Parramatta Eels 16
Cronulla Sharks 18
Well, none of our wingers got injured.
As for the rest of the game, those kinds of completion rates usually win matches, so the signs are good for the Eels once they upgrade their attack from the “Stephen Kearney Special”. We also took on a pretty fired up opposition, in a milestone game, and weathered their opening salvo before digging in and making a contest of it.
That try before halftime was a peach too.
Parramatta looked like a team playing up an age division, unable to stop the Sharks offloading and a step too slow every time Nico Hynes and Matt Moylan ran the ball. I’m not used to the Eels being out-muscled in the tackle this convincingly, but the starters were on wobbly legs before the bench made the hot tag to save the day with Stone Fold, Cyborg and the Mak Attak charging in and clearing the ring.
The Eels certainly had enough chances to win the game, and a team with this much punch shouldn’t be struggling so much in the attacking 20. The discourse is going to be a punish after this one, Parramatta lived down to every “attack is too sideways” take that critics have been reheating for years. It’s a shame the great shape we showed in the early stages of the Titans game lasted a grand total of 35 minutes before reverting to the “stand and shovel” offence that hasn’t been effective since 2017.
Well it looks like we regifted Scott Morrison back to the Sharks like a three-speed mixer:
The Sharks had all the X-factor in this one, Nico Hynes looked dangerous every touch, Jesse Ramien stole Isaiah Papali’i’s forcefield and was impossible to put down, and even Matt Moylan looked threatening.
For the numbers inclined:
Eels 56% possession, Sharks 44%
Eels 34/40 completions, Sharks 28/39
Eels 1744 running metres, Sharks 1764
Sharks 581 post-contact metres, Eels 622
Eels 13 offloads, Sharks 11
Sharks 7 linebreaks, Eels 3
Tackled in opposing 20: Eels 33 times, Sharks 12
Sharks 381 tackles, 36 missed. Eels 308 tackles, 50 missed
This game looked like a Sharks training run before he came onto the field, and by the time he was finished dragging the Eels out of the post-apocalyptic wastes the whole complexion of the game had changed. Welcome back Nathan Brown, you da MVP tonight.
Clint Gutherson
1 – Fullback
I staked my reputation on Clint Gutherson not having two bad games in a row in the preview, and the King did not let me down. The try-saver on Hamlin-Uele was vintage, and he had some good touches coming into the line on the right side.
Waqa Blake
2 – Left Wing
If league were gridiron, Waqa Blake would be an All-Pro running back and the fact that he defends like an A-grade tail-ender with a hangover wouldn’t be a problem. Alas, Blake plays league and while his 140 metres and 9 tackle breaks were impressive, his trust issues and love of shooting in on the wrong man in defence cost his team yet another try down his edge.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
I’d love to see Will Penisini get some quality attacking ball, but for now I’m settling for enjoying his tackling technique and poise. He did a bit of hard work on his way to 109 metres (41 post contact) off 13 runs and 4 tackle breaks, but please, give this man a chance to throw that magic flick pass again.
Tom Opacic
4 – Left Centre
Tom Opacic found the going much tougher than reggies tonight, where instead of four tries he scored none. It was an afternoon where the outside backs needed to go searching to make their presence known, and Opacic was so quiet that Junior Paulo accidentally sat on him in the sheds after the game.
Bailey Simonsson
5 – Right Wing
An improved effort from Bailey Simonsson, who had a couple of tough runs and wasn’t found out defensively. I didn’t mind his play on the try scored down his side early, he pressured and forced the pass that I reckon gets called up as forward if we put those chips in the ball. Between Bailey tonight and Waqa last week, I’d be sending our outside backs to gymnastics class for their putdowns.
Dylan Brown
6 – Five Eighth
Dylly B had no problems getting involved today, but his crabbing runs and footwork aren’t making it easy for the players around him to make the most of his ability to beat the first man. While his 16 runs for a ridiculous 177 metres is good for Supercoach, in an anemic Eels attack he needs to use his running game to create chances. Right now he looks dangerous but is rarely actually dangerous. There’s a nickname in that somewhere, but like coffee is for closers, wit is for winners.
