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Round 18: SHARKS vs TITANS (2024)

willhelm said:
Dave had an uncharacteristically quiet game
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You’re right but not for want of trying. He got poor service from Boyd and was tightly marked because he was getting it so late and flat. Thought he went pretty well.

Des seems to have worked out that Liu and Stimson don’t have the motors. We will look a lot better minus those two but with Tino and JJ.

From the presser we were taken to Desneyland. His Fermor for Origin call must have come from Madge :ROFLMAO:
 
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Fantastic! Beating the Sharks is extra special. From the moment Gallen tried to rip Lafranchi's stitches out, I've hated that team. Given our attack was poor, the win is extra sweet. AND after a bye following a good win. Des has fixed another problem and put it behind us.

My son was at the game and said we won a lot of neutrals tonight.

There was a set in the second half where our line speed shone and we kept them to 24m with solid hits that stuck. More please.

Kini has a massive ticker. He was outstanding again! Clark was great. Fifi was still good despite playing outside Tanah and Randy was nothing short of his usual high standard. Love that guy! Tanah's D was good but he has to do more with the ball if he wants to be our fourth best half.

I don't like Fermor at centre. He gets beaten on the outside too much and his lateral movement isn't good. He's smart though, which compensates enough to still be better than Sami there. I hope to christ Des doesn't pick Sami at centre. I'd prefer HSS there than either of them. Jojo could be good there but he's been good on the wing and Sami can move to the other wing to give us more.

Alick could be something. He was tight tonight. Big unit too.

Still can't get my head around playing Stimmo for less than 10min. Especially when Liu only gets 18. Is Young Iszac a better option?

Do we get Klese, AJ and Sami back next week? What about Big Tony?
 
The best passage for me was when the Sharks sent there big boppers Kaufusi. Hazelton and Tapuha one aftet another from 3 metres out and our gosl line defence held. Inspirational play.

I thought D Fifita was immense today with 19 carries and 125 metres and considering he had no good ball all night from Boyd. He really dug deep and involved himself in the heavy work.,
 
Agreed WD, I thought we were cooked every tackle in that set but each time we kept making, I'd have to check but was it the same as the Fermor and Jojo set??? If so that's our best set ever attack or defence haha.

It's a small thing to but I still remember the Doggies standing over Kini and giving it to him and noone besides Clark backed him up, Whenever there was tension tonight our guys were right up for it which I love and it looks the team is 100% behind each other in everything right now.

The Fermor penalty was insane, Nicho was a grub all night yet he penalised that for the first time this year....
 
Hail Sezer said:
I cannot believe we’re living in a world where Erin Clark is a starting prop and doing well at it. Guy is in career best form

He’s like a Maori Reuben Cotter

Ka pai Erin
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He’s way better than he was but let’s not get carried away. He’s still a pretty poor defender unlike Cotter.
 
He's at 98% efficiency in tackles this year, He's not hitting hard but that's not a poor defender, Better then Moes on pretty similar tackles and Moe isn't a great defender either playing origin, Clarks metres are very similar as well in quite a bit less minutes on average, More PCM for Clark and quicker PTB as well...

He's a very real player these days imo and adds a lot to our team with his speed, If he's not out there you can notice it.
 
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I think for the first time in our short history we can be confident in the direction the club is heading. Seems like we are starting to gel and play with a lot of confidence. Des has instilled belief in the lads, he was the right man for the job. We will be competing for a premiership in no time, I truly believe that. Get excited Titans fans!
 
Cowabunga said:
He's at 98% efficiency in tackles this year, He's not hitting hard but that's not a poor defender, Better then Moes on pretty similar tackles and Moe isn't a great defender either playing origin, Clarks metres are very similar as well in quite a bit less minutes on average, More PCM for Clark and quicker PTB as well...

He's a very real player these days imo and adds a lot to our team with his speed, If he's not out there you can notice it.
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Stats like tackle efficiency in isolation don’t tell the full story. He still gives away too much momentum and struggles to wrap up the ball. But overall he’s going well and I’m happy to have him in the team.
 
