Post-Game Discussion Manly v Storm [Round 21, 2021]

[davohan123]

Watched the presser....was Desmond meant to be wearing a mask ?

He was I think meant too noticed that myself

 

[Sheikheagle]

Yes Lawton can fill the 14 roll

Yep the walker to 13 is ok against the weak team however the Storm definitely targeted him. I think Lawton is the far better option.

 

[Waz13]

Interesting reading all these comments from immediately after the game the next morning.

The refereeing aside we weren’t good enough , if we were better we’d take him out of the picture.

The Storm will get better and will continue stretching the rules as they do every game.

If we are succeed in 2021 we have to learn to be MUCH better than we were last night.

I feel we will improve but not enough to challenge the top 3, but this experience augers well for 2022-23

We played poorly when we needed to be near perfect to win. That was basically the difference. I thought Gee gave us a hard time and them a leg up. Even early on before we made errors the Storm were slowing the ruck down and very obviously imo. It continued most all the game and rarely got called. I don’t really subscribe to success windows these days as things change so much in this game each year. If we can find a better balance with our ball security and completions as well as our expansive game there is no reason we don’t beat Melb and those other top teams. Heck Souths have been demolished by the good teams this year and I see them as no better than us - even lower imo. Top 4 is massive this year imo as no home ground advantage will create lottery games in the 5 through 8 matches. We are still a chance for the top 4 but must take care of an injury riddled Parra next week. Easts despite the injuries are still competitive in every game. Anyway goin off on a tangent here a bit, but I still think there is no reason we can’t win the comp this year. We will keep improving and hopefully fine a nice run into the finals. A lot comes down to staying healthy and the loss of Paseka will hurt a bit. In relation to the players tonight I thought Lawton should have been on instead of Walker and was a wasted sub. Lawton was the perfect player to mix it with B Smith (who again I thought gave us the most trouble). That gaffe was in Des. Alioai seems to make costly errors and I thought the Storm did a good job early of targeting our edge backrowers (Guac in particular). As others have said this will be good for us, however I still think we are a shout this year but jagging position 4 could yet be the determining factor.

 

[Cameron]

by our standards we werent that good but we got close to them and we can beat them.

On another note Ive been watching alot of this storm side i hate saying this because of the rivally but they are a good team to watch.

Can someone name for me a better Centre than Justin Olam atm, he is a gun and i think after a slowish start Morgz handled him well.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

They say you learn more from a loss than a win, so that's good!
Storm's line speed is impressive but how annoying the TV doesn't give a slightly wider angle so we can see how often they jump the gun.
We've now been 'in the game' until quite late against each of Souths, Penrith and Storm so despite losing each time I don't think the players will be disheartened. That was probably the biggest game so far for the likes of Saab, Schu, Haumole, Harper, Sipley, Croker, and the experience will be invaluable.
As Des said, 'we've got a fair idea what we need to improve' so I'm confident we'll be better next time.

 

[wedgetail eagle]

When Fox & CH9 review the game & the Brandon Smith milking dive, I’ll bet you London to a brick they’ll all laugh & say, “what a character he is”,
the block of Casu Marzu cheese.
I must be lactose intolerant when it comes to that bloke.

 

[cc eagle]

They say you learn more from a loss than a win, so that's good!
Storm's line speed is impressive but how annoying the TV doesn't give a slightly wider angle so we can see how often they jump the gun.
We've now been 'in the game' until quite late against each of Souths, Penrith and Storm so despite losing each time I don't think the players will be disheartened. That was probably the biggest game so far for the likes of Saab, Schu, Haumole, Harper, Sipley, and the experience will be invaluable.
As Des said, 'we've got a fair idea what we need to improve' so I'm confident we'll be better next time.

Our completion rates for the last 6 games has been around the 70%+ mark, last night 67%, that's not going to win the big games, and we did well to hang in there against the scum, the last time we completed above 80% was 7 rounds ago against the Tits.

 

[pt73]

Cooper Cronk doesn't help matters either.

The whole coverage was a Storm lovefest from start to finish, they were stunned when we hit the front but quickly got back into the groove.

 

[Ranga]

The gist of the the Sharks and Tigers games was that we made a lot of mistakes but had way too much fire power and so didn’t get punished. Last night our lack of discipline caught up with us and we got punished.

Discipline in footy is not a switch that can be flicked on and off. So it has to be back to basics for our guys.

We are a young team and can learn a lot from last night’s game. But they need to learn fast because next week is, in my view, the most important game of the year.