Mitch Moses
7 – Halfback
Mitch Moses was one tough SOB today as the Sharks really tried to rough the incumbent NSW halfback up and knock him off his game. All it did was make him mad, as he unleashed a beauty of a chip and chase to save the first half. Unfortunately for Moses he is going to cop the blame when the Eels can’t score points despite camping in the Sharks 20 like it’s waiting for BTS tickets, and so it is today. The sideways play and lack of shape might be a systemic problem, but on game day it is Mitch’s job to get his troops into formation.
RCG
8 – Front Row
Big Reg was the man most likely in the early exchanges, throwing haymakers at the Sharks pack while his fellow forwards swung handbags. His second stint wasn’t quite so effective, but he still finished with 12 runs for 126 metres (52 post-contact). 3 missed tackles and 3 more ineffective aren’t what we are looking for though.
Reed Mahoney
9 – Hooker
All About the Cash was a man on the run this week, causing the Sharks all sorts of problems once the bench got out there and started turning the middle contest. He passed Shaun Lane into space then finished the move for a crucial try, and continued to make me feel like a kid on the last night of summer camp. I’ll never forget you Mindy.
Junior Paulo
10 – Front Row
As the resident monster forward of the Parramatta pack, I was disappointed in Junior Paulo’s efforts today as the Eels were muscled out of the early stages and swamped by the Sharks big men late. 13 runs for 98 metres isn’t a great return, especially considering his kick return metres, but the 4 offloads were a nice sign of the Junior of old. As I’ve heard too often in my life: it wasn’t bad, I just expected more.
Shaun Lane
11 – Second Row
The Tall Glass of Water took on the properties of water and became The Invisible Man this week. Shaun Lane was barely involved with the ball until he nearly won the Eels the match with his break, step and dish for Reed’s try. The 7 missed tackles and 3 ineffective simply aren’t good enough, and too often the nuggety Sharks runners slipped by his spindly frame. Two good games in a row was too much to ask, apparently.
Isaiah Papali’i
12 – Second Row
The seventh shot of Southern Comfort (get it, bad decisions? Get used to it, I’ve got 26 more lined up for you) had me reaching for last week’s comment in the first half, where he was again busy but ineffective with the ball. Then he started to rumble a bit more in the second half, while also pulling through with some clutch tackles (though he also managed to miss 7 while making 37). The Eels are sure running Isaiah Papali’i like we’re leasing him, this week to the tune of 173 metres from 18 runs.
Oregon Kaufusi
13 – Lock
The Sharks got an up close look at the potato-hands prop they’ve signed up for 2023 as Oregon Kaufusi botched a relatively simple put-down that observant fans may notice would have been the difference between winning and losing this week. Aside from bombed tries, spudhands managed to miss 5 tackles while making 18, and if Cronulla offered us a Chinese feed at the leagues club for him to leave right now I’d take it.
Maka Makatoa
14 – Interchange
Maka’s numbers don’t jump off the page (14 runs, 116 metres) but boy did things turn around for Parramatta once he got on the field. This is an eye test B+, but the grades have never claimed to be based on statistical science.
Ray Stone
15 – Interchange
The only Eel (that played) that didn’t miss a tackle tonight, Ray Stone did his best to chop the Great Oaks of the Cronulla pack in half, and his work with the ball was much improved as well. The bench almost saved Parramatta today, and for that we almost owe Ray Stone thanks.
Nathan Brown
16 – Interchange
Nathan Brown watched that pedestrian first half hour of football from the Eels, said “not today, ScoMo” and went about dragging his team back into the contest with trademark aggression with and without the ball. He sparked the attack, hit hard in defence and without the spark he, Stone and Makatoa provided in the middle stages of the match, this one would have been very ugly.
Jake Arthur
17 – Interchange
Like a Blocker Roach interjection in commentary, Jake Arthur’s role on the bench today didn’t make much sense and added no value to proceedings.
Today was Schrödinger’s Game, where the Eels should have both won and lost by 30 points. Unfortunately we dropped the box in the 80th minute and the cat slipped out along with the two competition points, but it could be worse. There’s a long way to go this season, and a big effort against Melbourne next weekend will make everybody forget about the rough ride of the first two rounds.
Until next time, stay slippery, Eels fans.
Gol
Images and stats courtesy of NRL
Not the end of the world but 2 games that we have been out played is a concern.
I’m definitely seeing alot of concerning signs it’s not dissimilar to 2018 lots of hype pre season that year alot of quotes in the media but not alot on the field.
