HoldenV8
Journey Man
I've decided to do a player ratings for Sunday's game. Don't expect there to be a lot of glowing praise......
Brendan Elliot 4/10 - Didn't do such a bad job on Sunday night, but there wasn't much he could do other than chase Dragoons to the tryline.
Reuben Garrick 4/10 - Didn't give up in a well beaten side. Didn't see much ball either except when running it back from downfield kicks. Goal kicking has become a major worry, not that his missed goal on Sunday had much impact on the outcome. When the alternate option is DCE who can also be hit and miss with goal kicking, we are probably the weakest goal kicking team in the NRL.
Brad Parker 2/10 - Defensively OK-ish, but got totally intimidated by Ravalawa and was ineffective in attack.
Moses Suli 4/10 - Played hurt (a corked thigh I believe) and tried hard. Almost scored a try.
Jorge Taufua 1/10 - I've been a fan of Jorge over the years, but its gotten to the point where he is more and more a liability out on the wing than he is a plus. His brain explosion hit on Dufty first cost us 2 points for a penalty goal, then cost us a try. Totally overshadowed by Ravalawa.
Cade Cust 5/10 - Didn't really do a lot wrong, but wasn't given much room to do a lot with the ball, though he did do some good things. I'd like to see him given more opportunity this week, let him run things for a while and see how we go.
Daly Cherry-Evans 1/10 - Extremely poor game from the captain, his worst ever in top flight football bar none. Defended OK, but way too many dropped balls and poor passes which either killed our attack or gifted tries to the opposition. He might not admit it publicly, but I think the pressure of being just about our only strike player with Turbo and Walks on the sidelines is getting to him. He's trying too hard to do too much and its affecting his and the teams play. I'd be letting Cust run things next week to take the pressure off because right now he's not playing like the incumbent Qld and Australian halfback should be, nor is he playing like someone who is getting $1.2m per year to do so.
Morgan Boyle 4/10 - Injured early when he did the splits, but bravely played on. Other than the injury, he wasn't too bad.
Danny Levi 4/10 - Even though I've only given a 4, I actually saw improvement from Danny on Sunday night. Hopefully he keeps improving because we desperately need an effective dummy half. He even put in a couple of nice downfield kicks (which is more than I can say for the guy who replaced him during the game, an allegedly better kicker).
Martin Taupau 5/10 - Was good when he was on. Far from the reason we lost. His offloads also seemed to have a bit more thought to them which was good to see.
Joel Thompson 3/10 - TBH he was barely sighted in attack and got burned for pace a few times in defence.
Curtis Sironen 3/10 - Mixed bag here. Didn't do a lot wrong, but then IMO didn't do nearly enough.
Jake Trbojevic 3/10 - 3 may seem low for some, but its frustrating to see Jake at first receiver when we are attacking the oppositions line. Leave that to the halves and if you are going to be in that position just tuck the ball under your arm and run at the line. We're trying to use Jake as a Gifty like ball player and a lot of the time it more hinders than helps the attack.
Lachlan Croker 1/10 - Has been poor for the past couple of weeks, right at a time when he should have been cementing his spot in the side with Walks out injured. That kick from dummy half that went out on the full was diabolical to say the least (it was only the 3rd tackle). The way things are right now it might be worth giving Josh Schuster a run.
Taniela Paseka 2/10 - During the game, Blocker Roach said on Fox what I have been saying about Paseka for two years. He plays too much like a gentle giant and needs to get some mongrel into his game. His in the top 3 for tallest NRL players and top 3 for the heaviest. With his size and skills, he could be one of the games most dominant forwards if only he got mean out there. In pro wrestling terms, he should play like a heel and not a face, just without the blatant cheating
Jack Gosiewski 2/10 - Came on late and really did SFA. If Waddell is over his shoulder next week then Jetski's place in the side should only be saved by Boyle's groin.
Sean Keppie 5/10 - I thought he was one of our better players on Sunday and I wouldn't mind seeing him start against the Worms.
Well, Des pretty much ended up giving us the team most of us thought should have played (given who we have out) and it didn't turn out so hot did it. We actually played OK for the first 15-20 minutes, then for some reason we just died. Errors started coming in, especially from DCE of all people, and we just couldn't help but once again play St Merge into form. Half time we went in 4-10 down ... they scored 24-0 in the 2nd half including 16-0 in the last 8 minutes of the game. And the worst part was that like Newcastle last week, the Dragons didn't really play great football, we just played like crap. Without Walks, Turbo and IMO especially Fainu, we seem to be lame ducks in attack.
A few things I'd personally like to see:
Right now we're in a rot. Its not easy with players missing, but there are ways to turn things around before they return. Hopefully we start to come good soon because if we don't then the season is as good as over for us.
Brendan Elliot 4/10 - Didn't do such a bad job on Sunday night, but there wasn't much he could do other than chase Dragoons to the tryline.
