Round 25 - When Des Hasler became Trent Barrett

[NYEagle]

Dessie had an absolute Clanger with his approach to the game tonight.

To put Elliot on the wing and Reuben at fullback was a terrible decision, and the first reason why they lost. Why would you put these guys out of position in the final game before the finals?.- laughable, and they were clearly found out by three very simple tries to The Fijian beast on the wing.

The second decision, which was just as bad was to move away from the middle corrider and play this bull**** structure around Walker all night. Every play was two passes backward (losing over 10 metres) before anyone ran forward. How many times today did we finish on the 40 metre line on tackle 5!. Even Fainu was lost half the time because when he ran out of dummy half there was no one around him. They were all 10-15 metres back in formation. What is that rubbish?. I was screaming at the TV all game. What happened to some good tough hit ups and support around the middle corridor?. It seemed to work great all year, but now all of the sudden Walker is receiving the ball flat footed trying to dodge around players in front of him. This guy has no standing start skills he is most effective when players are pushing up and the line is moving forward.

Dessie had a real stinker in planning strategy for tonight’s game, and they got well and truly burned because of it.

NYEagle

 

[Harvies elbow]

I wasn't too happy with a couple of decisions either, like, after Elliot got swatted by sivo I would have swapped him with Garrick.
And I was spewing Api finished the game instead of Manaise but that was because of injury apparently.
Nonetheless
To compare Dessie with that clown is comparing Phar Lap to Radish.
Please...

 

[The Royal Soup]

DCE is clearly busted and playing injured

 

[HK_Eagle]

DCE is clearly busted and playing injured

Sold his soul to SOO.

Perhaps we should treat him like an expendable bi@ch and it may stir his insecurities enough to bend over backwards for club.

 

[mave]

Des made some really odd calls last night regarding player positions, AFB on the left edge, Elliot on the wing, etc.

Also having much of the attack revolve around Walker was another odd plan.

I would like to think Des was trying some different things in a game that "doesn't matter ", I can't put it down to anything else.

 

[The better Robbo]

Yep barrett 2.0
Fainu needs to start, api to play 15 mins.
Walker to centre, cust to 5/8 or even croker. Suli to bench or left out.
Swap elliott and Garrick back to normal.
And dont put AFB on the edge, if we had enough props than maybe but we don't!

 

[The Who]

Just as long as there is no criticism of Garrick. He played well tonight in an unfamiliar position.
He has been outstanding in his rookie year.

 

[sheridanstand78]

To be fair on Des, his hand was forced last night due to the injuries in the team and it was a bit of a dead rubber game so I think he was trying out a few new things to see how it would pan out.

I agree that Elliot needed to be fullback and leave Garrick on the wing. I think we need a specialist half and Cust should come back into the team and put Dylan back at centre. We lacked creativity in a big way and I would like to see Fainu get more game time.

I think you will find that depending on injuries it will be more of a normal Manly team that runs out in the first final.

There are a few things that Des is rightly concerned about. It is true that performances have dropped off since that win in Melbourne. Our completion rates and general discipline have been well below par. The team needs to get back to being adaptable in games and when required get into the arm wrestle, for 20 minutes in each half the team did that last night. We need to do it longer!

To compare him to Barrett is pretty laughable when TB had our halves kicking for touch when we were chasing points in games. The performance last night was a bad one as was last weeks. Losing 6 players to injuries in the last fortnight has really derailed us. Lets hope that we get a few back this week and I predict a much better performance next week!

 

[ricardo]

I'm happy to see no one's over reacting after a loss

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

The Garrick Elliott one was a surprise. Garrick showed a bit of enterprise when he filled in there last week so I'd say Des decided to see what he can do there with a full match, maybe give us a bit more in attack than the steady Elliott provides. Unfortunately Elliott was not a success marking Sivo.

 

[Woodsie]

Some of you people need to toe the approved ST narrative ... i.e. .. Last year every loss was the coaches fault .... this year every loss is the players fault .... get with it ... schizophrenia is to be embraced and a trait highly valued here ....

 

[ricardo]

Trent bad. Des good. Got it.

Some of you people need to toe the approved ST narrative ... i.e. .. Last year every loss was the coaches fault .... this year every loss is the players fault .... get with it ... schizophrenia is to be embraced and a trait highly valued here ....

 

[Budgie]

I think he was just trying stuff out.

 

[ricardo]

I think he was just trying stuff out.

I suspect he was. Trying to nullify Sivo with the more defensive Elliott. Finishing 5th or 6th didn't really matter. Injuries/suspensions to Turbo, Marty, Siro, Thommo, Paseka etc aren't helping but not something Des can control nor will he whine incessantly about it.

 

[Scorpio]

Dessie had an absolute Clanger with his approach to the game tonight.

To put Elliot on the wing and Reuben at fullback was a terrible decision, and the first reason why they lost. Why would you put these guys out of position in the final game before the finals?.- laughable, and they were clearly found out by three very simple tries to The Fijian beast on the wing.