 

[cc eagle]

Our completion rates for the last 6 games has been around the 70%+ mark, last night 67%, that's not going to win the big games, and we did well to hang in there against the scum, the last time we completed above 80% was 7 rounds ago against the Tits.

Just checked NRL stats, yep we are running last in set completions, but the dogs are at the top, so I guess it has a lot to do with what you do with the ball when you complete at 80%

 

[Chip and Chase]

Expressing surprise at Melbourne slowing down the ruck is like expressing surprise that the Rabbitohs go left in attack. You know it's coming, you should be training for it and coming up with answers. No point whinging.

Too many errors last night and too little composure. If Saab doesn't take that intercept we are looking at a 20 point margin, would the "we got within 10 points" crew still be happy with our performance based on that ?

We are still a year or two away, Tommy carries this side and he needs more help against the better sides.

 

[Dee Why Eagle]

Doubt we'll get fourth now, I'd love it if we did but really can't see it

Think it's ours if we beat squeels

 

[jbb/james]

We matched them physically but there footy team operates at a higher interlect than what we do.

Des will have us better placed for the finals but this fact isnt changing anytime soon. We needed to test ourselves as most of the comp is hopeless. Getting up for the eels game is just as big a test as what this game was.

Back to back solid games. Its been a really long time since we came out on top playing 2 top teams for success.

We started really strong yesterday but squandered early possesion and dominance too easily with rookie errors . It seemed to come to easy early and they gambled it expecting more chanes . Some better option and we could have had them on the rack. It switched we gave up posession and they got a few leg ups . There is just no ruthlessness or patience in out attack.

Thats the difference between the teams. They either capitalise or choke you until they do.

 

[pt73]

Nobody noticed huges knees to garricks face when he was trying to score?

I did and Gee didn’t even bother to refer it when every other example does.

Slater must be coaching them on how to slide in with the knees and not get pinged.

 

[cc eagle]

If Saab doesn't take that intercept we are looking at a 20 point margin, would the "we got within 10 points" crew still be happy with our performance based on that ?

You can say that about any try scored, if Tom catches the bomb, if garrick grounds the ball after his fumble, thats 12 points they dont score !!!

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Yep you're right. But this is the bench we should run with in the finals.
14. Lawton
15. Keppie
16. Aloiai
17. Sipley

Could be wrong but I suspect Des considers 'the Walker experiment' to be a key component in our strategy this year, and intends to persist with it. I think in another post you (or someone) suggested Lawton to start and Schu off the bench, that might be worth a go, and might give Schu a little kick on with motivation?

 

[Waz13]

The gist of the the Sharks and Tigers games was that we made a lot of mistakes but had way too much fire power and so didn’t get punished. Last night our lack of discipline caught up with us and we got punished.

Discipline in footy is not a switch that can be flicked on and off. So it has to be back to basics for our guys.

We are a young team and can learn a lot from last night’s game. But they need to learn fast because next week is, in my view, the most important game of the year.

Fortunately Eels have sone very key outs, Mahoney, RCG, Papalii to our Paseka and they cannot score a point at the moment. They will be desperate tho so we will need to be up for it

 

[Chip and Chase]

You can say that about any try scored, if Tom catches the bomb, if garrick grounds the ball after his fumble, thats 12 points they dont score !!!

I get your point, but slightly different scenario - not many plays on a field that lead to a try for one team or the other regardless. Your examples involve 4-6 points gained or saved and there are a hundred of those sliding doors moments in a game.

 

[Dee Why Eagle]

how annoying the TV doesn't give a slightly wider angle so we can see how often they jump the gun.

Absolutely.
Back in the good ol' days, the ABC did.
Either Nein think we want to be close to the action or we don't need to know - under the carpet

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

If Saab doesn't take that intercept we are looking at a 20 point margin, would the "we got within 10 points" crew still be happy with our performance based on that ?

That's true! But we do have Saab and his unique abilities, that is the sort of play he can make.
I think 10 points was a reasonable reflection of the difference. Even this year 10 points is a clear margin, but shows it was competitive.
It's quite an interesting aspect of rugby league that a side can dominate in most ways yet still go off at half time 8-8!
Back in our last 'golden age' there was a season, may have been 2009 or 2010, when we had a number of games physically dominating sides, yet somehow they'd sneak back and score some points and the game would be close or we'd even lose. Many ways to achieve it, but in the end its only about who scores more points.