Parramatta Eels 4
Melbourne Storm 20
Melbourne Storm 20
The Good: |
At least we weren’t the team dealt a truckload of injuries.
What a deflating spectacle. These Grades are not going to be pretty.
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The Bad: |
In short, our attack.
Some weeks the Eels’ attack simply clicks, whereas others we just look like we’re on an awkward 13 man, first date. Tonight seemed very much the latter; with the Eels looking all sweaty and nervous, realising the opposition was very much out of our league. The Automatic Melbourne Storm War Machine 2000 ground down the Eels relatively feeble attacking structures into powder, even when they reduced to 1 man on the bench and 12 men on the field. It was almost like whenever you cut off one of their heads, two more purple robots rose to take their place. Whether blunted by the Storm’s defensive prowess or not, the bottom line is that tonight’s attacking execution was simply woeful from the Blue & Golds.
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X-Factor:
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The Eels’ ongoing inability to take advantage of a midgame opposition weakness is also pretty mind blowing. Halfway through the second half, the Storm right edge was being held together by duct tape yet we continued to press right towards Munster, Curtis Scott and Addo-Carr. Brandon Smith limped around the field for a full five minutes and was only forced to make one tackle.
The Rasputin-esque influence of Cameron Smith over the on field referee was also relatively short lived tonight, as the million game veteran apparently succumbed to a sore back, as if he were actually human. Also, this:
That neck breaker of a move he pulled on Jarryd was actually really dangerous and completely unnecessary. |
The MVP: |
I feel like handing out an MVP after a wet paper performance like that would only serve to further cheapen an already questionable award.
At least the Eels showed nice touch at one point in the evening:
I’m just thankful we never, ever have to face Billy Slater again. |
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1- Corey NormanFullback, Parramatta Eels Yeah, nah, not really. |
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2- Jarryd HayneRight Wing, Parramatta Eels Even though Jarryd Hayne has had more tries in recent weeks than you’ve had hot dinners, tonight’s final ever clash with Billy the Kid didn’t quite live up to expectation. Jazz had some nice early touches, but ended up with an underwhelming 9 runs for 71 metres, 1 tackle break and 8 tackles. To be honest I thought he looked a bit more dangerous than those numbers suggest. Jarryd also copped a couple of very dubious bounces of the football, the second leading to the Storm’s last try. I’m not mad at him or anything, I guess it just wasn’t our night. |
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3- Michael JenningsRight Centre, Parramatta Eels On the ball The Jet played pretty well (11 runs, 112 metres, and a team high 4 tackle breaks), but it was his off the ball work that let us down. Running through the defensive line. Kick chase. Wrestling in defence. Pursuing the play. Not conceding penalties. None of these things seemed to matter to Michael tonight, and it showed. |
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4- Clint Gutherson (c)Left Centre, Parramatta Eels Credit where it’s due, Gutho topped our running metres (17 for 156 metres) and scored an out of this world freakish try to break the goose egg for the Eels. On the other side of the coin, Clint also gave a very poor pass to Jaeman Salmon midway through the second half to deflate a pretty good attacking raid. So, you know, swings and roundabouts. |
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5- George JenningsLeft Wing, Parramatta Eels For about the millionth time this year, George played better than his infinitely wealthier brother. |
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6- Jaeman SalmonFive-Eighth, Parramatta Eels Tragically tonight’s loss was Jaeman’s first taste of defeat in the Blue & Gold, and the rookie also had himself a couple of rookie moments, including a perfectly placed kick for Billy Slater. Nonetheless, the 6 runs for 84 metres is an excellent return, and he’ll only get better on the back of this late season experience. |
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7- Mitch MosesHalfback, Parramatta Eels On the back of a game last week that made me wonder afresh why Mitch never called me back, I’m suddenly diverting all of his calls to my voicemail. That kick out on the full, the lack of attacking cohesion, the dearth of team direction. Mitch still needs to learn that leading a team sometimes means dragging them up a hill, not just running in front when the going is good. Speaking of in front, he must have been only half a metre in front of Michael Jennings for that No Try with 3 minutes to go, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. The talent is there, but consistency is key. Class always wins out over form in the end. |
