The No-Look News (Schuster Chronicles)

frank stokes

I discriminate indiscriminately
I am not a massive fan of Schu (kid has obvious talent but I don’t see him as a future leader and I have my doubts about certain aspects of his game) but I can’t fault his effort yesterday…
He was not great but he played his role and any shape that our attack did have was the result of Schu’s involvement… plus his defence gets a pass (the bell curve saved him)…
He was on a hiding-to-nothing yesterday because so many around him were failing to perform their role..
 

Bearfax

Grizzly old fart
Even the best of stars are not going to be effective if the side can only get 38% of the ball, miss 42 tackles, 25 ineffective tackles and 66% completion rate. Clever players have to be in a good attacking position to win you games. If they dont retain possession and dont tackle as a unit, Wally Lewis would struggle. This is a coaching issue and Seibold to me is making the same mistakes Barrett and latter day Hasler made. Bob Fulton stressed the need to tackle as a unit and retain possession. That's why he won. Early days Hasler knew that also. That's why St George won 12 titles in a row. Retain possession. Tackle as a unit. Blaming Schuster is missing the point. Is Spud on the coaching staff. I'd get him there. Get some grunt into this side.
 

SeaEagleRock8

Sea Eagle Lach
Tipping Member
Even the best of stars are not going to be effective if the side can only get 38% of the ball, miss 42 tackles, 25 ineffective tackles and 66% completion rate. Clever players have to be in a good attacking position to win you games. If they dont retain possession and dont tackle as a unit, Wally Lewis would struggle. This is a coaching issue and Seibold to me is making the same mistakes Barrett and latter day Hasler made. Bob Fulton stressed the need to tackle as a unit and retain possession. That's why he won. Early days Hasler knew that also. That's why St George won 12 titles in a row. Retain possession. Tackle as a unit. Blaming Schuster is missing the point
Schu's kick for Koula on tackle 3 in the 1st half was a terrible play. Everyone else on the field and watching would have known Manly needed possession, we were under the pump after defending with 12 and Eels dominating possession. He threw possession away with a poor kick.
At that stage Manly was 'only' 14 behind and needed to get in the grind for 10 min to get through to half time. But a few minutes later we were cracked again and went to half time basically beaten at 20 behind.
It was a flashy high-risk short-cut play when effort and holding one's nerve were needed, and executed without thought or skill.
The loss wasn't Schu's fault but he didn't help, he was part of the problem.
 

frank stokes

I discriminate indiscriminately
Schu's kick for Koula on tackle 3 in the 1st half was a terrible play. Everyone else on the field and watching would have known Manly needed possession, we were under the pump after defending with 12 and Eels dominating possession. He threw possession away with a poor kick.
At that stage Manly was 'only' 14 behind and needed to get in the grind for 10 min to get through to half time. But a few minutes later we were cracked again and went to half time basically beaten at 20 behind.
It was a flashy high-risk short-cut play when effort and holding one's nerve were needed, and executed without thought or skill.
The loss wasn't Schu's fault but he didn't help, he was part of the problem.
That was a very poor play and probably the canary-in-the-mine for our team attitude there was no desire to get into the grind and do the little things well…

we got distracted trying to make the big play - Paseka getting the ball ripped out by Gutho is an example… too busy concentrating on scoring to protect possession - no way should Gutho be able to rip a ball out of Paseka hands, the big fella turned off and got spanked…
 

mickqld

Sea Eagle forever
Tipping Member
Haumole going for the strip on Ogden is another example, a brain snap? Short cut? Not sure what he was thinking but it didn't assist Manly's cause!
Exactly. It was an attempted shortcut. Something this side consistently throws up. Too many players looking for an easy out.
 

Uber Eagle 72

Reserve Grader
When you don’t get the ball and the forwards are getting run over I would imagine if you have the skill that it would be tempting to try some of those miracle plays.
 

frank stokes

I discriminate indiscriminately
Staying in the grind only works if we can actually stay in the grind.

We weren't grinding last night, we were getting steam-rolled from the moment Keppie dropped the ball on the Parra line.
Agreed but that is on us… a large part of staying in the grind is concentrating on not making errors…

We dropped balls cold (before contact) and made PTB errors which is unforgivable at NRL level and says a lot about the mental approach of our squad…
 

mave

First Grader
Premium Member
Tipping Member
Agreed but that is on us… a large part of staying in the grind is concentrating on not making errors…

We dropped balls cold (before contact) and made PTB errors which is unforgivable at NRL level and says a lot about the mental approach of our squad…

Of course, but we are discussing this in the context of Shu trying a miracle play......I'm saying that decision is largely due to us getting steam-rolled.....cause we sucked at the grind.
 

frank stokes

I discriminate indiscriminately
Of course, but we are discussing this in the context of Shu trying a miracle play......I'm saying that decision is largely due to us getting steam-rolled.....cause we sucked at the grind.
Fair point but I would argue that there had been no grind… we were unable (or unwilling) to make the game go for long periods without giving up cheap possession or field position…

Arthur’s kick for touch in the first 10 min was a clear sign of our approach to the grind…

I am not putting anything on Schu as I think he was generally alright but that was the wrong play at the wrong time and had a very low chance of success…
 

Bearfax

Grizzly old fart
Schu's kick for Koula on tackle 3 in the 1st half was a terrible play. Everyone else on the field and watching would have known Manly needed possession, we were under the pump after defending with 12 and Eels dominating possession. He threw possession away with a poor kick.
At that stage Manly was 'only' 14 behind and needed to get in the grind for 10 min to get through to half time. But a few minutes later we were cracked again and went to half time basically beaten at 20 behind.
It was a flashy high-risk short-cut play when effort and holding one's nerve were needed, and executed without thought or skill.
The loss wasn't Schu's fault but he didn't help, he was part of the problem.


Noticed how when players get desperate for the big play they can make mistakes. DCE has been blamed often for this. If it comes off he's a champion. If not he's a dunce. What you said is correct. Manly is under the pump,. He's looking for a way out. Turned out a bad play, but when your side is copping a hammering, risky plays are often attempted. He'll kick like that in future and many times he'll be a champion like his try against the Dolphins. Risky but bounced into his arms, try. Its those risky clever plays that win games. Koula gets it in the clear, no one will catch him. But they don't always come off. A gamble but worth a punt
 

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