Some Real Psychological Damage done tonight

[Killer03]

I think tonight could really inflict some psychological damage on the scum. Their performance tonight I thought was very much like ours at the end of last season. Nothing seemed to go right for them, and probably most worringly was that we just seemed to be able to break the line and create chances on nearly every set of 6.

Everyone can have an off night, but we saw with the Sharks against the Roosters on Monday night, even though the Sharks blew them away in the first half (26-0), the Roosters showed a lot of ticker and composure to come back to 32-22.

Not suggesting that the scums 2013 season is over, but I think a result like that just 2 weeks out from the semis could have them questioning themselves.

I'm going to also put this down as a good omen from 2011 when we had the Battle of Brookvale in Rd 25. Whilst of course it was remembered for the brawl, I remember us just blowing them off the park (18-4 was not reflective of how well we played) and going from strength to strength.....here's hoping!!

 

[The Who]

The Drizzle had their full team tonight - and were dominated all over the park. Again, I felt they got some easy penalties, and their second 'try' came from a video ref mistake. Yes, another.
If Jamie had have had his kicking boots on it would have been even more embarrassing for the Drizzle.
I do think that the Drizzle will not play as poorly again, and I tip they will win their first semi-final.

 

[ALinda]

Well said Killer03.

I do think they'll be a different team at AAMI in the semi's, but whether they can pull it off in the GF at ANZ if they get there remains to be seen. Also remember we can have an off night too.....just like in the finals last year.

But yes beating them tonight does give us a psychological edge, especially when they were virtually full strength whilst we were missing Choc and Taufua.

 

[1969]

Think 2V is doing a bit of foxing. Fantastic display by the Eagles!

 

[Eagles2nv]

Like this very round 2 years ago, we were brutal. The strom were never in the game.

They have had some easy games is the last few weeks and werent prepared for or intensity.

 

[HappilyManly]

Manly have the psychological lift that they needed.

Its self belief that matters, the opposition is irrelevant if you believe that you can fly

Having a 3 man bench after Buhrer's injury (still think that his head was propelled into the turf in the 1 minute of play ), no Choc, no Joerg, two established Props down, yet Manly lifted like only they can.

Still haven't watched the replay, but at the ground we could not keep track of the ball, the speeeeed was breathtaking.
Epitomised by DCE's presence of mind, after a gruelling 75 minutes, to kick at a dropped ball and score another magic try

 

[Lord Eagleton]

Im unsure if i can agree or not.
Yes, perhaps some psychological damage was done to them. But on the other hand the Storm (despite being cheating pricks) are class and will likely come back in the future with a new mindset. On top of the fact it was our home game - home teams always lift and get the rub of the green, as we did. Might not have been so clinical if it was played at a neutral venue..

 

[Shoe1]

You need a brain to get psychological damage!

---

So no worries for waqa, proctor, ryles etc!

 

[Lord Eagleton]

Every time the commentators called out Proctor from the Storm in general play i laughed to myself...reminds me of that feminine, bumbling idiot from Police Academy who was Lieutenant Mauser's deputy. The one who Mahoney tricks into going to the Blue Oyster gay bar lol

Sorry, thats off topic.

 

[lsz]

All they needed was a lasard...

 

[Hamster Huey]

The Storm are too strong mentally to let this match get too them. They just had an off night and I doubt we'll see the same number of mistakes made by Smith this season.

It was telling that the likes of Cronk, Finch and Slater were making rushed and poor decisions on the back of Smith being out of sorts. I'd be surprised to see such a display from them again in 2013.

 

[Lord Eagleton]

Can we add this below incident to the 'Storm are cheats thread'. O hang on, not sure if we have one

http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/selection-storm-hits-no-show-gareth-widdop/story-fndv325j-1226708565580

 

[MadMarcus]

It has been a while since 40 nil and some Storm players needed a refresher course.

 

[Daddycool08]

There was nothing (or very little) on offer if the Storm had won that match.

Maybe they were just coasting a bit and didn't really care.

It reminded me of the match a few years ago just before the salary cap rort was publicised when Manly beat them by the 2 points on their home ground.

Or maybe this was the pay-back to Manly for the Souths debacle. (Where is my tinfoil-hat?)

Compare the refereeing performance of both games (South v Manly and Manly v Melbourne) and see what you think?

 

[Jethro]

Can we add this below incident to the 'Storm are cheats thread'. O hang on, not sure if we have one

http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/selection-storm-hits-no-show-gareth-widdop/story-fndv325j-1226708565580

The subject wouldn't have even been investigated if they were still owned by News Ltd.

 

[driftout]

The Storm were foxing in my opinion. It was evident at the ground that they weren't switched on for long periods (no defensive line speed at all in the 1st half , forwards not winding up , Smith looking totally distracted and the body language of some of their players ). Having said that there were a couple of periods in the 2nd half when they really surged ,especially in defence . They were saving themselves for the finals. Just to complete the picture both Smith and Bellamy feigned disappointment with the effort at the press conference.

Don't get me wrong, Manly looked great in the 1st half on the back of probably the quickest play the balls they've had this season and some great attacking rhythm and had a lot of success slapping at the arms of Cameron Smith when he ran out of dummy half (one attempt causing a poor pass to Finch which DCE kicked to score). It was obviously a plan because Manly haven't tried it for a while . Manly look infinitely better when DCE runs straight and Ballin runs from dummy half .

 

[HappilyManly]

Ridiculous!

Scum were playing for a home semi and not to make Manly look good

Lets give kudos to the strategy of pulling the defence left, then to whip back the attack to the right

Manly Coaches, and the Players who executed their plan, are the reason for the win.

 

[Hamster Huey]

The Storm were foxing in my opinion. It was evident at the ground that they weren't switched on for long periods (no defensive line speed at all in the 1st half , forwards not winding up , Smith looking totally distracted and the body language of some of their players ). Having said that there were a couple of periods in the 2nd half when they really surged ,especially in defence . They were saving themselves for the finals. Just to complete the picture both Smith and Bellamy feigned disappointment with the effort at the press conference.

Don't get me wrong, Manly looked great in the 1st half on the back of probably the quickest play the balls they've had this season and some great attacking rhythm and had a lot of success slapping at the arms of Cameron Smith when he ran out of dummy half (one attempt causing a poor pass to Finch which DCE kicked to score). It was obviously a plan because Manly haven't tried it for a while . Manly look infinitely better when DCE runs straight and Ballin runs from dummy half .

Would you ever accept that Manly are sent out to 'fox' an opponent?

I simply can't see a squad under Bellamy ever going out there to do anything but win and win big, no matter what.

 

[The Who]

The 'foxing' by Melbourne obviously extended to their Under 20s who we also beat. Seems Melbourne have more foxes than the Manly Seabirds!