Have you watched the replay of our trial game?

Kelpie03

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I tried to count the set restarts and penalties in the first half, not easy, and I ended up at 6 to 2, which is why we struggled for field position. The 12 nil score line indicated how well the boys defended. The second half turned around a bit at 2 to 4, and we looked much better, dominated field position and racked up some points.

The refs are going to have even more hidden effects on games, 6 agains are too easy to stack without enough scrutiny.

Go Dogs
Agree, the referring is going to be our biggest problem, old habits die hard and, the problems we had in the past will not stop because we are a better team. On top of that teams won't take it easy against us as the did in the past few years
 

GDR

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Did that Kika Manu or whatever his name is winger play 1st grade? I didn’t notice him at all. What’s people’s thoughts?
no he did not play .. i think Meaney played the whole game on one edge.. That may suggest that TB is not 100% convinced about Meaney on the wing and needs to see more..
 

speedy2460

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A top 8 looks quite possible. We are improving heaps, and a few others are in decline. Dont like Sharks, Broncos, Eagles,
Eels, etc. With the better players returning, we will be even better. I still say we need an on field general.
Flanagan has assumed that role, but no one else offers much.
 

Mozzie

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Winning is an attitude as is losing. If we can scrape in a few wins it will change the team far more than any individual player can do. Our team has been losing for 2+ years now and that will take some fixing mentally. But a new coach and a sprinkling of new players can change attitude but we need some wins. The trial was a great start. A win even though it was a trial places a positive seed in the team. A lot on where we finish this year will depend on the first few games.
 

2ndphase

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The commentators said we were getting off our line fast too fast for the ref in the first half.
You could tell what the instructions were from Baz at half time.
We started playing up tempo and fast play of the ball which is why we started to get on top of them.
Dietz needs to be off the bench he wouldn't be up to the full 80 yet he looks exciting.

I really hope Averillo is ready for round 1 and Baz is thinking that he will have first crack at five-eighth we need his xfactor.
Ogden really surprised me being alot fitter and hard hitting.
 

Papa Joe

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The one big positive I took out of of watching that game is

"WE LOOK FIT"....... Thank Fek

And the fitness seems to be there to keep us in the back end of games (even know most of the squad only played 60min).
And that's something we haven't had for a looooooooonnnnnngggg time.
 

Scoooby

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It will be better than last year but don’t put too much expectation on this years team. The side that did better in the trial played in the second half and many of those players won’t run out in round 1.

We’re still a few players away from being a genuine contender, we might sneak into the bottom of the 8 and that would be a big achievement.
Very fair comment, and as long as it’s better than the last few years it’s still a win/positive in my eyes.. at least we are/will be now moving in the right direction.!!
 

Jai81

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we will definitely be better than the last few years!
 

Dogs Of War

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Apart from Napa our whole forward pack suits the new style.. super impressed by hetho.
Napa will be a good impact player towards the end of halves. Use him like Kasiano. Big bopper, 15mins before halftime/fulltime. When everybody is tired.
 

COVENS

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Apart from Napa our whole forward pack suits the new style.. super impressed by hetho.
Yeah, I think we need a big body in there though, our guys were struggling with BHU and Pele.
 

KLil

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Napa will be a good impact player towards the end of halves. Use him like Kasiano. Big bopper, 15mins before halftime/fulltime. When everybody is tired.
Napa is probably the opposite.. U want Ur mobile guys during that time and Ur battering rams to start when it's early and defences are still tight.
 

SPEARTAKVIDREFS

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Our first kick chase gave me wood. Probably because I havent seen a row of 3 of our players do that in years.
 

Dogs Of War

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Napa is probably the opposite.. U want Ur mobile guys during that time and Ur battering rams to start when it's early and defences are still tight.
With the speed of the game now. A battering ram is worth it punching it close to the line with tiring defences. Really depends if you think you are going to get more than 15mins out of him starting the game. I'd prefer some lighter forwards at the start to really move those big teams around and tire them out via movement. 15mins before halftime, 5mins after. Maybe 10 at the back end. Big boppers starting the game are going to struggle with the speed. Then you need to put your more mobile forward on to do 25mins before halftime and that last 10mins won't be quality. I'd prefer to do it the other way around.
 

Howie B

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Dean pay got us to 12th two years in a row..
Surely we have a better coach and a better squad in 2021 then what we had in 2018 & 19!
Thats a good point mate but the difference is that in both of those years we were in the bottom 2 half way through the year. We only started to win the games when the season was over and the pressure was off.

I think at least this year we will still have a chance at making the 8 halfway through the year. That hasn’t been the case since 2016
 

TwinTurbo

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no he did not play .. i think Meaney played the whole game on one edge.. That may suggest that TB is not 100% convinced about Meaney on the wing and needs to see more..
It could also mean that Barrett didn't have anyone that he thought was worthy of a trial.

Go Dogs
 
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