One of those days ( nights ).

[Mark from Brisbane]

I’m sure I’ll get howled down for this thread , if so , so be it.

Firstly , just as I expected the Eels to come back after a drubbing , and the Titans to lift themselves off the canvas after a shellacking I certainly expected the Faiders to come out firing last night , and they did.

I also expected the possesion , penalties & 6 agains to even out , and they did.

Once the Faiders got the momentum in the second half ( and especially after that lucky try ) I thought it was inevitable that we were going to lose.

The 2024 competition is full of such stories , the favourites , at home last night the Broncos suffered a similar fate.

Footy tipping this year is a nightmare , there are upsets every week , it’s the nature of the game.

Secondly , yes we are far from perfect , but let’s face it , few sides are , the Storm are robotic and trained that way , the Panthers have about 10,000 kids playing junior football all wanting to be a Panther so regardless of being picked apart they continue to excel year after year.

So yes I’m optimistic ( still ) and I’m not writing off our chances to be top 4 over a couple of bad losses as frustrating as they might be.

So you can either spend the next week living in pessimism , or like me you can push last night into the past , be optimistic and look forward to the next game where we are likely to see a few changes due to injuries last night.

Onwards & upwards !!

#GoManly

 

[davohan123]

I’m sure I’ll get howled down for this thread , if so , so be it.

Firstly , just as I expected the Eels to come back after a drubbing , and the Titans to lift themselves off the canvas after a shellacking I certainly expected the Faiders to come out firing last night , and they did.

I also expected the possesion , penalties & 6 agains to even out , and they did.

Once the Faiders got the momentum in the second half ( and especially after that lucky try ) I thought it was inevitable that we were going to lose.

The 2024 competition is full of such stories , the favourites , at home last night the Broncos suffered a similar fate.

Footy tipping this year is a nightmare , there are upsets every week , it’s the nature of the game.

Secondly , yes we are far from perfect , but let’s face it , few sides are , the Storm are robotic and trained that way , the Panthers have about 10,000 kids playing junior football all wanting to be a Panther so regardless of being picked apart they continue to excel year after year.

So yes I’m optimistic ( still ) and I’m not writing off our chances to be top 4 over a couple of bad losses as frustrating as they might be.

So you can either spend the next week living in pessimism , or like me you can push last night into the past , be optimistic and look forward to the next game where we are likely to see a few changes due to injuries last night.

Onwards & upwards !!

#GoManly

Just how crazy this competition is
We still will be 4th if cowboys win tonight

 

[Hertera]

I certainly expected the Faiders to come out firing last night , and they did.

I also expected the possesion , penalties & 6 agains to even out , and they did.

Sorry appreciate you being positive but that is not true, the raiders were not fired up we led 20 nil as for the penalties were 8-3 our way the 6 agains were 7-5 their way we got a very good run from the ref and as per usual when any heat is turned on us we turn our toes up.

This is just not a one off this is a pattern of under achievement from the club for a decade. If we were a serious club interested in winning comps again not just making up the numbers as many seem happy to be we would be on the phone to Bennett and get him as our coach next season as he wouldn't put up with this crap year after year.

Bennett would jump at our roster over souths but we know this club no longer cares about being a powerhouse we are happy finishing 8th to 14th every season and kidding ourselves we are improving.

If I hear somebody say i hope last night was a wake up call I'll scream. A wake up call from what? we are not Penrith who has a right to get complacent we have done nothing why do our players keep getting a pass for being so mentally soft? no more excuses for this team.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Just how crazy this competition is
We still will be 4th if cowboys win tonight

Yep , people need to look at what’s happening in most of the other clubs , they like us are up & down like a brides nightie.

I get that people want to vent , which is why I didn’t bother posting this last night , but if you step back & look at the competition ( apart from a few ) it is almost like a lottery.

 

[Disco]

This is interesting.....still not excuse for giving up a 20 point lead

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

This is interesting.....still not excuse for giving up a 20 point lead

Yeah I saw that.

I agree about the 20 point lead BUT the game is so bloody fickle these days , if you rewatch the game you’ll see the momentum changed once they scored their first try , and funnily enough , just before this the commentary team were talking about them “ hanging in as the stats will change “

I literally cannot stand the 6 again penalties , they happen on the run , they aren’t explained , they have the ability to completely change how a game is going and we as fans just have to accept them as it’s part of the “ entertainment “ factor.

Yes one of the top few teams wouldn’t have capitulated last night, but I almost guarantee the next 15 sides would have.

With momentum , comes 6 agains / penalties & loads of possesion , even the best sides struggle to overcome that.

 

[Disco]

I agree that momentum can be tough to overcome especially if a few decisions go against you.

But you can absolve the team. They have a role to play, they can strip things back, get into the grind and settle that momentum down.

 

[mave]

You don't change momentum by playing touch footy when you actually see the ball.

You get in the grind...something we seemingly aren't interested in.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I agree that momentum can be tough to overcome especially if a few decisions go against you.

