Pittwater Legend
We brought back Geoff Toovey!
Seeing Gutherson run out against us tonight was bittersweet. I'm probably his biggest fan on this forum and I suspected that tonight's match would reinforce what I've been feeling strongly all season - he should be on one wing for us with Tom on the other.
One big reason we lost tonight was that we kept trying to pressure him all night and he was up to the task. Not once did any of our guys get a little victory over him tonight. Most of the high kicks tonight went his way and he caught them all. Semi is suspect under the high ball - remember the final minute of their match against Penrith when he looked all at sea? But instead of sending kicks to Semi, we sent them all to Gutherson and I have no ****ing idea why. Jorge also had an opportunity to burn him one on one in the 2nd half when Takairangi was bludging 20 metres behind the play and left a mountain of space between Gutherson and the sideline. Jorge charged straight at him and Gutherson took him down instantly with a great one on one tackle. To add insult to our ****ing dumb game plan, Jorge went off with an injury late and Semi was able to finish us off after Gutherson absorbed the pressure all night.
Out of the 4 wingers that took to the field tonight, Gutherson has by far been the safest this entire season. He is a big part of why Parramatta have been so tight in defence this season. Without him, I don't think they keep the Tigers scoreless a few weeks back and like I've already said, not once tonight did we get a play over him.
Taufua? His fifth season on the wing and he still looks weak under the high ball. We should have kept Parra to 2 points at half time but Taufua fumbled it and left the spoils for either Takairangi or Gutherson to score. Being selfless, Gutherson let Takairangi take the ball as he was facing his own try line and Takairangi wasn't, even though they were both within reach of the ball. He's also a great sport and went over to Jorge when he was coming off the field due to injury. Good bloke, that kid. Just like his really great mates, the Trbojevic's.
We had two of the hottest young prospects (Clinton and Tom) in the game on our books and we're complaining about our aging centres. We kept the aging centres but let one of the prospects go after we had extended his contract to 2017 last year. WTF?
Gutherson is not coming back and that's sad. Absolute superstar in the lower grades. Made 18th man for the NSW Cup team of the year when he was 19 and Manly came 2nd last but was the unluckiest player in the words of the judges to not make the team of the year. He would have been their fullback. Want to know why he missed out? Well he was called up to first grade and cut the Tigers up before getting a foot injury that kept him out for the rest of the season. The guy who got their nomination only got the nod because he had a strong finish to the season when Gutherson was no longer around to stake his claim.
I reckon he would have been happy to stay if we just gave him the wing spot that was rightfully his.
One big reason we lost tonight was that we kept trying to pressure him all night and he was up to the task. Not once did any of our guys get a little victory over him tonight. Most of the high kicks tonight went his way and he caught them all. Semi is suspect under the high ball - remember the final minute of their match against Penrith when he looked all at sea? But instead of sending kicks to Semi, we sent them all to Gutherson and I have no ****ing idea why. Jorge also had an opportunity to burn him one on one in the 2nd half when Takairangi was bludging 20 metres behind the play and left a mountain of space between Gutherson and the sideline. Jorge charged straight at him and Gutherson took him down instantly with a great one on one tackle. To add insult to our ****ing dumb game plan, Jorge went off with an injury late and Semi was able to finish us off after Gutherson absorbed the pressure all night.
Out of the 4 wingers that took to the field tonight, Gutherson has by far been the safest this entire season. He is a big part of why Parramatta have been so tight in defence this season. Without him, I don't think they keep the Tigers scoreless a few weeks back and like I've already said, not once tonight did we get a play over him.
Taufua? His fifth season on the wing and he still looks weak under the high ball. We should have kept Parra to 2 points at half time but Taufua fumbled it and left the spoils for either Takairangi or Gutherson to score. Being selfless, Gutherson let Takairangi take the ball as he was facing his own try line and Takairangi wasn't, even though they were both within reach of the ball. He's also a great sport and went over to Jorge when he was coming off the field due to injury. Good bloke, that kid. Just like his really great mates, the Trbojevic's.
We had two of the hottest young prospects (Clinton and Tom) in the game on our books and we're complaining about our aging centres. We kept the aging centres but let one of the prospects go after we had extended his contract to 2017 last year. WTF?
Gutherson is not coming back and that's sad. Absolute superstar in the lower grades. Made 18th man for the NSW Cup team of the year when he was 19 and Manly came 2nd last but was the unluckiest player in the words of the judges to not make the team of the year. He would have been their fullback. Want to know why he missed out? Well he was called up to first grade and cut the Tigers up before getting a foot injury that kept him out for the rest of the season. The guy who got their nomination only got the nod because he had a strong finish to the season when Gutherson was no longer around to stake his claim.
I reckon he would have been happy to stay if we just gave him the wing spot that was rightfully his.