Reuben Garrick 4/10 - Didn't give up in a well beaten side. Didn't see much ball either except when running it back from downfield kicks. Goal kicking has become a major worry, not that his missed goal on Sunday had much impact on the outcome. When the alternate option is DCE who can also be hit and miss with goal kicking, we are probably the weakest goal kicking team in the NRL.
Brad Parker 2/10 - Defensively OK-ish, but got totally intimidated by Ravalawa and was ineffective in attack.
Moses Suli 4/10 - Played hurt (a corked thigh I believe) and tried hard. Almost scored a try.
Jorge Taufua 1/10 - I've been a fan of Jorge over the years, but its gotten to the point where he is more and more a liability out on the wing than he is a plus. His brain explosion hit on Dufty first cost us 2 points for a penalty goal, then cost us a try. Totally overshadowed by Ravalawa.
Cade Cust 5/10 - Didn't really do a lot wrong, but wasn't given much room to do a lot with the ball, though he did do some good things. I'd like to see him given more opportunity this week, let him run things for a while and see how we go.
Daly Cherry-Evans 1/10 - Extremely poor game from the captain, his worst ever in top flight football bar none. Defended OK, but way too many dropped balls and poor passes which either killed our attack or gifted tries to the opposition. He might not admit it publicly, but I think the pressure of being just about our only strike player with Turbo and Walks on the sidelines is getting to him. He's trying too hard to do too much and its affecting his and the teams play. I'd be letting Cust run things next week to take the pressure off because right now he's not playing like the incumbent Qld and Australian halfback should be, nor is he playing like someone who is getting $1.2m per year to do so.
Morgan Boyle 4/10 - Injured early when he did the splits, but bravely played on. Other than the injury, he wasn't too bad.
Danny Levi 4/10 - Even though I've only given a 4, I actually saw improvement from Danny on Sunday night. Hopefully he keeps improving because we desperately need an effective dummy half. He even put in a couple of nice downfield kicks (which is more than I can say for the guy who replaced him during the game, an allegedly better kicker).
Martin Taupau 5/10 - Was good when he was on. Far from the reason we lost. His offloads also seemed to have a bit more thought to them which was good to see.
Joel Thompson 3/10 - TBH he was barely sighted in attack and got burned for pace a few times in defence.
Curtis Sironen 3/10 - Mixed bag here. Didn't do a lot wrong, but then IMO didn't do nearly enough.
Jake Trbojevic 3/10 - 3 may seem low for some, but its frustrating to see Jake at first receiver when we are attacking the oppositions line. Leave that to the halves and if you are going to be in that position just tuck the ball under your arm and run at the line. We're trying to use Jake as a Gifty like ball player and a lot of the time it more hinders than helps the attack.
Lachlan Croker 1/10 - Has been poor for the past couple of weeks, right at a time when he should have been cementing his spot in the side with Walks out injured. That kick from dummy half that went out on the full was diabolical to say the least (it was only the 3rd tackle). The way things are right now it might be worth giving Josh Schuster a run.
Taniela Paseka 2/10 - During the game, Blocker Roach said on Fox what I have been saying about Paseka for two years. He plays too much like a gentle giant and needs to get some mongrel into his game. His in the top 3 for tallest NRL players and top 3 for the heaviest. With his size and skills, he could be one of the games most dominant forwards if only he got mean out there. In pro wrestling terms, he should play like a heel and not a face, just without the blatant cheating
Jack Gosiewski 2/10 - Came on late and really did SFA. If Waddell is over his shoulder next week then Jetski's place in the side should only be saved by Boyle's groin.
Sean Keppie 5/10 - I thought he was one of our better players on Sunday and I wouldn't mind seeing him start against the Worms.
Well, Des pretty much ended up giving us the team most of us thought should have played (given who we have out) and it didn't turn out so hot did it. We actually played OK for the first 15-20 minutes, then for some reason we just died. Errors started coming in, especially from DCE of all people, and we just couldn't help but once again play St Merge into form. Half time we went in 4-10 down ... they scored 24-0 in the 2nd half including 16-0 in the last 8 minutes of the game. And the worst part was that like Newcastle last week, the Dragons didn't really play great football, we just played like crap. Without Walks, Turbo and IMO especially Fainu, we seem to be lame ducks in attack.
A few things I'd personally like to see:
- Funa or Hopoate in on the left wing for Jorge
- Cust to be given the reigns as the organiser next week and leave DCE to his running game
- Keppie to start in the front row with Taupau
- Jake not being used as a ball playing first receiver. He's a forward, run the bloody ball.
- Schuster (or Hopoate) in on the bench for Croker
- Waddell back in the side and Jetski out
Right now we're in a rot. Its not easy with players missing, but there are ways to turn things around before they return. Hopefully we start to come good soon because if we don't then the season is as good as over for us.