Talk about coming down to earth with a thud! Hard to believe we could be so bad in this trial when things looked very promising in the first trial...
I could not have imagined we'd be so bad in defence. It really was terrible, especially our right side that were soft - I'll bet Nofo was having a laugh! We were also scrambling in the middle. A couple of big hits from our left edge probably worked to some degree. Kepoa not as bad as some are saying, still think he could grab a bench spot.
Seyfarth showing his bad game, totally ineffective.
Read positive things about Ice - but together with Star, he let in points.
Read several comments about Api overplaying his hand - yes definitely once but otherwise was just too rushed.
As was Bud, out of sorts against a physical rushing defensive line. A real shame we have not been able to play Latu Fainu yet.
Way too conservative with the ball when in attacking field position.
Except for Bula, we are in trouble with our backline options... Star picking up where he left off in '23. None of our wingers looking great - Lobb and Willet are prospects but still very young. Faatape not as good in 2nd trial. When is Naden fit?
Hopefully Bateman is ready to play, will be underdone though.
Galvin looks good but is still just a kid.
Sam Fainu showed better attitude, hopefully these brothers can get each other to lift.
All in all Benji needs to get this mob to fire up otherwise Rd 2 is a scary prospect - and I was previously hopeful.
When we knifed Sheens I was worried he wasn't the guy in charge. Now we know for sure. Re-signing Twal and Seyfarth were massive red flags.
Benji can't coach, but we can't get rid of him. We need to bring in a coaching director immediately and replace Farah and Heigno with proper coaches. Benji will be head coach in name but for all intents and purposes he'll be assistant coach.
Yes, I know it's just a trial but our style of play was a mirror image of last year, only worse. Need to nip it in the bud before our 3rd spoon...
I reckon you nailed it with the call regarding Seyfarth and Twal. I saw nothing from either of them last season to warrant new contracts.
I can accept a trial loss. I still expect some improvement this year because I believe Tim Sheens had no idea what he was doing and that Benji will be able to get better output from most players.
The roster makeup is what alarms me. We've gone all in on juniors who in my opinion are a long way off NRL. None of these guys were considered for NRL this weekend but have long term contracts with the club:
Feledy
Kit Laulilii
Jordan Miller
Fa'agutu
Galvin showed ability but should be told to bide his time in Cup. Last night was his first game ever that was not subject to age restrictions. He will be a good player but holding him back will help his development. We don't need to throw him to a wooden spoon winning side and ruin him.
I'd love to see some player stats from the game. Does anyone have any? Sullivan is getting criticism for his defence. I'm not sure it is justified but I would like to watch a replay again. I thought the player on that side of the field who really struggled was Toa. He missed a number of tackles and had few carries.
What is going on with Matamua? The other forum suggests he's being shopped around but on Twitter I read his partner was having a baby last week. We should have seen him start in the 13 jersey last week or this to at least know more about his career path (which has or is stalling!)
I think the main area we were lacking was intensity
Couldn't agree more. There were some obvious structural issues, but the main problems were the effort areas IMO. Our middle collapsed too easily. We copped a few tries off standard, straight, hard runs. The kick chase (attacking and defending) was awful. We looked tired, lethargic and generally very reactive. We'll have to wait a few weeks to see if that's consistent or was a one-off.
Could be as simple as the team over-training all week, or even having a full training run on the day of the game. These sorts of things aren't uncommon in pre-season (across a wide range of sports tbh). We don't have a game for three weeks, so that would be the aim in terms of preparation.
Of course, they could actually be as bad as they looked on Saturday, and in that case we're completely stuffed. But let's wait a few weeks before writing the obituaries. I'll be writing them along with you all if we start 0-6 or whatever again.
edit: didn't realise Steve said pretty much the same thing on the pod. Great minds!
It should always be a concern when you find yourself agreeing with Steve.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
