The Reality....

[MK Eagle]

Physically - Manly belted Dogs physically - winning this part by TKO.

Kicking game - Every time Dogs kicked I had shivers - especially towards Taufua. Protection improved 100% by 2nd half - damage already done.
Manlys general kick chase was equal but Dogs kicking game was more dangerous - in fact - the only way they could score...Dogs win this & if not rectified will be our achilles heal.

Line breaks - Manly seemed to take off from where it was at Newcastle with numerous busts leading to 0 points. If Snake was there I have little doubt another 3 tries would have been finished off. Dogs only limited attacking opportunities from line breaks- again Manly win this area - anyone else noticed Manlys conversion rate after a line break is down by 80% without Snake???

The Ruck speed - Dogs reallt tested with hands over ball & numbers in tackles ect & with Manlys dominant defence ended about even - Dogs challenge in every play - split that round.

Attitude - Draw - both great

Gameplan - I think Manlys physical approach vs Dogs trying to iscolate the back 3 with massive pressure & 2nd phase was even - though Dogs get the points on the night due to result only.

Verdict - Game was so even noone could say a side dominated that clash. Dogs played a great controlled game with some great scrambling & on line defence & Manlys defence was super with Dogs tries ALL off kicks.
Look foward to the rematch come finals time!!

 

[Peter C]

Our last tackle options in their quarter were poor, we never really tried to go for another set of six, but rather bomb them all the time which were easily diffused.
What worries me is that we really wounded them last night yet we couldn't convert that to points, sure things will be easier when Snake comes back, but we will struggle for a top four spot now.

 

[Berkeley_Eagle]

the first try really sucked the life out of us, Whare heads infield and takes the tackle we keep getting on top

 

[PONTIAN SEA EAGLE]

Who here on this site would have reynolds, over foran at the moment??? he seriously is on fire.

 

[MK Eagle]

the first try really sucked the life out of us, Whare heads infield and takes the tackle we keep getting on top

So true BE - Whares got potential but still very raw & was exploited here. If thats Snake he stays low & we start a new set in reasonable field position.

 

[Sheikheagle]

Who here on this site would have reynolds, over foran at the moment??? he seriously is on fire.

I thought foran was outstanding tonite and he actually shaded reynolds

 

[Daddycool]

We've had good depth in most positions over the past 5 years and been able to cover injuries reasonably well. However with the players we've lost recently combined with the new ones inexperience, simple errors are hurting us more than last year.

 

[The Eagle Has Landed]

The reality is without Brett Stewart playing we struggle to win a game.
We need to re-sign him ASAP.

 

[Chip and Chase]

That kick to the corner by Reynolds beats every winger in the NRL except Alex Jesaulenko. Just a good set play and pin point kick, can't blame Tafua for that. I don't recall him giving up any other tries on that side due to bombs or kicks ??

 

[ERNIE FOR NO7]

Both teams were great. The Dogs defence was outstanding. We would scored 30 points against most teams. To overcome the loss of a half back and front rower in the first 20 mins in such a fast paced game was some effort. Got to say that.

Foran had an outstanding first half. Reynolds was outstanding as well. Their pommy forward gets better each week.

I thought the last couple of kicks where we were needing to score were too negative.

Close to our best performance may be our best. Why dont we play like that when we play Penrith and Gold Coast

 

[Daddycool]

That kick to the corner by Reynolds beats every winger in the NRL except Alex Jesaulenko. Just a good set play and pin point kick, can't blame Tafua for that. I don't recall him giving up any other tries on that side due to bombs or kicks ??

Actually..... Perret scored the same try in the same corner in the Roosters game. Tafua has loads of potential but needs to work on defending these sorts of kicks.

 

[captainskin]

The reality is I can live with the loss and not be all torn up inside (like I was last week vs Knights and other teams). The reason being the team turned up to play and I could not fault them with attitude, effort and good ol' entertainment.

When I see Manly play like that and still get pipped at the post I think I've been fortunate enough to witness a GREAT game. If we had of won a scrappy, undisciplined game against an average team I go away feeling that was pathetic. But the reality is we were involved in a fantastic battle of RL, showed a lot of heart and mental strength to get back into it, and fell over in the end through no real fault of anyone.

If the game had of been won on the death by Manly most of the posts on this forum would (of course) have a different feel and different focus. Both teams deserved to win. It was a performance to be proud of. Unfortunately, only we didn't come up with 'winner, winner, chicken dinner'... this time.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

2 realities. The 1st reality is that someone has turned the Bulldogs into a really strong team that is a leading contender. They are the real deal.

2nd one is about us, we have a number of areas that need work. The good news is that we have far more improvement in us than them, I reckon.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

The reality is we lost another game we should have won. Can't fault the effort but it's pretty much the story of our season…

 

[mickqld]

I'm really starting to think we cannot continue to carry the 4 ageing props we have. Maybe 2 of them but seriously Rose isn't up to first grade and Joe and Kite are struggling to keep pace as well. King busted his guts last night but I dont think this rotation is going to take us too far this year.No other club would buy Rose,Joe or even Kite at this point not even strugglers Penrith,Parra,Raiders,Knights.

 

[torana355]

2 realities. The 1st reality is that someone has turned the Bulldogs into a really strong team that is a leading contender. They are the real deal.

2nd one is about us, we have a number of areas that need work. The good news is that we have far more improvement in us than them, I reckon.

You are right we have bucketloads of improvement left in us, we are not playing anywhere near our potential. The Dogs on the other hand are squeezing every last drop out of their squad by doing all the 1% things well.

 

[tayls]

is that Hugh Jackman is a curse when he watches the game.

I always remember Hugh saying before last years GF that he would be out of the country and that it was a good thing as he was at the 2007 GF and Manly lost.

I knew as soon as I read that Hugh was going to the game that we would lose.

 

[The Who]

Good summation. My realities are that wingers are so important these days and losing Robbo and Hoppa Jrn has hurt us big time. Wolfman is terrific, and gives 100%. Whare and Taufa simply don't have the class of the two players we lost.
Last year we would have won this match and several others. We are clearly not as good as last season, even though most of our players are trying their hearts out in the big matches.
Also, the Berries seemed to make heaps of offloads, even though the stats show they didn't shade us in that area by much. A number of times T-Rex failed to wrap up the ball carrier. He was soooo disappointing.
If Graham had been playing for us and T-Rex for them we would have won!

 

[Darren]

Keiran's on 650k! He'd better shade Reynolds! That's why we pay franchise money for! DCE as well!

 

[Captain Moondog]

The reality is without Brett Stewart playing we struggle to win a game.
We need to re-sign him ASAP.

I think we would have won with him out there. I thought Jamie had his usual strong game. We need both those blokes firing to be any hope this year.