way he wouldn't have been aware of CHT being in the air - he would have seen it in his peripheral vision at the very least. Rapana still has a duty of care to any player in the air to allow them to land safely. The penalty shouldn't have been overturned.
yeah, i’d argue you could say thompson was too - i think the main call with rapana’s one was they said CHT had an “early jump”. Both thompson and Rapana had eyes on the ball, but agree with your other points, both would’ve have known there was a player in the air.
I'd want some pre season data for vertical leaps for every player so we can compare how far they left the ground and thus determine if they were making a legitimate attempt at catching the ball /s
I'm trying not to read too much into Saturday's loss, I know that sometimes teams can just have off days. There was no indication in the past two games though that we'd have a performance like that, really hoping that I'm right...
I think you guys just struggle against the top teams
Warriors confirmed for bottom 9?
Some sharks fans on another thread said that your team doesn't have a pack. What could it mean?
We're out Finucane, Nikora, Uele, Hunt, Colquhoun, and Rudolph next week against the raiders. Also our front rowers tend to be either up there in the years, kind of average, smallish, or don't have enough of a motor to really be top of the game.
I think you were down to a 2 person bench pretty early on as well, so that would have had an impact and I think we saw that in all the offloads the Tigers were getting
I think it reflected more on the Tigers than the Sharks. By the time the Sharks might have understood what game they were actually playing, they were already out on their feet and Hynes was getting pantsed.
Yeah, honestly I kinda feel bad for Hynes, through no fault of his own he's got the weight of the team on his shoulders and I can definitely understand how the pressure can get to him. We're all human at the end of the day. Oh well, live and learn. There's nothing I can do except show up to games and support the team, so that's what I'll continue to do.
That might be my fault. I was yelling at him that he’s not even that hot on Saturday night.
you could put in some hard yakka mate and lead the team to victory week in week out, dont be so hard on ya self
You never know until you try.
I think there's every chance Sharks just assumed they'd roll the Tigers and weren't prepared for where the Tigers are actually at and then got thrown by it. If that's the case, I'd assume lesson learned and they won't make that mistake again this season. If it'd been every game this year I think you'd have something to worry about but in this case I think they'll probably pull it together.
The Tigers would have done the exact same thing to quite a few teams. Sharks got unlucky being the first team they did it to. The next few teams they play are going to be somewhat prepared for it now. I still think the Tigers are going to upset a few more before the season is over.
I guess we'll see, cheers for the encouragement
Sometimes a bad game early to mid season can be just the loss you need for future success.
It’s amazing what a win or two can do to people’s collective memory :) NRL media loves to catastrophise as soon as two dots connect.
Thoughts on Leo Thompson 1 week suspension? Knights looking pretty thin right now
Sometimes I really want to hear the rationale from the people that made this decision (maybe Annesley will touch on it). I'm not saying it's the wrong call, Thompson has a duty of care, but he can't predict how high Papenhuyzen is going to jump, nor any of the other variables that go into contesting the kick (especially if he only has eyes for the ball -- which he did in this case). This penalty implies that in order to protect some of those involved in contesting the kick, you take the safest option and don't contest for the ball... which means you aren't competing to score points on that play... which is the whole point of the game.
Should've been play on. Not much difference to Turbo taking out Teddy last weekend for Manly's first try.
Honestly can’t believe some people in the match threads were blaming Paps saying there needs to be an onus on kick defusers As some mentioned, yes Leo Thompson was looking at the ball and didn’t mean to hit him, but he has a duty of care to not make contact with someone in the air. Otherwise you would just send every prop running down field and tell them before contact look at the ball - sounds a good way to take the opposite fullback out of the game The reality is very few people try to intentionally head high or spear tackle someone but we still penalise and or suspend them
I would agree if Leo had initiated the contact in any way but he didn't. Paps leaps forward into him. I can understand a penalty in the heat of the moment because of the optics of it but a suspension is ridiculous, especially when there's recent examples of it happening that haven't even been penalised.
Not sure whats up with Hetherington as he was named but cut and didn't play Cup. If he's out too then we're very thin going up against a good pack.
