Post-Game Discussion Manly v Storm [Round 21, 2021]

[cc eagle]

I get your point, but slightly different scenario - not many plays on a field that lead to a try for one team or the other regardless. Your examples involve 4-6 points gained or saved and there are a hundred of those sliding doors moments in a game.

So I'm not sure what point you're making about Saabs try, was that a sliding door moment, a poor pass or skill on Saabs part to anticipate the pass and make sure he catches it ?

 

[Highflier]

When Fox & CH9 review the game & the Brandon Smith milking dive, I’ll bet you London to a brick they’ll all laugh & say, “what a character he is”,
the block of Casu Marzu cheese.
I must be lactose intolerant when it comes to that bloke.

agree i think he is a 24 carrot milker

 

[manly al]

Take out the couple of lucky tries by the Storm from kicks and some costly unforced and even uncharacteristic errors by Manly at crucial times and think that Manly matched up to them pretty well . 40 % of possession in the i st but Manly were still able to hang in there with some gritty play and if not for the Alioia error after that early 2 nd half set resumption , could have had the Storm back on their heels for a good while. Know that they have a couple of quality forwards to return but think that Manly can increase their competitiveness also with a better completion rate and better rub of the green by the game day ref . Again showed that Manly have the attack and attacking variation to trouble any top side , tighten up the ruck a bit and cut out the errors and better field position and attacking opportunities are inevitable . No way the Storm dominated Manly last night , and must have given the Manly troops some real confidence that they can match ti with any of the top ranked sides . Just not sure that Walker can spend long stints in the middle , still a good player but a big ask to aim up against some big units in the ruck area , Parker :s defence may still be a consideration to still keep Suli out but only just and would even contemplate him ahead of Siro on the bench taking into account that Jake can move to prop at any stage . Disappointing in the final wash up considering how close we pushed them for most of the game and with plenty of things going against Manly but if they are the current bench mark , think that Manly are not that far from getting them

 

[Eagle thru 'n' thru]

Next time Manly play the drizzle, probably during the finals, I suspect Kaufusi and big Nelson would be back which would make winning that little more difficult.

 

[wedgetail eagle]

agree i think he is a 24 carrot milker

True. He’s a Jersey cow, all dairy related, milking = cheese, etc.

 

[ManEagle]

Always dissapointed with a loss, that said sometimes you need a loss to move forward.
Would have been worse long term if we had jagged a win while playing like that.

They can regroup, gain that experience and know what needs to be done in order to compete against top 3 teams, ie respect the ball and limit the mistakes.

In many ways the game and win against the Squeels and raiders are way more Important than this game at this stage.

 

[QueefRichards]

In hindsight Melbourne were without some props like NAS, we still have to work on how to shut them and their tricks down.

I still think we have it in us to play them twice more this year

 

[Fibro Eagle]

Plenty of effort from the team last night , Been mentioned that the teams errors cost them , Even for allowing some dubious calls
Can take a lot out of the game if they play again could get a different result with less errors will help but remembering that good teams can force errors from the opposition
Manly are finals bound and that’s a given then anything can happen

 

[Rafferty]

Next time Manly play the drizzle, probably during the finals, I suspect Kaufusi and big Nelson would be back which would make winning that little more difficult.

And feel that much better when we do

 

[bob dylan]

Gee I recall most of our errors were no in attack plays.

Aloiai - off kickoff
Turbo bomb drop - defense
Reuben - defense

If you ask me, what I saw from Cherry, Foran, Turbo and Schuster in attack and they way they set up the wingers was first class - full steam attack please. That's how we can win the comp.

If we try and grind and play high percentage possessions with teams like that, we are guaranteed to lose.

NYEagle

Errors!

You might also want to look at our captains kicking game a couple out the back for 7 tackle resets and that goal line dropout was straight out of the Luke Brooks play book.

 

[Shoe1]

Yeah Parker hasn’t been at his best the past two weeks but he doesn’t get exposed in defence as much as Suli and Walker would.

Apart from the drop ball in the first half and last 10 seconds he did ok I thought. Pulled off a big tackle on our line in the last 10 mins.