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17- Siosaia VaveProp, Parramatta Eels When the most memorable moment of your game is injuring your own team’s best forward, this isn’t exactly one for the Pool Room. Siosaia James Vave had 8 runs for 56 metres, 2 tackle breaks and 22 tackles. *shrugs* |
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9- Reed MahoneyHooker, Parramatta Eels It wasn’t stellar, but Reed just goes out and does a job each and every week for the Eels. Tonight that meant making 50 tackles and getting his face stepped on by Nelson Asofa-Solomona. Discounting external recruits, you’d have to think he’s nailed down the starting 9 spot come 2019. |
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12- Tepai MoeroaProp, Parramatta Eels I’ll be honest with you, despite this being one of the drabbest affairs in living memory, I straight up loved Tepai’s game tonight. The big unit had 16 runs, 138 metres, 42 tackles and tackle break, continuing a recent rich vein of form for the native Cook Islander. |
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11- Marata NiukoreBack Row, Parramatta Eels Crunch’s 10 runs for 69 metres is nice and all, but it really doesn’t indicate the quality of his game tonight, or his growing impact on this team as a whole. Hopefully each member of his fellow rookie class can continue to grow as he has done (and continues to do) in 2018. |
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15- Brad TakairangiBack Row, Parramatta Eels Get out of the way, Brad Takairangi. |
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13- Nathan BrownLock, Parramatta Eels Another 15 runs, another 128 metres, another 47 tackles and a tackle break. The Cyborg knows no different. He continues to plug away, oblivious to feelings, emotions, and what it means to be a human being. |
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Interchange
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8- Peni TerepoInterchange, Parramatta Eels The Peni dropped… several Storm players on their asses tonight, on his way to a team high 4 tackle breaks.
At times Peni seems to run with the directional awareness of a dizzy 10 year old. Someone find the bloke a compass, or at least point him in the direction of the try line. Still, it seems relatively effective. |
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14- Oregon KaufusiInterchange, Parramatta Eels A pretty great opener from the young buck, getting through 9 runs for 70 metres, 10 tackles and a tackle break. Give him a few more weeks and a preseason and he’ll be right as rain. Ps – Wait, I thought BA didn’t blood juniors? |
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16- David GowerInterchange, Parramatta Eels Old man Gower, breaking tackles and taking names.
… he ended up breaking 3. |
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20- Ray StoneInterchange, Parramatta Eels Forget that average pass in the closing stages of the game, this kid’s got talent. Debut done, and now we should just get on with looking forward to another young buck’s future. In other news, Stoney and Oregon become the 4th and 5th debutants BA has blooded in Season 2018, following in the footsteps of Marata, Reed and Jaeman. Ps – If you missed the edition of The Watchlist previewing one Raymond Stone, you can find it here. |
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Excuse me while I peel myself up off the floor to watch another replay of last week’s game.
Next week we head to the far north of Queensland, facing JT in his last ever game at Townsville. A big crowd will be there, Jason Taumololololo will be running rampant and I hear they’re even reviving the zombie of Matty Bowen just for the occasion. Oh boy.
Whatever happens, we’ll be here.
Go you Eels,
Mitch.
Sure we may or may not avoid the spoon, but you know what you shouldn’t avoid? Making a discounted purchase from Sportfirst Nambucca. Welcome to smooth segues and The Cumberland Throw.
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Photos courtesy of the Parramatta Eels. Stats courtesy of Champion Data.
Never play ray stone at 9 again for dear god help us all.
I’m all for brad, but this was a silly idea with the game potentially still on the line or at a slim hope winnable. God this team needs help.
Only shining lights are marata and Mahoney and the juniors that keep getting a run. 2019 all of a sudden doesn’t look pretty
Ray is a back rower. The coaches know he is a back rower. We only have one dummy half who is fit and he needed to be replaced. Hence Stone plays there.
Why not move Brown to hooker and Stone to lock then?
