Game 2 - Post Match Discussion

[Porthoz]

My thoughts on the game now I've had a chance to cool down lol.

First and foremost, NSW deserved to win that. QLD was not in it at all that first half, and we were lucky to even get a try. Our first half attack was HORRIBLE. We barely even put in any attacking kicks on the end of our sets. We looked out of sorts.

Apart from the shocking 10 mins without Cronk, our attack picked up heaps that second half, and it finally looked like cronk and thurston were gelling, but we made WAY too many unforced errors! Taylor dropping it cold, along with hodges, myles and scott putting it down with no pressure on them just let NSW off the hook too much. NSW defended brilliantly, both on their line when we had drop out after drop out, but also by rushing up on the sides to restrict out backs.

Few points id like to raise.

1. What does hodges offer in origin? Seriously. All he does is pick up the ball from dummy half and try wrestle with people. I wanna see him hit a line and run onto a ball!
2. Civo HAS TO GO. we are actually a worse team having him on the field. he is slow, a liability in defence and offers nothing in attack. When shillo went off for him, i knew we were gone. Bring in McGuire for him.
3. Thaiday will slow straight back in for parker.
4. The gillet experiment has been tried, and has failed. We needed some attacking spark when we had all the ball. Bring in Barba NOW.
5. Taylor looks like hes a kid, playing ball with the adults. He looks overwhelmed. Tell him to pretend he has a souths jersey on. Stand far back in the line, and just steamroll everyone in front of him.
6. Shillo was our best along with myles imo.
7. Why oh why did we only kick to Uate twice?!!!! both times we scored so why the hell arent we doing it more?! How are the best players in the game not seeing that uate cant catch!
8. hayne was lucky he got a foot to that ball, very very lucky try. but u make ur own luck.
9. I thought jennings definitely hit the ball from tates hands when he was trying to score, shouldve been a drop out but didnt affect the result.

Bring on game 3. i didnt think QLD could play worse than we did in game 1, and to an extent we didnt. our attack was better but too many unforced errors cost us.

Mate, you need to actually cool down. At the risk of offending you, you sound like a NSW'ker!

1- For Hodgo to run onto a ball, he needs someone to pass it to him!
2- Civo has nothing to fear based on this outing. He didn't drop the ball, he defended well and he bent the line with his hit-ups.
3- Parker deserves to stay in the team. Thaiday should come in for Taylor, who is a liability and doesn't have the brains or mentality to play Origin.
4- Typical NSW'ker reaction...
5- Addressed in point 3
6, 7 and 8- Finally we agree on something! :haha:
9- It actually cost us the game. At least that's what NSW'kers would have us believe... Remember, we were only 4 points behind and would've kept possession of the ball.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Mate, you need to actually cool down. At the risk of offending you, you sound like a NSW'ker!

1- For Hodgo to run onto a ball, he needs someone to pass it to him!
2- Civo has nothing to fear based on this outing. He didn't drop the ball, he defended well and he bent the line with his hit-ups.
3- Parker deserves to stay in the team. Thaiday should come in for Taylor, who is a liability and doesn't have the brains or mentality to play Origin.
4- Typical NSW'ker reaction...
5- Addressed in point 3
6, 7 and 8- Finally we agree on something! :haha:
9- It actually cost us the game. At least that's what NSW'kers would have us believe... Remember, we were only 4 points behind and would've kept possession of the ball.

QFT!!!!

 

[rnabokov]

Hopefully Inglis plays fullback and not Boyd.

Inglis MUST play FB, especially since Thurston and Cronk have no clue how to create space for him in the centres. I also thought Hodges was excellent, given that he too was given absolutely no space and time.

For mine, neither team deserved their win. Each one's deficiencies matched the other's. The only difference was the Bin.

Qld have no attack, and the NSW attack just can't crack the Maroons defence.

Bring in Barba to the bench if Slater's out. Inglis just has to have room to do his stuff. So far, he (and Hodges) have been given none

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Mate, you need to actually cool down. At the risk of offending you, you sound like a NSW'ker!

