DCE and Turbo did not manage that game whatsoever.
I have a nagging feeling that DCE and Turbo ignored the game plan completely. I remember DCE saying something like in an pre-match media interview last year that "whenever we have executed Seibold's game plan, we have won", at whatever point this interview was last year. I took that as an absolute Freudian slip given DCE's frequent headless chook plays.
There is no way in hell Seibold told them to shift on every bloody set, with risky long passes to wingers out of yardage, after defending their own errors. Seibold and the other players prior to this game indicated that the game plan was through the middle and defence. Turbo and DCE apparently did not listen whatsoever.
Defence is not doing the same thing that got you defending in the first place.
Those two (and Jake when he tips it on with nothing doing) always seem to be going for trick plays against opposition they subconsciously think are "beneath them" or whatever. You wouldn't see them pull this crap in a finals game. They never want to complete a set normally. Just attack. Attack. Attack.
I feel like their leadership is part of the reason for the team's inconsistency. Sure, someone like Hopoate, Paseka, etc, will make mistakes occasionally. DCE and Turbo shouldn't be making these same mistakes off these exact same plays set after set, given their place in the game. These "key leaders" don't respect the opposition enough to play conservatively.
That first half, of them throwing **** at the wall and seeing what stuck cost us the game. We were absolutely gassed after those very very avoidable errors. There were so many times where I just wanted them to kick on the last... But no, let's shift to Saab or Hopoate instead, despite DCE having one of the best long kicking games in the NRL. It seriously makes no sense.
We were absolutely fatigued beyond measure by errors, against a team coming off a 12 day turnaround, while we had flown into their country on Tuesday night. That's why we lost the game.
DCE and Turbo need to manage these games better, or hell, at all, because I know they can. They do it in finals games. They do it against Top 8 teams. But nah, let's just throw the ball around against one of the best packs in the comp, because they were a little average two weeks ago. Absolute stupidity.
But now they're injured. Kill me...
At least I can laugh at Penrith, and no one can compare them to us. We can win the comp if Penrith lost to that deadset pathetic Roosters side.