BA’s choice of JA on the bench is leaving him open to criticism I won’t touch on that yet.
If this pattern continues the anti BA movement will get vocal again I will join them again this is a make or break year for this club and improvement needs to happen soon..
Feel sorry for your Jake and it’s Brads fault for trying to make a star out of him before his time, a full year in the cup would be very helpful, stoney should be in the cup side ,not big enough in todays game for first grade.
Stone tackles harder than any other Eel and bent the line back more than Kafusi and Lane combined. Rugby league is s the size of your heart not your body.
Agree with most grades, your Oregon explanation gave me a good laugh. But Ray Stone? Agree he played relatively well in the middle, but for giving away that brain dead penalty that ended up costing us the game, surely leads to at least a mention and deduction of a few grades?
It wasn’t great and yeah, probably deserved a mention, but if there is one player in the team I’m not getting on the bad side of in grades, it is Stoney.
I’m also not big on saying one moment won or lost a game, and we aren’t in a position where one penalty could cost us the win if Stone and Browny don’t turn the middle contest when they came on. We were absolutely cooked until the bench came on and Moses pulled off that chip and chase miracle.
Gol, agree with your sentiment. Frankly we didn’t deserve to win, were soft on both sides of the ball (56% possession but less running metres and more missed tackles than them says it all), and were lucky we were in a position to win. But having got ourselves into that position and then give it away with an act of sheer stupidity when the game was on the line is the difference between a team with potential and a team that will actually win the competition.
What cost us the game was the lack of urgency on our line with the two missed tackles by Will Penisini and Reed Mahoney on the try line leaving Gutho to try to stop a forward at point blank range which was a gallant attempt but never going to happen
I think Penisini initially committed to numbering up on the man outside of Wilton, and Mahoney lagged a step because Moylan had both Hynes and Wilton to use. That close to the ruck I thought we should have had a trooper or two more pushing across from the middle in desperation, instead we had a man for man structure with Gutho covering that required quick and correct decision. Cronulla executed perfectly, we didn’t quite match it.
Don’t want to sound sour, but the sharks definitely got the rub of the green with penalties, a helluva lot of forward passes, and surely Wilton goes to the bin for his shot on Moses. I’d mention the failed captains challenge too (Pretty sure the bloke in the bunker has never tried to catch a football, Ipap wrapped his arms cos he was expecting to wrap them around a football… not making a .005 sec decision to make a tackle )
The Bunker playing split second reader mind reader got an exasperated laugh out of me. It was more of a madman’s cackle when they ruled that the inside shoulder of Moses constituted his entire torso with a blocker running right over him. Eels should have obviously risen above the calls but it doesn’t help.
Agree 100% with you Matt
It would have been an absolute travesty of justice if the Sharks had been beaten tonight.
We were shocking.
Full fare to Moses, at least he tried to have some creativity but the one out runs wouldn’t pull a skin off a custard.
We had more than ample time to break down their defences but played like a pub team.
As for our defence, I lost count of the number of times the first up defender was pushed away.
BUT The biggest criticism just had to go to BA for the selection of Jake and then not to use him.
How we could have done with an extra forward in that rotation.
Absolutely shocking and downright unprofessional.
The way HIA rules are now I think carrying a bench back that doesn’t get in the game if everything goes well will become more common. Our pack are fit enough to only need a 3 forward bench, so now I think it’ll be a fairly regular occurrence more than a “Tommy not giving Aaron Raper a run”.
Hayze Perham can cover every backline position plus lock and hooker. Brendan Hands can cover a range of positions – JA can cover in the halves only. Im not into the nepotism angle but fair dinkum, BA does this angle no favours! You cannot have a player on the bench that can only play halfback !!!
Maybe developing a specialist 14 is something clubs look. Make it a niche / actual role.
Completely agree. Sorry, there is simply no justification for a half who can only play in the halves being on the bench. Shocking decision. Cartwright would have covered every position except for middle forward, half back and perhaps fullback. Dumb coaching
Agree 100% the selection process ,a country coach would have a much better idea when playing against a pack that Cronulla has .
Very disappointing start to the season so far. Not seeing a lot of evidence of progress. Too many times the guys are switching off in defence for brief moments and are being punished for it. Our attack lacking the composure it needs to set our shapes and be a real threat.