1- For Hodgo to run onto a ball, he needs someone to pass it to him!
2- Civo has nothing to fear based on this outing. He didn't drop the ball, he defended well and he bent the line with his hit-ups.
3- Parker deserves to stay in the team. Thaiday should come in for Taylor, who is a liability and doesn't have the brains or mentality to play Origin.
4- Typical NSW'ker reaction...
5- Addressed in point 3
6, 7 and 8- Finally we agree on something! :haha:
9- It actually cost us the game. At least that's what NSW'kers would have us believe... Remember, we were only 4 points behind and would've kept possession of the ball.

Im not dropping parker, i dont think he will be fit. also, im not reacting to a loss. from the moment the teams were picked i thought gillet and civo were bad options. mcguire is in better form and gillet has proven at club level lately hes not up to scratch in defence. i honestly believe civo is not up to origin, and have since before game 1. he looks knackered after 5 mins! Shillington was epic tonight, but he came off for civo and out go forward went downhill quickly.

 

[user_nat]

To be fair to Taylor, Thaiday isn't exactly known for holding onto the ball.

If Slater is injured.. and I can't believe I'm suggesting this.. how about Barba? Since we don't have a good replacement for Inglis at centre.

 

[Hamm.0]

Re: Estimated $3 million spent by NSWRL for Ricky to topple QLD this year 2012

The packs are so even now that it really leaves Game 3 as anyone's game.

And that said, I fear we are carrying passengers in our pack. I love Civo and defended him after Game 1, but he is behind the pace in defense and failed to make to many big runs in attack. Taylor is to NEVER start an Origin again (in the near future lol), we actually missed Thaiday in defense which surprises me, I underestimated Big Sam. All I can say about Taylor is...a long disgruntled grunt. Gillett is failing to make an impact at this level either and I'll be interested to see how much defense he got through because he isn't doing anything on the fringes, doesn't even bend the line.

Shillo, Myles, Hannant, Harrison, Scott and Parker (before he got injured) all played to their own standards. Without Cam Smith's boot, we lose by more. It's incredible the timing that man has with knowing when to kick deep and the precision he has with his long kicks is Lockyer-esque.

No secret that Slater, Tate and Hodges were injured early. And I know this might make me unpopular but I still don't rate Hodges at this level, his dummy hal runs are great and defensivly he is a rock, but the guy is NEVER involved in a backline movement that involves the ball going THROUGH his hands. Tate is all that is QLD. Slater was obviously injured but he made a shocking decision to come in and take the man with the ball for Stewart's try. He should have hang off to cover the runners and trusted the cover defense (Boyd) and GI who were all over Carney. Poor defensive choice.

JT seemed to have a poor game, but until I watch the replay I can't say why. It seemed as though the outside backs (on the left side) were mistiming his passes, yet the few times he ran right there didn't seem to be a problem. Can't blame the runners, JT has to get this timing sorted, that's why they have an entire week in camp. The few times we finally went right to GI, he looked dangerous. Why we have one of the greatest attacking weapons in Origin history and he's only involved in a handful of backline moves confuses me. Either GI needs to swap sides with Hodges (my choice) or we need to start running right more.

Cronk's kicking was sublime and behind a forward pack stuck in an arm wrestle they almost lost, he played fine. I just hope JT and Cronk can find the cohesion that Locky and JT had, because at the moment it seems they are getting in each others way, even though they usually play either side of the ruck. Would love audio, because to me it looks as though they both call for the ball and organise at the same time, which could perhaps explain the lack of cohesion in most of the unset backline moves.

On Hayne, can someone tell me the exact rule? I was under the impression that for a kick to be a kick, the player must INTEND to kick, Hayne lost the ball onto his foot and it was ruled a kick. Does someone know the actual rule on this in 2012?

Farah had a great game, as did Bird, Gallen, Woods and Morris. NSW have a few passengers as well, cough* Jennings* cough and Uate is one Morris slip away from GI scoring around him.

All in all, NSW played a solid game and were always going to be hard to beat in Sydney. QLD have to make some tough decisions, especially in the pack, if we're to keep this run going. I'm not sure the coach has it in him to do it. It's a BIG call to blood debut players in a decider, but from Game 1 to Game 2, NSW pack seems to have more belief and more close to winning the wood over our pack. The packs are so close now, that this could be the sniff they needed to roll over the top in Game 3.

