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Big Pete -
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JOINED: .March 11, 2008
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I'm certainly not writing the Sea Eagles off just yet but if they're going to improve on 2021 then they're going to have to re-think their style.
They've fallen into the trap the Bulldogs did under Des where they're constantly relying on middle forwards to be ball-players. In this case it's Jake and the issue is they don't have the go-forward to play expansive football. So Jake is often forcing passes, the defence screams in on the defender, wins the ruck and it just creates all this angst among the playmakers who are trying to force plays instead of playing to the odds. Then you throw Walker into the mix and I think Dylan at times does what's best for himself and not the players around him.
Again, the loss of Schuster can't be underestimated here since he gives them an extra dimension down that left, but if they adjust their engine room and get moving forward it'll make life so much easier. I don't think it's lost on Sea Eagles supporters that once Davey came on, a natural edge forward, the Sea Eagles started to make more inroads.
Even so, territory is so important and their exit sets just leave so much to be desired. Saab really needs to run with more purpose and position his body better. He doesn't play tough enough and both Sydney and Panthers exposed him pretty badly. I'm not sold on their centres either and they really need more improvement out of them, Harper especially seems to trash around and just makes life harder for his own team mates.