The second decision, which was just as bad was to move away from the middle corrider and play this bull**** structure around Walker all night. Every play was two passes backward (losing over 10 metres) before anyone ran forward. How many times today did we finish on the 40 metre line on tackle 5!. Even Fainu was lost half the time because when he ran out of dummy half there was no one around him. They were all 10-15 metres back in formation. What is that rubbish?. I was screaming at the TV all game. What happened to some good tough hit ups and support around the middle corridor?. It seemed to work great all year, but now all of the sudden Walker is receiving the ball flat footed trying to dodge around players in front of him. This guy has no standing start skills he is most effective when players are pushing up and the line is moving forward.

Dessie had a real stinker in planning strategy for tonight’s game, and they got well and truly burned because of it.

NYEagle

Honestly how deep do you think we will go in September with a heap of injuries and without our #1 strike weapon?

We never looked like winning last week. Constantly dropped the ball in the belting rain and lost 3 players to injury.

This week we had the luxury to try something. It didn't work and we finished 6th instead of 5th. We still get a home final next week.

DCE is clearly busted and playing injured

Yep, the problem right now is that we don't currently have a Foran/Green to run the show when needed.

Walker looked good when he moved back to #6 earlier this year but I am less convinced as the season has gone on.

 

[HappilyManly]

I'm happy to see no one's over reacting after a loss

Especially one that has zero affect on our first home final in 11 years

Keep attacking the real enemy

 

[qldeagle]

We need DCE to take charge of every play like any normal half would. He was out of position on every play and caught flat with the ball every bloody 5th tackle. The result of that was dropped balls or ineffective kicks. I can't for the life of me understand why they have no ball security for 40 mins a game. That was horrendous last night. Just dumb footy.

 

[Bearfax]

Unfortunately its easy to find fault after the event. Sure in retrospect some decisions were probably not the best, but this was the last game, it meant little as far as the finals were concerned finishing 5th or 6th, and Des needed to experiment to see what he could do with the loss of Turbo...and Thommo and Sipley and a lame DCE and Walker out of his proper and most effective position. Maybe the wiser move (in retrospect) would have been to have Taufua on that wing, leave Elliott at full back and Garrett on the other wing. And probably Des will give that some thought next time they play Parra. But this game was always going to be a dead rubber.

I think Manly will most likely win the first finals game and lose the second. But that's OK...in fact more than OK (I picked them to finish 6th to 10th if all went well and they almost finished 5th with several key players missing, out of position or lame). Great year and sets up next year with a fit Turbo, DCE, Hopoate, Thommo, Sipley and a few other junior addictions, for an exciting prospect. Looking forward to seeing Fainu reach the next level, the appearance of Schuster, Ben T. and maybe one or two others, along with a fit Turbo, DCE and Hoppa. Looks like the potential of a slick outfit indeed.

 

[Snake]

I can understand people being upset by a loss but for mine, these types of threads (along with the sack this player and that player type threads) are really emotion getting in the way of reality.

There are so many variables that account for the last couple of weeks of our season.

First, there are the injuries and our lack of depth. We are playing under the salary cap and we are still picking up the pieces from our Northern Eagles 2.0 days. Thompson, Turbo, Boyle, JetSki, and Sipley would all be picked for last nights game if fit. Yes, every team suffers their share of injuries, but most do not suffer them in a clump at this time of year; it would destroy any teams chances.

Secondly, the psychology around losing a player like Turbo is massive for an inexperienced side like ours. We need him more than say the Roosters need Tedesco. The Chooks have Keary, Cronk, Mitchell, Manu, Morris, Tupou (all rep footballers) to combat the loss of a guy like Teddy. We have no other elite players in our backline to lean on outside of DCE; and that brings me to my next point.

Thirdly, our Captain and most creative component of our attack is tired and busted. A massive SOO series and an obvious ankle complaint are hampering his effectiveness.

My fourth point, as I already touched on, is the inexperience. A top 4 birth and a final series is uncharted waters for Tommy, Jake, Siro, Taupau (1 finals game each), Garrick, Parker, Suli, AFB, Fainu, Boyle, Paseka, (0 finals experience). I'm sure there is more to add to the list but you get the idea.

Hasler has overachieved this season and the biggest disappointment in my opinion, is with Tommy, we might have been able to jag a finals win or two to set us up for next year. As it stands, we are long odds to shake this finals series, which means we miss out on valuable finals experience for the years ahead.

One thing I will say though is this; Des is a lot like Wayne Bennett in that when you least expect something to happen, it usually does. I wouldn't be surprised to see us win next week against all odds.

 

[mickqld]

68 points in last 2 games. Des better find the defense blueprints and quick or it's bye bye. Seriously he needs to be tearing strips off the senior players. It's obvious our on field leader was Joel because Dce is found wanting when the chips are down.