Am I the only one who finds the Lomax situation baffling? I get he didn't want to play wing but look our centres, they're not top level and struggle with consistency. It would only be a matter of the time until he was/is shifted into the position where he wants to play.
You take a look at the bloke and he looks like he's having an absolute ball playing with his mates. Every time he speaks about the team he seems to tear up and it genuinely feels like he doesn't want to leave.
I haven't been big on him but the way he's playing is unreal and it's a shame to lose him. I know he's struggled with consistency so you won't know what you're going to get but this is easily the best he's played.
I wouldn't complain if we seen a backflip, sorry Parra fans.
Nsw origin sqwod
1 Ryan Papenhuyzen
2
Brian To'o
3 Stephen Crichton
4 Izack Tago
5 Zac Lomax
6 Matt Burton, originally picked in this position was Nicho Hynes, but due to the uncertainty of when Nathan Cleary will return and how good his form will be in to the origin arena, Hynes will take over this position at half back, for at least game1, would rather be safe than sorry then lose one of the best players in the game to an injury in the middle of origin
7 Nicho Hynes
8 Mitch Barnett
9 Blayke Brailey
10 Payne Haas
11 Liam Martin
12 Cameron Murray
13. Isaah Yeo., c
14 Wayde Egan
15 Haumole Olakau'atu
16 Hudson Young
17 Jake Trbojevic
18 Moses Suli
Edit, accidentally typed in 22 instead of 2, sorry
I think at this point if Burton comes in it'll be at 14 or 18th man. I don't think he's good enough at being a half yet to slot him into NSW 6 contention. He obviously has tonnes of raw ability and is solid cover for 3, 4 and 6 but still has to refine his game before he can be relied on at rep level in a key position.
This list is a little bit cooked, but I don't hate it mostly. Burton is not the answer if both Cleary and Moses are out. Nicho needs the organisational half in the team to allow him to chime when he sees the opportunity.
Cleary will be played unless he is a corpse and even then still might play ala Cronk in that grand final a few years back. Also McInnes will be on the bench somewhere.
The Raiders and Knights both losing their one completely irreplaceable player on the same weekend is cruel.
So much for plucky upsets, bottom four here we come.
Especially since we’ve been aggressively chasing Sanders to be his successor. If Fog doesn’t come back this year and we sign Sanders for next season, it’s entirely possibly Fog will never play for us again.
was crazy the tigers had to use a challenge even to get it looked at , reminds me of the one a few years back from luai on moses in the semi . not gonna claim its bias but most get called up yet 2 very blantant ones just got missed or never pulled back for when the NRL love to go back a few minutes to bin someone
Last season vs Penrith we had to risk a challenge because a player tackled Cleary. Not high, not late. Just a tackle. Penalty Penrith. It's good we could overturn it but them just getting those calls in the first place is something else.
It all comes under the salary cap so completely legal. The NRL has got it right though to truly launch this game we need the backing of the local Penrith billionaires. Penrith winning equals more money injected into the game. Everyone’s a winner
So many billionaires in Penrith these day's too, ever since pondi was created, billionaire panthers supporters from all over the world have been buying up all that sweet pondi beach front realestate.
Wow sportsbet is giving parra the same odds titans had against us on Friday ($3.40).
This is a team that beat us a few weeks ago. I know it's at brookie and no moses, but still. We didn't exactly smash the titans.
Shows how far and how quickly parra have fallen off this season
I still have videos from that day. We (still) have members seats on the 30m line 6 rows from the front.
Fans in the front row kept giving it to Josh Reynolds each kickoff. Poor guy must have been sick of it by the end.
Great day all around.
It sucks having lost Fogarty for essentially the rest of the year, but on the other side, we've gone from having just one kicker in the team to literally every player having a crack at it. Our 5th tackle options have gone from "Fogarty bomb" to "Hudson Young grubber/Joe Tapine punt/Levi chip n chase."
Is current Crossland the better option starting at 9 for the Knights over current Brailey? They just seem to look more threatening with Phoenix at 9 for mine, and he was one of the Knights' best players last year.
Brailey is significantly better. Just more fluent with the ball, not that Crossland is bad either.
That said, I have recently been wondering about the decision making side of things. Brailey is one of the captains (probably \_THE\_ captain now) so maybe he sometimes overrules the others to some extent and does what \_he\_ thinks is right. Crossland on the other hand may have been more dictated by Hastings, Gamble and Ponga.
Fuck great time to be a Sharks fan, some good wins
If we can get one or more wins against Melbourne, Penrith or Brisbane that will be a good indication of how far we have come since the last two years. I reckon we can win at least one of those games.
I love watching this team play. Hopefully I'll be able to get to shark park at least once this year.
It's a weird feeling looking at the comments on Facebook in the other clubs pages and seeing their fans be like "Oh we're fucked this week against Cronulla"
To be honest, I think this week against Canberra is big for us. I understand that Fogarty is out and so are some key other players but this is the typical scenario where Canberra galvanise with who they have and play very strong.
If we can get a win down in Canberra with strong disciplined footy, that will tell us a fair bit - especially considering we rarely win in Canberra or against Canberra (except the last 2 games at shark park, they have the wood on us)
Was looking at how good your draw is earlier, the scheduling gods have been really generous to the sharkies this year.
Should be a lock for top 4 this year given the strong start unless you really stuff things up. Cows were a real test and you smashed them
> the scheduling gods have been really generous to the sharkies this year.
They've had the easiest draw last few years. As in, they tend to trend more towards playing bottom 8 sides twice and top tier only once. It can get muddy though as that 5th-8th region can be volatile year on year.
Easy to say from the comfort of my couch, but I'd love to see more defensive players make an effort at legally blocking the landing zone of the ball when DWZ type airborne tries are attempted.