Fair thought. I think you’ll notice this occurred pretty quickly after a couple of loose passes from Stoney. Originally it might have been thought that Browny’s key role away from the scrumbase made the original move more attractive, but it seemed that perception changed pretty quickly.
Yes he is no DH its time we left reedy on for the full 80 mins
next year will be much better brad n the boys know it. look at the signings jr paulo , shuan lane n Ferguson bigger forward means more yards n more skill in the back line.
Agreed Rev, some much needed punch. Hopefully a few more signings to come, but a good start regardless.
Mitch Stone has played a reasonable number of games at 9 in ISP as well as in Flegg, so he’s not unfamiliar in the position, but coming on with a short time frame is not a good way to blood him. This is one of BA’s general selection moves when blooding new players as he only gives them a short stint.
The general intensity of the game and with the storm they never give up wore Reed down but he stood the test, and could helped with an earlier spell and the come back on later.
Stone is going to have a future once he becomes accustomed to the NRL level rather than ISP.
I watched some of the saints & blacktown ISP game today and gee it was a dull affair, we need to have an Eels ISP team and it needs to come V soon, that way they have some way to show their wares in the eels colours.
WTF is Ray Stone playing 9.? It was embarrassing. I felt sorry for him as hos service was disgraceful. Poor guy play him where he is comfortable..
In all seriousness some one please tell me what Salmon offers.? Anything.
If you play in the halves you require a few things, Great running game, Great direction and organisation. Great kicking game. Creativity.
Salmon has none of this. Its been 3 games and im sure ill get roasted, But he has shown nothing, No glimpses at all.. Dylan brown can not be developed quick enough. Natural half we everything going for him.
Mosses too inconsistant. Piss him off..
Gutho meant to be our captain and make smart decisions. Why tap it.? Our on field leadership qualities suck. Not one natural leader out there.
Gees mate, but harsh on the rookie. I’ve gathered from watching him in the lower grades that he has a terrific running game, and is a pretty solid defender. Whether or not he stays as a running half, or makes the transition to centre or back row remains to be seen, but the experience he’ll get from these games is invaluable.
Was just about to reply to this when I saw Mitch’s succinct reply.
I understand your emotions about the substandard attacking game, but you should look at the older heads rather than the young ones – and this is where Moses needs to be dominant far more often. As Sterlo said, the be a quality half, there should be minimal difference between your best and your worst. Salmon will be a 250 game player.
Stone – he’s a back rower and was not selected as a dummy half. However, Reed was gassed and our back rowers were our best players. Circumstance and a roster of injuries led to him taking the field as a dummy half.
Brown – a genuine talent that won’t be held back. Get to Ringrose this Sunday.
sixties its time we start asking these ppl to put a name to there comments.
you said it at the start about salmon good running game n good kicking game. remember his a rookie not a jt or cronk his still learning.
As for moses he wiill come good remember his played less then 100 games. our spine is young n with a good offseason will get better
I can’t believe this comment. Salmon is playing his second full NRL at 19 years old. It is obvious the team is not playing to his edge. These are the instructions. But have a look at the times he is on the ball in spite of this. Also take a look at his two try saving tackles on Kaufusi and Bromic. Yes, the Parra attack didn’t fire but how can you blame a rookie?? He has been thrown into a team running last to play probably 4 of the hardest games of the year. Need to look to the old heads. I love this site as I consider Forties and Sixties Parra supporters who temper their crtisisms with facts, but I am finding these anonymous comments really hard to stomach. In fact it makes me sick!
i agree salty pete it’s time they put there names to comments
First loss of his career and the knives come out.
It was a good defensive effort for the boys tonight but our attack was disgraceful. I think we need to stop picking 3 halves in the starting team. For me I would drop Moses and put Gutho back to fullback. However, across 3 games Salmon has really struggled to inject himself into the game and never really gets into the line in our attacking plays. I am all for Salmon playing out the rest of the year for experience but he has a long way to go before he is consistent first grade player.
