Wasting Away

[Snake]

DCE is a good player.

DCE needs to be better.

These two polarities can exist in the same universe. It doesn't have to be black and white.

 

[The Who]

I'm hoping the fact that it was a wet day contributed to DCE's shocker. He may need a dry track.
As pointed out pre-match, we rarely win at Leichhardt. Even when we had a terrific side we'd lose. Same when we play at Illawarra.
Coming up against Easts without AFB, Turbo, Walker and Duck doesn't imbue me with much joy. DCE will need to have a blinder just to keep us competitive.

 

[47MVEagle]

I was thinking maybe they should look at lessening DCEs burden by making someone else captain, or making DCE & someone else co-captains.

Could be he just needs to focus on his game & leave the captaining to someone else?

 

[Sue]

Snake is right. DCE is a good player but needs to be better.
There is no doubt plenty of credence to the fact a good six would help him and the team by giving him more time and room to operate.

But the elephant in the room and the issue that has been a constant for the last 3 or 4 years and again on Saturday is the incredibly slow play the ball speed even by guys who have good post contact metres and the subsequent lack of time this gives our playmakers and kickers.

Going forward means absolutely nothing if the play the ball on the back of it is like an 80 year old playing tunnel ball.

I have read so many posts about refs getting in the way, unlucky bounces, bad luck .....
Have a look at the second half. At the tigers play the ball speed, at their runners and kickers taking the ball to the advantage line on the back of the quick ruck and have a look at how few play the balls we had in the tigers quarter because they had eons to set their defensive line as grandma played the ball. That’s why we usually get beat and why we will continue to get beat till it changes.

Penalties and mistakes come as we lose the field position battle due to our play the ball speed and we lose. Sam Burgess made a similar comment in the pre match.

And surely it can be fixed. It simply requires quality forwards ( which we have ) with the right ATTITUDE.
Tigers beat us fairly and squarely because they had the right attitude.

 

[BOZO]

A new combination takes more than just one game to gel .

In round one with the Green DCE combo in 2017 we lost to Parra at HOME 20 - 12

 

[tookey]

Our wrestle and attempts to get opposition players on their backs in the tackle seems non existent which also allows the opposition to play the ball much quicker

 

[Sue]

R

A new combination takes more than just one game to gel .

In round one with the Green DCE combo in 2017 we lost to Parra at HOME 20 - 12

Quick play the balls and determination to get to your feet in the ruck and slowing down the opposition carries come down to the determination and attitude of individuals. It has absolutely nothing to do with combinations Bozo.

You can have the best halves combination in the game and if all they see when they look up is a sea of opposition jerseys then you generally lose. Exhibit A
The Roosters monstered Melbourne in the ruck in the GF. Smith and Munster were clueless.The roosters have brilliant backs and they finished the job.

 

[Sue]

Our wrestle and attempts to get opposition players on their backs in the tackle seems non existent which also allows the opposition to play the ball much quicker

Yep and that is just a reflection of the attitude we have when playing the ball in reverse. Winning the ruck and field position gives your backs the chance to slam home the advantage.

 

[SeaEagle28]

Agree DCE is a class player but all to easy for opponents to target him as own only playmaker and as all they other years tries to do everything. Jack of all trades master of none.
See Des has been quite a stragically public on Elgey already after game 1 so no Barrett like complicity on this fact as with Croker and basically saying we need to share the team and back yourself.
Maybe we actually need a half back moving forward to control the game DCE at 6 to play freely and Des consider passing the captaincy over to the right person and say run forest run!

 

[Ralphie]

Looks like 2019 will be another of DCE's prime years flushed down the toilet because we lack a decent 6.

Why, after seeing how much better we fare with a Blake Green level talent to spread the pressure, do they consistently trot out people who aren't up for it? They may as well run him out with a giant sign over his head that says direct your defence here. His efforts in the rep teams show he is definitely not the problem.

Considering Winterstein is gone, have Walkers dead money off the books next year and our cap penalty ends, surely they can splash a little on a first grade level 6 at some point!

We can’t afford a decent 6. DCE used too much cap when he put his hand up to be paid to be “the man.”

 

[Disco]

We can’t afford a decent 6. DCE used too much cap when he put his hand up to be paid to be “the man.”

Nonsense, Dragons are paying Hunt the same and they have two in Widdop and Norman

 

[Sue]

Ennis just had a rant on NRL today about our problems in the middle against Tigers in the second half.

Said Dessy was the losing coach under the most pressure and this was due to to his lack of cattle to back up the stars.

I hated this rat when he played but like Brandy , he’s pretty good behind a microphone.

 

[ALinda]

I was thinking maybe they should look at lessening DCEs burden by making someone else captain, or making DCE & someone else co-captains.

Could be he just needs to focus on his game & leave the captaining to someone else?

Spot on. I suggested exactly this in another thread yesterday (got no reaction but the post may have been lost).