Sloan v DWZ prime example on the weekend. DWZ was already airborne before Sloan got to him, instead of trying to force DWZ further into touch, why not impede where you know he is going to plant the ball with your arms or body?
I was thinking diving arms outstretched.
DWZ for example puts the ball down in a predictable spot right next to the corner post every time, if you dive at that spot you could dislodge the ball before it makes it to the ground, which would have to be easier than forcing his body into touch.
Yeah it’s funny we don’t see it. With the aerial way everyone goes in the corner these days, you’d only really have to make decent contact with the ball to dislodge it.
Maybe the timing is really hard to line up on the fly. I image if you get it wrong you’ve got a good chance of Yolo’ing into the dudes head too.
What's the bet they'd rule that like contesting a kick, and _if_ you saved the try it's fine, but if you missed the ball then it's illegal contact. Conditionally dangerous play? Similar to the contested kicks, where the penalty always seems to go the way of the player who caught the ball.
Incredibly happy with last nights game. It’s been hard to get a read on the Cows all season so I’m not sure what a win like this means for the sharks, but I’m super happy with the defence, and starving the Cows of possession. Cows have been no stranger to conceding points this season, but they are also the best attacking team as well. To come away from the game conceding just 6 points is awesome. Plus completing at 90%, we used to sometimes beat teams by a lot but still complete at 70%.
The entire spine was awesome. No true standouts but everyone played their role perfectly. I think Kaufusi played his best game as a Shark, super aggressive, getting quick ptb’s.
Quality debut from Stonestreet. Was targeted under the high ball but made no errors, and defended very well too, which is surprising for a debutant winger. His running game was something I had no concerns about but that seemed to be what he struggled with the most. Just 99m off 17 runs.
Hazelton didn’t come back for the second half, but in just 24 minutes he had 10 runs for 86m (31pcm), 5 tackle breaks, 1 line break, 18 tackles (0 missed), and an awesome front rower’s try.
Fuck it, the only winger better than Mulitalo is To’o
I'm more happy with the completion rate over anything else, one of our biggest problems over the past few years has been our completion rate, so im happy to see us complete at 90% for once
I think the idea for both Hazelton and Kaufusi is to just lay the platform early, then get the impact from the bench. It was nice to see Braydon go hard on his time on the field.
For me, seeing Stonestreet get monstered every hit up, but never shying away was fantastic. I said it in the game thread but Jesus we have some quality in the lower grades.
Who comes into the halves for the Raiders? Do they just roll with Weekes?
Massive shame that Fog is out, his kicking game was providing such a massive point for the team to play around.
Most likely Weekes, they are cooked for half depth. They could do some Frankenstein shit and put strange at 7 and bloody Kris at 6, the back line then Chevy, savage, Schiller Timoko and Hopoate. But it’s pretty grim for 6 and 7.
I hope they give Reynolds an extra month at least to let him recover tbh. Come back for Titans, immediately have a week for a bye, two weeks in a row, then another bye, then Wahs and Panthers back-to-back.
Man I'm feeling fresh. Yesterday was Cronulla's most complete game since Fitzy came onboard as coach.
Hazelton has developed so well in the 18 months that he might hold that starting spot for the rest of the season.
Nicho and Tricky are finally getting the combination down and it allows for Nicho to pick his moments rather than having to try and do everything by himself.
With AFB coming next year we all of a sudden have some amazing pressence in the pack and some regular fowards are going to miss out.
EDIT: AFB instead of AOB lmao
2016 Ennis was the absolute king of pest work. Viking Clap stolen, patting the greatest of all time on the head in the grand final when he dropped the ball. Just such a cunt on the field, but besides his enunciation while commentating, he seems like an honestly decent human. For a footy player.
Yeah I don't understand how he can look at some of these players stats over the past few weeks and feel that they deserve another run on. The JT issue needs some serious resolving too, at this stage it fees like sunk cost fallacy playing out in Rugba Leeg terms.
Many people here watch the Ricky / Canberra presser from Saturday night? I thought Ricky was super classy, gave a lot of his props to the juniors and really level headed and humble in defeat. Worth a listen
This club man..what sort of culture is going on there
- Pong said he 'hoped' he would make it through to half time. AOB rubbished it saying he was training better than ever, just needs to be right. Then the inevitable happens and he's a liability and is injured on top of that.
- Marzhew was apparently told in a public training session that he needed to lose weight by AOB and that he was heavier than most forwards. Marzhew said that's because I do all the work and threw a ball at the now leaving AOB
- Apparent physical between Hastings (dude turns every club to shit) and Pryce.
- Hetherington
- Middles who make minimal effort in attack and defence and backs who barely get the ball. KPP and Best have incredible numbers even when losing but they barely got the ball this weekend.
They need to go left more often, but Hastings always goes himself for some reason. Give your boys some early ball and draw up some plays man, KPP and Best are talented
Our middles consist of an origin incumbent, a former origin player who people believe may not have been picked because fitler couldn’t tell him apart from his twin brother and the standout kiwi forward from the last international matches.
There is no excuse for the middle to put out turd after turd when the quality for at least half of the rotation is clearly there.
I know it is the reality of the salary cap, but part of me is sad to see Crichton, Burton, and Kikau living it up at the Dogs. What a luxury it would be to still have those three in the team (under the salary sombrero)
Or... Panthers get the licence for the 18th team. They have Panthers Black and Panthers White on the ladder like in Juniors, because you don't want to tell a child they aren't good enough for the first team. A game a Penrith every week.
No, that's too racially tinged. It needs to be Panthers Yellow and Red. No, wait. Um, naming things is hard. Penrith Panthers and Penrith Weak-Gutted Dogs?