Also really disappointed in the way Brad used the bench today. I have always felt Brad was one step behind on making interchanges in games and often times teams would score a set before our first forward interchanges had been made. Making 2 interchanges in a half where Melbourne had all the ball has left me dumbfounded. I understand being cautious with debutants but having a player who is known for his defence and work rate left on the bench for 70 mins was an interesting choice. To add to this, anyone who has watched Ray play before knows he has no business playing in the 9 and if that was Brad’s plan all along then that may have been the worst play of the night.
For myself it was very frustrating watching the game, as I’m sure it was for all Parra supporters. I thought the defence on a whole was good and showed a bit of passion. They hit hard and generally tackled in numbers like any good side should. I’m at a loss though on how to describe the attack without swearing. The frustrating thing about it is the team looks like it has no idea on how to get thru the line and they’re at a loss when the opposition rushes up on them. As for support play, can someone please tell them they have to be behind the player with the ball so that the ball can actually travel backwards. I believe we would have won more games with just this one correction as we get pulled up for forward passes every game.
Other than that we’re playing a lot better than at the beginning of the year.
It was a very frustrating night in attack, and the devil’s advocate in me wonders to what extent it was a case of the Dragons’ poor defence last week and the Storm’s brilliant attack this week. Either way, if we want to win a comp we need to beat the best and we weren’t up to scratch tonight.
And agreed re forward passes, we’re evidently pushing the envelope with our flat support play.
just embarassed by the attack tonight was very ordinary. thought tepai was probably best on field. thought this is great get to see eels games for last four rounds on tv, not sure i want to now
Very disappointed in our execution in attack. But take solace in 5 young blokes playing against Melbourne in Melbourne. What a learning curve.
Sell your tv
Cmon Dave. Get back on the horse, mate.
We lost and that’s bad. But the 3 trys 2 from kicks and except for the Huge-Sofa running busting over the line it wasn’t too bad a defensive display. I thought we were in this and just needed a little patience. The Storm despite injuries they came out and smashed us. It seems when Smith went off, Welch, Glasby and Finucane went nuclear. The second half became a game of da Vinci code for our attack. A bunch of headless chicken’s running around and kicking out on the full is almost capital punishment these days. Momentum wins games. When we needed to build pressure and get repeat sets, we failed.
The Storm are a very well coached team that can respond to changes during a game, we don’t. I don’t think the positional changes in the backline helped, I think that made it worse. As nobody could get and know what works or didn’t work for next week. Chopping and changing like that doesn’t allow cohesion or patience.
Yeah but a lot of things we did this week were considered a master stroke last week. I agree with much of your comment though, and agree our attack was woeful.
We were poor last night, but overall I thought our defence was pretty good (not that 20 points is acceptable, mind you)
Last night was a great example of what is required to compete in the NRL, you need to be good every week. You don’t have to be great but you need to play your role well week to week, Storm do that so well. As noted above re: Sterlo, your good and bad performances can’t be very different in particular the spine players who influence the game so much. Brown and Gutho do it for us but not many others.
Last week Vave played like Artie Beetson, last night he was back to standard Vave, not good enough and needs to be moved on. Moses was disappointing, just did not take charge in their 20 in attack, we tried to score every set instead of being patient and capitalising on one of best aspects all year, getting repeat sets. We should have won, they were down on troops and out on their feet.
A big wrap to Peni, he has been good for several weeks now, does go a little sideways but causes trouble everytime he runs and has greatly improved his ball security. Mitch, put me down for a Membership of the Peni fan club, I’m all in. Hayne got close a few times in their 20 and stuck his head out the other side, he was our most dangerous in a game where we didn’t cause them many headaches. Tepai was good again.
We can draw on a few positives moving forward, blooding plenty of kids, this experience is invaluable. Don’t worry about Stone, he is a gun, he had to play out of position to help the side, he is a runner of the ball, he will be our Tallis. Salmon is going along ok, not everybody can have SBW or Anasta type debuts, Kaufusi was solid, Mahoney is a keeper. Reed is playing in a critical position at a very young age and holding his own, another pre-season and new season with 10 or so games behind him and he will be even better.