I said something like I think DCE would be better off focussing on his halfback role and that I want to see maybe Jake or Joel revving up the team, especially when the chips are down.

 

[Snake]

Ennis just had a rant on NRL today about our problems in the middle against Tigers in the second half.

Said Dessy was the losing coach under the most pressure and this was due to to his lack of cattle to back up the stars.

I hated this rat when he played but like Brandy , he’s pretty good behind a microphone.

What a ****ing stupid thing to say though...I mean it's the first round and it's Dessie's first match of a three year deal...and the irony of it all is that if it is indeed a "cattle" problem, then that negates rather than amplifies pressure on a coach?!

Ennis was punted by Des so I would take anything he says about Hasler with a grain of salt. Dessie is under absolute no pressure whatsoever as we speak.

As for our troubles in the middle, if you look at the stats, our play-the-ball speed was 3.0s to the Tigers 3.3s. The finish to the sets and therefore the field position, coupled with time in possession is what lost us that game. The platform couldn't really be laid because the forwards were gassed, having failed to turn the Tigers big men around. I was looking at the aggression and sting in the Tigers defence and it will always look like the opposition is hitting harder and getting off the line quicker because they are much fresher having done less defence and less tough carries out of their own end.

 

[Sue]

What a ****ing stupid thing to say though...I mean it's the first round and it's Dessie's first match of a three year deal...and the irony of it all is that if it is indeed a "cattle" problem, then that negates rather than amplifies pressure on a coach?!

Ennis was punted by Des so I would take anything he says about Hasler with a grain of salt. Dessie is under absolute no pressure whatsoever as we speak.

As for our troubles in the middle, if you look at the stats, our play-the-ball speed was 3.0s to the Tigers 3.3s. The finish to the sets and therefore the field position, coupled with time in possession is what lost us that game. The platform couldn't really be laid because the forwards were gassed, having failed to turn the Tigers big men around. I was looking at the aggression and sting in the Tigers defence and it will always look like the opposition is hitting harder and getting off the line quicker because they are much fresher having done less defence and less tough carries out of their own end.

He was actually saying that Des will struggle because he doesn’t have the roster , not that he’s a bad coach. And he did not mean pressure to keep his job, he meant pressure to get wins due to a weak playing group.I should have explained that better. Apologies.I agree he is under no pressure for his job. That’s crazy.Im one of his biggest fans.

I’m not sure what the clock says but if anyone watches our team play the last few years and Saturday and conclude they play the ball quickly or control the ruck in defense then they been watching a different team to me.

The reason they are gassed is generally because in attack the kicker or playmaker is rushed because we rarely have quick play the balls (and sides double team DCE as he often seems the only option) therefore 5th tackles kicks are made under duress leading to poor field position ,passes are pushed and errors occur under pressure. In defense we seem to lose the wrestle and fatigue and penalties flow.Hence we lose the possession and field position battle and it’s Groundhog Day.

Hopefully Des can change this as I’m sure he knows 100 per cent it’s an issue. But this sort of stuff comes mainly down to attitude of the individual , not coaching genius. Seems to me the players need to show more intensity off their own bats, not just turn up and expect it to happen.

Let’s hope the Roosters and our first home game bring out the fire.

 

[BOZO]

R


Quick play the balls and determination to get to your feet in the ruck and slowing down the opposition carries come down to the determination and attitude of individuals. It has absolutely nothing to do with combinations Bozo.

You can have the best halves combination in the game and if all they see when they look up is a sea of opposition jerseys then you generally lose. Exhibit A
The Roosters monstered Melbourne in the ruck in the GF. Smith and Munster were clueless.The roosters have brilliant backs and they finished the job.

What I was saying mate is that new 5/8 half combinations take time to gel . Practice makes perfect

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Hopefully Des can change this as I’m sure he knows 100 per cent it’s an issue

I too am quite confident Des can pick where we are falling down, and work on it. But if it is a sort of team culture or forward culture that has developed over the last couple of years it may not be an instant fix.
Probably may require some personnel adjustments too. We could sure use a Radley or Brandon Smith all action hero to set the tempo for the others to follow. Maybe that bad egg Hoppa who's up in Brisbane could have been that bloke for us, need to look elsewhere now though.

 

[Sue]

Give me six Cameron Murray’s lol. What a player he is. Just never stops and tough as teak. Great rise to fame given he was captaining a GPS Union team not long back. Was always a star league junior though.

 

[Ranga]

As for our troubles in the middle, if you look at the stats, our play-the-ball speed was 3.0s to the Tigers 3.3s.

I was wondering today where this stat could be found - where did you get it? I’d suggest that the difference though could be due to a slower play the ball when defending your line as the refs seem to be more lenient (and generally more players involved in the tackle). The stat I would like to see is play the ball speed in the middle 60m, ie where we seem to get rolled.

 

[eaglebuzz]

We all knew this squad is below par. It will take a few years to remould it. In the mean time our forwards need to be better.