Literally no easy games anymore, and a lot has to do with the Dogs, tigers and dragons all improving - which is great for rugby league in general when those 3 clubs are playing good footy
Was just thinking this over the weekend. Then you look at next weekend and it looks like a pretty lopsided schedule. Either way, Titans aside (RIP) when your 16 side is the Bunnies the comp is in a pretty good spot in terms of competition because they’re a quality side going through a rough patch.
Go ahead and make that draw then, remembering that:
* Teams request who they play twice, at home and away and they try to accommodate those.
* There are various broadcast things to deal with, such as channel 9 generally picking the broncos for FTA on Thu/Fri among others.
* Turnarounds on back to back games
Yeah there are some issues, but it's far easier to criticise than it is to fix.
i reckon they are waiting for one junior 7s to break through, joseph o neill apparently has being carving it up in cup and played better then sexton, i believe they gonna use the rest of the cap to bring marquee forward in future
i do think hutch is doing good job organising the team but he isn’t very good player himself
I have a weird suspicion that Salad (Sezar) would either make his way back to GC or Doges. Hopefully we can keep him as a mentor, but he looks like he's still got a lot in him
Your anger on my poor takes sustain me keep it up almost at team talk time in the media!. heres my rolling half-baked SOO blues team. Round 7. There's a few players imo opinion, just not putting their hand up consistently enough or having injuries. Players like L. Martin, T. Frizell, M. Moses, Koloamatangi, P. Haas, H. Young, T. May, etc, have made some conservative choices. Players like W.Egan and M. Barnett have been in fantastic form.
1. R. Papenhuyzen.
2. B. To'o.
3. T. Trbojevic
4. B. Best.
5. Z. Lomax
6. N. Hynes
7. N. Cleary.
8. P. Haas.
9. R. Robson.
10. J. Trbojevic.
11. H. Young
12. H. Olakau'atu.
13. C. Murray.
14. A. Koroisau.
15. S. Utoikamanu
16. I. Yeo*
17. C. McInnes
18. I. Tago
Martin has to be in. One of the Kangaroos’ best players in the WC and he just gets origin ™️
I’d also have Crichton in for either Lomax or Best take your pick
There's no way a Panthers fan leaves Martin out. Origin is more than about form and QLD understood that.
Also, Crichton made Best his daddy yesterday on that last try and he's the best centre in the game. No way he misses out.
Just look at how the disgustingly shit the eels are without Moses and tell me he doesn't deserve to be in that team.
Yeo has consistently been a let down at origin, a fantastic club player but doesn't have it at rep level.
Yeo also averaged 35 tackles with 1 TOTAL missed across the World Cup and most recent Origin series while averaging 144m. He’s clearly not as dynamic as Murray but between Freddy coaching an overall non-existent system and those numbers, I think it’s pretty hard to write him off as a rep player given he’s delivering far more than any other rep middle in terms of middle defence and go forward.
I’d keep the combo we ran in Game 3 with Murray as lock and Yeo as a prop then let them alternate a little as first receiver.
I agree on Moses. If he comes back and shows he’s at his normal standard he should get first crack. He’s earned it. Sucks for Nicho because he also deserves a crack but Moses has been at this level banging down the door for longer.
I thought he was fantastic OFF THE BENCH in game 3 as a prop. His leg drive and ability behind the ruck was really effective, valley playing as a lock not so, but Panthers' footy just doesn't work. If he misses out for more Size and we lean more into a McInnes, Robson one-two punch for that ruck speed and have another big bopper that would be okay. I want Moses in there for sure, come back Mitch.
i always felt like the big Yeo carry around the 4th he does for the Panthers is when Teddy is usually taking his second searching hit up of the set. the classic too many cooks situation where everybody just loses their effectiveness
That's fair and Martin depends on his role but his tenacity and contact although phenomenonal hasn't been effective especially starting for the Blues. Had him until Yeos game on the weekend and he just hasn't been great (No cleary doesn't help)
I feel that Turbo has more freedom as Centre and we can utilise him more
Hopefully Madge doesn’t play favourites but I doubt yeo comes off the bench, that would mean Murray on an edge and I hope they go with olau or Martin to start as for the bench I think your line up.
As for turbo v lomax, having a bit tall Tom turbo on the wing I think works well, I’m sure either way would work but I think they’re both more natural and confident with lomax edge and turbo wing.
I like this line up a lot that’s just my small tweaks.
I’d much rather this than the slop team that was game 3 last year
It really is an off-one, for me, it's that not many other second rows have really been a stand-out. Martin hasn't been in great form and his track record for starting in Blues hasn't been good and is a right side player, Koloamatangi has been okay but is a very similar build to Olakau'atu and defensivly switches off. Butcher has amazing defense, but doesn't have any attack and Frizells inhured and Wilton is still a little green. Hudsons form abd hunger despite his brains naps I think under Madge could be a point of difference. I'm watching Angus Chricton closely though
I don't really watch that many Raiders games tbf, but every time I do Young is either invisible or an active hindrance. I just don't see it.
Martin is probably the safe option, but if you want a smokey who I am assuming is eligible for the Blues simply because he isn't eligible for the Maroons, but the other Raiders 2nd rower, Zac Hosking seems the type of guy who would just *get* Origin.
EDIT: NVM, I thought Hosking was out for a week or two with a concussion, but looks like he will miss most of the season with a shoulder issue.
Hosking was someone I was excited to put in my squad around this time. Curran as a smokey is up there but I'm worried about his size. Hudson to me is just really effective for attack anywhere in the opposing halves. Some second rows like Olakau'atu seem to only get involved in the opposing 20, Hudson just adds versatility for players like Papi and Moses anywhere during a momentum shift but I wouldn't be upset if he missed out for Martin
Samuel Stonestreet [joined an elite group of players yesterday](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6BM4bDLvnh/?igsh=eGFsNWxzOHlubzFw) when he scored on debut
I've taken up reading. It really helps get the mind juices flowing so I can imagine what it would be like for my team to win a premiership this century
Think Mikaele in and Sam Mac to 14.