Only round 2, hopefully they start to click and be more clinical. Fringe 8 sides like the Titans and Sharks should be 10+ point wins for this squad.
Hopefully we show up again for Melbourne next week. Will be great if we do, but it will lead me to ask – why don’t we do it against every team??
I thought the best player for us today was Nathan Brown and by a long way. That says it all really- our best was a man who had two off season operations, very limited training and 55 minutes in Reserve Grade.
He had the right attitude, simple as that. He wanted to do his job and take the hits. We had some of our best players, both in the forwards and backs continue to arm grab and be pushed off leading to embarrassing breaks and some soft tries as we did last week.
Our middles arm grabbed all game, did not move up in a straight line and at times seemed to not move up or slide at all and that made it impossible to get a dominant tackle and that killed us especially as they shifted against a retreating defensive line, one that is struggling when set.
I am a huge BA fan, but some selections, even accepting injuries, I just cannot understand or in truth support.
With a return to Shark Park and trying to get your first win, the sharks were always coming out fired up, yet we left our toughest and or most aggressive player who so often leads our line speed on the bench. Instead we start a young front rower who has poor lateral movement, zero passing game and to top it off he was out of position at lock forward. Crazy!
Start strong, silence the crowd. But no we let them get momentum and the crowd become a factor and really it was only good luck we even still had a chance to win the game once Brown came on.
I watched the game praying that no back or Reed got injured because that would mean Brown and half the backline shifting or Stone going to dummy halve ( please I have not had time to erase that Panthers loss yet) because we don’t carry a genuine utility on the bench.
It does not matter to me one bit what his last name is and I think some of the commentary from a small section of our fan base is bordering on bullying or harassing the kid but it is ridiculous to have a player who can only play one position as your ‘utility’ or back reserve. At least if you are going to make Brown the utility if injury hits carry someone like Cartwright who could play 6 if needed in a game but can also play in the pack. With the way HIA is being treated can you really carry a reserve who can literally only play one position and with no injury to a back sits on the bench all game. To me Jakob either starts, which he can’t as long as Mitch and Dylan are fit or he plays reserve grade, he should not be our back reserve when in fact he plays in the half’s and nowhere else.
I know it is only round two but I actually think we made some errors before the game via selection that was made worse by our normally reliably tough pack being rolled in that first half.
Our coaches and players better reflect quickly and learn how to hit and stick or it could be a bloodbath next week against the Storm.
You can look glass half full. That was a bad performance and yet for all but a Ray Stone brain fade we win. We have wonderful potential but that only gets you so far.
Your last sentence sums it up as a fan base we have been waiting to see potential fulfilled yet were 2 games in and that familur sense of dissapointment is just around the corner.
With the bench for that back line role that they want its really Perham or Cartwright Jacob lacks the utility value and its stunting his own development
Your JA assessment sums it up perfectly. I’m sure in no other team do they have a specialist, albeit newbie, sitting on the bench. Carty is a little rocks and diamonds but it could have been the rock that we needed out there. The game was not lost because of that penalty. We were camped on their line and couldn’t produce the goods. That should be the take away from last night’s game
I wasn’t at all confident prior to the game but mush less so when Cartwright was dropped in favour of JA. I don’t care who is in the 17 but surely the intention must be to use all 17 and not carry an interchange who is insurance against just one position.
The only excuse that I can think of for Stone’s imbecilic tackle/penalty was fatigue. If that was the case then it highlights even more the poor selection and use of the bench.
Two games in and the team has leaked a lot of points. Defense is attitude and ours just sucks. Again it seems that the team can’t defend an error/penalty norbconvert possession advantages into points.
The win against the titans covered over some cracks but they were again visible last night.
Brilliantly said, Shelly. Agree wholeheartedly.
Perham could’ve been very dangerous late in that game. JA’s selection did himself and the team no favours, as a fellow BA fan, I was very disappointed in it also.
I disagree with Gol, and don’t feel our forwards can handle a 3 man bench (at least at this stage of the season) as Papa & Lane looked absolutely gassed in the last 15. We needed a forward or genuine utility as you say, hopefully the fact we lost prevents that bench selection again.
We also miss Marata badly in defence.
That was the best and most honest summary you have ever made Shelley.
