I wish Hasler had the same passion for our club as these coaches do for theirs

[pisssst]

Same approach to the Nines last year.. where did that get us?

People will say "to the Grand Final HA HA!", but the reality isn't that. The reality is that we lost a grand final. Coming second is as bad as coming second last. Afteral you still lost, just a little later in the comp.

Since 2012 we have been scoring less and less points, and our defence getting worse and worse (this is FACT).

The Nines are a chance to showcase your attack, toss the ball around a bit (rather than during your NRL season), and see what works.

Clearly last year (and this year) our approach to the 9s didn't work. Guess what? It didn't work in the regular season either. If we could have actually scored some decent points last year, MAYBE we wouldn't have had our pants pulled down in the grand final and copped a hiding.

At present history is just repeating itself. Last year we scraped by winning quite a few games by only one point. This year we may not be so lucky.

We NEED to improve our attack, but "doing the same thing as last year", will not accomplish that, regardless of who we buy.

Heck even GI, Slater or Folau couldn't have scored in the Nines for us the way we played.

Arguements re injuries are moot points. You could trip over at home just as easily and injure yourself as you could playing in the Nines. If we are that worried about injuries, bypass the trials and all rep matches too! Because they are pointless right??

Anyway I've said enough (of my opinion) on this topic over the past few days.... Just don't expect a massive turnaround this year, and if we show we STILL can't put points on, perhaps we NEED to start taking the Nines more seriously, and try tossing the ball around a bit like everyone else does in the Nines.

Even the set plays we try to put on look slow motion. We never have players in motion they all look flat footed

 

[_BT_]

9s = crud.

 

[Karat]

Useless tournament

Glad we didnt take a strong squad, and cop injuries like the eels did.

Should be scrapped completely

 

[Karat]

Same approach to the Nines last year.. where did that get us?

People will say "to the Grand Final HA HA!", but the reality isn't that. The reality is that we lost a grand final. Coming second is as bad as coming second last. Afteral you still lost, just a little later in the comp.

Since 2012 we have been scoring less and less points, and our defence getting worse and worse (this is FACT).

The Nines are a chance to showcase your attack, toss the ball around a bit (rather than during your NRL season), and see what works.

Clearly last year (and this year) our approach to the 9s didn't work. Guess what? It didn't work in the regular season either. If we could have actually scored some decent points last year, MAYBE we wouldn't have had our pants pulled down in the grand final and copped a hiding.

At present history is just repeating itself. Last year we scraped by winning quite a few games by only one point. This year we may not be so lucky.

We NEED to improve our attack, but "doing the same thing as last year", will not accomplish that, regardless of who we buy.

Heck even GI, Slater or Folau couldn't have scored in the Nines for us the way we played.

Arguements re injuries are moot points. You could trip over at home just as easily and injure yourself as you could playing in the Nines. If we are that worried about injuries, bypass the trials and all rep matches too! Because they are pointless right??

Anyway I've said enough (of my opinion) on this topic over the past few days.... Just don't expect a massive turnaround this year, and if we show we STILL can't put points on, perhaps we NEED to start taking the Nines more seriously, and try tossing the ball around a bit like everyone else does in the Nines.

If you think we entered this competition to win it then you are deluded..

We treated it for what it is worth, as a training run..

I watched one game of the 9s, and it was the game against the Sharks..

Clearly we didnt give two ****s about this tournament

And what is the point of putting on set plays in a match that features 9 against 9, when it would be near impossible to replicate in a proper NRL match

 

[immortalbulldog]

Same approach to the Nines last year.. where did that get us?

People will say "to the Grand Final HA HA!", but the reality isn't that. The reality is that we lost a grand final. Coming second is as bad as coming second last. Afteral you still lost, just a little later in the comp.

Since 2012 we have been scoring less and less points, and our defence getting worse and worse (this is FACT).

The Nines are a chance to showcase your attack, toss the ball around a bit (rather than during your NRL season), and see what works.

Clearly last year (and this year) our approach to the 9s didn't work. Guess what? It didn't work in the regular season either. If we could have actually scored some decent points last year, MAYBE we wouldn't have had our pants pulled down in the grand final and copped a hiding.

At present history is just repeating itself. Last year we scraped by winning quite a few games by only one point. This year we may not be so lucky.

