Round 9 - Cowboys v Broncos - Post-Match Discussion

[rnabokov]

Absolutely @rnabokov , and it's been a problem for a while. We never recovered from losing Locky, sure - not from losing Webcke, Tunza, Civo etc either. It's been a while now since we've had good, big, big men. McGuire, I love him, he's got the right attitude and work ethic but he doesn't have the size to match it with the big props. Parker/Thaiday are not props and should never be played there. Ever. Kennedy - he's playing like he's 100kg, where's the aggression?? The younger guys are still developing and are a long way off starting, but I like the look of Wallace; Hala if he can stay fit should be a great impact bench player; and by all reports some of the younger guys (Molo etc) are coming along real well - but they're still a way off I believe.

Against a lot of packs we can be competitive with the right mindset and attitude. But against the better-quality ones (eg. Cowboys, Souffs) we don't stand a chance, as seen over the past few weeks.

The thing is, we don't have to dominate them, run over and through them. Just control the middle. Drop the bastards.

We have to run at them as they get the ball and HIT them, under the rib cage a la Tunza, or one around the legs and one into the midriff. None of the chest and shoulder grabs shit.

Where's the aggression, the venom, the fucking line speed?

One way - not the only, good, low tackling technique, hit and hold around the legs/ankles and turn your body to twist them as they run so they topple.

God, I learned that 50 years ago. Add an over the top to stop an offload and bingo.

When we get the ball, pass the fucking thing as you get to the defensive line. Get the ball moving out to the edges. Instead, we die with the ball and get trampled.

Don't they practice tackling at training to nullify the ball runner?

Where is Tunza?

 

[Alec]

Scott, Burgess and Inglis are 3 of the best players in the comp.

I think our forwards are generally pretty good...at least individually. The only thing we are missing is a hard running consistent prop off the bench (or 2), whether it's a rookie or someone we need to sign. Signing Kennedy was a mistake because he's never been it (despite being 120+kg).

Lack of aggression, simple generic attack (like not using your edge runners and one out running), lazy defensive line etc. isn't helping the forward pack as a whole though. It wasn't that long ago when we were running over the top of everybody with mostly the same forwards.

 

[CaptainHook]

where's the aggression??

Great point. Aggression is a problem particularly with the forwards. Our performance against the Cowboys just seemed so uninspired. There was no energy, no enthusiasm and most of the players looked like they didn't want to be there. There were a handful of players who tried their guts out for little reward but that won't save us. Our confidence looks shot to bits as well.

 

[Socnorb]

Absolutely @rnabokov, and it's been a problem for a while. We never recovered from losing Locky, sure - not from losing Webcke, Tunza, Civo etc either. It's been a while now since we've had good, big, big men. McGuire, I love him, he's got the right attitude and work ethic but he doesn't have the size to match it with the big props. Parker/Thaiday are not props and should never be played there. Ever. Kennedy - he's playing like he's 100kg, where's the aggression?? The younger guys are still developing and are a long way off starting, but I like the look of Wallace; Hala if he can stay fit should be a great impact bench player; and by all reports some of the younger guys (Molo etc) are coming along real well - but they're still a way off I believe.

Against a lot of packs we can be competitive with the right mindset and attitude. But against the better-quality ones (eg. Cowboys, Souffs) we don't stand a chance, as seen over the past few weeks.

I would've thought "not standing a chance " would require being beaten by 20.
We have been in every game this year,

 

[Morkel]

Devils' advocate hat on again.

What if we'd won? There were two crucial points in that game that made it a distinct possibility - (1) Reed scores the try, (2) Thurston's forward pass gets called out. One was beyond our control because the refs are idiots, and the other was a mistake that'd happen maybe 5-10% of the time at worst.

Would everyone be so pessimistic? I know it 'ifs or buts', but still, what would the comments be? Barba was brilliant and finally stood up to win us a game? Their forwards seemed unstoppable but we held in there?

 

[subsbligh]

The game turned when the Broncos didn't turn early presure into points when Gillett was held up (unbelievable effort from Morgan on replay btw).

Reed's epic fail put down should be the signal for a return to QCup. I've always been a Reed fan but with Maranta, Oates and Mills all biting at his heels, I can't see why his average performances deserve another run. He needs to find the hunger again.

Hunt was enourmous again.

We've finally got a half again that can create tries and pull out the clutch play.

If we're ladder leaders (Souths, Titans, Roosters, Eels victories), he's Dally M material.

 

[Brett]

Even if we did win, the signs are always there. No hunger in defense, poor ruck speed, terrible marker defense, soft middle ruck defense, slow outside backs... I'll always take a win, 100%, BUT, a win only glazes over the serious deficiencies in this team.

 

[Alec]

Gotta say, Michael Morgan looks like a quality fullback for the Cowboys. You'd think after the retirement of Bowen and with Coote finishing his season before it even started they'd be screwed. But nope, he had an explosive start against us and has been good all year.

 

[Brett]

Gotta say, Michael Morgan looks like a quality fullback for the Cowboys. You'd think after the retirement of Bowen and with Coote finishing his season before it even started they'd be screwed. But nope, he had an explosive start against us and has been good all year.

If Gillett gets down low on that run, ala Thaiday, Morgan doesn't stand a chance and Gillett crashes over for a try. Hopefully he learns that.

 

[Morkel]

Gotta say, Michael Morgan looks like a quality fullback for the Cowboys. You'd think after the retirement of Bowen and with Coote finishing his season before it even started they'd be screwed. But nope, he had an explosive start against us and has been good all year.

I don't think anyone knew how fast he was. The guy must have never made a line break in his NRL career before this season.

 

[Big Pete]

Taumalolo charged for his knee on Hala.

No penalty of course.

Getting sick of it tbh. Mason gets two weeks for a hit that didn't warrant a penalty in the officials eyes, Gillett gets taken high by Evans and no word, but the Roosters get a nice breather out of it.

 

[broncos4life]

Taumalolo charged for his knee on Hala.

No penalty of course.

Getting sick of it tbh. Mason gets two weeks for a hit that didn't warrant a penalty in the officials eyes, Gillett gets taken high by Evans and no word, but the Roosters get a nice breather out of it.

Yep it's completely bullshit isn't it. I remember when someone told me once that the refs love us... It was a good laugh

 

[LittleDavey]

I would've thought "not standing a chance " would require being beaten by 20.
We have been in every game this year,

True, we have been in every game and I love that, and it's because of the attitude and heart we've shown IMO. I don't believe we have another gear to go to later in the season tho. The good teams are now starting to stand up, and most teams will continue to improve as the year wears on. The best will go up a gear come July/August, we see it every year. We will get better too, I hope and expect, but I don't think we can match it with the best teams at the business end without tightening up the middle.

It will be interesting to see if every team starts to barge their way up the middle - it's a weakness, will be interesting to see who exploits it.

 

[Renegade]

If Hunt didn't play as well as we did, we'd be talking about a 30+ loss.

I'm not sure the team was in it (the contest) as much as Hunt was, he was pretty much the sole shining light of the side.

A few others made useful contributions but realistically we were beaten easily and simply being close to them at one stage doesn't really justify the result.

 

[Harry Sack]

Gotta say, Michael Morgan looks like a quality fullback for the Cowboys. You'd think after the retirement of Bowen and with Coote finishing his season before it even started they'd be screwed. But nope, he had an explosive start against us and has been good all year.

He's proved me wrong that's for sure. I thought he was fairly shaky there at the start of the season and remember saying he wasn't a fullbacks bumhole.....happy to eat my words now.