Looking to next year, with all the dramas at Manly, I hope we are having a real dig at Taupau. Bring on the battle of the Spoon in Townsville, let’s hope we can spoil the party.
Nailed it again, Jimmy.
Agree Mitch. Defensively we we’re pretty good.
Storms rushing defence smothered our attack and we lacked patience. Our attack worked well last week but Bellamy studies his opposition and knows our weakness better than we do, before we do… he would have told his players to shut us down. I am sure that’s what he shouted at Munster.. We just needed level headed approach, build pressure, not try to score on every play.
Anyway see what happens next week.
Agree with all of this, particularly the part where you agreed with me.
Lots of fight in us tonight. Tep, guth – outstanding. Peni and reed not far off. The thing we are missing in my opinion is a genuine half who can take the reigns inside the opposition 20 and steer our attack. Can’t wrap my head around Moses. One week a world beater the next he’d rather run sideways than straighten up our attack. If he wants to lead the team he needs to wake up and make his mark.
Agree, I apologise for repeating myself, but talent is not the issue for Mitch, consistency is.
Last nights game was there for the taking…. that 1st attacking set was good but if jennings looked to his right instead of looking back inside he would have a try assist.
Good job by the rookies tonight but there is 1 thing that brad know not to do again n that is play stone at DH.
He needs to play reedy for 80 minutes. I’m having a man crush on reedy his got a awesome passing game & knows when to run n not afraid to tackle the big boys.
Peni run straight my son run straight n hard i know you like running for the line but that is the touch line not try line.
Tepai. good running game but i think he needs to go in the back row much better edge attacker. He really has hit a purple patch after his 3 weeks rest (suspension).
Is it me or is G, jenning trying to be a forward his hit ups must be really high. good game except that pass he should have scored just catch the boy my son. like they say in cricket catches win matches.
That 2nd half was dumb footy they were on there knees on life support. we had the wind in our Favour n the game was there for the win. but hey life goes on .
next week we are playing for the spoon but we need our attack to click as our defense has been good so all i can say is go parra.
#Eels4life#
p’s remember fans of the blue n gold its just a game win lose or draw. look at the bright side we are eel fan. It could be worse we could be manly fans ……
In BA’s defence, IMO Reedy was struggling at that point and wouldn’t have made the full 80, likely due to the huge defensive load we wore in the first 40.
sixties do we have attacking coach i know we have kiddie as our defence coach but gee our attack was blunt. we tried hard yes but that’s not good enough against the machine like storm outfit
We probably defended well enough to win that game, Storm had to fight at their best to score 3 tries that each had an element of luck(one was lucky that a 20 stone giant barely got it down, well maybe).And if you want to scratch your head at luck, Jarryd got a bounce and slipped, so did Billy but he didn’t pay on the scoreboard.
But our red zone attack got dictated and scrambled by a relentless rushing defence, the top teams ignore early penalties and just keep on rushing. I thought we had learned some lessons here, but not evident last night. Our only repeats came from penalties, Norman’s skills get compromised by position switching and probably confuse the rookie Salmon. I can’t criticise Salmon, he looks to be playing safe and for the team.His own game will emerge.
Michael Jennings will have the physics books out today, I reckon he did everything possible to make that ball leave his hands correctly but it still went 3 metres forward and was pulled up on the fact that it looked bad.The Broncs were allowed one on Thurs night.
Maybe i’m imagining things, but if Marata got support runners and has an offload, don’t we benefit? He runs hard,has a step, and gets his torso through a lot of tackles in red zone. He’s a good forward, in the rucks, he runs to hurt. Low error count as well. Winner.
Yeah the lack of pushing support in the second half was definitely telling, but maybe a case of the 80 extra tackles we made in the first half. Agreed re Marata and I loved the just throw the ball around mentality we started the second half with.
It’s weird, I actually thought we played better and competed better than I feared pre-game, even though our attack was non-existent.
In short, yeah luck definitely a factor in defence, but like you said we could not get in done in attack.