We NEED to improve our attack, but "doing the same thing as last year", will not accomplish that, regardless of who we buy.

Heck even GI, Slater or Folau couldn't have scored in the Nines for us the way we played.

Arguements re injuries are moot points. You could trip over at home just as easily and injure yourself as you could playing in the Nines. If we are that worried about injuries, bypass the trials and all rep matches too! Because they are pointless right??

Anyway I've said enough (of my opinion) on this topic over the past few days.... Just don't expect a massive turnaround this year, and if we show we STILL can't put points on, perhaps we NEED to start taking the Nines more seriously, and try tossing the ball around a bit like everyone else does in the Nines.

Perhaps the fact that Des left our best attacking players at home is a indication that he agrees our attack needs improving. No point risking any sort of injury for some dumb dicky little 9s tournament.
Ffs if you honestly think Des is just coasting along do the same thing as last year you're kidding yourself.
The fact is the 9's don't suit the game we want to play. There is no chance to build a platform with our forwards. That is our strength, not having some young blokes running around trying for the life of them not to get tackled.
9s is a joke and Des treated it as such. Who gives a **** what two wanker coaches said in a interview. They are just saying what their fans want to hear. Des says it best when he says nothing at all

 

[Dognacious]

2014 nines results

1. Cowboys
2. Broncos
3. Sharks
4. Warriors

Enuf said

 

[Rodzilla]

mr invisible had a very low opinion of our play last season, i guarantee our run to the grand final confused the hell out of him and he didnt know what the hell was going on

we would have won the grand final with ennis or had a very good chance of winning it so dont worry about how we do business, ennis was a big piece in our plans there was no backup, and if our havles had working body parts it would have also helped

 

[Dingo]

Who cares. Really. I'm sure he is focusing for round 1 vs Penrith

 

[bcmf]

Perhaps the fact that Des left our best attacking players at home is a indication that he agrees our attack needs improving. No point risking any sort of injury for some dumb dicky little 9s tournament.
Ffs if you honestly think Des is just coasting along do the same thing as last year you're kidding yourself.
The fact is the 9's don't suit the game we want to play. There is no chance to build a platform with our forwards. That is our strength, not having some young blokes running around trying for the life of them not to get tackled.
9s is a joke and Des treated it as such. Who gives a **** what two wanker coaches said in a interview. They are just saying what their fans want to hear. Des says it best when he says nothing at all

This is what immortal whispers into Des' ear at night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xrxrEEGVdM#t=69

 

[Slick]

You have the option of picking another team if you don't like the way the club conducts their business.

fundamentally this is true

 

[Sandra's Bollocks]

we shouldnt be putting all our efforts into posting in a 9's thread. rather save all your best posts for the 2015 season.

 

[Sauce Head]

Lol at people saying they should take it seriously.
The nrl crams more and more each year into the calendar and then expects full commitment for a pre season trial tournament with massive injury risk. It's great brad Arthur takes it seriously. I will take him seriously when he wins a comp (or even makes the semis)

 

[immortalbulldog]

This is what immortal whispers into Des' ear at night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xrxrEEGVdM#t=69

Lol I was waiting for someone to pick up on it. Unfortunately I don't know if he needs me because he never has a smile on his face

 

[LordSidious66]

Lol at people saying they should take it seriously.
The nrl crams more and more each year into the calendar and then expects full commitment for a pre season trial tournament with massive injury risk. It's great brad Arthur takes it seriously. I will take him seriously when he wins a comp (or even makes the semis)

Me 2 champ. He'd better hope parra get in the semis or else his head may aswell be on the chopping block.

 

[Edroy]

Why do you think all those coaches took it seriously OP? What do they all have in common? Only a few years coaching experience.

I wonder how they'd feel if one of their star halves was seriously injured.

what did the experienced coaches do? Bennett, Bellamy, Hasler? Took the minimum players required.

The 9s don't make a bit of difference to the outcome of the premiership, except it could actually derail your season if it claims an important player.

 

[Croc]

Every single fan supporting the nines would change their tune if one of our big name players did a season ending injury in that farce of a comp... imagine we sent Bupa over for it and he did an ACL? It's meaningless and unwarranted pressure/stress on our players. Round 1 is the focus.