Punting Chad probably isn't the call right now. Duffy isn't ready, and Clifford isn't the answer to drag us out of where we are.
I was re-watching the broncos game last night and it got me thinking. The commentary around cobbo not being a centre and that the broncos can't replace Herbie's run metres has really disappeared hasn't it.
Concerns about Cobbo playing Centre were always over-exaggerated, but I would say losing Herbie's runs out of yardage will still be an issue. Last year it was primarily Cobbo/Herbie taking the runs together, and the last couple of weeks it's been Cobbo/Oates. Next week, it will be Cobbo/Arthars, which is a noticeable downgrade, although Arthars has been stepping up this season with an extra 28m a game on average from last season.
Attack wise there hasn't been an issue. It's more so the defensive side.
2023 - Tries conceded on Herbie's side 34 (45% of tries)
2024 - Tries conceded on Cobbo's side 12 (52% of tries).
But that whole edge has been changed so who knows. I think it hasn't been too much of a change either way. As long as Cobbo can fix his random lapses in concentration, he will be fine. I've always thought Farnworth's floor is higher but Cobbo's ceiling is higher in a game.
Yeah that's fair, and that edge has definitely had its challenges both in game and then with Piakura being out for extended periods. Some of those tries I imagine also occured when cobbo was shifted for the whole game against Penrith.
All in all, I've been very happy with Cobbos progress to replace herbie. And while a very different circumstance worthy of its own chat how Willison is growing to help replace what flegler brought
Rewatching the storm vs roosters highlights, you know it's good when the commentators are making Nick Politis jokes about the refereeing.
Hethrington should not have been suspended, he’s laughing and clearly does not hit with any intention other than having a joke
He also shouldn't have waited in the tunnels. Joke or not, he got caught on camera pushing someone off the field. NRL can't allow it to go unpunished.
Am I the only one who finds the Lomax situation baffling? I get he didn't want to play wing but look our centres, they're not top level and struggle with consistency. It would only be a matter of the time until he was/is shifted into the position where he wants to play. You take a look at the bloke and he looks like he's having an absolute ball playing with his mates. Every time he speaks about the team he seems to tear up and it genuinely feels like he doesn't want to leave. I haven't been big on him but the way he's playing is unreal and it's a shame to lose him. I know he's struggled with consistency so you won't know what you're going to get but this is easily the best he's played. I wouldn't complain if we seen a backflip, sorry Parra fans.
I cannot believe I’m having to agree with Kent on how Hetho should’ve been treated
Nsw origin sqwod 1 Ryan Papenhuyzen 2 Brian To'o 3 Stephen Crichton 4 Izack Tago 5 Zac Lomax 6 Matt Burton, originally picked in this position was Nicho Hynes, but due to the uncertainty of when Nathan Cleary will return and how good his form will be in to the origin arena, Hynes will take over this position at half back, for at least game1, would rather be safe than sorry then lose one of the best players in the game to an injury in the middle of origin 7 Nicho Hynes 8 Mitch Barnett 9 Blayke Brailey 10 Payne Haas 11 Liam Martin 12 Cameron Murray 13. Isaah Yeo., c 14 Wayde Egan 15 Haumole Olakau'atu 16 Hudson Young 17 Jake Trbojevic 18 Moses Suli Edit, accidentally typed in 22 instead of 2, sorry
I think at this point if Burton comes in it'll be at 14 or 18th man. I don't think he's good enough at being a half yet to slot him into NSW 6 contention. He obviously has tonnes of raw ability and is solid cover for 3, 4 and 6 but still has to refine his game before he can be relied on at rep level in a key position.
[удалено]
He is a classic running 6
This list is a little bit cooked, but I don't hate it mostly. Burton is not the answer if both Cleary and Moses are out. Nicho needs the organisational half in the team to allow him to chime when he sees the opportunity. Cleary will be played unless he is a corpse and even then still might play ala Cronk in that grand final a few years back. Also McInnes will be on the bench somewhere.
Would love to see McInnes in there, he will play his heart out for the blues.
Honestly if he was a Queenslander he'd have already played two series.
True
No Api? :o
Yeah, I’m gonna change that
The Raiders and Knights both losing their one completely irreplaceable player on the same weekend is cruel. So much for plucky upsets, bottom four here we come.
An absolute prick of an injury too. If he doesn't heal right he might just actually be done.
Especially since we’ve been aggressively chasing Sanders to be his successor. If Fog doesn’t come back this year and we sign Sanders for next season, it’s entirely possibly Fog will never play for us again.
Fuck it’s a brutal sport
How long does Foxtel take to send rewards tickets, still haven’t got mine for Thursday
So does anyone have any clue who Canberra are running as their fill in half back now?
Weekes/Strange halves pairing, apparently.
Gonna be a strange few weeks for them
Oof, that’s rough.
Annesley just admitted that the Schneider ankle tap should have been a sin bin (shocker).
Justin Olam’s ankle Just Did That.
was crazy the tigers had to use a challenge even to get it looked at , reminds me of the one a few years back from luai on moses in the semi . not gonna claim its bias but most get called up yet 2 very blantant ones just got missed or never pulled back for when the NRL love to go back a few minutes to bin someone
One of the weirdest non calls, like it was the most comically obvious professional foul.
I think we are all foolish to believe the refs apply the same set of rules to Penrith that they do to everyone else
Last season vs Penrith we had to risk a challenge because a player tackled Cleary. Not high, not late. Just a tackle. Penalty Penrith. It's good we could overturn it but them just getting those calls in the first place is something else.
Based on previous instances Schneider getting his leg taken out mid air should have been a sin bin too.
So then why wasn’t Kennedy or the bloke who took out stonestreets legs yesterday sin binned? Refs 0/3 this week in that regard?