Thaiday will hopefully be fit, which drops Taylor back to the bench. Maybe keep Parker and drop Gillett, Parker looks far more promising in attack and we all know how much defense he gets through. Right now I'm leaning towards dropping Gillett, would have loved Macguire to have fitted in before Game 3 and don't think it's wise to bring him in now.

Can't wait for Game 3, congratulations to the better side tonight, however a big wrap on our boys for sticking in there right to the end. These (albeit minor) selections for Game 3 could make or break our chances....over to you Mal!!

 

[Hamm.0]

Unbelievably we have a QLD fan questioning Petros worth. Seriously clueless IMO

Call me clueless as well then. Love the man, but it's painfully obvious he is below the par at Origin level at the moment. If he's selected for Game 3, which he more than likely will be, then I hope he proves me wrong. To be honest, apart from a win, I'd like nothing more than that out of Game 3.

 

[Anonymous person]

Well they proved me wrong - they COULD play that terrible again.

First things first - nsw were the better team. They defended incredibly well, and their ball control was superb. Thaiday must've been giving ball control clinics this last week.

Thurston had a shocker. His 5th tackle decisions were poor all night, and it wasn't until cronk took control in the second half that we actually slightly resembled a top level rugby league team.

Civoniceva has to go. Apart from 3 or 4 runs he was nothing but a waste of a player and a liability. Drop him.
Taylor has got nothing at origin level. Don't know if it's nerves or he's just no good on a big stage, but he was completely MIA for the first 30 mins of the match. Drop him.
Gillett is a waste, he's shown again that he is not ready for origin, if he ever will be. Also MIA while on the field. The only positive is that he didn't come charging out of the line and let in any tries. Drop him.
Slater looked scared, and was shaky there for a bit, but came back strong and defused a number of attacking raids with excellent catches.
Hodges put in his usual origin performance of mediocrity. Useless dummy half shuffle after useless dummy half shuffle.
Shillington was very good.
Hannant was very good in the second half.
Myles was great apart from a mistake or 2.
Smith looked lethargic and uninterested yet again. Thought it was illness in the first game, guess it wasn't.
Cronk was poor in the first half, but really stepped up in the second half to take control when thurston fell apart.
Parker was going well, making inroads up the middle until his injury. Guessing he'll be gone for a decent stretch of time unfortunately.

The referees, well we got what we expected - NSW got to do whatever they wanted to. Glen Stewart must've done about 8-9 high shots yet only got done for one. Bird will be nursing a bruised elbow from all the face mashing he was doing with it. Not to mention the referees clearly making a wrong decision in favour of nsw in Jennings hitting the ball out of Tate's hands as he was going to score. How that was a nsw 20m tap I'll never know. Then there was that bomb a few mins later where it looked like uate/Morris hit it forwards yet they said QLD hit it and as such there was no tackle count restart.

At this stage, I honestly can't see QLD winning game 3. It sucks, and i haven't felt like this in years, but I think I'm going to go to suncorp and watch nsw raise the shield for the first time in 7 years. QLD just look disinterested, slow, and like they couldn't give a $hit.

To even stand a chance, we NEED to make changes.

- civoniceva out, McGuire in.
- Gillett out, barba in.
- Taylor out, Johnson in. Though I'm guessing Parker will be out so just out Johnson in for him and find someone else to replace Taylor Te'o possibly.
- slater, if he's out, inglis to fullback and then bring in barba to the wing with Tate to the centers.

Even with how poorly we played and how well nsw played, we still probably should've won that. 5 drop outs in the second half. 5. Tate doesn't have that ball knocked out and we win. We hold onto the ball instead of dropping it at every chance and we win.

Sigh. That sucked. It was like the early 00's where we just had nothing in attack and nsw just scored easy tries, getting the favourable bounce of the ball every time. The Morris try was BS, though a fair try.

Faaaaaaaaaarrrrrrkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk :(

 

[Hamm.0]

Hopefully Inglis plays fullback and not Boyd.

+1000000. This at least gets GI into the attack.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Nielsen to centre Inglis to fullback IMO

 

[user_nat]

Hannant was very good in the second half.

