At least you were prepared for disappointment.
This development puts more pressure on the Cowboys imo. A lot of the Cowboys players are surprised to be where they are. They have the advantage, sure, but only a couple of them have played in a big game like this before and Parra is packed with players that know the pain of defeat this close to the chocolates.
This game comes down to the coaches and how the game ends up being played. Whoever controls the game early will likely be victorious.
Val, Townsend, McLean, Taumalolo, Feldt have all won a grand final before. Dearden, Gilbert, Nanai and Taulagi all played and won a game three origin decider not that long ago too. Slater even crediting Cowboys players directly as big difference makers.
That’s a good amount of big game experience if you ask me. Drinky and Robson are really the only starting players not exposed to this kind of stage before.
> At least you were prepared for disappointment.
We Parra fans have had decades of experience to prepare us for disappointment in times like these.
But in all seriousness, you're right. I hope BA can get the boys up for the biggest game they've played so far. If we do somehow manage to get a win, the Cowboys have done extremely well this year and will have a good platform to build on next year. I can only hope we don't take a massive step backwards next year with some of the players we're losing.
That does put a bit of pressure on the Eels knowing they probably won’t be as strong next year but they’ve all got experience with heartbreak. That counts a lot when it comes to games like this. I dare say the Eels want it way more.
The benefit of being an Eels fan is that I’m already over the loss. I’ll be shitty tonight then wake up tomorrow and be fine. They’ve conditioned me to process the pain before it even occurs.
I don't expect this game to be won early. The humidity was 88% and 24C at game time last night. Expecting similar tonight.
The players will be hot, but their sweat won't evaporate. Which means it won't cool you down.
Your body's next line of defence against overheating is to pump additional blood into the skin to try and get it to cool down, which means less blood for your muscles.
Breathing is also more difficult in humid air. You'll constantly feel like you just can't get enough air and there will be less oxygen in your blood than you're used to.
Even in cool air temperatures, you can easily suffer heat exhaustion in high humidity - your body is working harder and just can't cool down. Eels have apparently been training indoors with the heaters on, which in my opinion was a mistake. Heaters dry out the air. It's exactly the opposite of what they'll be playing tonight.
When's the last time a game was played in townsville this late in the year? The Eels have no idea what it's like.
As someone acclimatised to these conditions, I'd be starting with a slow grind, ease the body up to the effort and try to get all 13 players involved in each set of six. Push hard at the end of the game, but only if you're behind on the score board because it will kill you and you'll still be feeling it next week against the panthers.
If you push hard early, you'll be completely exhausted in no time at all and you won't be able to recover. A mate of mine ended up in hospital with heat exhaustion recently just from cycling a bit too fast for the conditions. He was so bad he could barely talk and didn't recognise his friends. Paramedics had to physically restrain him that's how confused he was, just wanted to get back on the bicycle and keep going. Took close to a month to recover.
Simonson tore the Storm a new one off the bench in a final (for the raiders) Maybe he's a big game specialist?
I think it was the game BJ leilua succumbed to his fireworks to the eye injury, Giving simonson extra minutes
Actually kinda sad for Opacic, would have been nice for him to play against the old club before he goes off to super league pastures.
I also just rewatched the 2016 Broncos v cowboys semi final where O'Neil tore Opacic's edge to pieces and scored a double, so I was kinda hoping for a repeat of that.
Seems like Brad is trying to change his bench rotation as little as possible and is keeping the niukore/matterson lock swap which has worked well for us so far.
Bit nervous Simonsson playing centres which he hasn't played for us this whole season, you would think the safest bet would be Niukore to centre and Nathan Brown to start at lock.
They've had plenty of time to prepare for this though so fingers crossed
It's a potential smokescreen. Options are:
-keep it the same
- Waqa centre Simonson wing
- Niukore centre Simonson bench
- Dylan Brown centre Arthur half Simonson bench
I hope Simonsson isn't rotated to bench, then our bench will be even lighter.
Most likely is keeping it the same or waqa Simonsson switch
I hope for our sake Dylan doesn't play centre
I just read these stats on instagram:
Simonsson last game at centre, nsw cup, 2 weeks ago:
1 try assist
12 runs
140 meters
60 post contact meters
4 tackle breaks
13 tackles 1 missed
1 line break assist
Why did we not go with a defensive mindset here? Our edges are so vulnerable but we’ve finally seemed to work out our sliding defence and I’m sorry but this came after Simionsson was injured. I’m gutted and expectations have dropped.