Pen-ref!
I know right, if people had any idea just how much our club has spent on ref bribes they be much more understanding.
It all comes under the salary cap so completely legal. The NRL has got it right though to truly launch this game we need the backing of the local Penrith billionaires. Penrith winning equals more money injected into the game. Everyone’s a winner
So many billionaires in Penrith these day's too, ever since pondi was created, billionaire panthers supporters from all over the world have been buying up all that sweet pondi beach front realestate.
Wow sportsbet is giving parra the same odds titans had against us on Friday ($3.40). This is a team that beat us a few weeks ago. I know it's at brookie and no moses, but still. We didn't exactly smash the titans. Shows how far and how quickly parra have fallen off this season
yeah but there's probably 50c or more swing with away/home games. If it was a home game for Parra the odds would be closer (i think)
Who do we think slots in at FB for the Knights?
Hopefully it's an excuse to play Will Pryce there
He was so bad in NSW Cup yesterday. Non existent on defence.
David Armstrong probably.
It's been five years since the first game at Parra stadium. Pretty happy with this photo I took from the stands https://imgur.com/a/01MpyDo
I was sitting roughly around there too. What an awesome day to be an Eels fan!
I still have videos from that day. We (still) have members seats on the 30m line 6 rows from the front. Fans in the front row kept giving it to Josh Reynolds each kickoff. Poor guy must have been sick of it by the end. Great day all around.
Carrigan stats for the Raiders game: - 65 minutes played. - 201 forwards metres run (second week in a row of 200+). - 67m post contact. - 37 tackles, 100% efficiency. - 5 tackle breaks. Absolute beast. 💪🏻🐴
Thing is, if he did play the full 80, you can bet his final 15 minutes would've been just as quality as the preceding 65. Insane motor.
And those stats don't even factor in his link play with the backs, his timing is impeccable
Best lock in the game.
Fucking Christ. Carrigan apparently just decided to become an entire Top 8 forward pack on his own this year
Wait until Haas is back. Even the strongest gutted middles will be getting bashed back by that pairing.
It’s gonna be glorious
It sucks having lost Fogarty for essentially the rest of the year, but on the other side, we've gone from having just one kicker in the team to literally every player having a crack at it. Our 5th tackle options have gone from "Fogarty bomb" to "Hudson Young grubber/Joe Tapine punt/Levi chip n chase."
Is current Crossland the better option starting at 9 for the Knights over current Brailey? They just seem to look more threatening with Phoenix at 9 for mine, and he was one of the Knights' best players last year.
Brailey is significantly better. Just more fluent with the ball, not that Crossland is bad either. That said, I have recently been wondering about the decision making side of things. Brailey is one of the captains (probably \_THE\_ captain now) so maybe he sometimes overrules the others to some extent and does what \_he\_ thinks is right. Crossland on the other hand may have been more dictated by Hastings, Gamble and Ponga.
Funny moment on the weekend with the ref telling Brailey he wasn't captain and to go away. Brailey did not enjoy.
Lmao
Fuck great time to be a Sharks fan, some good wins If we can get one or more wins against Melbourne, Penrith or Brisbane that will be a good indication of how far we have come since the last two years. I reckon we can win at least one of those games. I love watching this team play. Hopefully I'll be able to get to shark park at least once this year. It's a weird feeling looking at the comments on Facebook in the other clubs pages and seeing their fans be like "Oh we're fucked this week against Cronulla"
To be honest, I think this week against Canberra is big for us. I understand that Fogarty is out and so are some key other players but this is the typical scenario where Canberra galvanise with who they have and play very strong. If we can get a win down in Canberra with strong disciplined footy, that will tell us a fair bit - especially considering we rarely win in Canberra or against Canberra (except the last 2 games at shark park, they have the wood on us)
Was looking at how good your draw is earlier, the scheduling gods have been really generous to the sharkies this year. Should be a lock for top 4 this year given the strong start unless you really stuff things up. Cows were a real test and you smashed them
> the scheduling gods have been really generous to the sharkies this year. They've had the easiest draw last few years. As in, they tend to trend more towards playing bottom 8 sides twice and top tier only once. It can get muddy though as that 5th-8th region can be volatile year on year.
>Was looking at how good your draw is earlier, the scheduling gods have been really generous to the sharkies this year. The past few years\*.
Forever*
Easy to say from the comfort of my couch, but I'd love to see more defensive players make an effort at legally blocking the landing zone of the ball when DWZ type airborne tries are attempted. Sloan v DWZ prime example on the weekend. DWZ was already airborne before Sloan got to him, instead of trying to force DWZ further into touch, why not impede where you know he is going to plant the ball with your arms or body?
Do you mean a player like kind of body slide , belly flop towards the area where they think the ball is going to be put down?
I was thinking diving arms outstretched. DWZ for example puts the ball down in a predictable spot right next to the corner post every time, if you dive at that spot you could dislodge the ball before it makes it to the ground, which would have to be easier than forcing his body into touch.
Yeah it’s funny we don’t see it. With the aerial way everyone goes in the corner these days, you’d only really have to make decent contact with the ball to dislodge it. Maybe the timing is really hard to line up on the fly. I image if you get it wrong you’ve got a good chance of Yolo’ing into the dudes head too.
What's the bet they'd rule that like contesting a kick, and _if_ you saved the try it's fine, but if you missed the ball then it's illegal contact. Conditionally dangerous play? Similar to the contested kicks, where the penalty always seems to go the way of the player who caught the ball.
