Game 2 - Post Match Discussion

[Porthoz]

Second row is part of the forward pack....Scott and shillington were very good. Civoniceva wasn't. Hannant was poor apart from his little stint at the end. Was nowhere to be seen in the first half. Myles was very good, Harrison was his usual self, Taylor and Gillett were next to useless.

How is us calling for civoniceva to be dropped a "knee jerk reaction" when we didn't want him selected in the first place? He has done absolutely nothing to justify his selection so far. A knee jerk would be saying "drop thurston, he had a shocker".

Where do you base this on, seriously? He punched the line, he defended well and he missed ONE single tackle.
Whether you called for it before the series or not, has no relevance, and the argument he's slow would be no different 5 years ago, as Petero has never been fast in any facet of the game. But he is tough as nails, experienced and still bends the line like very few props can. Besides, there is NO WAY he can in any way be blamed for tonight's loss, so the calling for his head is a knee-jerk reaction of a few guys convinced they know better than others...

I absolutely love Show, but putting him in a decider is a huge risk as he still has too much discipline problems that could cost us. He will get there for sure though, I have no doubt about it!

Gillett needs to stay in the team to gain more experience in the toughest of arenas, both Qld and the Broncos will benefit from it.

More important than the calls for axing a nearly immortal of Qld, is getting Thurston and Cronk to complement each other, instead of the current rabble. As someone else said, with Locky in the team, we would have sent NSW packing.

 

[Nashy]

Civo got tired. He started out OK, but I agree, he's too slow to play the ball. I'm not a fan of bringing a rookie in to cover someone with that much origin experience though.

Unforced changes in Origin are too risky.

 

[Professor47]

DT - I just don't understand why players do that... you put a hand to the ball and it is a try... for gods sake you can torso try it. Why try to pick it up? It doesn't make sense. His drop ball late in the 2nd half was crucial as well I thought. Honestly, I won't say drop him but he's reminding me of Carl Webb... if he plays poor again in game 3 and game 1 next year he should be given a stern wake up call though.

 

[anzac7]

Taylor played his best Origin when he was under a lot of pressure to prove his fitness and prove his ability (if any remember in preceding years). I think he will get his wake up call off field from the coaching staff and have a big game off the bench in game 3. Let's face it, we have just confirmed he is an off the bench origin player at this stage in his career and needs to stay there a bit longer.

Petro has to be there for game 3, being his last game and all - as a QLD player I would rather lose with him in the team than win with him out of the team (would stay loyal and put my trust in his ability to perform for the team). I think the only person who could make the decision for Petro to play or not is Petro himself. I think he will put everything he has into game 3 and not disappoint.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I am putting it down to both performance & age.

His club performance didn't deserve an Origin Jersey & IMO: Him being a forward he is old for Origin, he is up against young legs.

I wouldn't have picked Petro to begin with but he has in no way let us down.

 

[Mister Wright]

Time to calm down. Qld only have themselves to blame. They dropped far too much ball and often in great attacking positions. NSW played to their potential, with the players they have they won't play better, and yet the result of the game was only decided when the final hooter sounded. If Qld hold on to the ball in game 3 they win, it's that simple. No need for any changes unless they are forced or Thaiday returning.

 

[Coxy]

Time to calm down. Qld only have themselves to blame. They dropped far too much ball and often in great attacking positions. NSW played to their potential, with the players they have they won't play better, and yet the result of the game was only decided when the final hooter sounded. If Qld hold on to the ball in game 3 they win, it's that simple. No need for any changes unless they are forced or Thaiday returning.

This. I said at half time that all QLD had to do was to cut out the mistakes and they'd win. First set, Thurston throws the ball over the sideline. From that, Cronk gets sin binned. Then back to back tries.

So I blame Thurston :P

Seriously JT and Cronk were woeful, other than for a few good kicks.

 

[Bucking Beads]

This. I said at half time that all QLD had to do was to cut out the mistakes and they'd win. First set, Thurston throws the ball over the sideline. From that, Cronk gets sin binned. Then back to back tries.

So I blame Thurston :P

Seriously JT and Cronk were woeful, other than for a few good kicks.

Rubbish.. We should be dropping at least 4 players. Knee jerk NSW style..

 

[OXY-351]

Did Farah make any tackles where he was the first one to make contact with the players? All I remember were flops

He hit slater with a great tackle on one of the kick returns.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Farah made 60 odd tackles and they all came with a free facial.

 

[mrslong]

Farah made 60 odd tackles and they all came with a free facial.

It annoys me that the only QLDer that seems to do it back is Myles. Wish more of our players would fight fire with fire sometimes. Hate the facials though - it's so petty and immature, but clearly when the ref's aren't gonna penalise it may as well tick them off.

I didn't think Petero was bad. I thought we lost cos Thurston had his worst game ever and Slater was injured. Still lucky to only lose by 4. If NSW had half decent halfback we would have lost by a hella lot more.