Gol, you are finding this job to difficult because you are missing half the game. Moses was the best player on the park and you give him a B-, Makatoa was short of any level required to play NRL. You made no mention of Stone’s mistake, he could have been defended? Dyllan Brown ran 177 metres and did a lot of the forwards work. You still haven’t understood that Papa is not and edge. You make no reference to letting Nicho Hynes run…..maybe you need to give this job of evaluation to someone who doesn’t need a seeing eye dog to tell him what is happening….Lol
PS I am criticising you because someone needs to! If you prefer not to be criticised then say so and I will be more careful about your feelings.
Yep and lol poppa
If I mentioned everything that happened in the game this thing would be unreadably long, and I save that for the preview. If you want to dissect every detail that is what comments are for, and why Sixties and Forty do the Tip Sheet. I assumed everybody watching knew we defended like crap against Nico Hynes, and just about every Sharks forward for that matter.
As for your points on players, Dylan Brown running like a forward would be fine if he was a forward, but he is a half and he reverses play, reverses again and nobody runs off him because nobody knows what he is doing. Our attack was terrible and traditionally the halves wear the blame for that. If he wants to run for 170 metres and be praised he should wear the 1 or the 13.
I don’t know why Papa is playing in jersey 12 and running on the edge if he isn’t an edge. My criticism is his first half running was ineffective when last year, as an edge, he was untackleable in similar situations.
Ah Ha, “doing a lot of the forwards work” not running like a forward! nobody knows what he is doing? please explain?
Papa last year when he was doing damage as an edge he had Niukure in the centres. He became ineffective after Marata went back to the pigs and ultimately played as a middle.
My critique’s start from the players ratings which you qualify.
Moses not kicking the goals showed that he wasn’t playing at 100% and with the Sharks targetting him, he still managed to play solid.
I think that Papalii was our best because his intensity never dropped. Ray Stone may have not missed tackles, but that doesn’t mean that he had a near A performance, especially that he gave the penalty that cost us the game as well.
Those are my thoughts, but I think that the grades are great.
Papa was strong in metres, but his defence is wanting as an edge forward. He is an out and out middle.
Nathan Brown improved the side when he came on. But 50 missed tackles… Defence they say is attitude…Ours must be poor in this game.. This is probably why I’m not a first grade coach. But, I’d be having them do 10 laps around the oval before getting on the bus back to Parra.
I didn’t see the game so i cannot say much.
Look we lost by two points but it seems we were lucky to be in it from the first half. Maybe thats good, maybe not.
What did raise my eyebrows were the completions yet the amount of missed tackles.
i also note that we did not use our entire bench and maybe this was an error.
I take note of Shelley’s comment about Brown and maybe he should have started.
It’s a shame to lose as these are the games that top 4 teams need to win. Just hope Moses is ok….
Firstly I want to congratulate the Sharks for going out and playing perfect Sharks football. They drag teams down to that style of play, rough you up and turn it into a bash em up and grind it out win.
Secondly I want to question why on earth our game plan was to play Sharks style footy. Too much one out running from the forwards allowed them to get bashed in that first half and it was easy to see our game was all about low risk high completion footy.
I really want Brad to succeed but he has a couple of major flaws that never seems to change.
He is too loyal to under performers and his continued support of David Kidwell is mind blowing. Kidwell has been defence coach for a number of years and still can’t fix our edge defence. Year after year we talk about the left edge yet nothing improves.
I will take you back to 2009 when Daniel Anderson was coaching. Eric Grothe Jnr had a habit of rushing in all the time so Anderson changed the defensive system on the eve of the finals so that the wingers rushed in and the centre slid out in case the ball beat the winger. It worked beautifully and the Eels deployed it to perfection most notably in our huge semifinal win at Kogarah. Why can’t Kidwell and BA come up with a solution? It is the same every week and has been for years.
Brad also has no idea how to use his bench. How can an NRL team have a guy on the bench in a dour war of attrition style game who gets zero minutes? And it is’nt an isolated problem. BA often has a guy on the bench who gets little to no game time. Even Mitch Rein coming on for 10 minutes at the end of each half to give Reed a rest would have been helpful
Cartright can cover almost any position on the field but he gets left out for a guy who can play one position. It’s ridiculous and it’s putting the spotlight on Jacob when the poor kid should be learning the ropes in reserve grade until a half gets injured.
I could go on and on about yesterday. The line speed was non existed and our kick pressure was embarrassing.
