Mr Bods
Inactive User
In here with the more astute followers things will be much calmer than out there in the Facebook/Twitter/newspaper comments/bar flys world.
Round 8: TITANS vs SHARKS (2018)
- Thread starter DIEHARD
- Start date
In here with the more astute followers things will be much calmer than out there in the Facebook/Twitter/newspaper comments/bar flys world.
DIEHARD
Administrator
Yeah me too, I’m not going to start throwing rocks at a bloke after half a dozen rounds. We were 15th with 2 wins after round 8 last year so for mine we are in front.
Our problem is we all want results NOW and realistically that’s not going to happen. I’m pretty sure that was the consensus once Garth was appointed and the roster changed.
I bloody well hope it does but all things being equal if we made the 8 this year I’d be happy as a pig in the proverbial.
I vowed to try not to get in the negative bandwagon too soon and I’m sticking with it and still have faith in the coach big time.
#thrunthru
RavShamrock
First Grader
:thumbsup:
DavidBouveng
Coach
Ash really hasn't done a lot since the first week when he brought us back into the fold against the raiders.
Matt Johns is all over ash as the next big thing, but i think Nathan Cleary is TWICE the footballer, athlete and professional that Ash is at this point and Cleary is a few years younger.
I hope LG gets some confidence in Q Cup - that is what had him primed for his debut a few years ago so lets hope. Most of the forwards have been ok - Arrow, Wallace and King the standouts for me.
i dont know if Ash cant pass to the right, or he and Proctor cant time it, but Proctor is always having to turn, or slow, or reach high for his pass and so can never hit the line properly.
Koni is a hot mess, and his first THREE touches were drops. He is lucky the second was after a shark error, and the third he got lucky with a penalty. he looks sweaty and unfit and i cringe every time he has the ball.
Elliot defended MUCH better then i could have hoped, and actually Ash was super strong on his side. Seems we only let them make metres in the last minute when it counted most... unfortunate.
Arrow should be first picked for QLD and is doing it all with a crook back. most of the others should be a bit embarrassed the new guy is carrying the team on his back. I joked to a friend when we were down 9-2 other night that Arrow would have to score the try, kick the goal, the field goal then take in the pads and corner post after the game by himself as he is the only bloke out there it seems. Wallace has been a willing ally for Arrow. Broncs must be on suicide watch.
From memory the tigers werent too crash hot last year when ivan came in round 4, and its taken them a full year to turn it around, which is still surprisingly quick, so maybe we need to give it some time for the Brennan method to sink in and become the titans method.
that said - almost all of our good recruits are still Neil Henry's (and his team's) doing - Arrow, Wallace, Ash, Copley, King etc. Brennan gets doughnuts for his so far, except for Rein who gets a pass mark. Lets hope he is the football player whisperer he is alleged to be and these guys come good.
Matt Johns is all over ash as the next big thing, but i think Nathan Cleary is TWICE the footballer, athlete and professional that Ash is at this point and Cleary is a few years younger.
I hope LG gets some confidence in Q Cup - that is what had him primed for his debut a few years ago so lets hope. Most of the forwards have been ok - Arrow, Wallace and King the standouts for me.
i dont know if Ash cant pass to the right, or he and Proctor cant time it, but Proctor is always having to turn, or slow, or reach high for his pass and so can never hit the line properly.
Koni is a hot mess, and his first THREE touches were drops. He is lucky the second was after a shark error, and the third he got lucky with a penalty. he looks sweaty and unfit and i cringe every time he has the ball.
Elliot defended MUCH better then i could have hoped, and actually Ash was super strong on his side. Seems we only let them make metres in the last minute when it counted most... unfortunate.
Arrow should be first picked for QLD and is doing it all with a crook back. most of the others should be a bit embarrassed the new guy is carrying the team on his back. I joked to a friend when we were down 9-2 other night that Arrow would have to score the try, kick the goal, the field goal then take in the pads and corner post after the game by himself as he is the only bloke out there it seems. Wallace has been a willing ally for Arrow. Broncs must be on suicide watch.
From memory the tigers werent too crash hot last year when ivan came in round 4, and its taken them a full year to turn it around, which is still surprisingly quick, so maybe we need to give it some time for the Brennan method to sink in and become the titans method.
that said - almost all of our good recruits are still Neil Henry's (and his team's) doing - Arrow, Wallace, Ash, Copley, King etc. Brennan gets doughnuts for his so far, except for Rein who gets a pass mark. Lets hope he is the football player whisperer he is alleged to be and these guys come good.
