Symonds

[Alan]

Boy, I wouldn't want many of you hard buggers marking my maths test,

Tred has a go and goes OK in any position they put him. Can you name many wingers or centres that haven't been made to look silly by a kick and bouncing ball this year?

Let's see how Jamie Lyon goes in the second row before we crucify the ranga.
Oops, sorry wrong example .. he'd Kill it.)

Alan - respect your opinion.

But this is Manly, and mediocrity should never be tolerated. I watch this team week after week, and I watch other teams too. Manly players throw themselves into their work like virtually no other team in the NRL. Under pressure situations, they don't think, they go for the ball.

Accept and approve your point, but to be slightly flippant, if we dropped every player who has made a mistake this year, only the trainer would be running on. Part of coaching and our culture is to improve players, my point with symonds is he appears to be a player with both the desire and talent to achieve this.

 

[The Who]

His 'Tommy Talks' are getting better, too. Perhaps he will become another Manly redhead to front the Footy Show.

 

[RiverEagle]

Geez I wouldn't wish that on him mate @The Who.!

And @Alan makes a good point, not flippant at all.
Whilst our standards are as high as any in the comp, Tooves and co are smart enough to see errors in their context; and rarely scapegoat players either.

It was a big mistake, but there were numerous other crucial ones that contributed to that loss.

I can forgive the odd rare error, especially when it's if a guy is giving his all out in the middle; and it's clear to me Tooves is the same.

Tommy did get a touch of stage fright in that moment - and it was a poor read. But it was a split-second thing. Matty B missed a one on one on Slater (when that grub scored) that he'd
normally make...and we aren't crucifying him.

I would hope, and suspect, TRed is itching to get out there again and make up for it...to Tooves, the fans, and his team-mates!

 

[StuBoot]

So.. if he sticks out a hand and knocks it on / fumbles it etc he'd get crucified for that too.
What was the percentage play in that situation?
I still reckon 9 times out of 10 they don't score.
The kick was arsey and he's damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

 

[Masked Eagle]

So.. if he sticks out a hand and knocks it on / fumbles it etc he'd get crucified for that too.
What was the percentage play in that situation?
I still reckon 9 times out of 10 they don't score.
The kick was arsey and he's damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

It was an arsey kick no doubt. But you live and die by your decisions and his decision no to go for it was costly. I actually believe if he had made a commitment that he was going to mark that ball no matter what from the moment it left Cronks boot he could have gotten to it. It was because he was tentative in those first few seconds off the boot that he ended up being in no mans land. Of course its harsh but we aren't playing tiddly winks!

 

[Alan]

So.. if he sticks out a hand and knocks it on / fumbles it etc he'd get crucified for that too.
What was the percentage play in that situation?
I still reckon 9 times out of 10 they don't score.
The kick was arsey and he's damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

It was an arsey kick no doubt. But you live and die by your decisions and his decision no to go for it was costly. I actually believe if he had made a commitment that he was going to mark that ball no matter what from the moment it left Cronks boot he could have gotten to it. It was because he was tentative in those first few seconds off the boot that he ended up being in no mans land. Of course its harsh but we aren't playing tiddly winks!

I think we have probably done this to death, but he didn't have seconds he had a split second and playing in an unusual position faced with a scenario that your not used to would cost many good players that split second.

I agree with you masked one that he made a costly blunder, we only disagree on whether he is granted a chance at redemption.

 

[Central Coast Eagle]

So.. if he sticks out a hand and knocks it on / fumbles it etc he'd get crucified for that too.
What was the percentage play in that situation?
I still reckon 9 times out of 10 they don't score.
The kick was arsey and he's damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

Even if the ball bounces, it is two on one outside him, Melbourne still have the advantage.
If he sticks his hand out and knocks on we reset our defensive line from the scrum and defend again.
The correct play was to go for the ball.

Having said that, we could have (and should have) had the game won by then regardless.

 

[Brookie Brawler]

I don't actually think he left it intentionally. To me it looks like he completely misjudged the flight of the ball and just missed it.

Oh well Tommy, its game day tomorrow. Lets hope its Knights fans looking for s scapegoat this week.

 

[eagle66]

We all wanted Tom to catch that kick. We also wanted Steve Matai to have kicked those goals.
A lot of discussion here as to how good (or not) Tom is. Don't forget at the start of last season when he stepped in to cover Glen Stewart for a month? He got a position and game time and we all "crowed" how good he is and how can Easts let go of their "only" junior.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Tom Symonds looks to be improving with more regular game time and a couple of goes in the starting team. Have to remember, though he's 25 years old he hasn't played many NRL games due to injury. If he gets a roll on he could become a real sensation, and no better place to do it than this current Manly team.