Gee I need a cup of tea and a lie down haha.
You summed it all up perfectly! Enjoy the tea
I can agree with most accept that Kidwell is not the defensive coach, supposedly forward coach but the bottom line always sits with BA. No head coach can walk away and blame an assistant for the same problem that has existed for 8/9 years. Line speed was addressed by Clive and it nails it…why did we let Nicho Hynes jog along the defensive line picking his marks…..he should have been swamped….it would have stultified their whole attacking pattern!
I was screaming at the TV telling that flat defensive line to move up as one when Hynes as you say Poppa was jogging along that line ,sometimes parra players to me don’t seem to clued in
Brads idea is for the forwards to get bashed ,that’s why young Jake was sitting on the bench ,Brad must of instructed the team for the backline to not have much involvement ,he believes in straight up the middle with BASH and BARGE.
One simple tweak of the 2022 rule book has completely changed the complexion of the game. The penalty instead of 6 again in your own half is making such a difference to the dynamics of a team. BA needs to get on top of the effects of this now.
Great read, got a good laugh out of it.
Must admit I disagree with a few of your grades, but that’s just my opinion.
Dylan looked dangerous constantly to me, and had he had support following his runs, may have put on a few more tries early. One of our best I thought.
Waqa also. Yes another poor defensive decision but his first game on the wing in 5 years, he was excellent overall.
Hi, I found this from twitter. I really like your reflections and generally half full review. As a non-eels supporter I would probably drop everyones grade.
The kick return has suffered and that puts the eels on the back foot for the set. Will be solved when the no.1 wingers return.
Some poor defensive decisions led to Cronulla points. Put that down to combinations this early in the season.
The attack looked like Tetris. Can see the blocks dropping. Easy to read and easy to defend.
And finally we need to talk about, D.Brown. You are all waiting for him to develop, tick tick tick. He is taking up a lot of your cap to deliver a terrible small number of try-assists. Just check the past 2 seasons.
re Dyllan Brown….take him out of yesterdays match and we lose by 20. Try assists are a poor calculation of a players worth. Reynolds playing half for Souths last year had less than 10 try assists, did you think this detracted from his game. You will find that Dyllan is a link in many Parra tries, but try assists are the last pass or kick to the scorer, you used blocks dropping in an analogy of the attack, someone still needs to push the blocks.
No superstar to be afraid of
No enforcer to be afraid of
No aggression
No team is afraid to play us
A stubborn second rate coach that prefers to promote his son’s career at the expense of the team.
He technically played a 3 man bench, who does that?
He won’t accept that his son is not a first grade player.
Is it any wonder that players are getting out, I’m sure they can see it won’t say it but they can see.
If we ever win a comp it won’t be with this coach.
You say that like you are never wrong Slugg……oh, thats right
Glad you agree anonymous
Funnily enough, Slugg is 100% correct on just about all things Rugby League. It comes from decades of being a big goal kicking prop in the thick of the action every game. He is a Parra man through and through but a realist. I would be paying attention to whatever Clive and Slugg have to say Anonymous
Slugg, I’m sick of saying that Niukore adds energy and aggression,and N Brown’s body has diminished him, he’s been to the panel beater but who knows how long he’ll hold up…we need these 2 blokes to address points 2,3,4.
Papali’i’s edge defence is not up to it. Of the 7 tackles he missed, two of them led to tries. Moses, Penisini and ultimately Simmonson, (who has not looked great this far) get drawn in as Papa makes poor reads on opposition spreads.
Where are our set plays?
We had a holiday down their end and nothing. We looked absolutely lost and just keep throwing it wide and hoping. That was an absolute shitty performance from an NRL team, a team we support.
Horribly poor.
I don’t like it
The player grades are far too generous. The typical TCT Shaun Lane hate party continues, despite him being one of the only players to create an opportunity for us in attack. You guys should probably find another scapegoat, because we aren’t losing because of Shaun Lane. He is actually one of BA’s favourite players. I thought since BA was such a protected species on here, that Shaun Lane might get some appreciation by proxy, since BA loves him? For the record: Shaun Lane is a pretty good player and is way better than the typical grades you guys give him. He nearly always gets one of the lowest scores from you guys.
Any mention of the coach or his selections or his tactics? His misuse of the interchange bench?
Carrying his child for 0 minutes on the bench when our forwards were tired and a replacement would have been handy?