Cowabunga said:
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AJ shitposting during games like us.
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I’ve always wondered whether the players have posted on here…

And if so, I do hope that John Olive witnessed my very, very erotic homosexual fantasy I had for him for the better part of 2015-2017.. Dear John, I miss you, and I’m proud of you, wherever you may be, NZT.

As for the game, agree with all said above really, this team has some serious gamers on it, the makings of a special side are there. Since the Wahs victory at Mt Smart on ANZAC day, this team is 5-4 + 2byes, a 2 point loss to Melbourne, 4 point loss to Newy, and whatever tf that was supposed to be against Wests. We've been competing, big time.

Keano Kini. Just the best. The hot hot hot take I have is that he is actually the best athletic talent to play NRL out of NZ ever other than SBW. He'll be better than Prime RTS, I think. 2012 Ben Barba with rockets up his ass. Defences are starting to recognise him as a DEFCON-1 tier attacking threat as he takes the line on. Moving him back to Q/to the bench would now officially enter malpractice, as it seems the lightning rod that is Keano Kini is now starting to tighten his grip on the game.

JAW (how come noone has come up with this yet to my knowledge???), is a little special teamsy in the sense he's a pretty effective defensive safety out there on the edge, his length kinda shuts down a lot of motion from the opposition, not sure if he'll ever be a dominant force in contact but he's trouble on the edge.

Chris Randall, not sure where the Marzhew-Randall trade sits as far as my favourite Titans signings ever goes, probably in my top 10? retroactively at least. But wow, this guy just does everything out there. I can now rest carefully knowing I no longer have to stare off at the streetlights outside at 3 in the morning dreaming, wondering, mourning what could have been if Paul Carter wasn't a complete degenerate moron.

How in God's name did Jojo Fifita just end Ronaldo Mulitalo's entire career with just one arm?!?!?!?

Oh, and Blocker Roach still sucks.

And so does Tanah Boyd.

Go Titans 🛡️
 
NZT off the back fence! I’m a JAw fan too. KK is slowly winning me with his courage. I just wish he’d eat more meat. Boyd who was starting to impress before spraining his wrist (every parent knows how that happens), was really poor. Still buzzing.
 
Outstanding defensive effort. We know we are losing that game prior to Desiball.
Yeah, DF got the ball when he was very flat. Is that Boyd, or DF just not positioning deeply enough?
Does Clark have the biggest chest in the game? And it seems to be made of granite.
AKP went very well.
How good is it to have a fullback that doesn't get injured every time he gets tackled?
 
Whats Doing said:
The best passage for me was when the Sharks sent there big boppers Kaufusi. Hazelton and Tapuha one aftet another from 3 metres out and our gosl line defence held. Inspirational play.

I thought D Fifita was immense today with 19 carries and 125 metres and considering he had no good ball all night from Boyd. He really dug deep and involved himself in the heavy work.,
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I’m glad you mentioned this defensive set, I remember at the time thinking they’re literally just thinking stuff it we’ll run over the top of the titans because they’re smaller than us. Almost felt like they didn’t respect us there.

Another quick note on Keano - it’s nice to see his short kicking game starting to come through at top level. He’ll continue to round his game out with more experience but the confidence and energy he’s playing with is lifting the guys around him too.
 
What a game, so much desperation. Des is changing our culture and it's awesome to watch.
Verrills has to be our starting 9, he really controls the ruck well and his passes bring the forwards onto the ball at speed. He is good at taking those little sniping runs as well.
 
The problem with Boyd which directly affects Dave is that when the shift is on, he does not run deep into the defensive line and at the inside shoulder of his defender. The running deep into the line and on the inside shoulder commits the defender towards Boyd resulting in the gap appearing on the outside of the defender which gives Dave more space and less defenders to get through the defensive line.

All the top halves do this repeatedly and even Katoa (Dolphins) who is only 20 does this very well.

If you dont run deep and commit the defender in front of you, it allows the defender to adjust and move onto Dave resulting in another defender on Dave as well as it closes the gap in the defensive line.
 
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I agree what’s doing with the summary Boyd gives the ball to early to Fifita and you see the defence shifting to Boyd’s outside as they know he will catch and pass, this was evident on numerous occasions last night
He needs to mix it up but he is very on dimensional
 
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