Observations

fireclust

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I haven't seen a full game of footy in a while. Finally got a chance to this long weekend.

Wakeham has all the qualities of a good young half. His kicking game was on point for the most part.
Holland does more harm than good on the field.
He might be slow as shit, but Tolman still runs harder than Napa.
Elliot is actually the best forward in the team...... That's how far we've fallen off.
Smith is our only strike weapon and the opposition knows it.
Meaney is underrated.
DWZ, if injuries allow, should be in the centres.

I think the boys tried hard for the first 65 minutes then started falling off.
 

habs

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Self imposed long weekend?
 

Apercots

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I thought it was a crime to drop Meaney, time for him to have another shot at fullback now he’s matured a bit
 

Moedogg

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Yeah Wakeham had his best game so far...... he's still a kid with very few games and given the responsibility of controlling the team. Only starting to play with a bit more confidence after he finally got some game time.

Smith is yet to show anything that he's a centre.

Suaso Sue is good.
 
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Nano

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This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but if we can get Tolman down to 300-350, I’d keep him. He’s solid in the middle of the ruck in defence and we currently NEED that...

additional note - id be keeping RFM too
We have a replacement who can offer more than Tolman who would probably would be happy on that sorta coin, Ogden still waiting for his full time spot but Pay keeps halting it ffs
 

bradyk

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We have a replacement who can offer more than Tolman who would probably would be happy on that sorta coin, Ogden still waiting for his full time spot but Pay keeps halting it ffs
Ogden has had a few small opportunities and hasn't really show anything.
 

Nano

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Ogden has had a few small opportunities and hasn't really show anything.
In the times where he has had a consistent run of games, he has been able to bend the line and run hard ie something we lack alot. I feel his progression keeps getting halted because Pay picks keeping duds like Holland, Britt and etc to play on the bench. He is 192cm, 110kgs and 24 years old they need to stop fucking with him and let play full time as he is a big boy with power.
 

Horse

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This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but if we can get Tolman down to 300-350, I’d keep him. He’s solid in the middle of the ruck in defence and we currently NEED that...

additional note - id be keeping RFM too
Absolutely mate, he’s still ticking over beautifully in the middle. 160 metres and 58 tackles tonight and didn’t put a foot wrong.

We desperately need some creativity and class in the spine, but we absolutely still need rock solid forwards like Tolman in the middle to complement them.
 

Scoooby

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- Dreads lost his dreads (sad)

- Wakeham proved he has skills an many strings to his bow (great player)

- team played better as a group

- Pay needs to go ASAP (learnt nothing)

- full clean out (ASAP)
 

Yougra

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My observation of tonights performance was that it showed exactly where we are at as a team. I thought we competed well in the first half, competed well for most of the second half. We didn't make a heap of handling errors or too many missed tackles but we just lack some class players and we are terribly coached.

We are crying out for a half that can put the finishing touches on our sets of six. We need that playmaker that can get us repeat sets and put pressure on the opposition. In saying that I thought Wakeham was good tonight but the kid has only played 8 games so we can't expect him to be that guy just yet. Maybe his halves partner on 1.2 million should be the "guy" to do that but let's not go down that rabbit hole now.

It was by no means a bad performance, it was a performance that matches our current capabilities but unfortunately it's just not good enough. I think (hope) we might jag a couple of wins this season but lets be real, we are in drastic need of an immediate overhaul immediately. That's my observation :grinning:
 

_G-Dog_

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My observation is similar to most of our games..

We battled hard, put in alot of effort and struggled to score more than 2 tries as usual..
 

diddly

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Absolutely mate, he’s still ticking over beautifully in the middle. 160 metres and 58 tackles tonight and didn’t put a foot wrong.

We desperately need some creativity and class in the spine, but we absolutely still need rock solid forwards like Tolman in the middle to complement them.
Tolman does a lot of good things -but he needs to be used differently in attacking sets.
 

Dogs Of War

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Wakeham has showed he is listening to Sherwin, cause so many things he does are Sherwin like. That's a good thing, cause it means he is listening and learning the game. He will have plenty of bad moments over the season as he adds strings to his bow, but just learning to play at this level and not getting your head down is a plus. He just keeps on trying.