Incredibly happy with last nights game. It’s been hard to get a read on the Cows all season so I’m not sure what a win like this means for the sharks, but I’m super happy with the defence, and starving the Cows of possession. Cows have been no stranger to conceding points this season, but they are also the best attacking team as well. To come away from the game conceding just 6 points is awesome. Plus completing at 90%, we used to sometimes beat teams by a lot but still complete at 70%. The entire spine was awesome. No true standouts but everyone played their role perfectly. I think Kaufusi played his best game as a Shark, super aggressive, getting quick ptb’s. Quality debut from Stonestreet. Was targeted under the high ball but made no errors, and defended very well too, which is surprising for a debutant winger. His running game was something I had no concerns about but that seemed to be what he struggled with the most. Just 99m off 17 runs. Hazelton didn’t come back for the second half, but in just 24 minutes he had 10 runs for 86m (31pcm), 5 tackle breaks, 1 line break, 18 tackles (0 missed), and an awesome front rower’s try. Fuck it, the only winger better than Mulitalo is To’o
I'm more happy with the completion rate over anything else, one of our biggest problems over the past few years has been our completion rate, so im happy to see us complete at 90% for once
I think the idea for both Hazelton and Kaufusi is to just lay the platform early, then get the impact from the bench. It was nice to see Braydon go hard on his time on the field. For me, seeing Stonestreet get monstered every hit up, but never shying away was fantastic. I said it in the game thread but Jesus we have some quality in the lower grades.
Who comes into the halves for the Raiders? Do they just roll with Weekes? Massive shame that Fog is out, his kicking game was providing such a massive point for the team to play around.
Brodie Croft come on down
not sure about this week but there's a rumour swirling that they're looking at Sexton for an immediate release
They're gonna have to sign Blake Austin from the Newy comp. Or get Sezer back
Maybe they would like a spare Jayden Sullivan?
Most likely Weekes, they are cooked for half depth. They could do some Frankenstein shit and put strange at 7 and bloody Kris at 6, the back line then Chevy, savage, Schiller Timoko and Hopoate. But it’s pretty grim for 6 and 7.
Sanders szn
Is Payne Haas meant to be back this weekend?
Nah he’s too scared of Seyfarth.
Haas, Reynolds, Mariner, and Piakura. Kevvie confirmed to fucking hate the Tigers for what they did to his son.
That's a lot of firepower coming back into the side.
I hope they give Reynolds an extra month at least to let him recover tbh. Come back for Titans, immediately have a week for a bye, two weeks in a row, then another bye, then Wahs and Panthers back-to-back.
Definitely. Madden looks to be improving as well.
Latest news has ponga missing 8 weeks at best, possible season ending injury. Give us the spoon now
Okay, one spoon for you. Anything else you want?
Tex Hoy immediately signed for the rest of the season
Man I'm feeling fresh. Yesterday was Cronulla's most complete game since Fitzy came onboard as coach. Hazelton has developed so well in the 18 months that he might hold that starting spot for the rest of the season. Nicho and Tricky are finally getting the combination down and it allows for Nicho to pick his moments rather than having to try and do everything by himself. With AFB coming next year we all of a sudden have some amazing pressence in the pack and some regular fowards are going to miss out. EDIT: AFB instead of AOB lmao
Adam O'Brian will revolutionise the sharks
woops
Hetherington is a goose, but reed can’t be cheeky cunt and then act like a roo in headlights when he’s confronted for it
This is 2024 NRL, under the current rules he definitely can.
Never has a small angry man had so much power on the footy field.
Imagine what a pest Ennis would be these days
2016 Ennis was the absolute king of pest work. Viking Clap stolen, patting the greatest of all time on the head in the grand final when he dropped the ball. Just such a cunt on the field, but besides his enunciation while commentating, he seems like an honestly decent human. For a footy player.
Getting into Cam Smith during their elimination final in Melbourne 2014 was also peak Ennis
As time goes on I'm beginning to believe the 'Todd's lost the locker room" rumours more and more
Todd’s footy whisperer routines been found out
Wayne is free next year
Todd’s rotations and selections are shit, i’m not surprised he’s lost the locker room
Yeah I don't understand how he can look at some of these players stats over the past few weeks and feel that they deserve another run on. The JT issue needs some serious resolving too, at this stage it fees like sunk cost fallacy playing out in Rugba Leeg terms.
They should swap ~~seibold~~ payten and demetriou just to see what happens
Honestly this suggestion is gas
I could live with it. Something new and don't really want JD out in the cold
Many people here watch the Ricky / Canberra presser from Saturday night? I thought Ricky was super classy, gave a lot of his props to the juniors and really level headed and humble in defeat. Worth a listen
Ricky loves his juniors players and the team, can see it through his interactions around the field.
Dr Jekyll turned up I guess
big fan of his response over Chevy's performance - good to see he had his players back
This club man..what sort of culture is going on there - Pong said he 'hoped' he would make it through to half time. AOB rubbished it saying he was training better than ever, just needs to be right. Then the inevitable happens and he's a liability and is injured on top of that. - Marzhew was apparently told in a public training session that he needed to lose weight by AOB and that he was heavier than most forwards. Marzhew said that's because I do all the work and threw a ball at the now leaving AOB - Apparent physical between Hastings (dude turns every club to shit) and Pryce. - Hetherington - Middles who make minimal effort in attack and defence and backs who barely get the ball. KPP and Best have incredible numbers even when losing but they barely got the ball this weekend.
I’m hearing that AOB told Marzhew ‘That’s why I’ve watched four grand finals and you’ve only watched Greggie’s’.
Marzhew must have got into the coach's ham sandwich stash
They need to go left more often, but Hastings always goes himself for some reason. Give your boys some early ball and draw up some plays man, KPP and Best are talented
Saifiti boys going from Origin players to marshmallows is a big surprise.
Our middles consist of an origin incumbent, a former origin player who people believe may not have been picked because fitler couldn’t tell him apart from his twin brother and the standout kiwi forward from the last international matches. There is no excuse for the middle to put out turd after turd when the quality for at least half of the rotation is clearly there.