Overlooking the Carty Party?
Starting Oregon over NBrown?
Can we acknowledge that Bailey Simonsson is really average and may not be the answer we are looking for?
Why is Dylan Brown not acknowledged as playing an excellent game, and keeping us in the contest? He constantly split defenders and was looking to offload, and NO ONE was with him. Why is that Dylan’s fault, instead of it being his team mates fault for not going with him? He doesn’t always “crab” as you say, sometimes he goosesteps and goes straight forward. It should be clear to everyone that when Dylan runs, an opportunity is close. Yet the team isn’t coached to act like this. When Dylan runs, everyone else gets ready for the next play. This is a coaching problem. Don’t blame the player for the faults of the manager.
You are obviously free to give any grades you wish, while the masses are free to disagree with your grades and tell you why you are wrong.
In 80minutes of football yesterday Lane only made 7 runs. He missed 7 tackles plus 3 ineffective tackles. He is a very lazy player with poor defence.
We only lost by two points and that was on the bell. Problem is…. To finish in the top 4 you usually only lose 5 games max all year……I really agree that this game is a seventeen man game…. Not 16.
Typically honest and accurate account of the game. We haven’t started with our usual early season form. I’m sure we will find it when the whips are cracking. The sharks had it all to play for yesterday and we came with 30 secs of spoiling the party. Glass half full we aren’t at our best but still very hard to beat.
Thought Gutho was disappointing in defence. Missed an easy tackle on Mulitollo? and also the game levelling try. It was tough but the quality fullbacks make that tackle.
Thought Simonson was much weaker than Waqa in defence and didn’t nearly have as much impact in attack.
Opacic couldn’t make a tackle or break.
Browns defense was awesome.
It’s funny how we can have a different viewpoint on a game we all watch at the same time. Some of those grades are simply wrong. I thought Penisini deserved an A. He just did not stop trying in attack or defence. He really is a quality player we need to lock up.
Dylan Brown was also an A. Why, well we have criticised Dylan for his lack of involvement and running and yet 177 meters was too much – his PCM’s were great. I was happy with this – he actually took on the line and pushed through a number of times. Stone, with that brain snap should have been C. He played thirty minutes for 12 tackles. His defence is a pick me up but 30 minutes, he should have been all over them.
But, are we missing the point? Clive had it right. Poppa had it right. It’s the bench!!! Before interchanging the bench it was wrong in the first place as Shelly mentioned. The Sharks had a monster four man forward bench – mobile monsters and ours was light weight. Kaufusi as a lock was the first mistake. Brown as a bench selection was the second and then compounding this
they drop Cartwright and replace him with JA. That was their third mistake and finally not playing at all was the fourth mistake. As much as BA is a well respected coach and he is, his has continuously failed with bench selections and rotation. I believe if it’s his sole decision it should be taken off him
Now let’s look at some other factors. How a referee can pick up the smallest forward pass (Reed to Moses) and miss the obvious is something that cannot be explained. Even if the first one was overlooked, that Haynes popped a pass that was clearly forward and in front of the linesman and referee makes you wonder if there is another motive. That sounds awfully contentious but, let me add this. When Moses did that kick and was tackled in the air around the legs which the referee observed why then was it not ten minutes or a send off. That was a most dangerous tackle and Moses almost did a 360 in coming down. I watched Sua get ten minutes for a shove in the back. Really!! That decision defies explanation. And, consider the knees into Moses when he scored, Raminen was up to 10 metres from Moses and came in over him with knees. Any other time it’s eight points – forget last week – any other time.
Why is that Parra seems to run into teams that have a high energy emotional issue to deal with. The first 15 minutes Parramatta where really conservative in their attack and I believe they were trying to ride out the emotion.
One more thing, I like Shaun Lane as a player but, the sooner BA accepts that he is not an 80 minute player the sooner we will get the best out of Lane.
Ice Papa was not his best yesterday- not sure why but he was certainly ineffective with the ball and without. The second half he was better. I think it was unwise to get a haircut. It took away his natural strengths.
In the end Parra lost because they really were not good enough on the day.
But, I empathetically say this without hesitation BA was a big big contributor with his bench selections and rotation. It really is a negative.
Personally thought there were 4 players head and shoulders above the rest, Moses, Penisini, Norway and Drown, they have everything for the team.