Genuinely confused by the game. At least the game displayed in neon lights the burning question Parra coaches need to ask and get the solution for. Does Moses have the desire, ability and want to control this team and its game plan on a weekly basis? ( I don’t want an Anthony Milford halve, brilliant one week and non existent the next- ) OR Is the make up of the team ( the players selected to play on the field) not allowing Moses on a weekly basis to own the team and dictate how and at what speed our attack will play? Don’t pretend the know the answer or even which question to ask, but last night Moses either did not want to or was not allowed to control the team in attack. We need to work out which one it was and rectify it, and quickly.
On a positive, good experience for the young ones. They defended well. Really hard for Salmon, if the senior players can not work out who is controlling the team, how on earth can anyone expect a 19 year old kid playing his second full game to do so. He will improve when and only when he has people around him who are consistent.
Quote of the night from a friend watching the game with me ‘we look like mod league team in attack. Running from sideline to sideline, and back again, and whoever ends with the ball on the last can have a turn to kick it.’ Not good enough.
I don’t know what happened to last weeks team, but we looked like the Parra of the early rounds. Just impatient and trying to score off every play. Oh well, 2 more weeks of this. I’m looking forward to this season being over. Bring on 2019!
Preach WCE. Although next week could be fun/devastating.
Disappointed we lost; the Chambers tackle made me furious. The people questioning salmon need to get a grip. Fair dinkum, the guy is 19 and playing nrl. How many games have some of these people played? SFA
Give the lad 2 seasons in NRL; like Mahoney, Marata, Stone, Kaufusi etc.
Agree Milo. How many out there have been calling for certain young players to be blooded this year? then ask how many of those people who made those calls are in the critics side of the equation?
The best part of their selection and especially when we only have the spoon to avoid, is that it gives them invaluable NRL game time but also gets them somewhat conditioned to the higher standard of play in the NRL. I sincerely hope they can play in both of our last two games for this season, and perhaps another player could be given a shot as well. Its all about avoiding the spoon but also in giving these players a show of what the future might bring.
Frustrating game but one which provides promise.
Frustrating because the referees had far too big an influence on the result – the Eels were blown off the park by the 1st half penalty blitz and never regained their composure. Reducing the penalty conceded count must be a focus area for BA.
Frustrating because we lost 3 tries to 1 one which doesn’t really tell the story. Melbourne played well, built pressure but crucially gained momentum from penalties and had the bounce of the ball (for 2 of their tries).
Frustrating because the Eels had 3 tries disallowed and a couple of attacking raids pulled back because they’re just not clicking. If that 1st try to Norman was given maybe the composure may have been better? The patience/composure of Eel’s attack thereafter was lacking, it’s become a resilience thing, surely another focus area for BA.
Eels defence was brutal across the park, look at the carnage to Storm bench. And there were very few errors in defence, this area has improved in the 2nd half of the season and gives plenty to build on into 2019.
Well done Mitch.
A lots been said of the lack lustre attack and it was! But I also think BA “tinkered “ with the back line positions too much on Friday night. Would have made cohesion just that bit more difficult to find, especially against a Storm defence that gets so in your face so quickly.
Jonboy, how much do you think that BA tinkered with the back line positions on the field, &/or what do you believe his instructions would have been to the backs?
My suspicion would be that he would have basically given them a licence to play roving roles in much the same way as against the dragons. Thing is though that with 2 new rookies in the side, both of whom were forwards and 1 other in the backline having his second game in the top team, that his instructions would have included having the more senior players swap at times they needed to as their take and read of the game, also to help the rookies.
Part also would have been there is and there was a big difference between the storm and dragons, therefore make their calls appropriately, as the opposition is very much different with the storm.
Well covered Mitch! I think as supporters we have all been asking to blood some young guys, we did it and to be honest to be beaten by a reasonably strong Melbourne side by 16 points, not to bad an effort. There was a degree of impatience in attack, but that comes with blooding youth. I thought we did OK, I just hope BA gives Stone another crack in the back row or lock position. I am sure they tried him at 9 in ISP last year and the result was very similar.