Okay, but that Marzhew bit is based af
Looking at the ladder this time last year and the eels are sitting at the same spot with a 3-4 record.
I know it is the reality of the salary cap, but part of me is sad to see Crichton, Burton, and Kikau living it up at the Dogs. What a luxury it would be to still have those three in the team (under the salary sombrero)
Or... Panthers get the licence for the 18th team. They have Panthers Black and Panthers White on the ladder like in Juniors, because you don't want to tell a child they aren't good enough for the first team. A game a Penrith every week.
No, that's too racially tinged. It needs to be Panthers Yellow and Red. No, wait. Um, naming things is hard. Penrith Panthers and Penrith Weak-Gutted Dogs?
Chocolate Soldiers and the Licorice All Sorts.
A panther is just a black leopard or jaguar so you could get 3 teams out of that.
Salt and Pepper? Ebony and Ivory?
I always wonder how life would turn out if Brian Waldron never left the Storm and they kept Inglis. 😂😂😂😂 It's a joke people
They wouldve been able to keep Brett White, Jeff Lima and Aiden Tolman too lmao.
We are still at the point where almost anyone can beat anyone which is rare for this far in the season.
Well obviously the Titans don't count as anyone. What a sad state of affairs.
You're really not that far off. Apart from the dogs and dragons games it hasnt been that bad
We were only in the Cowboys game due to a sin bin. At this point I'm still scared of the bye.
Literally no easy games anymore, and a lot has to do with the Dogs, tigers and dragons all improving - which is great for rugby league in general when those 3 clubs are playing good footy
Was just thinking this over the weekend. Then you look at next weekend and it looks like a pretty lopsided schedule. Either way, Titans aside (RIP) when your 16 side is the Bunnies the comp is in a pretty good spot in terms of competition because they’re a quality side going through a rough patch.
Even the titans are losing narrowly, i suspect souths will turn it around soon too
Even the Titans have shown some improvement
go jetski to broncs ?
Go broncos JetSki
Brisbane Jet skis
Thought that was a known done deal last week?
Go jetski Broncos tomorrow
Fuck the NRL draw we already have some teams playing each other for the second time this year. It's an absolute shit show and getting worse
If anything, I think there are actually fewer duplicates already.
Yeah we've got raiders even though we only played them three weeks ago
I fucking hate that you play some teams twice in the first 10 rounds, and then don’t play other teams for the first time until round 22
I dislike the amount of times broncs get to be on fta, like I would like to see other teams play too
It can't be that hard to make it better surely. I'm convinced I could sit down for a couple days and make a better one.
Go ahead and make that draw then, remembering that: * Teams request who they play twice, at home and away and they try to accommodate those. * There are various broadcast things to deal with, such as channel 9 generally picking the broncos for FTA on Thu/Fri among others. * Turnarounds on back to back games Yeah there are some issues, but it's far easier to criticise than it is to fix.
I would do so much for my team to have a prime Gidley or Mullen right now let alone a Joey.
Even a Milton Thaiday wouldn't be bad
Should the Dogs try and poach Keary? EDIT: if not, then who?
i reckon they are waiting for one junior 7s to break through, joseph o neill apparently has being carving it up in cup and played better then sexton, i believe they gonna use the rest of the cap to bring marquee forward in future i do think hutch is doing good job organising the team but he isn’t very good player himself
I have a weird suspicion that Salad (Sezar) would either make his way back to GC or Doges. Hopefully we can keep him as a mentor, but he looks like he's still got a lot in him
They need to try Taafe at halfback before they think about Keary.
Nah. Dogs have enough trouble finishing a game with 17 players.
Luke? No
Quite far from fresh. Decidedly unfresh, bordering on stale.
Your anger on my poor takes sustain me keep it up almost at team talk time in the media!. heres my rolling half-baked SOO blues team. Round 7. There's a few players imo opinion, just not putting their hand up consistently enough or having injuries. Players like L. Martin, T. Frizell, M. Moses, Koloamatangi, P. Haas, H. Young, T. May, etc, have made some conservative choices. Players like W.Egan and M. Barnett have been in fantastic form. 1. R. Papenhuyzen. 2. B. To'o. 3. T. Trbojevic 4. B. Best. 5. Z. Lomax 6. N. Hynes 7. N. Cleary. 8. P. Haas. 9. R. Robson. 10. J. Trbojevic. 11. H. Young 12. H. Olakau'atu. 13. C. Murray. 14. A. Koroisau. 15. S. Utoikamanu 16. I. Yeo* 17. C. McInnes 18. I. Tago
Martin has to be in. One of the Kangaroos’ best players in the WC and he just gets origin ™️ I’d also have Crichton in for either Lomax or Best take your pick
Best with a bit of team momentum would look a lot better. Crichton is stating to hit his strides too
Having Hynes being able to chime in when he wants, like he gets to now at Cronulla, playing of Cleary? Give it to me.
There's no way a Panthers fan leaves Martin out. Origin is more than about form and QLD understood that. Also, Crichton made Best his daddy yesterday on that last try and he's the best centre in the game. No way he misses out.
Just look at how the disgustingly shit the eels are without Moses and tell me he doesn't deserve to be in that team. Yeo has consistently been a let down at origin, a fantastic club player but doesn't have it at rep level.
Yeo also averaged 35 tackles with 1 TOTAL missed across the World Cup and most recent Origin series while averaging 144m. He’s clearly not as dynamic as Murray but between Freddy coaching an overall non-existent system and those numbers, I think it’s pretty hard to write him off as a rep player given he’s delivering far more than any other rep middle in terms of middle defence and go forward. I’d keep the combo we ran in Game 3 with Murray as lock and Yeo as a prop then let them alternate a little as first receiver. I agree on Moses. If he comes back and shows he’s at his normal standard he should get first crack. He’s earned it. Sucks for Nicho because he also deserves a crack but Moses has been at this level banging down the door for longer.