 

[cc eagle]

Just caught the end of ch9 footy show discussing our game, sterlo and Freddy giving us big wraps, Freddy saying Hughes never tried to catch the bomb, just bumped tom to put him off, also if we had 58% possession we win

 

[Snake]

They say you learn more from a loss than a win, so that's good!
Storm's line speed is impressive but how annoying the TV doesn't give a slightly wider angle so we can see how often they jump the gun.
We've now been 'in the game' until quite late against each of Souths, Penrith and Storm so despite losing each time I don't think the players will be disheartened. That was probably the biggest game so far for the likes of Saab, Schu, Haumole, Harper, Sipley, Croker, and the experience will be invaluable.
As Des said, 'we've got a fair idea what we need to improve' so I'm confident we'll be better next time.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with the ‘experience’ tag. That’s the biggest thing to take away from the game. The younger players need to be exposed to big games against quality opposition under final-like intensity to keep developing.

 

[Shoe1]

Errors!

You might also want to look at our captains kicking game a couple out the back for 7 tackle resets and that goal line dropout was straight out of the Luke Brooks play book.

The 40-20 that went touch in goal was unlucky. It was a monster kick.

 

[Shoe1]

Fearless prediction: storm will have a bit of a slump now after that tough game v manly.

 

[cc eagle]

Replay on Fox, just before halftime when we made a break and got a penalty, Bromwich could easily have been binned for Proff foul, Hynes made the tackle on DCE called held and Bromwich jumps on to slow down the play the ball as we'd just made a break

 

[Rafferty]

Just caught the end of ch9 footy show discussing our game, sterlo and Freddy giving us big wraps, Freddy saying Hughes never tried to catch the bomb, just bumped tom to put him off, also if we had 58% possession we win

I said the same thing re Hughes, he played it perfectly eyes for the ball all the way in, then no contest, he played Tom off the ball.
And I‘m with Sterlo and Freddy there was plenty to like even though we were our own worst enemy, looking forward to the rematch more than they will be.

 

[ALinda]

We played poorly when we needed to be near perfect to win. That was basically the difference. I thought Gee gave us a hard time and them a leg up.
Top 4 is massive this year imo as no home ground advantage will create lottery games in the 5 through 8 matches. We are still a chance for the top 4 but must take care of an injury riddled Parra next week.

Lawton was the perfect player to mix it with B Smith (who again I thought gave us the most trouble). That gaffe was in Des. Alioai seems to make costly errors and I thought the Storm did a good job early of targeting our edge backrowers (Guac in particular). As others have said this will be good for us, however I still think we are a shout this year but jagging position 4 could yet be the determining factor.

This pretty much sums up my post game thoughts.

Gee-whiz he was a 'whizz' at giving the scum several leg-ups. We got no 50/50 calls and frustratingly it seemed every time they got the ball they got a set repeat.

Lawton should've definitely got more game time, which would've helped particularly in the 2nd half. Aloiai was disappointing and needs to find his mojo from pre wrist injury.

We'll be all the better for experiencing last night's game and, if we can effectively win our next 2 games and get in the 4, anything can happen.

 

[NYEagle]

Fearless prediction: storm will have a bit of a slump now after that tough game v manly.

While the Storm are an excellent team with a good balance of players, after last nights game I am not sure they are as good as they have appeared to be against weaker sides they ripped 16 in a row from prior to playing us. I think we look better in attack, and our defense more than handled them. Look at all the tackles they had in our half, and yet of the three tries in the second half two were super lucky and the other one was from Ola not jumping up (or being able to) to get back in the line to stop the rabid dog from scoring.

I think the Storm are very balanced and consistent, but they might be found out against sides like Souths, Manly and Penrith who have more strike power at full strength (and this has happened several times over the last 15 years in the semis so it would not be new). But I do leave the caveat in the that the Storm were missing Solomona, Kafusi, Karma Kameleon, and Jennings. All four add something to what they had out there.

NYEagle

 

[eaglebuzz]

The 40-20 that went touch in goal was unlucky. It was a monster kick.

So was the obstruction call against DCE. That would be play on 99 times out of 100.