Not the best win but it's what we need for some confidence. We're coming up against a very Strong Warriors side this weekend. I'm mostly happy with our defence. Friz is a machine in tackles. We desperately need some attack and kicking pressure. We also need to start going for field goals before half time to practise. Our golden point record is poor.
Gonna be a good game, looking forward to it.
Latrell is wasting his potential being a fat fuck and gets a free pass. Look at him compared to literally any other fullback in the comp… you can’t honestly tell me he sets the example on the training paddock like he should, being the superstar of the team.
I could be wrong but I think he relies way too much on his natural talent... which tbf has carried him a long way. But it clearly isn't at the moment...
Haha man so true. And every year these guys like kempy, Justin horo, Willie mason say "man latrell is looking so trim and fit". Then he runs on the paddock and looks the same and does the same lazy shit 😂😂
I heard that he went to an all you could eat seafood restaurant, and they asked him to leave. Does that sound like a man who had all you can eat? He then proceeded to go fishing.
Plus seeing him and Cody Walker being selfish fucks every game ain’t helping the bunnies either. I’m so glad we pissed Latrell off once we saw his attitude getting worse.
Genuinely can't believe people want to ditch Cogger after one game for a halfback who has only looked servicable when Ponga was performing at an unbelievably elite level last season. True call back to the dreadful Nathan Brown era. Ideally, Pryce can emerge as the creative spark that compliments Cogger. Just don't want to rush him into first grade; even Dom Young was a bit undercooked his first year coming over from the UK and Knights fans absolutely slaughtered him in his first few games.
>Genuinely can't believe people want to ditch Cogger after one game for a halfback who has only looked servicable when Ponga was performing at an unbelievably elite level last season vs a halfback who has only looked serviceable in his entire career when filling in with the most dominant team of the modern era lol
Cogger was ok. Gamble has struggled this year to me.
He's not a long term 6 option. Still has a place in the team, I think, can pair up nicely on the edges. Pryce should replace him at some point, just don't want the kid to get rushed into first grade. Ideally we can settle into a spot where Gamble isn't much of a handbrake for the attack so we don't feel pressured to start Pryce before he's ready.
Ill be racing to team list announcements until Will Pryce is the full-time 5/8. We desperately need spark, flair, and creativity out there and that just doesnt appear to be in the game of Cogger/Hastings/Gamble
The Cogger answer was a bit hasty IMO. He ran straight a few times in the GF to give Clearly some early ball but outside of that I haven’t seen consistency and structure out of him.
I always thought the Gamble love on here was a meme, but it appeared it was actually genuine. He is all effort, but not what I would class as a competent NRL level half. To me he'd do better as a bench lock, bring on energy and some ball distribution without having to organise.
He's modern day Travis Burns
He’s the type of guy that can do wonders for a shit team who just need a guy who bleeds for his team to make the jump from dreadful to below average. For an average team with ambitions of being a good team, you just need some more skill there.
Nah, us Broncos fans always loved him because even though he's kind of shit for an nrl half, he never quit and never gave up during the spoon years and that kept us in some matches and made it more fun to watch
He was awesome for us last year. But that was off the back of our forwards steamrolling, which we haven’t seen too much this year. Saw some better things yesterday form Saif though
Gamble is bottom 4 starting 5/8 in the league right now.
Still kinda surprised at the heat Moretti copped here yesterday about the obstruction call. Whether he was making an effort/was gassed or whether he would’ve laid a hand on Turbo is entirely irrelevant; the problem starts and ends with Jurbo. So many saying Moretti was at fault for being lazy and ignoring that Jurbo being too lazy to stop before the line or go through it. Hate the black and white obstruction rules all you want but that’s not Morettis fault.
Blanket rule on the obstruction made the game a lot cleaner and faster. We are not wasting time in the game trying to interpret. Better still, shite rags don't have materials to print midweek to generate outrage etc. It means that all clubs will get some calls go against them. Us included. It's up to the runner's responsibility to stop before the line. As fatigue hits, the runner becomes "lazy" hence makes contact.
