Resting players vs consistency in combinations

[jbb/james]

I would rest tom this week . If the rest cant beat the cowys we have trouble. And the forwards need a battle .

I would leave tom out

His form is freakish, we all know that but What drives it

I think where tom has grown most is in the mind. He feels ownership of the team and the result and is very direct in what he wants but in reality really just upped his possesions more than anything. Just more involvement

A 2020 turbo was really starting to become a freak in defence due to his massive work rate . Rather than roam around the back on the line he constantly switched sides to hold our line often multiple times in a set of 6

Its this type of exta involvement driving his attack this year and i reckon corso harry is a pretty big driving force behind this

His work on and off the ball this year is of marathon proportions. He looks like a man trying to repay his mates . Last year and early this year the team was northern eagles standard as the team Just went through the motions

The more chances we give other players in the team to lead us home the better we will become and this week is the perfect chance. And i reckon toey tommy would be pretty handy week 1 in the finals

Plenty of players have had physically demanding years but tom seems to carry the mental responsabilty and fatigue that has come with carrying both manly and leading NSW . His attitude to repaying the faith is his greatest asset but the team needs to step up a bit more and take the target off his head and help him carry that load

Start this week in an important match

Unless of course it would be bad for his hammies, then he is first picked

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I would rest tom this week . If the rest cant beat the cowys we have trouble. And the forwards need a battle

I wouldn't, the forwards don't need a battle, although Paseka and Keppie need big minutes. What we need is a stress-free hit-out, bit like the Dog game but hopefully with less errors.
We're playing a team that has had a horrendous year but after a good win last week they can go happy to their off-season if they knock off Manly.
Remove Tom from the starting side and their confidence grows massively. We need a very strong controlled start, get a few tries up in the first half, and then give a few blokes early marks. We don't want it to become a desperate battle in the North Qld heat.

 

[XV-1]

Tom can play at 70% and we will still beat the cowgirls.

Surely Croker needs to be rested for one week, as he has done so much tackling.

Rest Foran for the 2nd half and give Schuster 40 mins playing 5/8th.

 

[Woodsie]

For us, it's not about resting players, but it's preventing them from unnecessary injury. Because if we roll into that Cowboys game with that top 4 spot already locked in there is absolutely no reason at all we play our best players. The most meaningless game of the year, it really won't make any sense at all.

Remy, no offense, just exaggerating for effect, ... but players get injured at training, .. should we suspend all training for the finals ? .. you can't moth ball them, if an injury happens, then it happens ..

 

[jbb/james]

I wouldn't, the forwards don't need a battle, although Paseka and Keppie need big minutes. What we need is a stress-free hit-out, bit like the Dog game but hopefully with less errors.
We're playing a team that has had a horrendous year but after a good win last week they can go happy to their off-season if they knock off Manly.
Remove Tom from the starting side and their confidence grows massively. We need a very strong controlled start, get a few tries up in the first half, and then give a few blokes early marks. We don't want it to become a desperate battle in the North Qld heat.

Good point about the heat.

I think you should add aioli to the list of forwards that need minutes. our season has been weird and the team has either layed down or smacked the opposition more often than not.

While that is the NEW game i dont think many of our games have been won with intensity. A few very notable efforts in there of course. Thats what i mean by battle i suppose.

The refs will see a different game played in finals ill suspect , especially from week 2 on.

DCE , Foran , schuster, and walker is a fair back up plan to Tom

The reason we struggle when he is not about is because our game revolves around him at the back. With no great substitute running the game from the back we play sideline to sideline and the thrust is gone


We need more thrust from elsewhere and it seems all too easy just to give it to tom and i think it might give the team a huge boost going into final time.

Some smart coach will have us pegged in the semis as one trick ponies.

 

[mickqld]

......Bellamy was asked about resting players in his post game presser and implied that after the performance against Parra they may need to forgo resting players in order to work out some of the issues they had in that game......

At least Bellamy is consistent.....at being a lieing c***.

 

[rmd]

We win against the Cows and then against Melbourne and the whole team gets a rest for a week.

As I said in another post, they seem to be trying new plays and to make them work you need to run them in games not just in practise.

 

[mickqld]

Good point about the heat.

I think you should add aioli to the list of forwards that need minutes. our season has been weird and the team has either layed down or smacked the opposition more often than not.

While that is the NEW game i dont think many of our games have been won with intensity. A few very notable efforts in there of course. Thats what i mean by battle i suppose.

The refs will see a different game played in finals ill suspect , especially from week 2 on.

DCE , Foran , schuster, and walker is a fair back up plan to Tom

The reason we struggle when he is not about is because our game revolves around him at the back. With no great substitute running the game from the back we play sideline to sideline and the thrust is gone


We need more thrust from elsewhere and it seems all too easy just to give it to tom and i think it might give the team a huge boost going into final time.

Some smart coach will have us pegged in the semis as one trick ponies.

What's worked for us through most of the season against mainly weak defensive opposition won't work in the finals. These games will be a war of attrition. We'll need as many big boppers as we can field. I wouldn't go with both Walker and Lawton on the bench. I think we'll need Keppie ,Sipley and Aloiai to play it in the forwards , rotate as much as possible , pounding them in the middles with Paseka, Marty, Olaku and the other 3 ,get into a grind and then wear down the opposition so that Tom, DCE, Foz, Walker, Schu can conjure up a winning play. We can't expect to go out there and score 30+ points against Penrith , Storm, Rorters, Parra, Souffs.

