There is always a positive somewhere

[Kiwi Eagle]

Round 23, 2008, we lose to Souths. Our last loss of that season

 

[codewana]

 

[PONTIAN SEA EAGLE]

We had a better side in 08.

 

[ALinda]

Yes but in what position were we? Probably higher than we are now but I like your optimism.

 

[Ryan]

We had a better side in 08.

With much more heart, and with a group that wanted to be in maroon and white....not blue and white, or blue and red etc etc etc....

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

LOL, it ain't optimism, just something to consider

Many said we couldn't win the comp after that effort, 40-32 from memory

 

[Jonesyv2]

I believe these are the positives and they all happen in 2011 (2010 will be a miracle if we win it).

1) B. Stewart will be back (unless he's in gaol)
2) We will have Williams in the #5 jersey (not the big slow one either)
3) Dogkinson will be at the bulldogs (the club of many halves) Leaving DCE in the #7 for Manly.

 

[EagleRock40]

Always a positive..as Des said in the press conference - they got the points THIS time..we had a good game plan, but execution was average. Tonight was not a bad game, Saints are very good defensively and scrambled really well. We should not criticise this team after a loss like this. It will only make us stronger come September

 

[susan]

the positives are obvious.given a go youngsters like whare,oldfield and hopoate have impressed.hopefully this will enlighten some thinking when it comes to underperforming veterans over the next few seasons.

 

[jimmythunder]

This is from an old bugger that just loves footy.. I really think the difference tonight is passion. we really do have the ingredients for a great team, but what is missing is that real passion to win, fight for your life desperation, MONGREL. Which the dragons showed in their numerous try saving tackles tonight. Passion like in 2008 when our kick chases didnt let a fullback or winger run further than 10m.Guys like Brent Kite running 60m to tackle mckinnon in goal on a kick chase.  looking at the body language of our guys compared to the dragons and manly 2008 there is a big difference. If we scored a try in 08 the whole team would run in and congratulate, hug, laugh, high five.. dragons this year the same. we just dont have that chemistry this year, it seems like theyre there to do the business and get outa there. we score a try and a couple high fives..some guys dont even get to the try scorers. To me. the effort is there, just not that un measurable element, called desire.
thoughts from a neville...

 

[chrisos]

YEs thats what i like to hear (the topic) we didnt play well tonight but we didnt play bad!

 

[mr seagles]

i cant wait kiwi to hear your excuses next week when we lose to the warriors and the week after to the roosters..we are not the same team as 2008 sorry to bring you back to reality....maybe a chance in 2014 or 2015 when the young guys have got some experince up there sleeves...... we will beat bulldogs last round but it wont be enough to make the eight...we dont deserve to anyway...

 

[Merdy33]

Plenty of negatives - we let them out of their in goal twice, when we should have had repeat sets, 3 players took a dummy for Fein's try, dumb errors gave them field position for a couple of others and failing to stop offloads gave them Soward's and Weyman's tries. 

Now the positives - the above are all fixable. 

Then we had Gasnier's and Scott's tries which were both results of p**s poor refereeing (although Foran's try balanced out one of those).

We had another couple of tries stopped by brilliant/flukey last ditch try savers, and had Watmough taken a different option, we might have scored instead of Scott (8-10 point turnaround there).

I'd also argue that we competed strongly for (say) 50 minutes, and for short periods were on top of the minor premiers. 

We're not out of it, but geez its frustrating.

 

[ayjay007]

Positive=now I can have the foxsports option taken off Austar til next year.Watch warriors at Robin Hood Hotel in Orange,rorters and puppies live,then channell number 9 has all the games in the finals live.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Lots of positives.

We played very well in the first half and the score SHOULD have been 6-4.

Michael Oldfield did nothing wrong (well apart from the difficult kick that was deemed a knock on but wasn't).

King and Kite played well and got decent metres.

"Shoulders" kept Gasnier at bay.

Robertson had his best game by far at fullback.

Seriously guys, had we played any other team in the comp like that we'd have won 32-10

Great signs I feel for the finals run.

 

[MadMarcus]

Agree with all of your positives Mark.  In particular, I thought King and Kite went very well last night - and that front row go forward is what has been sorely lacking in a lot of matches this season.

I think the difference last night was that Glen Stewart, Tony Williams and Watmough were all off their games.  I think Stewart in particular tried hard, but things just weren't coming off for him.  If those three were in form we would have won, and that would have been a sensational result because the Dragons played very well.  If at least two of them can turn their form slumps around I think we are in with a shot this year.

 

[Andrew..]

If ever we needed Watmough to have one of his dynamic games it was last night, sadly he just didn't seem to have his game head on both in attack and defence. I thought it was a great game akin to watching two heavyweights trading punches..........yes the better team won (on the night) but a lot to like about our effort.

 

[mr seagles]

i dont buy that ....choc ,stewart,trex off there games...WHY????? they get paid to be on there games.......how come its the same 3 almost every week....everyone else seems to be consitant...

 

[MadMarcus]

i dont buy that ....choc ,stewart,trex off there games...WHY????? they get paid to be on there games.......how come its the same 3 almost every week....everyone else seems to be consitant...

I'm not going to defend Trex. If he hasn't used up all his chances he is coming close.  But it is true that if he did hit some form (and I'm not saying it is likely that he will), it would dramatically improve our chances.

I agree Choc hasn't reached any great heights this year, but it was a gutsy effort to finish the match last week on one leg and back it up tonight.  I think he can turn it around with the motivation of the big matches if he stays fit (and off the booze if some of the rumours floating around about him are correct).

Stewart did some good things earlier in the year, but he has been out of form for a few weeks now - but that's what happens to ball players.  Even Cliffy had a string of bad games every now and then.  Jarryd Hayne was in a pretty bad form slump up until a few weeks ago as well.  If Stewart starts to pull a few things off, the confidence will come back and things will start working again.  Hopefully that happens.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

And just when I thought you were Mad (Marcus).

Unlike most here who seem to want to cut their wrists after a loss, I look for the positives.

We still should make the 8 (I think with the upsets that abound 28 will get you there)....I think a top 4 is gone and that makes it harder.

I am actually pretty proud of the boys today, I thought for much of the game they looked good...no doubt Choc wasn't 100%, and that showed but we are down on troops a bit so he had to play.

And let's face it, Dragons were bloody good last night, I don't think any of the other 14 sides would have made an impact....and as I say above had we been playing any of the other sides in the comp it would have been a comprehensive victory.

The Eagles are far from done....down maybe but not yet out!!