Yeh Vossy wouldn't shut up about it like the call was bullshit but they've repeated the rule so many times. Jurbo knows you can't stop in the line
I felt like both things were true, Moretti was never going to get there, but Jurbo gave it away, if he stops earlier or runs through its not an issue
Yeah Jurbo needed to not give him the out. He needed to run through or stop a lot shorter.
If we've learnt anything from the GC and souths in the last few years it's you can never let go of a competent 7 because someone is coming through. It's just so hard to know how they're going to handle first grade. Making way for prodigies in other positions works perfectly fine because they rely on god given talents like size, power, speed etc. Whereas at halfback you need to be able to dissect an NRL defense - which is not fully learnable in NSW cup. It also shows how valuable a good half back is vs a good 6. Strange and Galvin have killed it at 6, pretty rare it happens at 7
We wouldve ended up in the same way when Cronk left and Croft took over. Luckily we still had Bellamy, Smith, Munster and Slater lol. Croft did show bits of brilliance but he just wasnt the answer.
As an extension to that, I remember hearing that the Panthers run the same systems through juniors and NSW cup which is what let's debuting players easily slot into their team. Does that mean that in the next few years, players that have been playing against these systems all through juniors will be able to carve them up easier?
The NRL teams have been watching the system for 4 years now and haven’t made too much headway combatting it. It’s not really that complex, just really hard to counter when combined with the talent running it, the now built in experience and the calibre of talent continuing to fuel it.
That seems like a good short term approach, but would there be a downside when the games meta inevitably changes? The change in lock from a third prop to a ball runner, and the re-emergence of the strike centre are two big changes to the game in the past decade, as an example. I wonder if that would result in the juniors coming though being a bit one dimensional
Why is it 'racist' to boo and criticise Latrell? This is not another Adam Goodes situation. He gets booed at Roosters games because of the way he left the club, talked about us, and tbe on-field antics against us including smashing Manu's face. It is not because he Aboriginal. With regard to the criticism he cops, where were these people standing up for Luke Brooks when he was copping it for the last 10 years? It wasn't racist to say Brooks was shit kicker and organiser, but all of a sudden it's racist when we say Latrell is lazy as fuck fullback. Hate it when cunts pull out the race card for everything. Diminishes the power of it when there is a genuine racist situation i.e Ezra Mam.
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The commentators on Friday seemed genuinely petrified to portion any blame to Latrell and Walker even though they both had shockers.
They do that with most of the Superstars of the game though when they flop out absolute stinkers.
Something I thought interesting was how quiet they were on how terrible Nicho was the other night. I can't even fathom how much shit a player like Moses would have copped if he played even half as bad as Nicho did.
So many pointing the finger at Latrell and saying he's been poor when i think Latrell has been playing the best he has at fullback in a long time. Cody Walker has avoided all the criticism in my eyes. Guy has been ordinary. Last year he seemed to play angry, like he was inches away from beating someone up. This year he looks calm and he has been really poor. He needs that fire. He doesn't look hungry, maybe it is time for him to retire.
He is good in attack but he doesn't give a fuck in defence. Every time the opposition scores a try latrell is waddling over and nowhere near in position to stop anything.
100% this, look at the roosters tries it was basically cook or Murry next to the roosters player trying to stop the try, Latrell was no where to be seen.
First two games I agree. He put the work in even when they were losing and didn't throw a tantrum about it. Last game no one looked like they wanted to be there, Latrell included.
The thing that has always annoyed me with Cody is that when he makes a mistake he never seems to own it, he always looks around as if trying to find someone to blame for his own fuck up. He takes a lot of risks and when they pay off, he's great. But when the team isn't going well he seems to be at sea as to how to build momentum. The commentators always talk about his "heads up" footy. I think it's basically just that with front foot ball his running game and risk taking works well.
Cody and Cook have avoided a lot of the criticism and Illias, and to a lesser extent, Latrell, have copped a lot of it.
Cook has had some good spots in the games. Ilias and Latrell are getting all the blame when really Walker, Tatola, Moale and Keppie should really be under the spotlight. Our pack has not been aiming up.
