The Cumberland Throw

From The Stands – Attitude

Who would have thought a Friday 6pm game could be so much fun and have such a wonderful atmosphere. I don’t support this kick off time but the packed stands just goes to show how much support our team gets when the fans can see that our players are putting in.

From the stands there were a few things to really like and a few things that disappointed me.

I’ll tear off the bandaid and with the disappointing – our start to the second half.

We lost composure and dropped simple balls. I accept that offloading is a part of our game and if we want to progress in this finals series we must play to our strengths and accept the danger that comes with offloading  but our poor completion to start the second half came from  simple drops in the tackle. We must fix this. The individual players must take responsibility for this as the Broncos will not throw it around, they will hope we invite them down to our end through simple errors.

Si-vo Si-vo Si-vo

But to focus on the negative is to ignore many of the wonderful highlights that came from the night.

I could talk about the wonderful ball movement for our tries and of course Sivo and his barnstorming runs but they are the obvious.

Instead I will talk about our scramble defence.

At times we fell off tackles and got caught around the ruck but we managed to scramble and cover the missed tackles.

At times Moses got beat but he chased and made the tackle with the help of others.

At times Reed got beat but others helped him and they made the tackle.

And of course we all saw the wonderful decisions in defence made out wide by Jennings, Blake and Ferguson.

They say defence is attitude and our attitude this year has been more aligned with helping each other and digging in. We have not been perfect and in some games we have been disappointing  but anyone watching our games and comparing it to last year needs to look no further than our attitude towards scramble defence to see that our players have found that elusive team chemistry and desire that was so lacking last season.

I cannot wait for this Sunday.

I don’t want to predict how we will go because in truth I want to look forward to the game and not worry about it. Of course I want us to win and think we can.

I hope for three things from the first finals clash at BankWest.

First is almost a guarantee- a wonderful atmosphere and a deafening  roar as the team runs out.

Second that we have the courage to play our game, to take calculated risks.

Finally I hope that the best team wins. If I walk away from BankWest saying we played well but the Broncos were better, I will be disappointed I will accept it.

Good luck to our team, play well and enjoy the day. The way the team has collectively rebounded this year has been rewarded with the wonderful opportunity that awaits our club on Sunday.

Enjoy the day everyone, I know my family will.

Shelley

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7 thoughts on “From The Stands – Attitude

  1. BDon

    100% Shelley…the scramble, staying awake and alive are things I always watch and we are definitely in the right spectrum. A great example was when Tapau went straight through in the 2nd ruck, he looked to be in open pastures in a blink. Last year he probably could have waived to the crowd, but we re-acted quickly and scrambled desperately.Critical play, a try then could have brought a different game.

    1. shelley

      Early in the game Reed missed a tackle and Dylan chased and pulled down Fonua-Blake, there is a really good on field chemistry and connection with the crowd at the moment and it is making the atmosphere at Bankwest wonderful

  2. Rob

    Am I wrong when I say I expect us to win on Sunday? I don’t hope it. I expect it. If they don’t win I will be disappointed, naturally, but like you Shelley, if they play well but Broncos play better, so be it.

    Losing Evans for this week will hurt us. He’s been terrific in the latter half of this year and we could use his aggression in defence and footwork in attack. I hope whoever comes in to replace him lifts their game accordingly. I expect it will be Moeroa to the bench and Alvaro to prop.

    Alvaro definitely played better in previous years, maybe because he was lighter? Is he injured? I want to see him physically challenge the big Broncos boys, and, damnit, it should go without saying but we really need to stop Fifita. If we shut down Fifita then I think we will win, he’s a very damaging runner, much like his larger cousin at Sharks.

    A hostile home crowd should definitely help us get across the line this weekend, and I hope the NRL influences some “even up” penalties in the Eels’ favour much as we were robbed against the Broncs last time we played (unpenalised Golden point blocking/shepherding/offside etc).

    1. Shelley

      I never thought I would say it but we will miss Evans, he has played really well. We have to play smart and create offloads. If we do that I expect us to win. I hope the referees let the game flow.

  3. Longfin Eel

    With Bankwest Stadium located right in the heart of the Parramatta CBD, I suppose the 6pm start last week could have drawn in a lot of local workers (and there are a lot in Parramatta). We have probably the best stadium to be able to deal with that timeslot, and we got a healthy crowd in.

    I have to agree with you Shelley that we need to play to our strengths. If we are drawn into an arm wrestle up the middle we won’t come out on top, especially without Evans. We need our dummy half and halves to be able to get the ball wide early and use Lane and Mau to bust through the line, ready for Sivo and Fergo. We also need to be less predictable and use both sides in attack. I’m confident the team will rise, especially with a packed stadium cheering them on.

    1. Shelley

      The young Broncos defenders are not good defenders with quick men coming at them off a quick play the ball. We have to be brave enough to play our game. I can not wait. I was overseas during our 2017 finals home game at ANZ. It has been 10 years and much heartache since I have watched my team play in a final, too long. I have faith they won’t let us down on Sunday

  4. Chris Parra4lyf

    Cheers mate been a good year, I’m really disappointed Evans is out I really don’t rate Alvaro I feel he gets bullied by other packs and seems like the opposition target him and Moeroa for loose caries soft runs. I think we will win the game, but if we had replacements for Dan and Tep I think we could of gone all the way this year.

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