Pre-Game Souths v Manly [Finals Week 3, 2021]

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V

32 10
Suncorp Stadium
24 Sep 2021 07:50 PM

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God help us ,lets just hope they are reffing 2 sides not just one .I'd probably prefer Klien than Sutton after the last finals performance from him with us in it .
Go Manly
 

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Ashley Klein

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Jon Stone

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Phil Henderson

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Grant Atkins

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Thanks @Jethro for the edit
 
Well that's souths and us full strength less latrine

And storm full strength also.

It will be interesting to see how the week rest vs playing last week debate fairs this week.

Souths look on paper very strong but so do we.

Really in all honesty all the pressure this week is on souths and panthers for different reasons. This week for us is a genuine free shot at souths.
 
I forgot to add that the data rates 8 of our players higher than the 14 of the Bunnies (including the bench), but less so on the bench however surprisingly more so equal in the forwards and equal in the backs.

Lies, lies and damn statistics and I'm sure Dessie has much more data than I have. It's just a fun thing I've been doing post round 4 (after round 9) to try and understand where the improvement came from and what improved and you would be surprised at what has improved.

To be honest, looking at what improved, I think it was simply confidence. Bloody Harry! If you go back to round 1 to round 4 the defensive structure on the right edge was non-existent, Suli was hopeless which ended up with Saab looking like a kangaroo in headlights.

A mate and myself were laughing on the weekend on a picnic with four of us (doing the right thing) and we'd like to see a race with 'Harry' (given he has already beaten Turbo), Jason Saab and Josh Addo-Carr down the Corso at Manly. I think it would be a classic and a great promotion... just for fun.
 
So who does Des start up front. Will he go Keppie , Aloiai again or go back to the experience and size of Taupau and Paseka. Or combination of Taupau and Aloiai. We need to get on top from the start but I feel Taupau is more effective coming on after 20min.
 
I feel for Toff Sipley, and think we might get more value out of him than Lawton.

The issue is that Sipley looks completely spent after only 10-15 minutes. IIRC last time he played he clocked off from the scrum and it directly led to a simple try. Deficiencies like that are going to get exposed in a prelim final.

Lawton can cover backrow and hooker well and can play 60-80 minutes if needed.
 
I'd start Keppie again personally. Kid showed he was up for it against a very solid forward pack, and got us the go-forward we needed early.

Marty had a decent game when he came on, but Keppie was in my top-3 MVP last week, thought he was that impactful.

The Souths pack is intimidating, but so was the Rooters pack. One very big difference is their 9 is much more accomplished.

Getting the better of Campbell Graham/Dane Gagai in the Centres is key as they provide the link to create overlaps from Walker/Reynolds crabbing it across the defensive line. They also have a good ability to break tackles and the bunnies Souths have good decoy play - classic Bennett.

We have the ammo, just need the discipline and consistency. They don't have as many pts in them without Mitchell, and running Fwds/Turbo at Reynolds will yield line-breaks - just need our support play on point.
 
Legally bash Reynolds and Walker at every opportunity, if they are off their game Souths will struggle. Bunnies left edge attack is deadly inside the oppositions 20 but don't score much from outside the 20. Win the field position battle, win the game.
There's the difference. We score a lot from outside the 20. More than any other team. Keep them coming out of their 20m zone like we did the Chooks.
 

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