Porthoz
International Captain
Senior Staff
- Feb 27, 2010
- 29,181
- 11,758
I think a lot of the frustration comes from the fact we played Parra, and were on the backfoot too often and too long, but remember what happened last year under very similar circumstances...
Parra's defense is horrible and we should've taken advantage of it to get our F/A back in the black, but with Hunt having an absolute shocker (except for that pass), the lack of composure in attack from, well... pretty much everyone bar Prince, some dodgy ball control and of course the clueless refs, it's no surprise we only scored 22 pts.
On the other hand, we faced a team with nothing to loose and with a licence to do pretty much anything they want with the ball. Especially in the second half, they threw everything they could at us, from spreading the ball early in their half, to offloading at will. Yes, it's only Parra, but that kind of footy is really hard to defend, and we were actually quite good in defence.
The cake obviously goes to Hoffy, who saved our arses a few times and also Reed for the same reason, coming to kill plays early, and being constantly on top of their second best runner of the ball in Morgan.
We could say a good team would've put us to the sword, but chances are a good team wouldn't have played that kind of footy.
Kahu was pretty good for his return to be honest, got a few good tackles and covered his flank pretty well with Stagg and Prince, much to my surprise. The fact that Parra threw so much at that side was however no surprise, but he handled it reasonably well. Can't blame him for not scoring that try, as credit has to go to the defender.
Oates was the victim of Reed's passing amnesia, otherwise we could have put 30+ on the board despite our night off in attack.
Stagg did pretty well in my opinion, much better than I expected to be honest. I mean, he's no Hodgo, but he had a few good runs and was mostly solid in defence.
Reed was excellent in defence and defused a number of dangerous situations. He was okay in attack too, except for the previously mentioned amnesia...
Prince was by far and away our best attacking player, but he was seriously hampered by the mess around him, with players overrunning him or taking the wrong option more often than not. He has been in the best season's form and hopefully Hunt comes back with his head screwed on to take advantage of it.
Hunt... A very good pass for a try, but a complete disaster otherwise. It's okay though Ben, you're entitled to one of those once in a while. Just learn from it please!
Hannant and Moose were pretty close to their usual selves, not much to complain about really.
Macca, very good in the first half, got exhausted and subbed and never reached the same peaks again...
Thaiday... Come on captain, you need to lift your game and inspire those around you!
Gillett was on the least busy side of the park, as his stats will probably show, but most of what he did was good or very good. Set up a nice try too. Maybe he could've done a little bit more against Hayne in the first Eels try...
Parker was again his monstrous usual self, tireless working horse getting us on the front foot and tackling at will.
Wallace came in and despite the pre-conceived opinions on here, was pretty good in his stint, continuing Macca's good work, especially in defence, but with crisp quick passing too. Credit where it's due imo.
Lui. Well, I'm gonna have to eat my hat, because this guy has completely transformed himself from a soft pillow into a powerfull runner. He bends the line with each of his runs and defends well too. Keep it up young Dunamis, and you have a spot in the team!
Tasi. Not much time to do anything, but did a decent job of it, running hard and tackling for about a whole 10 minutes.
J. Wallace. Same as Tasi, except he did this for about 5 minutes and looked honestly a bit on the slow and fatty side...
Finally, the MOM. Hoffman was incredible in our 50, and even though he tried really hard with a couple of passes and even that chip and chase kick, I don't think he has it in him to be a ball playing fullback. I hope I'm wrong, because if he had even half of Norman's ability in attack, we would not need Barba!
Regardless, he was so far above the rest of the players, it's almost like he was in a different universe. Great, great skills defending, intercepting, getting out of trouble, running at the line and finishing a well deserved excellent try. Well done Hoffy!
EDIT: TL/DR We did defend well against a team throwing the ball around at will, and should've done better against a dreadfull defence. Hoffy was awesome!
P.S. I really need to learn the art of being succinct! :001_rolleyes:
Parra's defense is horrible and we should've taken advantage of it to get our F/A back in the black, but with Hunt having an absolute shocker (except for that pass), the lack of composure in attack from, well... pretty much everyone bar Prince, some dodgy ball control and of course the clueless refs, it's no surprise we only scored 22 pts.
On the other hand, we faced a team with nothing to loose and with a licence to do pretty much anything they want with the ball. Especially in the second half, they threw everything they could at us, from spreading the ball early in their half, to offloading at will. Yes, it's only Parra, but that kind of footy is really hard to defend, and we were actually quite good in defence.
The cake obviously goes to Hoffy, who saved our arses a few times and also Reed for the same reason, coming to kill plays early, and being constantly on top of their second best runner of the ball in Morgan.
We could say a good team would've put us to the sword, but chances are a good team wouldn't have played that kind of footy.
Kahu was pretty good for his return to be honest, got a few good tackles and covered his flank pretty well with Stagg and Prince, much to my surprise. The fact that Parra threw so much at that side was however no surprise, but he handled it reasonably well. Can't blame him for not scoring that try, as credit has to go to the defender.
Oates was the victim of Reed's passing amnesia, otherwise we could have put 30+ on the board despite our night off in attack.
Stagg did pretty well in my opinion, much better than I expected to be honest. I mean, he's no Hodgo, but he had a few good runs and was mostly solid in defence.
Reed was excellent in defence and defused a number of dangerous situations. He was okay in attack too, except for the previously mentioned amnesia...
Prince was by far and away our best attacking player, but he was seriously hampered by the mess around him, with players overrunning him or taking the wrong option more often than not. He has been in the best season's form and hopefully Hunt comes back with his head screwed on to take advantage of it.
Hunt... A very good pass for a try, but a complete disaster otherwise. It's okay though Ben, you're entitled to one of those once in a while. Just learn from it please!
Hannant and Moose were pretty close to their usual selves, not much to complain about really.
Macca, very good in the first half, got exhausted and subbed and never reached the same peaks again...
Thaiday... Come on captain, you need to lift your game and inspire those around you!
Gillett was on the least busy side of the park, as his stats will probably show, but most of what he did was good or very good. Set up a nice try too. Maybe he could've done a little bit more against Hayne in the first Eels try...
Parker was again his monstrous usual self, tireless working horse getting us on the front foot and tackling at will.
Wallace came in and despite the pre-conceived opinions on here, was pretty good in his stint, continuing Macca's good work, especially in defence, but with crisp quick passing too. Credit where it's due imo.
Lui. Well, I'm gonna have to eat my hat, because this guy has completely transformed himself from a soft pillow into a powerfull runner. He bends the line with each of his runs and defends well too. Keep it up young Dunamis, and you have a spot in the team!
Tasi. Not much time to do anything, but did a decent job of it, running hard and tackling for about a whole 10 minutes.
J. Wallace. Same as Tasi, except he did this for about 5 minutes and looked honestly a bit on the slow and fatty side...
Finally, the MOM. Hoffman was incredible in our 50, and even though he tried really hard with a couple of passes and even that chip and chase kick, I don't think he has it in him to be a ball playing fullback. I hope I'm wrong, because if he had even half of Norman's ability in attack, we would not need Barba!
Regardless, he was so far above the rest of the players, it's almost like he was in a different universe. Great, great skills defending, intercepting, getting out of trouble, running at the line and finishing a well deserved excellent try. Well done Hoffy!
EDIT: TL/DR We did defend well against a team throwing the ball around at will, and should've done better against a dreadfull defence. Hoffy was awesome!
P.S. I really need to learn the art of being succinct! :001_rolleyes:
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