Regarding Matamua - maybe it doesn't matter. Sam Fainu was great and he has a nice passing game. perhaps he becomes our ball playing lock.Did Lobb or Matamua play in NSW Cup? And if so, how did they play?
both.....Team got beaten 50-12, Lobb was nothing, Matamua wasnt bad actually but nothing too impressive
Just watched it on replay as I missed it yesterday.
We have the bones of a way better side this year.
A few people who are lazy in D causing our issues.
Bud Sullivan is lazy in attack and defence. Seizer and Galvin for me in the halves. Bud cost us at least 2 tries yesterday clocking off in defence. Needs to go back to NSW cup for a while and is the odd half out at the end of the season for mine.
Tupou looks disinterested. Toa a poor defensive centre.
Seyfarth is not effective and played again like he did against the dragons. Needs to go.
Tupou just looks like a classic “athlete” that will struggle to become elite. Physically has all the attributes but just lacks awareness and footy IQ (talau similar). I’m not sorry to see him go. The raiders have so many of the type of modern day outside back we need.
thankfully we have recruited well at 7 for next year so we are not reliant on Sullivan but his 4 year deal is looking very very long. He needs to be moved on. Galvin was very good defensively yesterday considering it was his first game against men and it’s not hard to see him grow into a lock role as his upper body fills out. His pass selection is already a level above what brooks got to (who was quite mechanical and often just threw hospital passes). Fascinated to see what Latu will offer.
@tigertownsfs 13 Matamua
how did he go in cup?
Watching live, I did not even notice him in the first half! They were all pretty terrible though, except maybe for Simpkin and Casey.
Then in the 2nd half he suddenly seemed to appear from nowhere, playing a good link man and getting involved. So I still have hopes for him, he is a little bigger and is obviously being played as he should be in the 13. But I really don't know if he is ready to come into NRL yet, as much as we need him.
Tupou just looks like a classic “athlete” that will struggle to become elite. Physically has all the attributes but just lacks awareness and footy IQ (talau similar). I’m not sorry to see him go. The raiders have so many of the type of modern day outside back we need.
thankfully we have recruited well at 7 for next year so we are not reliant on Sullivan but his 4 year deal is looking very very long. He needs to be moved on. Galvin was very good defensively yesterday considering it was his first game against men and it’s not hard to see him grow into a lock role as his upper body fills out. His pass selection is already a level above what brooks got to (who was quite mechanical and often just threw hospital passes). Fascinated to see what Latu will offer.
Agree totally mate, one of those players that just does what he thinks he needs to rather than actually trying to make a difference or heaven forbid try to win a footy match!
So frustrating as he is pretty big these days and absolutely NRL capable.
Drop:
Seyfarth
Bud
Staines
Toa
Bring in:
Matamua/or other Fainu brother
Sezer to 7 - TDS to bench (latu to bench when fit)
Naden to wing when fit
Olam to centre when fit
Agree with all this but after watching Matamua yesterday not sure that he is ready...
The None effort players were there for all to see the same guys as last season ! The coach has to bring in the broom and quickly there are replacements there is competition with the squad for spots!
KOE Cup lost 50-12.
And they were almost all terrible. We need Naden and Olam to be fit and firing those two will improve us.
Edit: And Fainu.
Did Lobb or Matamua play in NSW Cup? And if so, how did they play?
Lobb got owned quite a bit and was also caught slightly out of position at least a couple of times.
Matamua as I mentioned in another reply was ok in the 2nd half, maybe still not ready but close - hard not to be impatient because him being ready can't come soon enough.
Some more thoughts about the game now I am home.
Our start was a nightmare and the biggest issue. Consider this;
1:45 error Sullivan
2:34 error Klemmer
3:48 penalty against Ice
4:58 penalty against Bateman
7:16 poor missed tackles by Toa/Charlie allow a short side play to go all the way, try Canberra
11:22 ruck infringement Seyfarth
11:57 poor defence by Bula and Seyfarth, try Canberra
14:00 ruck infringement Bateman
14:22 tackle penalty against Galvin
Finally 16 minutes in Canberra make an error. We'd had next to no possession, missed some crucial tackles, no field position and while the ref seemed very whistle happy against us, we'd set ourselves a huge hole to try to dig our way out of. The 17,000 strong crowd really seemed to influence the referee's decision making as the ref seemed very easily influenced. We never seemed to fight to play the ball quickly and rarely pressured the ref into giving us a restart.
Canberra is much more flowing and organised in attack and defence. Chalk and cheese to how we looked.
Another noticeable difference the kicking game. Our end of set kicks were pedestrian end-over-end kicks and our chase was measured but without any extra effort or pressure on the receiver. Raiders kicks were mostly towering torpedo punts, each one was tricky to handle, and every time was backed by a big effort in their chase. We were usually starting our sets really slow because of this.
There were some positives of course, I don't think we were owned in the middle, at least at the ground it did not seem this way except for the referee interpretation. In the warm-up we spent a lot of time practicing the three-man tackle putting the ball carrier on his back and we executed this a lot better in the game.
My one word analysis of this game is
‘UNENTHUSIASTIC’
That first 15 minutes I saw two of our forwards dropped their heads. And they have both captained the team in the last 12 months. It’s just alarming the lack of passion from this team!!
Keep steering the right path
I thought your one word analysis Euthanasia. I really do need new glasses. Although, come to think of it .......My one word analysis of this game is
‘UNENTHUSIASTIC’
That first 15 minutes I saw two of our forwards dropped their heads. And they have both captained the team in the last 12 months. It’s just alarming the lack of passion from this team!!
I thought your one word analysis Euthanasia. I really do need new glasses. Although, come to think of it .......My one word analysis of this game is
‘UNENTHUSIASTIC’
That first 15 minutes I saw two of our forwards dropped their heads. And they have both captained the team in the last 12 months. It’s just alarming the lack of passion from this team!!
Pretty close to Eddie's one word.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
One word is discipline.
We conceded the most penalties/six agains for any team this round.
Besides Penrith, every other team which were behind on the penalty count lost.
I could go into a rant about how referees interpretation of ruck speed and interference can have a significant impact on the result.
However, we need to work through this and trying to avoid being on the wrong side of the penalty count.
One word is discipline.
We conceded the most penalties/six agains for any team this round.
Besides Penrith, every other team which were behind on the penalty count lost.
I could go into a rant about how referees interpretation of ruck speed and interference can have a significant impact on the result.
However, we need to work through this and trying to avoid being on the wrong side of the penalty count.
Good call. We copped some tough calls, but there was a lot of silliness from our perspective. Inexperience, naivete, whatever - it's not sustainable if we want to be a competitive team - let alone make the 8.
