Round 3 Discussion

[GCBRONCO]

Barba meh as usual, "playing deeper" hasn't helped.

 

[Big Pete]

My record isn't that reliable, I got my tip right in Round 1 as well.

 

[ningnangnong]

Where did you go wrong ningers?

I can live with getting the Raiders game wrong, I had the right idea. Can't believe I stuck with the Cowboys though...I had (successfully) talked myself out of it by Friday.

I took some risks... Manly, Cowboys and the Raiders.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Better work from Barba in that play.

 

[Morkel]

Barba meh as usual, "playing deeper" hasn't helped.

Not when he passes so early. If he'd spent time earlier in the game running the ball, then if the defence puts numbers on you an early pass can be good if there's room for your outside man. But passing early when everyone's numbered up, when your outside man is not named Justin, it's just a Hail Mary.

 

[Morkel]

Sandow, ouch. I didn't see most of the game, but NRLStats has him playing the full 80 minutes. 54 receives, one run for 8 metres. 16 tackles, 5 missed. One error.

 

[Ari Gold]

Sandow, ouch. I didn't see most of the game, but NRLStats has him playing the full 80 minutes. 54 receives, one run for 8 metres. 16 tackles, 5 missed. One error.

Was the error selecting him?

 

[Big Pete]

That was a better performance from Melbourne.

Peppered the Sharks right hand-side from the opening set and a lot of their last tackle plays are just so difficult to defend. I still think they're lacking a game-breaker now that Slater has lost a bit in pace but on what I've seen so far they're bound for September football.

Cronulla need to start over. They're trying to play clinical football but the problem is their players don't have the patience nor the ability to build pressure and it's just falling apart on them. Barba's form at five eighth is how I imagine it would have been if we started him there right from the start - bloody awful and defensively he's an absolute liability. They need to call an audible and either shift him to fullback or demote him because right now it's really affecting the Sharks. Next week they face the Titans, so it's the perfect game to get their affairs in order and settle on a line-up that will steer them through the rest of the season.

 

[Unbreakable]

I didn't watch the Sharks game tonight, was Barba awful again? Judging by the stats he was, no tries, try assists, line-breaks or line-break assists.. with several missed tackles.

This guy just isn't very good honestly, 2012 Barba seems like a pipe dream at this stage, I kinda feel sorry for him.

 

[broncsgoat]

This guy just isn't very good honestly, 2012 Barba seems like a pipe dream at this stage, I kinda feel sorry for him.

He gets paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to be horrendous at his job.

 

[Tera]

Storm scored 4 tries through him, so yeah. I'd say he was pretty terrible.

 

[Harry Sack]

It's a shame Nu Brown got injured, it would give them more room to shuffle players about.

 

[Big Pete]

They really don't have many alternatives do they?

Looking at their roster, their best bet is to play Wade Graham at five eighth but a halves pairing of Graham/Robson isn't potent enough.

Former Broncos U/20s player Todd Murphy could get a look in but I don't think he's NRL standard and their NYC halves seem too raw to be much chance.

They may have to approach some player agents to see who's looking for an opportunity. For the time being, it's a really tough situation to be in.

 

[Harry Sack]

Barba needs to be given as few organising duties as possible. Yes a new halves pairing needs time to gel, but I haven't seen much to get me even remotely excited about barba in the halves. It's FB or nothing for him I think.

1. Babs
2/5. Gordon
6. ?????
7. Robson

Looking at their roster, their best bet is to play Wade Graham at five eighth but a halves pairing of Graham/Robson isn't potent enough.

I agree, but you'd have to think it would be worth a punt considering what they have now?

 

[Foordy]

I didn't watch the Sharks game tonight, was Barba awful again? Judging by the stats he was, no tries, try assists, line-breaks or line-break assists.. with several missed tackles.

This guy just isn't very good honestly, 2012 Barba seems like a pipe dream at this stage, I kinda feel sorry for him.

Nrlstats.com has credited Barba with a try assist

 

[Big Pete]

Just thinking further on the Sharks woes, not only did they lose Fu Brown, they also lost Kyle Stanley for the season and released Penani Manumalealii who was another option.

I agree, but you'd have to think it would be worth a punt considering what they have now?

It's definitely worth considering but it just depends on future plans.

Ideally, you'd shift Graham to five eighth to sure up the defence in the short-term with a view to blood somebody down the track. The problem is I don't know if the likes of Murphy, Clarke or Tracey are ready for that responsibility.

Furthermore the penny has to drop for Barba at some point. I honestly don't think it's in the Sharks best interest to play Barba at fullback over the next three years. That should be Holmes' spot and the only place Barba really fits in is at five eighth. So Flanno may just have to grit his teeth one more week and see if Barba can't go onto destroy the Titans and restore his confidence.

Otherwise you go with the Graham play and just grind teams into rubble.

 

[Ari Gold]

Is there a peptide that makes your attack more creative?

 

[Morkel]

Storm are always committed in defence. And we defended really well against them too. Didn't Batba set up like 3 tries in their first game? I'd say give it time, but like Harry said, he's not the sort to organise or lead the team around. He's there to spot opportunities and exploit them. Like our first two games, there weren't many opportunities.

I'd say give him time. Would I take him back so Milford could play fullback? Probably not. But I wouldn't draw a line through him either. They have two new spine members too, like us. In fact, they only have 2 of their #1 to #7 that you'd consider regular starters for the Sharks from last year.