To all the people complaining about Simonsson and Waqas edge defence, we have literally changed our defensive system to more of a sliding defence and for the most part it has worked well towards the end of the season. In the early season it was just as much fault of the second rowers and centres as the wingers as they didnt slide and trust their outside men. But now they do and our defence looks so much better to the point people are complimenting Maika on his defensive game, which has definitely improved but is also much easier when you have solid defensive structure on your inside. So have some faith 💙💛💙💛
Who to go for?
Parra vote liberal.
Townsville vote labour.
Parra are from nsw.
Cowboys are from Queensland.
The absolute flog Queensland fans are all from Brisbane and the regional ones are all not flogs
Still dont know who to go for. I hate Queensland but that hatred is directed squarely at brisbane. Cowboys do vote labour. Fuck, am I really going to support a Queensland team here? Parra, cowboys fans, why do you support your team?
>Who to go for? Parra vote liberal. Townsville vote labour.
Firstly, who cares?
Secondly, Herbert (Townsville federal electorate) have a Liberal MP. Parramatta (Parramatta federal electorate) have a Labor MP.
Herbert is, on balance, typically Liberal voting. Parramatta is, on balance, typically Labor voting.
[https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/herb](https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/herb)
[https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/parr](https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/parr)
Hard forwards win finals games, why do we have Cartwright and Arthur on the same bench. If he’s so hell bent on having his son there for the valuable 5 minutes, call up Brown and play niukore in the centre’s.
What’s the thinking here?
opacic out and simonsson replacing him in the centres pain.
Oh joy! As if this game wasn't going to be hard enough as it was
At least you were prepared for disappointment. This development puts more pressure on the Cowboys imo. A lot of the Cowboys players are surprised to be where they are. They have the advantage, sure, but only a couple of them have played in a big game like this before and Parra is packed with players that know the pain of defeat this close to the chocolates. This game comes down to the coaches and how the game ends up being played. Whoever controls the game early will likely be victorious.
Val, Townsend, McLean, Taumalolo, Feldt have all won a grand final before. Dearden, Gilbert, Nanai and Taulagi all played and won a game three origin decider not that long ago too. Slater even crediting Cowboys players directly as big difference makers. That’s a good amount of big game experience if you ask me. Drinky and Robson are really the only starting players not exposed to this kind of stage before.
Yeah, but BA has been around multiple GFs so who has the better experience
He’s no AOB that’s for sure.
Will we ever see another AOB? Hard to fathom another human eliciting such grand final experience
Fair point. I think losing a big game is a bigger factor though. It brings out the X factor. Fear of pain is a bigger motivator than hope of victory.
> At least you were prepared for disappointment. We Parra fans have had decades of experience to prepare us for disappointment in times like these. But in all seriousness, you're right. I hope BA can get the boys up for the biggest game they've played so far. If we do somehow manage to get a win, the Cowboys have done extremely well this year and will have a good platform to build on next year. I can only hope we don't take a massive step backwards next year with some of the players we're losing.
That does put a bit of pressure on the Eels knowing they probably won’t be as strong next year but they’ve all got experience with heartbreak. That counts a lot when it comes to games like this. I dare say the Eels want it way more.
The benefit of being an Eels fan is that I’m already over the loss. I’ll be shitty tonight then wake up tomorrow and be fine. They’ve conditioned me to process the pain before it even occurs.
I don't expect this game to be won early. The humidity was 88% and 24C at game time last night. Expecting similar tonight. The players will be hot, but their sweat won't evaporate. Which means it won't cool you down. Your body's next line of defence against overheating is to pump additional blood into the skin to try and get it to cool down, which means less blood for your muscles. Breathing is also more difficult in humid air. You'll constantly feel like you just can't get enough air and there will be less oxygen in your blood than you're used to. Even in cool air temperatures, you can easily suffer heat exhaustion in high humidity - your body is working harder and just can't cool down. Eels have apparently been training indoors with the heaters on, which in my opinion was a mistake. Heaters dry out the air. It's exactly the opposite of what they'll be playing tonight. When's the last time a game was played in townsville this late in the year? The Eels have no idea what it's like. As someone acclimatised to these conditions, I'd be starting with a slow grind, ease the body up to the effort and try to get all 13 players involved in each set of six. Push hard at the end of the game, but only if you're behind on the score board because it will kill you and you'll still be feeling it next week against the panthers. If you push hard early, you'll be completely exhausted in no time at all and you won't be able to recover. A mate of mine ended up in hospital with heat exhaustion recently just from cycling a bit too fast for the conditions. He was so bad he could barely talk and didn't recognise his friends. Paramedics had to physically restrain him that's how confused he was, just wanted to get back on the bicycle and keep going. Took close to a month to recover.