 

[Will on the hill]

At least Bellamy is consistent.....at being a lieing c***.

Spine is in tact other than Munster>Hynes. If they smashed Parra I doubt that would be the case. Still a c*** though.

 

[AlxFromNthNarra]

When the finals hit, the game changes.

There is no pattern, no logic. It's just who's up for it and who isn't.

Assuming we have a full strength team and the same strategy people guiding our boys as we have had all year, we will give it a good crack as we currently have almost a full-strength team to work with. Let's hope that continues.

One thing I did notice is some years where form reversals happened both for and against us - ie teams we beat/lost to in the last 4-5 rounds would reverse the result in the finals when it mattered.

Read into that what you will (Melbourne....)

===

2019 - finished 6th, lost last 2 games, won first finals game and were leading Souths when Jake got sent
2017 - finished 6th, won last 2 games, bowed out week 1 - to the same team we beat 1-week earlier (Penrith)
2014 - finished 2nd, but lost 3/5 last games of season and went out in straight sets from 2nd
2013 - finished 4th, lost last round to team outside top-8 (Penrith) then went on to GF
2012 - finished 4th, won last 6, lost to 1st-place team (Bulldogs), only just. Lost in prelim to eventual premiers (Storm)
2011 - finished 2nd, lost last round (round after battle of brookie tho), didn't lose again after that.
2010 - finished 8th (only coz Melb got stripped of pts). Lost last 3 of last 4 and smashed to nil in final to eventual premiers (Saints)
2009 - finished 5th, won last 4 then got belted by Storm (one of the teams we beat in the last 4 rounds) and with lower-ranked teams winning, that was that.
2008 - finished 2nd, won last 3 games, smashed it in the most dominant finals display in living memory (110-12 aggregate over 3 games)
2007 - finished 2nd, lost 2/3 last games, belted 2 teams to make GF (and get belted by cheating Storm)
2006 - finished 5th, won 3/4 last games, then out in straight sets in finals

 

[Deleted member 26876]

No one's saying it ,but let's hope we havnt peaked too early

I think we’ve timed it relatively well. We steadily improved up until that Eels game and have since settled down for a few weeks and done just enough to get the wins, re-learning how to win ugly. We obviously still have a lot more improvement in us which is key. For the storm I always felt that, yes they were/are a tier above us, although at the end of the day we are showing that we have much more improvement in us than them for 2021.

It’s just whether or not we see it in finals

 

[weev]

The whole side gets the opportunity for a rest if we stay top 4 and win week 1 its basically an all or nothing shot, i see Melbourne and us winning this week, so we will meet week 1, it will be a highly physical game that is a given, losing will most likely spell the end, it would be very hard to get up the following week from a heavy physical loss to face a side that’s won and growing in their self belief, there are a lot of other factors of course and anything can happen, but just win this weekend and again the following week earn the rest then have an all out crack at entering the big dance. Pumped for our shot

I believe Melbourne are fielding a second-string team against Sharkies who are on the edge of the 8.

And Parra are doing the same against a strong Penrith side.

Could be Manly v Penrith week 1 finals.

 

[Rafferty]

I believe Melbourne are fielding a second-string team against Sharkies who are on the edge of the 8.

And Parra are doing the same against a strong Penrith side.

Could be Manly v Penrith week 1 finals.

Well it’s still a pretty strong side that should be able to do the job on the sharkies (the Sharks just won’t have the answers to Melbourne’s structured game imo) anyway if the scum don’t win or perhaps don’t want to, then so be it, Penrith it is, just don’t see it that way, which won’t matter in any case as I’m sure Des is looking at both possible outcomes and in finals footy it’s not about who we play it’s about how we play, get them up, set them loose.

I think the rorters winning and placing the pressure on us to win is more of a issue than Melbourne winning, we just need to get the job done and face who we face, can’t wait.

And finally without wanting to be rude to you, I don’t really give a flying ____ what Parra do, whatever they do is guesswork at best and I hope its all over for them before it begins.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I wouldn’t rest Tom, until the game is beyond the opposition.

If we are 36-8 with 15 to go , pull him off then.

Othetwise it’s just as important to go in with confidence and combinations working well.

 

[Spartan Eagle]

After Faider's effort, no resting until we have top 4 in the bag.

 

[BOZO]

Perspective time

The Resilient Manly 1978 grand final victorious team played 6 games in 24 days ( less than 3 weeks ) without resting any players and most of them played busted .

How is that for tough character building ???

 

[BOZO]

1978 Manly Grand final winning centres
Big is Beautiful and Powerful Steve Knight
Slick Speed is Sexy Russell Gartner

Number one was the number one fullback of his time the Great grand final Wining Wombat

And the Wings of our Sea eagles back line were the high flying try opportunist Booth and Mooney

The great grand final winning back line that always stood up
when our team had their backs on the wall

 

[BOZO]

Finals games are always played in high velocity and intensity

I hope Des picks the players that are made for the right tough stuff

 

[lulubelle]

We will need our best team o the field to win. And that won't be any easy victory. If we don't make the four we will be out in the next week or so.
We win and are in the top four and anything is possible
This is our biggest game of the season.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

We will need our best team o the field to win. And that won't be any easy victory. If we don't make the four we will be out in the next week or so.
We win and are in the top four and anything is possible
This is our biggest game of the season.

MIGOTY