Doesn't help that we just don't have those classy centres who can break the line, or run onto the ball hard enough. As a centre you need to be putting yourself in a position to create a hole/run a good line that troubles the opposition. Just not seeing that currently. I'm happy with holding onto Wakeham, and as for Foran, I'd prefer to let him go if we can get someone like Burton to play outside him. Burton has a bloody big boot and that would assist us in so many ways.

Then cause we are out of the race to sign Grant, I'd just look to get Brandon Smith who is the odd man out in Melbourne, and he reminds me of Adam Perry, just powerful nugget who can only get better with more game time, and is very Bulldog like in his play.

THen hopefully Averillo can be the man at Fullback, cause that's the hardest part to fix.

Maybe a centre or two (Shit offer Bradman Best $700k a season). Pushing Remis Smith back to wing, with DWZ the other. Honestly at that point we are in a good position to go forward.

No team is suddenly going to win the comp after not making the finals for a few years. Best bet for next year is to make the eight with those changes. Keep some money up our sleeves so that when we start winning/contending, some big bodys for the forward pack might be interested in joining.

I can see the team forming, but it will take some good recruitment to get them here and a decision on coach shortly. To be honest I'd just give Pay another year at this point if we can make the above recruitment happen. Give him a chance with some real talent in this team. Cause at this point it's hard to say how he is going, team puts in a lot effort but the talent just isnt there, and any team that keeps on loosing is going to fall down from time to time.
 

BlackDawg

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We are not getting Grant, Fafita, Cotric, Bennett or Bellamy because they don't want a 3 year rebuild before making any finals. We need to think Flanagan or Hook as coaches because they are quality coaches who don't have a gig currently. Realistically Heatherington (penrith), Burton (penrith),Green (warriors), Hastings (Superleague), Maloney (Superleague) & Smith (Storm) are players of the ilk that we have a reasonable shot at. On the union front you have Chambers, Koriabeti, Radradra, & VunivaluI who could all be cherry picked out of a dying code plus any other backs who would cut it @ NRL level. I would also be targeting a marquee player like Wayde Graham who hates losing to set the week in week out tone required to play in the NRL.
 

Trafford10

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I thought it was a crime to drop Meaney, time for him to have another shot at fullback now he’s matured a bit
it wasn't "a crime" he wasn't making any meters at fullback and was getting rag-dolled in tackles.
 

Sandra's Bollocks

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Tolman does a lot of good things -but he needs to be used differently in attacking sets.
It's a bit of a conundrum with Tolman. He cleans up, works hard in defence and is generally quite fit. But man does he make fukk all impact with those runs. I don't hate the bloke though.
Maybe we can have another forward running with him, put the defence in 2 minds, and throw that short pass when an opportunity presents itself? And this may create more space for him if he chooses to run instead? Something similar to what we used to do during Des' early days.
 

CroydonDog

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Yeah Wakeham had his best game so far...... he's still a kid with very few games and given the responsibility of controlling the team. Only starting to play with a bit more confidence after he finally got some game time.

Smith is yet to show anything that he's a centre.

Suaso Sue is good.
That little chip kick was brilliant.
 

JackDog

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Meaneys a FB, Dallin is not. Dallin cost us a couple of tries last night and burned a capt challenge. He can’t pass R to L, he rarely passes L to R, he drops the ball, he doesn’t put his shoulder into tackles (apart from the odd smashing of a smaller player that’s off balance).

Hoppa can play FB well, but we need him in centres, otherwise his spot is taken by Reimis, Dallin or Monti. OMG Monti is an awful player now (honestly expected him to drop his try).

Wakeham was better last night, his kicks need work but if the forwards get him into better attacking positions, he’ll produce more.

I am srsly over plodman and the cat. RFM was our best forward IMO. Fox commentators are absolutely in love with Elliott, FFS he was nothing flash last night (that grubbed into touch should cost him $50k off his next contract).

I hope Thomson can live up to the hype, and I reckon Pay and the board are praying he does too
 
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