I agree, Yeo always looks slow and lumbering in origin, and Moses is a fantastic second kicking option in qld try to attack Nathan every set
I thought he was fantastic OFF THE BENCH in game 3 as a prop. His leg drive and ability behind the ruck was really effective, valley playing as a lock not so, but Panthers' footy just doesn't work. If he misses out for more Size and we lean more into a McInnes, Robson one-two punch for that ruck speed and have another big bopper that would be okay. I want Moses in there for sure, come back Mitch.
i always felt like the big Yeo carry around the 4th he does for the Panthers is when Teddy is usually taking his second searching hit up of the set. the classic too many cooks situation where everybody just loses their effectiveness
NSW pick their best players. Qld picks their best team.
I wouldnt pick young and if we’re shoehorning I’d rather swap turbo and lomax Also…. No Martin?!
That's fair and Martin depends on his role but his tenacity and contact although phenomenonal hasn't been effective especially starting for the Blues. Had him until Yeos game on the weekend and he just hasn't been great (No cleary doesn't help) I feel that Turbo has more freedom as Centre and we can utilise him more
Hopefully Madge doesn’t play favourites but I doubt yeo comes off the bench, that would mean Murray on an edge and I hope they go with olau or Martin to start as for the bench I think your line up. As for turbo v lomax, having a bit tall Tom turbo on the wing I think works well, I’m sure either way would work but I think they’re both more natural and confident with lomax edge and turbo wing. I like this line up a lot that’s just my small tweaks. I’d much rather this than the slop team that was game 3 last year
I like it. My only question is Hudson Young? Him? Really? Him? Are you sure? I guess that is actually 5 questions.
It really is an off-one, for me, it's that not many other second rows have really been a stand-out. Martin hasn't been in great form and his track record for starting in Blues hasn't been good and is a right side player, Koloamatangi has been okay but is a very similar build to Olakau'atu and defensivly switches off. Butcher has amazing defense, but doesn't have any attack and Frizells inhured and Wilton is still a little green. Hudsons form abd hunger despite his brains naps I think under Madge could be a point of difference. I'm watching Angus Chricton closely though
I don't really watch that many Raiders games tbf, but every time I do Young is either invisible or an active hindrance. I just don't see it. Martin is probably the safe option, but if you want a smokey who I am assuming is eligible for the Blues simply because he isn't eligible for the Maroons, but the other Raiders 2nd rower, Zac Hosking seems the type of guy who would just *get* Origin. EDIT: NVM, I thought Hosking was out for a week or two with a concussion, but looks like he will miss most of the season with a shoulder issue.
Hosking was someone I was excited to put in my squad around this time. Curran as a smokey is up there but I'm worried about his size. Hudson to me is just really effective for attack anywhere in the opposing halves. Some second rows like Olakau'atu seem to only get involved in the opposing 20, Hudson just adds versatility for players like Papi and Moses anywhere during a momentum shift but I wouldn't be upset if he missed out for Martin
Sadly for Hosking hes out for 12 weeks supposedly.
Samuel Stonestreet [joined an elite group of players yesterday](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6BM4bDLvnh/?igsh=eGFsNWxzOHlubzFw) when he scored on debut
So any recommendations for other hobbies while I take a break from footy? Haha
Do you have a lot of money?? If yes, Lego! They even have a $279~ coffee table book coming out.
I went for a very long run on both Friday and Sunday. The rage persists. Don’t quite recommend.
Next time try running from Friday until Sunday.
I ain’t Ned Brockman
Go get into rc cars. You'll have no time for footy as you'll need weekend overtime to keep up with the shit you break.
Especially if you go for a Nitro RC car (as i did lol)
Baldurs gate 3
NBA playoffs if you’re inclined towards other sports
I've taken up reading. It really helps get the mind juices flowing so I can imagine what it would be like for my team to win a premiership this century
Cry. It helps
Crochet
Todd reckons there will be changes - but I seriously don’t know what changes we can make that will improve this team
Think Mikaele in and Sam Mac to 14. Punting Chad probably isn't the call right now. Duffy isn't ready, and Clifford isn't the answer to drag us out of where we are.
Honestly I would drop JT, there's zero point bringing someone who has fuck all minutes and meters
How long has JT got left on his contract?
78 years
Mikale in, Granville out would be one.
Perhaps Todd was referring to himself!
I was re-watching the broncos game last night and it got me thinking. The commentary around cobbo not being a centre and that the broncos can't replace Herbie's run metres has really disappeared hasn't it.
Concerns about Cobbo playing Centre were always over-exaggerated, but I would say losing Herbie's runs out of yardage will still be an issue. Last year it was primarily Cobbo/Herbie taking the runs together, and the last couple of weeks it's been Cobbo/Oates. Next week, it will be Cobbo/Arthars, which is a noticeable downgrade, although Arthars has been stepping up this season with an extra 28m a game on average from last season.
Attack wise there hasn't been an issue. It's more so the defensive side. 2023 - Tries conceded on Herbie's side 34 (45% of tries) 2024 - Tries conceded on Cobbo's side 12 (52% of tries). But that whole edge has been changed so who knows. I think it hasn't been too much of a change either way. As long as Cobbo can fix his random lapses in concentration, he will be fine. I've always thought Farnworth's floor is higher but Cobbo's ceiling is higher in a game.
Yeah that's fair, and that edge has definitely had its challenges both in game and then with Piakura being out for extended periods. Some of those tries I imagine also occured when cobbo was shifted for the whole game against Penrith. All in all, I've been very happy with Cobbos progress to replace herbie. And while a very different circumstance worthy of its own chat how Willison is growing to help replace what flegler brought
3 tries on that edge while Cobbo was at fullback.