Whats Doing
Rep Player
I think Garth is going great with cattle he was dealt with although I do question some of his players he had brought in. Look at Newcastle, it took 3 years to rebuild the disaster that Bennett built but it requires a punt on exciting talent a la Ponga and a blend of experience such as Pearce, Griffen etc. Now I would be taking a big punt on Haas and or TJP
Titanic
Immortal
Ponga is a once in a generation player.
DavidBouveng
Coach
yeah the difference is that Brown made the choice to break Newcastle down to beaded glass and start from the lowest of the low.
Garth ( and Neil who could have done the same as Brown at the same time, but chose to top up rather than rebuild and now we are behind the knights developmentally ) looks like he is going to rebuild on the fly rather than bust it up.
Whether or not they had Ponga Pearce etc this year, Brown has taught them all RUGBY LEAGUE and how to be an NRL player over the last few years, and they have a solid foundation of what is required, so all they needed was a top up of class, and were in fact already beginning to compete with out them last year.
It means newcastle dropped lower and won spoons but have built strength and lasting change whereas we are in danger of just floating around the mid to low areas for the foreseeable future
Garth ( and Neil who could have done the same as Brown at the same time, but chose to top up rather than rebuild and now we are behind the knights developmentally ) looks like he is going to rebuild on the fly rather than bust it up.
Whether or not they had Ponga Pearce etc this year, Brown has taught them all RUGBY LEAGUE and how to be an NRL player over the last few years, and they have a solid foundation of what is required, so all they needed was a top up of class, and were in fact already beginning to compete with out them last year.
It means newcastle dropped lower and won spoons but have built strength and lasting change whereas we are in danger of just floating around the mid to low areas for the foreseeable future
I don't think we have got to the point where we have needed to do that though DB. Neil built us a squad which should be able to compete and has done it by bringing local players home. He begun installing that sense of pride in the jersey but unfortunately was undone by the decision to bring in a marketing machine which I think he had nothing to do with. I think we are still seeing the effects of what Jarryd did on Ash because the way he sulks and drifts out of games is exactly the same as Jarryd did.
In saying that I'm not unhappy that Garth is there. He has shown some promising signs of being a good coach. I'm just a bit concerned that he has his blinders on when he it comes to a few players which he has had previous experience with. It was good to see he dropped Latu because he was going terribly, but Cartwright has played 20min of good rugby since being here and has been in the 17 every week. After seeing the article about Bryce's girlfriend texting Garth after the Broncos game concerned of his mental state, I wonder if he has the heart to drop him.
I feel our squad just really lacks some ex factor. Although Mick has been really solid at fullback, I think he could do just as good as job as Don on the wing so be shifted to accomodate Brimson at fullback. It's clear we aren't going to seriously challenge the comp this year (or even the eight) so why not bring him in and get used to the big grade. It worked for Dufty last year and AJ really does have something we are missing - speed and agility.
I also would love to see us have a play at TPJ or Haas to add some size to our front row and move James back out to Elgeys edge. Not only would it beef up our forwards but it has the added benefit of getting one back on the donkeys as well!
In saying that I'm not unhappy that Garth is there. He has shown some promising signs of being a good coach. I'm just a bit concerned that he has his blinders on when he it comes to a few players which he has had previous experience with. It was good to see he dropped Latu because he was going terribly, but Cartwright has played 20min of good rugby since being here and has been in the 17 every week. After seeing the article about Bryce's girlfriend texting Garth after the Broncos game concerned of his mental state, I wonder if he has the heart to drop him.
I feel our squad just really lacks some ex factor. Although Mick has been really solid at fullback, I think he could do just as good as job as Don on the wing so be shifted to accomodate Brimson at fullback. It's clear we aren't going to seriously challenge the comp this year (or even the eight) so why not bring him in and get used to the big grade. It worked for Dufty last year and AJ really does have something we are missing - speed and agility.
I also would love to see us have a play at TPJ or Haas to add some size to our front row and move James back out to Elgeys edge. Not only would it beef up our forwards but it has the added benefit of getting one back on the donkeys as well!