The Pack got Bullied

[maxta]

Illawarra ran harder, straighter and with more aggression all night.
The Manly line speed was often non existent and flat....the players seemed to have the energy gauge way down from the start and it was the middle men who decided the result...as it usually does.
The contacts were lost 80% of the game and the backs were taken out of the match due to this....crabbing and passing sideways because the middle gates were never unlocked by Manlys big men.
I expect we will see a far different energy level against Melbourne next week in the trenches and they went in almost cocky last night - got their pants pulled down....and stumbled around all game trying to get them back up.

 

[Haliaeetus]

pretty much spot on i reckon

 

[Ryan]

Illawarra ran harder, straighter and with more aggression all night.
The Manly line speed was often non existent and flat....the players seemed to have the energy gauge way down from the start and it was the middle men who decided the result...as it usually does.
The contacts were lost 80% of the game and the backs were taken out of the match due to this....crabbing and passing sideways because the middle gates were never unlocked by Manlys big men.
I expect we will see a far different energy level against Melbourne next week in the trenches and they went in almost cocky last night - got their pants pulled down....and stumbled around all game trying to get them back up.

Totally agree. Our forwards looked both lethargic and intimidated. Like they knew The Dragons forwards were bigger, better & stronger than them.

 

[Deleted member 26876]

Illawarra ran harder, straighter and with more aggression all night.
The Manly line speed was often non existent and flat....the players seemed to have the energy gauge way down from the start and it was the middle men who decided the result...as it usually does.
The contacts were lost 80% of the game and the backs were taken out of the match due to this....crabbing and passing sideways because the middle gates were never unlocked by Manlys big men.
I expect we will see a far different energy level against Melbourne next week in the trenches and they went in almost cocky last night - got their pants pulled down....and stumbled around all game trying to get them back up.

It was an effort thing. It has been well established that this performance was most certainly lacking effort and plenty of it. Pack would've been bullied by any and all. Even Taupau was quiet. Fonua-Blake was a standout for me, bulldozed everyone in sight

 

[Fluffy]

AFB needs to get involved in defence a lot more. he spent the most time on the park out of our 5 props but was 4th in tackles with only 16 in 44 minutes.

Might be the reason he looks good in attack because he shirks the dirty tough stuff in defence. DCE is doing AFB's tackling for him tight now.

 

[skull61]

I know it's not a popular opinion around here but in my opinion Lawrence plays too soft and shouldn't be starting

 

[Snake]

I don't rate Lawrence. To the naked eye it looks like he is running hard but it's generally ineffective. Too often you see the stats and he has run for 60m for the whole game and every run he landed on his back and got a slow play the ball and he is good for the ball popping out at least once match.

 

[Mataiforever]

I know it's not a popular opinion around here but in my opinion Lawrence plays too soft and shouldn't be starting

i think that hes just more error prone / penalty prone than a starting prop should be. swap bj with lussick and give bainbridge a bench spot to play some second row, hes seemed a real goer in defence when hes played previously.

 

[HappilyManly]

Their consistent offloads (wish Manly would work on this) meant that we had 2-3 guys wrestling with a player without the ball.

Meanwhile the ball carrier had a clear run

A good kick up the arse should have Manly resurrect at Easter

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I don't rate Lawrence. To the naked eye it looks like he is running hard but it's generally ineffective. Too often you see the stats and he has run for 60m for the whole game and every run he landed on his back and got a slow play the ball and he is good for the ball popping out at least once match.

I like BJ, but the club were trying to get rid of him and couldn't.

I'd be surprised if he makes the cut for 2018.

 

[Sheikheagle]

Their consistent offloads (wish Manly would work on this) meant that we had 2-3 guys wrestling with a player without the ball.

Meanwhile the ball carrier had a clear run

A good kick up the arse should have Manly resurrect at Easter

Agree the offloads were unbelievable from the queens

 

[Wombat Legacy]

Aha a loss, resume normal ST transmission. Sack Barrett, Bozo. the forwards are soft....
There should have been a Tom Turbo thread, he was rubbish today. The turnovers and mistakes cost us big time in the first 20 minute duel.
He will bounce back.

 

[wombatgc]

The Dragons did exactly what the Raiders did last night. They targeted both halves. They ran at Cherry the most, but Green copped it too. Watched the Raiders run monsters at Elgey and Taylor last night. They need help(especially Green, his one on one defence is very suss).
There's no way DCE can be effective when his forwards aren't helping him out and getting bashed themselves.

 

[Utility Player]

Vaughan was huge for the queens buy of the season so far his hitups and offloads killed us. Hopefully Lussick is better for the run.

 

[Snake]

I didn't think we got bullied either, I just think we stood back and let them run. I don't remember too many of our forwards being picked up and dumped or trying to run hard only to be stopped by a brick wall.

 

[Snake]

Vaughan was huge for the queens buy of the season so far his hitups and offloads killed us. Hopefully Lussick is better for the run.

His first 10 minutes was good because we sat back and let him run but he quietened down after that and just took no frills hit ups of 7-8m.

 

[NYEagle]

I think at the end of the day, this is a mid-table team. There will be ups and downs every other week and this team will end up somewhere around the 50% win range.
Manly can put in a good performance, but just don't have the class to do it every week.
NYEagle

 

[Clivus00]

1.Jorge and winterstein our best.
2.Tom has butchered 3-4 tries this season, just needs to pass it earlier when we have the overlap.
3.DCE terrible last tackle options and always good for one misread in defence a game.
4.api needs to rest the last 10 of each half.
5.lewis brown good for at least one error or penalty and 3 missed tackles a game imagine if he payed more minutes! Get rid of nate as well.
I did think we tried. Our line speed was good on tackles 1 and 2 but missed tackles and couldn't stop their offloads made us tire easily.

 

[maxta]

I didn't think we got bullied either, I just think we stood back and let them run. I don't remember too many of our forwards being picked up and dumped or trying to run hard only to be stopped by a brick wall.

When the opposition are bending the line every carry, offloading at will, winning the contacts, rushing up in defence and controlling the games tempo - That is - especially for forwards - being bullied.
To top it off....the Illawarra players were laughing at Manly players who missed tackles, dropped balls and patting them on the head in demoralising fashion without the Eagles big men sparking up??
Imagine Igor Randall or Spud Carroll reaction....the next Dragon runner, would have been absolutely demolished, no question.