Yes, the bench choice and rotation was mystifying, Rein needs to be there for at least the last 15 minutes as reams are spotting Reed in any defensive line inside our red zone, they ran across seemingly looking for him on the 5th , bang , too small and try.
Papalii is really a middle playing on the edge, not enough lateral movement and part of the reason we get scorched there. Kaufusi just not mobile enough to play lock, ordinary.
Makatoa does a job, tackles and takes his runs and that’s it, Stone is too small to come on and replace a middle , without mentioning his tendency to not understand roughing up as the clock runs down is stupid.
Jack Gibson always said that replacing experienced wingers was the most difficult positional change in the club, and isn’t he correct. In a sense 4 wingers gone in no t8me inc Fergo, not sure any club could cover that.
Last comment, when your 2 props have games well below their normal standard , getting a win will,be difficult and wasn’t that true . Replacing Junior and RCG with undersized players hurt.
I am a big supporter of the coach, but there were some things yesterday that even had me questioning WTF.
Someone with a fair bit of knowledge was at Kellyville today, suggested the best players were the young Loizou and Taateo, with Cartwright prominent. Rodwell does a job similar to Makatoa , they apparently got overpowered by a bigger , more aggressive forward pack.
Apologies for the long post, bit deflated after yesterday.
Contrary, it was a good read and hit the spot Derek, who’s Norway?
Looking 1 from 3 certainties. Thought it was the best pre season ever. Ba definitely a one trick pony workman team chase collision, but when a quater of the team us going working hard for each other goes out the window, & with ba’s lack of attacking nous and kidwells wide defense, we’ll miss the 4 100% and even the 8.
Ba has reached the peak and its backwards from here
This is a huge observation after two rounds and a last minute two point loss away from home Brad.
We would have won that game if it were not for that very late try. We haven’t played to our capacity yet this season, but BA has stated that he intends to build the season rather than come out of the blocks- whatever that really means… Parra have a lot to get right, mostly in being able to score close to the tryline, but now is not the time for lamentations. What we do need to see however is some improvement in some critical areas, starting from next weekend.
Probably a game we should have won. Even though we were not at our best. Some players with quality performances – N Brown, D Brown, Penisini, Moses. I think with Dylan – when he runs everyone needs to be ready to support. He seems to get his hands free and can stand in tackles – players should be following him all day as opportunities will come
And 3 questions come out of it for me –
1. Against a 17 man squad with a big pack – why have a 16 man rotation and not have that 17th player playing?
2. When will wingers stop rushing in 10-15 metres out from their line when the centre has their man covered ????
3. When an attacker runs into the defensive line and knocks over a defender ( Moses) and another attacking player ( Hynes ) runs into that space, how is this not an obstruction?
Surely you need a 17 man rotation to win games. 3 forwards and a utility who can play a lot of minutes – picking a half is like having a winger on the bench
with every winger we have had we still do it. Please teach them to trust the centre to make the tackle
Inside shoulder, outside shoulder, etc, etc – either way Moses gets knocked over and that creates an opportunity – crazy interpretation
#nrl #goparra #parraeels #rugbyleague #footy #controversycorner #obstruction #blueandgold
I honestly dont get the illogical Parra fans heaping critism over JA’s selection. Mitchell Moses was 0.001 millimeteres away from being ruled out for the game after the hit job the Sharks put on him. If he went down we had a backup plan in JA. BA made a clever tactical decision imo, he know’s our backline are a little small right now and we need a utility for these situations. Also we dont have Marata at the moment (still injured) to throw into the backline. Cartwright isnt the answer.
You need a utility that can cover more than one position. JA can only cover the halves. Moses didn’t go down injured so your point is irrelevant. What if Mahoney had gone down injured? Or Lane? You don’t have a half on the bench that can’t cover any other position. And moving Brown to the centres for JA is complete idiocy.
Jake is not a utility he’s a just a half. Another big body on the bench just might of got us home. Dumb unexplainable decision to go with a three player bench. I’m sure someone somewhere has told you this John.
Agree 100% Chris. And when the match didn’t suit his use, he didn’t put him on. And guess what, it wasn’t the first time that BA or other coaches have left a player unused on the bench.
Be prepared for our team to get one hell of a touch up in the coming weeks. Our lack of mongrel will catch up to them.
Why does my post appear to have been deleted?