Also, wtf didn't we kick to Uate more?

 

[Bucking Beads]

Also, wtf didn't we kick to Uate more?

This!!! I was screaming bomb it to Uate all night.

 

[Anonymous person]

You all say "no unforced changes, they're unnecessary ", but dropping players who are badly underperforming and/or shouldnthav been there in the first place ARE necessary.

Before game 1 I didn't want civoniceva there as his form has been shocking.
Before game 1 I didn't want gillett there because his form didn't warrant it, and he is still yet to prove he can handle a big NRL game let alone an origin.

After game 2 my opinion hasn't changed. As always on BHQ, you all seem to think that because we won game 1 it means every player deserved and justified there spot. It doesn't. Civoniceva was terrible in game 1 and almost as bad in game 2. Who cares if he makes 15m in a hit up if he then takes 15 seconds to get off the ground and play the ball? It puts us on the back foot, and against a defensive outfit as fantastic as this nsw team has been, that is an absolute killer. We saw it in game 1 and the first half of game 2 - we would constantly only make 30-35m per set, as nsw had their line set and raring to go every tackle cause we were too damn slow. Civoniceva was the worst at it by a mile.

Gillett has just gone AWOL in both games. Seriously, I can't remember him even making a decent tackle or hit up. Like Taylor, he clearly has problems stepping up to the origin arena.

For our best chance of winning we should bring in McGuire and barba. When our backs went down in game 2 we had no one to replace them. I was shitting myself thinking "Gillett is going to go to centre now....." because then its a 30 point ball game to nsw.

Just remembers there were a few more less than 50-50 calls that went NSWs way - Tate getting tackled, then hayne or someone giving a second effort to almost put him over the sideline. It doesn't matter that he didn't go over, it's still a penalty every day of the week. Then there was the time the nsw ball carrier, Pearce I believe, dropped the ball cold in a tackle and it was simply overlooked. Every QLDer within a few metres saw it and was screaming at the refs about it. There was also the high shot on hedges where he looked like he was fonna milk it, but the refs just told him to play on. Again, it's a penalty every day of the week in the nrl. Not last night though, not on NSWs designated win night.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

I wouldn't have picked Petro to begin with but he has in no way let us down.

That's what myself, AP, hammo and a few others have been saying all along but u keep saying "its a knee jerk reaction". We dont think he shouldve been there in the first place, yet you are carrying on about how we only want him dropped coz we lost. Wake up to yourself.

 

[Bucking Beads]

That's what myself, AP, hammo and a few others have been saying all along but u keep saying "its a knee jerk reaction". We dont think he shouldve been there in the first place, yet you are carrying on about how we only want him dropped coz we lost. Wake up to yourself.

You've been saying that he should be dropped for game 3 and that he played crap. That's what you've been saying so wake up to yourself.

 

[Steve]

Hah no need for panic stations. We nearly pinched it at the death and were unlucky not to get the line drop out. I think if we'd had another 1-2 sets on their line we would have cracked them. Mind you we need to acknowledge the NSW defence. It's as resiliant as I've seen from them in years.

Don't think we need to make mass changes. Maybe Inglis to fullback for Slater. There could be an opening for Barba with the shift or maybe Nielson to come back in. Personally I think Barba's a good pick as we've lacked a bit of attacking spark so far in this series. If he plays and it's a dry night (which it usually is at this time of year) the game could really open up unlike the first two.

I think Civo should retain his spot. He wasn't bad at all last night. Bent the line numerous times and even though his play the balls were slow the whole forward pack was slowed down in the boggy conditions. It's unlikely our halves will play as badly in Brisbane. Cronk got his mojo back after the sin-bin and I'm expecting them to click in game three.

It's all set up beautifully for the decider. NSW should rightfully be pretty confident and they will have learned a lot from last year's decider. I have a feeling our dynasty might be coming to an end but Lang Park is a completely different kettle of fish. I think the home ground advantage is worth at least 8-10 points for Queensland given how the team feeds off the crowd (remember game three last year?).

 

[Fatboy]

Reckon we could ask Lockyer back for one last game?

 

[Coxy]

Queensland doesn't make wholesale changes. It'd be silly. Sure, Petero hasn't been great, but as I recall he was shit in game 2 last year and everyone wanted him dropped, and then he played a super game in the decider. Don't underestimate or write off a champion.

The most likely situation is Parker and Slater will be unavailable, and hopefully Thaiday will be fit again. Simple changes:
1. Inglis to fullback
2. Nielsen into the centres
3. Thaiday into the back row
4. Taylor back to the bench

I would also be happy with dropping Gillett, as I agree, he's done nothing and I'm unsure what his role is even meant to be. And given he's only played 2 games, he can't claim loyalty. However, who would you put in? Barba? Where would you put him? DCE? Ditto.

I think if anything I'd pick McGuire, but that'd mean 3 props on the bench.
Who else? Te'o?