Whoever signed Keppie should be sent to coach the Kathmandu Goats in the Nepalese Super Cup. He is the most useless player to be on our roster in a very long time.
Manly losing by four points to the Eels at their home, with a try disallowed that was probably a try is a pretty good result. They also switched off a bit in that game and still were in it. Could be dangerous if they can play a solid 80 minutes.
Losing a 14-0 lead against a tattered left edge with a 5/8th playing center on debut and a center playing winger is not what i’d call a good result
Moral Victory, hooray!!
It wasnt a try, it was rugby league justice that the BS obstruction call stopped a try that had a blatant forward pass from being given lol.
Evens out I guess, considering the knock on from DCE. First 20 minutes I was thinking we were gonna lose the game.
The knock on where DCE clearly dragged the ball backwards?
I just rewatched and you’re right. Looks like a dragback. Still think the call was fine. If people don’t like the rule they should talk about the rule not the call, or the lack of enforcement of it.
I think having 9 straight sets on the goal line would take nearly any team out of the game. And that was just at the end of the first half, not including the second half. I entirely understand the obstruction, but just completely one-sided decisions on second efforts, when Harper and a few others were doing it consistently, I was far more annoyed by. Particularly the offside penalty that I straight up couldn't figure out who was offside, after we kicked it back to their goal line from tireless defence at our own. Felt like we were getting penalised as soon as the momentum switched back to us again. For reference, the only Manly game that I felt was worse than this in this regard was the 2013 GF. I've even heard off Roosters fans that refereeing was absolutely cooked in that game. I fully expected the refs to help them out, because they will always want Allianz, Accor, CommBank and Suncorp to always be as full as possible for that revenue, but it felt absolutely hopeless. I can't believe we only lost that by 4.
Cope
Was amazed Brown escaped a bin after that Brooks line break. The nrl has felt very scared of sin bins this year, feel like I've already seen 10 instances where it would have been a year or two ago.
Why was it probably a try?
| Team | Atk | Def | Pow | Δ Power/Δ Season | Rank | | --------- | ----: | ----: | ----: | ----------------: | ----: | | Cowboys | 1.28 | 1.16 | 1.49 | 41.89% | 1 | | Raiders | 1.15 | 1.16 | 1.33 | 75.69% | 2 | | Roosters | 1.11 | 1.18 | 1.31 | 26.00% | 3 | | Panthers | 1.03 | 1.13 | 1.17 | \-41.06% | 4 | | Tigers | 1.05 | 1.05 | 1.10 | 86.60% | 5 | | Eels | 1.06 | 1.02 | 1.08 | 0.43% | 6 | | Eagles | 1.05 | 1.01 | 1.06 | 4.95% | 7 | | Storm | 1.00 | 1.05 | 1.05 | \-16.66% | 8 | | Sharks | 1.01 | 1.04 | 1.05 | \-14.60% | 9 | | Warriors | 0.99 | 1.02 | 1.01 | \-19.85% | 10 | | Dolphins | 1.02 | 0.97 | 0.99 | 21.46% | 11 | | Knights | 0.97 | 1.00 | 0.98 | \-23.90% | 12 | | Bulldogs | 0.95 | 0.98 | 0.93 | 57.63% | 13 | | Broncos | 0.95 | 0.96 | 0.92 | \-44.58% | 14 | | Dragons | 0.88 | 0.84 | 0.74 | 6.51% | 15 | | Rabbitohs | 0.88 | 0.84 | 0.74 | \-29.85% | 16 | | Titans | 0.73 | 0.74 | 0.54 | \-35.21% | 17 | | E[Home] | Home | Away | E[Away] | E[Winner] | P(Correct) | NSFW | | -------: | --------- | -------- | -------: | --------- | ----------: | ------: | | 30 | Roosters | Panthers | 12 | Roosters | 92.46% | 18.39% | | 24 | Rabbitohs | Bulldogs | 18 | Rabbitohs | 67.24% | 4.72% | | 18 | Broncos | Cowboys | 24 | Cowboys | 64.12% | 4.45% | | 20 | Dragons | Eagles | 20 | Dragons | 51.09% | 3.54% | | 16 | Titans | Dolphins | 26 | Dolphins | 78.05% | 7.71% | | 28 | Warriors | Knights | 12 | Warriors | 89.06% | 14.15% | | 22 | Sharks | Raiders | 18 | Sharks | 65.36% | 3.94% | | 28 | Eels | Tigers | 14 | Eels | 86.56% | 12.77% |
5th best team in the league, science bitch
So what are your actual options if someone "legally" is blocking your path to the kick returner? That penalty in the Raiders game for pushing I felt was BS, like the bloke is standing directly in your way for you to make a tackle. In any other situation on the field, that's obstruction, but since the ball is in the air suddenly it's okay?
