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Round 19: KNIGHTS vs TITANS

Boy oh boy.. Just watched the press conference and Brennan stated that he thought Ash controlled the game really well. What game was he watching?
 
Hipgrave is now one of “those” players. If he is involved in any niggle the refs will penalise him regardless of fault.
 
Our forwards are mental midgets who hate to get involved in the tough when it’s needed. Soft as marshmallows and James running is much like Woods. Soft as a pillow
 
C-Whiz said:
I'm now of the firm belief that Ash Taylor has the occasional good game and gets big wraps for it, but generally plays at a Q-cup level. He is soft. He is lacking mental fitness for this level.
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The commentators are starting to point out his errors and shortfalls. For a long time he was praised regardless of performance but he is getting called out now. Hopefully the external noise will put pressure on him like it did with Elgey and Cartwright.
The effort for most of the game was better but poor tackles (Hipgrave) and brain fades (Wallace) cost us momentum and they were able to score from the extra possession.
 
i thought Rein was good in first half when he came on.

AJ showed some good stuff again. how sure are we that Garth sees him as a fullback? He has the makings of a direct foran style running 5/8th.

no point talking about the rest. just a crap fest and at some Point Coach needs to see our chief play makers performance for what it is.
 
When watching Taylor in attack he seemed to be so intent on organising that his head was clearly somewhere else when the ball was in motion. Standing behind the dummy half and sometimes with his back to the ball until a play involving him was planned. I can't recall a half back not being an option in every play. Is he trying too hard?
 
Titanic Believer said:
When watching Taylor in attack he seemed to be so intent on organising that his head was clearly somewhere else when the ball was in motion. Standing behind the dummy half and sometimes with his back to the ball until a play involving him was planned. I can't recall a half back not being an option in every play. Is he trying too hard?
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Yeah I picked up on this on a lot of occasions Ash just stood near the dummy half and looked completely disinterested, also I have picked up another flaw in his game have a look when we are on the front foot Ash seems to be worried about organising the next play instead of looking to support the off load if it comes has been caught out quiet a few time with back turned organising the next play and the ball is offloaded for second phase and hits the ground or Ash knocks it on
 
i should say that for the first 50 minutes Ash looked a hell of a lot better than last few weeks and was going to the line and looked 'up'.

then his head dropped when the game turned....or did the game turn when his head dropped?? oooohhh. think on it
 
Titanic Believer said:
When watching Taylor in attack he seemed to be so intent on organising that his head was clearly somewhere else when the ball was in motion. Standing behind the dummy half and sometimes with his back to the ball until a play involving him was planned. I can't recall a half back not being an option in every play. Is he trying too hard?
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Yes. He is over thinking and when he gets the ball he's in about 5 minds as to what to do. He needs to calm down and play footy.

AJ was on fire today. I said it earlier on here somewhere that I don't believe in that old theory that you need a ball running half and and attack minded half to compliment them. Rubbish!

In the modern game you need two attacking halves and a good defensive structure. You need to be able to strike from anywhere on the field. Both halves need to be able to attack freely, and they need to attack in every set by running or by kicking.

Side note; Don was very good today I thought.
 
If you look at our team and judge it as a premiership threat then we are hopeless ... but as an emerging force we are plodding along pretty ok. Our players at large are inconsistent and our structure fades in and out but there are good signs of improvement. I’m willing to stick with them but it’s hard.

As an aside, it was great meeting some of the Forum personalities, so good in fact that there is an embryonic plan to gather again at Parkwood for the next away game against the Eels. Put it on your calendar :)
 
Just watched the Press Conference
“We are a young team” which I somewhat disagree with for me is wearing thin. He said we lost our way when losing AJ and having Rein at 5-8....no kidding. Could have had LG as the utility.
 
Mr Bods said:
Just watched the Press Conference
“We are a young team” which I somewhat disagree with for me is wearing thin. He said we lost our way when losing AJ and having Rein at 5-8....no kidding. Could have had LG as the utility.
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Having LG as a utility purely incase we need a half or 5/8 replacement? Seems like a silly strategy to me and Kane certisnly wouldnt offer any value playing in the middle
 
^^^^ it’s a fair point HS but I find it odd when Rein comes on and Peats plays lock too. I think our number 17 strategy in general is not quite right.
 
Rein is a weird one and I honestly can't make a judgement one way or the other on him. He adds energy to our attack no doubt and made a couple of good linebreaks against the Knights, but it seems like he also stifles our attack with his scoots and is a bit of a hog at times when we really need to give the pass. I don't mind him coming off the bench for us but someone needs to tell him to stop going himself 500 times a game.
 
Could we try Cartwright as the number 17? He has utility value and Peats is an 80min player isn’t he?
Maybe if Peats went off with an injury then we’d go Cartwright 5-8 and Brimson hooker.
If Peats doesn’t get injured and plays the 80min then Cartwright does a stint at Lock.
 
Rein did play well last game but that was been one of only a few times that he has. If we are going to persist with him then I don't know why Peats stays on. He's a small middle forward and an easy target. James and Arrow play big minutes every week which leaves the bench very little time on the field. Why not get them out there for some impact?

I agree with what you're saying Bods that the strategy is not quite right and unfortunately I think it comes down to the coach making room for one of his favourite players. The thing that bugs me about Rein is that his defence is very ineffective and gifts the opposition quick play of the balls. Also his service at times can be laboured. Very rarely does he pass from the ground, which ultimately gives our halves less time. Peats is a 80min hooker so why not get creative with our number 17? Lawton was good because he could play plenty of positions but imagine giving Koni a licence where all he had to do was play 20min as hard as he can. It wouldn't always work but it could really lift our team if it did.
 
I have several theories about our recent form.
Notice how other clubs players who were rested after their origin games came back refreshed and played well. We rolled the dice and lost two games.
Jai Arrow had a busted knee and was way down on form and Wallace played without any real aggression. Without any real depth and a few kids elevated to the top squad of 30 just to make up the numbers it was always going to end in tears.

I have no doubt that some of the kids will prove their worth in the future, but it is pretty hard watching at the moment
 
We lost the game when brimson got knocked out and all the fans down that end started abusing the players.

Pretty disgraceful from knights fans some of the **** coming out of their mouths at the players, definitely wouldve got in there head and they scored the next set.

We really need to play 80 minutes these next few weeks if there is any hope for next year.
 
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