I hope he doesn't get hurt this weekend. I think it's a bigger waste of time. Haven't watched an all stars trial game yet. Never will

 

[w00t]

Given a choice i'd send out a SG Ball team if i could....Care factor for the 9s is zero.

If you want people to be passionate about the game, atleast make the game something more than just a money grab.

 

[Mr Invisible]

FFS you are a hard task master. I would imagine that some of the clubs who miss the finals more often than not would be sad to lose their second grand final in three years, but incredibly proud of the effort their team has shown to actually qualify for a grand final. You sound like a kid who owns every games console and 99/100 of the latest games to go with it, complaining that your parents won't buy you the last game you are missing at this point in time.

When we recruited Hasler as coach i recall one of the Manly fans coming to this forum and telling us that Haslers first priority as a coach is to get his side defending well and it's certainly been true with the games i have watched. It would be nice if we were scoring more points, but I'll take 2/3 grand finals appearances over any 2 day league tournament and feel lucky that i support a team that has been so successful for a huge portion of my 35 years that children like you feel you have the right to throw tantrums when you don't feel that we've put in enough effort.

You have the option of picking another team if you don't like the way the club conducts their business. I'll take the good with the bad, suffer through any loss we have and know that when we take our next premiership it will feel that much sweeter for having had to wait 10 years.

Alan ... I'm almost the same age as you mate. Yes I own a console (Xbox 360) and a handful of games for it, but the last time it was turned on was well over 18 months ago.

I set an excellent analogy the other day that showed the importance of scoring points and why defence doesn't win games.

Whilst you can defend your arse off in an 80 minute game and keep opposition tryless, all it takes is one penalty or a field goal and you still have the same result (losing that game). If you lack the ability to score points, then your opposing side knows that 1 or 2 tries and they have the game won. Lets be completely honest. We scraped into the 8 last year barely, after 3 narrow 1 point wins. That is INCREDIBLY rare. Lose any 3 of those games and Broncos take 8th spot, we don't make the 8, and the fans blow up. All because we couldn't score 1 try in 3 games.

I'd honestly (as a fan) that we miss the 8 or get beaten in the finals than suffer again if we make the finals and can't put points on.

Our attack needs a drastic overhaul and thats what people are not seeing here. Last year was a failure despite being runners up. We scored less points and conceeded more points than the 2 years before that (2012/2013), and sooner or later that will bite us in the backside.

When was the last time you really saw the Dogs rip in (like Roosters/Rabbitohs) and absolutely hammer a side??

 

[Rodzilla]

When was the last time you really saw the Dogs rip in (like Roosters/Rabbitohs) and absolutely hammer a side??

Melbourne Storm 4-28 Canterbury Bulldogs, Qualifying Final at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, September 14th 2014, 4.10pm-6pm

 

[Wolfmother]

Whilst you can defend your arse off in an 80 minute game and keep opposition tryless, all it takes is one penalty or a field goal and you still have the same result (losing that game). If you lack the ability to score points, then your opposing side knows that 1 or 2 tries and they have the game won. Lets be completely honest. We scraped into the 8 last year barely, after 3 narrow 1 point wins. That is INCREDIBLY rare. Lose any 3 of those games and Broncos take 8th spot, we don't make the 8, and the fans blow up. All because we couldn't score 1 try in 3 games.

I'd honestly (as a fan) that we miss the 8 or get beaten in the finals than suffer again if we make the finals and can't put points on.

Our attack needs a drastic overhaul and thats what people are not seeing here. Last year was a failure despite being runners up. We scored less points and conceeded more points than the 2 years before that (2012/2013), and sooner or later that will bite us in the backside.

When was the last time you really saw the Dogs rip in (like Roosters/Rabbitohs) and absolutely hammer a side??

this is my argument for why defence is more important than attack!

Go figure, a team with poor attack, no 'consistently' creative halves can still
beat teams with brilliant halves and teams full of attacking backs to make the NRL Grand Final.

With reference to the 3 ,1 pointer games we 'scraped through', just want to highlight that we beat teams that are known to have attacking flair.

I dont know if defense alone was what got us through the season or if it was the teamwork . I know Pre season 2014 was heavily focussed on team bonding .