Observations from the Lounge Rd 8

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Bradza

Bencher
Tipping Member
Watched the car wreck on Friday night with great disappointment and these were my thoughts.

? Watmough – consistency is the hallmark of a champion as is playing well in a badly beaten side. Keep it going son.
? The Brisbane forwards were pumped for this game. Their experience and toughness made our pack look like toilers. We were beaten badly at the ruck in both attack and defence. While this was similar to the St George loss the big difference on Friday was that our forwards didn’t make many handling errors, they were just out muscled. It was the backs that made most of the simple errors.
? It is wrong to play down Brisbane’s 4-50 flogging by Melbourne. The same Broncos pack went missing that night. In Melbourne’s losses, their pack has been soft. It can happen in an even comp.
? When Brisbane smashed Parra they were carving the Eels up all over the field. The good thing (if you can call it that) on Friday was that it was mostly our errors that invited Brisbane into our quarter and eventually led to tries. Although Lockyer’s kicking was crap, the end result was a long way in front of what it would have been if Manly of 2003/2004 was out there.
? Brett Stewart had a shocker. I’ll give him a break though, because in his career of 25 games it’s the first time. Not bad for a kid but he needs to bounce straight back from the embarrassment. The Duck also got stage fright.
? King was horrible in the first ten. I don’t know about him getting a knock but I thought he looked very unfit. He ran the ball well later in the match as did Minogue. I think that some others here have a bit of a vendetta against King, emphasising the negatives and downplaying the positives. On his form this year I agree that his City selection is a joke but if he avoids injury it may help in getting him match fit.
? The reality check takes some heat out of the media & fan hype but we need to address our approach to night games in a hurry. The Bulldogs and Eels are both beatable at their home grounds but not if we don’t get our s**t together. If they aren’t already, Des should be holding 2-3 sessions a week under lights. Watch all our away opponents schedule us in for night games from now on.
? It was very disappointing that Rabbits Warren wasn’t commentating on Friday (I think his hem aroids prevent him flying). When Beaver made his break midway through the first half it would have been great to hear him come out with the old call of “MENZEEEEEES�.
? I watched the second half of Premier League at Brookie yesterday and the side played with a severe lack of spark. The Rorters got away with it at the back end of the game (18-10 I think). Curtis, Bryant, Cleal and Cuthbertson are all playing solidly but I have concerns with how any of them will go in 1st grade at prop.
? Very satisfied to see Parra go straight out the back door in both SG Ball (1st) and Harold Matthews (3rd) quarter finals. They are always strong in the juniors. Our SG Ball team beat Penrith (who they lost to in the Harold Matthews semi last year) and have Canberra this Saturday in the semi. They have a great shot at winning this comp.
? Hopefully Des and the other panel beaters & mechanics can get the seaeaglemobile back on the road prior to next weekend.
 
Bradza, you have the skill of clearing through the crap and cutting to the chase. Well summarised.

King certainly polarises people and there are some here that both love and despair about him. I see that he has been talked up for so long as the next big thing - that people are expecting him to deliver! There are glimpses of good form but he is not yet the dominant prop we would like him to be!

Right about our approach to lights though I tend to think it is just as much about playing top teams away from home. They hype about Rep players and the best team in the comp didn't help.

Main thing about this year is that you have to turn up to play - if you don't you will get walloped.
 
I forgot to add an important point.

A big "Well done" to the large number of supporters who travelled to the game. Sorry that you basically got shat on for your effort. I've been there before. Ya pays ya money and ya takes ya chances!

The Manly support showed up well on the coverage even if there wasn't much to cheer about. We'll have to make the trip ourselves one day.
 
Great summary Bradza. King did look unfit and was still puffing about 10 mins in the sheds after he came off. We killed ourselves with the constant dropped ball and always in poor field position. Stewart could be anything and one bad game is the way it goes.
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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