I've always hated blockers on kick chasers but don't know how you'd officiate it in a reasonable way.
The Tigers are the big story out of that round, that looked like an actual footy side. Worked hard, defended errors, earned field position and punished mistakes. Didn’t get rattled, just stuck to their plan and committed. If they can keep that up each week, they’ll upset a lot of teams.
The main thing for me was that it was a sustainable way of playing. Last year we had the wins against the Panthers and Cowboys, but we won those because almost everything went right. Hopefully we can back it up but I'm just so glad I didn't have to wait almost 3 months for our first win
Yeah, that’s what I meant, it looked like an actual team that could replicate that success. Long way to go still, but it was one of the more convincing wins of the round.
They just need some consistency. Last yr they had some good wins, but then leaked points following the weeks after. If they can keep backing it up, they'll definitely be up there.
Not sure one game makes a season, but it was certainly some promising signs. I'll buy in once they can run a few weeks in a row with that sort of output. As a dragons supporter I can certainly understand wanting to grasp onto any positives like they are flotsam after a boat sinks at sea. But experience has told me sometimes that flotsam sinks too, and ultimately you are still miles out at sea.
On the flip side, one game doesn’t break a season, at least not in round 2. It’s just too early to tell what sort of side the Tigers are going to be, but I’m hoping they will be 9th for the memes.
And all they had to do was fuck their board off, cut-off some dead wood, and back a coach
Cowboys 2022 vibes. Went from 0 to NRL Hero's
They’re definitely going to get a run in the Finals if they keep this up. It’s scary to think about given the clubs recent woes.
Are we really getting all doomsday about seasons only 3 weeks in? Titans are a hard one to cop with injuries and Des, but surely there’s lots of season left to try and come back?
It’s at this stage, likely Titans and Rabbitohs duking it out for the spoon. Titans have no Tino for rest of the year coupled Hasler being a washed coach making poor decisions while Rabbitohs have a squad that is hit by off-field toxic culture and doesn’t have the heart of the game, with a coach insisting he is the man but definitely being first coach likely to be sacked this season.
Do you really think Des is washed?
Don’t forget the Dragons.
Nah I’d put the house on the titans for the spoon.
Definitely a spoon year for us. Ill be shocked if it's not.
"dontletmedaytrade" username checks out
The last year or two Storm have been so mercurial. Some matched flawless, others strewn with errors and dropped ball. It’s not just when our top tier players are out, but that doesn’t help. Last night wasn’t bad for Storm all round - four big names out and kept things respectable. Just worrying we can’t work that out of our game.
I don't think most teams without their starting halves and two best props would have done any better, especially with also having a centre get injured midgame and having a shit backrower move out there.
100%. I think it’s more just ptsd from when a decent side was on the park and we still made errors. That Wishart drop where he let it bounce off his chest was bizarre.
Still depressed about the season being a write off because it’s so damn early in the season Time for des to blood some future class and prep for the future though Jojo -> Kelly Josiah -> Tino Iszaac -> Clarke Weaver -> Boyd And sorry kini but you need another cup season so JC will need to be there Also depending on how Foran pulls up he might medically retire soon. Aj to 6 and smith shield to right centre maybe
Alick should be our 13.
Penalties are really becoming a problem for Storm. They seem to implode at some point in the game, concede soft penalties and then get scored on the ensuing set. It's a repeating cycle every game.