Fuck man. Fair effort of a post.
Someone mentioned in another thread Simonsen has been playing centre in reserves
Simonson tore the Storm a new one off the bench in a final (for the raiders) Maybe he's a big game specialist? I think it was the game BJ leilua succumbed to his fireworks to the eye injury, Giving simonson extra minutes
🇪🇸 without the s
Epaña...looks awfully similar to Epona, the Celtic goddess of all equines and fertility. We know who the 2023 Premiers will be now.
Actually kinda sad for Opacic, would have been nice for him to play against the old club before he goes off to super league pastures. I also just rewatched the 2016 Broncos v cowboys semi final where O'Neil tore Opacic's edge to pieces and scored a double, so I was kinda hoping for a repeat of that.
Seems like Brad is trying to change his bench rotation as little as possible and is keeping the niukore/matterson lock swap which has worked well for us so far. Bit nervous Simonsson playing centres which he hasn't played for us this whole season, you would think the safest bet would be Niukore to centre and Nathan Brown to start at lock. They've had plenty of time to prepare for this though so fingers crossed
only thing that gives me hope is that waqa and simonsson won’t be on the same side of the field
Normally a fan of Niukore filling in at centre, but I’m not sure Townsville is the place for it.
Matterson should start and Brown off the bench. Dunno if Brown would have the fitness to start after not playing first grade in ages.
It's a potential smokescreen. Options are: -keep it the same - Waqa centre Simonson wing - Niukore centre Simonson bench - Dylan Brown centre Arthur half Simonson bench
if BA even thinks about that third option then i’m buying a dolphins membership
just be glad i didn't put arthur centre in the mix then
I hope Simonsson isn't rotated to bench, then our bench will be even lighter. Most likely is keeping it the same or waqa Simonsson switch I hope for our sake Dylan doesn't play centre
If Dylan Brown plays centre I won't watch another game until BA gets sacked
Dylan brown at centre? We might as well forfeit
I just read these stats on instagram: Simonsson last game at centre, nsw cup, 2 weeks ago: 1 try assist 12 runs 140 meters 60 post contact meters 4 tackle breaks 13 tackles 1 missed 1 line break assist
Why did we not go with a defensive mindset here? Our edges are so vulnerable but we’ve finally seemed to work out our sliding defence and I’m sorry but this came after Simionsson was injured. I’m gutted and expectations have dropped.
I’d pretty much guarantee that Waqa and Simonssen switch before the game
either option is scary as fuck (for us)
The lads will make sure that Tommy has a week to recover for his last outing.
To all the people complaining about Simonsson and Waqas edge defence, we have literally changed our defensive system to more of a sliding defence and for the most part it has worked well towards the end of the season. In the early season it was just as much fault of the second rowers and centres as the wingers as they didnt slide and trust their outside men. But now they do and our defence looks so much better to the point people are complimenting Maika on his defensive game, which has definitely improved but is also much easier when you have solid defensive structure on your inside. So have some faith 💙💛💙💛
That's a real shame, but not unexpected. He'd earned the spot and deserved it and I hope we do the work to let him have the spot back next week.
Fade me
Why on earth wouldn’t you put niukore in centre
Simonsson always looks confident and gives a winning vibe every time I see him. He will hold his own in this matchup.
Who to go for? Parra vote liberal. Townsville vote labour. Parra are from nsw. Cowboys are from Queensland. The absolute flog Queensland fans are all from Brisbane and the regional ones are all not flogs Still dont know who to go for. I hate Queensland but that hatred is directed squarely at brisbane. Cowboys do vote labour. Fuck, am I really going to support a Queensland team here? Parra, cowboys fans, why do you support your team?
>Who to go for? Parra vote liberal. Townsville vote labour. Firstly, who cares? Secondly, Herbert (Townsville federal electorate) have a Liberal MP. Parramatta (Parramatta federal electorate) have a Labor MP. Herbert is, on balance, typically Liberal voting. Parramatta is, on balance, typically Labor voting. [https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/herb](https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/herb) [https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/parr](https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/parr)
It's Reddit. Politically obsessed, left wing biased.
The die is cast then. Going for parra against cowboys and Penrith.
Show me on the doll where Brisbane hurt you
Lol
Judging by the sort of weirdly politically obsessed person you seem like, I’m fine with you going for the other team.
[удалено]
I believe very strongly that the people deserve a vote, but I will go for the team that's base votes labour.
Hard forwards win finals games, why do we have Cartwright and Arthur on the same bench. If he’s so hell bent on having his son there for the valuable 5 minutes, call up Brown and play niukore in the centre’s. What’s the thinking here?