He was on? I seriously did not see him. Stats say he did make 1 run in the second half though, so obviously he was on at some point.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Call me clueless as well then. Love the man, but it's painfully obvious he is below the par at Origin level at the moment. If he's selected for Game 3, which he more than likely will be, then I hope he proves me wrong. To be honest, apart from a win, I'd like nothing more than that out of Game 3.

Good to see someone else who actually knows what they are talking about hammo. I love civo and respect him so much, but that doesnt mean he is immune from criticism. I dont think we are the clueless ones somehow

 

[Bucking Beads]

Call me clueless as well then. Love the man, but it's painfully obvious he is below the par at Origin level at the moment. If he's selected for Game 3, which he more than likely will be, then I hope he proves me wrong. To be honest, apart from a win, I'd like nothing more than that out of Game 3.

You've always been clueless. No surprise to see the 3 storm fans calling for Petros head. Congrats on failing as QLD fans.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

You've always been clueless. No surprise to see the 3 storm fans calling for Petros head. Congrats on failing as QLD fans.

do you honestly think he contributed much tonight tho? take away the fact its civo, if it was any other forward, dont u think u might change ur opinion? i just think its too fast for him now. nsw have a quick mobile pack which would suit mcguire far more.

 

[Bucking Beads]

do you honestly think he contributed much tonight tho? take away the fact its civo, if it was any other forward, dont u think u might change ur opinion? i just think its too fast for him now. nsw have a quick mobile pack which would suit mcguire far more.

McGuire isn't ready. Too many silly penalties in his game. Petro wasn't bad tonight. He wasn't good either. He is any easy target.

 

[rnabokov]

If Lockyer had played, Qld would have won both games. That says a lot. Thurston showed no vision, allowed NSW to crowd him, and had no vision to deal with that, and no ability to organize. Smith can't do much if his halves aren't combining, and all the forwards were bunched in the middle standing flat footed - until Cronk took over from Thurston. Maybe they should switch. That was when the Maroons started to gain momentum.

I don't see how anyone can blame Gillett, Taylor or anyone if their strengths aren't used. As I keep saying, Qld have lost the ability to create space and time with the retirement of Lockyer.

That's the real challenge for game 3 - give our attacking weapons some room to attack.

 

[Bucking Beads]

If Lockyer had played, Qld would have won both games. That says a lot. .

But Lockyer was past it last year remember...

 

[Hamm.0]

Interesting how you saw the game Stu, I saw some things very differently;

Slater looked scared, and was shaky there for a bit, but came back strong and defused a number of attacking raids with excellent catches.

He had a poor game IMO. Made a shocking defensive lapse which giving Stewart his second try. 9 out of 10 fullbacks would trust GI and Boyd, but he took went for Carney leaving the runners open.

Hodges put in his usual origin performance of mediocrity. Useless dummy half shuffle after useless dummy half shuffle.

+1000000

Smith looked lethargic and uninterested yet again. Thought it was illness in the first game, guess it wasn't.

I'm bewildered how you didn't rate Smith's game? He made multiple big game plays that reeked of an very experienced player (captain's plays) and his kicking game was sublime. IMO, Smith is the only thing keeping our pack moving at the moment.

Cronk was poor in the first half, but really stepped up in the second half to take control when thurston fell apart.

It's strange, but like I posted, it's as though the two of them can't play with each other. It's a real concern and better get fixed ASAP.

At this stage, I honestly can't see QLD winning game 3. It sucks, and i haven't felt like this in years, but I think I'm going to go to suncorp and watch nsw raise the shield for the first time in 7 years. QLD just look disinterested, slow, and like they couldn't give a $hit.

Lockyer?

To even stand a chance, we NEED to make changes.

- civoniceva out, McGuire in.
- Gillett out, barba in.
- Taylor out, Johnson in. Though I'm guessing Parker will be out so just out Johnson in for him and find someone else to replace Taylor Te'o possibly.
- slater, if he's out, inglis to fullback and then bring in barba to the wing with Tate to the centers.

I'm unsure if Mal has the balls or even if it's wise to blood McGuire, Te'O or Barba in a decider. However I do agree with the Civo comment and DT can't start if even stays on the bench and not over Parker.