But you can absolve the team. They have a role to play, they can strip things back, get into the grind and settle that momentum down.

Agree , defence on the line is so important , but do yourself a favour , watch a game involving one of the top sides , they’ll absorb loads of pressure BUT even they can’t hold out when the ref gives 3-4 6 agains in a row.

But it’s often the repeat 6 agains in the middle of the field that cause the biggest issues , sides can steamroll up field and then by the time the opposition is on the line defending they’ve already done 12-16 tackles and it’s nigh on impossible to keep a side with momentum out.

They are a plague on the game.

 

[Once Was Brissie Kid]

Six again were meant to replace the referee giving a penalty. Instead we've got six agains all over the place where they never would have been a penalty blown under the old rules.
It is destroying rugby league and the referees are out of control.
They have turned rugby league from a game between two opposing footy teams, into a three-cornered contest between the two teams playing each other PLUS playing up to the referee/rulebook.

 

[The Who]

Sorry appreciate you being positive but that is not true, the raiders were not fired up we led 20 nil as for the penalties were 8-3 our way the 6 agains were 7-5 their way we got a very good run from the ref and as per usual when any heat is turned on us we turn our toes up.

This is just not a one off this is a pattern of under achievement from the club for a decade. If we were a serious club interested in winning comps again not just making up the numbers as many seem happy to be we would be on the phone to Bennett and get him as our coach next season as he wouldn't put up with this crap year after year.

Bennett would jump at our roster over souths but we know this club no longer cares about being a powerhouse we are happy finishing 8th to 14th every season and kidding ourselves we are improving.

If I hear somebody say i hope last night was a wake up call I'll scream. A wake up call from what? we are not Penrith who has a right to get complacent we have done nothing why do our players keep getting a pass for being so mentally soft? no more excuses for this team.

Yep. I've seen this type of performance over the past decade to write it off as "a wake-up call". There is something amiss mentally when we lose so many matches to average opponents after holding big leads.

 

[BOZO]

This is interesting.....still not excuse for giving up a 20 point lead

No Excuse
We lost our Home ground advantage
We lost our 12 man sin bin advantage
We lost our 20 point lead advantage
Ricky Stuarts players played for Ricky and they played Tenacious like Ricky and Won

 

[mickqld]

The Broncos weren't playing a 2nd string average faders team with rookie halves. Plus the Broncos lost their halfback and 5/8th and fell apart only after that. We had a near full strength team, at home and 20 points in front. No team that can be considered as a top 4 contender side will serve up that rubbish. I thought we'd put that Dragons effort behind us but no , nothing has changed from the last decade of failure.

 

[HoldenV8]

We have been touted as top 4.

Our attack may be that whenever it clicks (it still hasn't IMO), but no way in hell is our defence worthy of such high praise (well, Jake maybe. But the rest of the squad???).

AT BEST I think we're Finalists, but only from positions 6, 7 or 8. And unless we improve our defence we're just making up the numbers in 2024.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Appreciate the positivity, Mark, but it feels like last night's game showed up every area - and almost all of them are to do with effort - this team has been lacking in for years. Always taking the easy options, trying to score off every play, no real structure in attack when it matters, no real structure in defence (ever), no resilience, an inability to keep a lead or fight against momentum, stupid mistake after stupid mistake after stupid mistake…

It's just frustrating to see no real improvement. Someone pointed out in another thread that we are on exactly the same amount of points as we were this time last year, and we all know how that turned out.

 

[Damien2812]

We have plenty of soft players especially when it's against teams you should be putting to the sword. What I saw in the 2nd half was a team that wasn't interested in putting anymore effort and was trying to take the easy way out at 24-6. The raiders caught us with our pants down and embarrassed us in what was dubbed "members appreciation round". Our forwards played terrible in the 2nd half and our game management was atrocious. We also have some dumb players trying to look for that amazing try instead of grinding the opposition to the ground like Penrith do.

 

[swoop]

We have lots of the "one of those nights" especially against teams we should have beaten easily.

 

[mickqld]

Appreciate the positivity, Mark, but it feels like last night's game showed up every area - and almost all of them are to do with effort - this team has been lacking in for years. Always taking the easy options, trying to score off every play, no real structure in attack when it matters, no real structure in defence (ever), no resilience, an inability to keep a lead or fight against momentum, stupid mistake after stupid mistake after stupid mistake…

It's just frustrating to see no real improvement. Someone pointed out in another thread that we are on exactly the same amount of points as we were this time last year, and we all know how that turned out.

Exactly, but the headless chook plays , confused attacking shapes , poor directed passes and at times clueless plays were evident from the start of the game. That all comes back on the senior leaders DCE , Tom , Croker , Brooks , Jake and its been a symptom for a decade now.

 

[HK_Eagle]

"Members appreciation round"... how shallow those words appear the day after.

 

[mickqld]

"Members appreciation round"... how shallow those words appear the day after.

From what I've been told from someone that was at the game there was a fair bit of booing at the end and it wasn't directed at the referee.