we can win this thing

[susan ridgepipe]

although dissappointed with the result last night -those sort of games happen,especially after tough game and monday night- i continue to see things that allow me to dream of the last week in september.we simply have dominated every pack we have played and that is without key forwards every week including george rose who has an incredible impact on this side.we have two great young halves learning every week who are also tough and durable,a kangaroo winger who many seem to have written off after 2 or 3 poor games last year to come back and add speed to our backline and a great bench at full strength.weakness is fullback but dont be fooled-farrar is playing great footy except under the high ball(with time he will work this out).if b stewart was playing i would declare us,however his injury has allowed us to field a side with great balance which wasnt the case early.if he ever returns it will be a carve up next year.
it is 2 years since our backline has looked so smooth.things look so much better than i imagined 6 weeks ago as we now have a 6,7 and 9 where the sky is the limit.
i now expect us to run top four as opposed to my original fringe eight call and give it a shake.saints are head and shoulders above everyone now but i would imagine we are the last side they would want to play in gf with our 07,08 experience behind us.after saints in two weeks the daw gets a bit easier and we will make our run with porky rose,improving halves and a confident choc the catalysts.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Even after last nights result I agree with all you have said.....as the halves gain more experience together we will get better, despite not getting the two points last night all is good!!

 

[Fluffy]

i had the feeling last night that it was a game we wouldnt lost in 10 weeks time.

We certainly can win it, just need to start playing for 80 minutes

 

[PONTIAN SEA EAGLE]

I believe we can also forget last nights game we gave that to them.

 

[Chip and Chase]

I really, really, like the way our attack is shaping up. Compare this years efforts to date, with the boring one dimensional stuff we dished up last year and you can't help but be optimistic. I'm also confident that we have more improvement in us, we haven't really "clicked" in a game yet and it will be good to see when it happens. Our only weakness is that we haven't been able to put a side away in the second half yet, we seem determined to keep sides in the contest by going into our shells and getting away from game plans that worked in the first 40. Also one other area that has been below par is our kicking game at the back end of games when we have been under pressure, I'm hoping that Foran and Hodko can learn from these experiences and concentrate on fixing this. We can't seem to find the grass or the sideline when we need to halt momentum. On the flipside, how good is it to see a decent short kicking game with a bit of variety. Sure one backfired on us last night, but in general this area of our game has been a marked improvement.

But overall I'd have to agree with Susan, we are a big hope this year as long as we keep improving. Our forwards are going well, just little tweaks in the halves that will come with experience as they get more games under their belt and their confidence grows.

 

[byso]

Like we forgot rd1 & rd2 games, there's a pattern here. Our halves, fullback and captains have to learn fast

 

[Cletus]

It does look like being a good year. I really like our attack as well, there's things we are doing that I haven't seen for years, we've turned into the Harlem Globetrotters or something. Hopefully we don't do it from our end as much because it is risky but the completions last night were very good considering how much ball movement there was.
Farrar really needs to attempt to catch those bombs or we'll pay for it.

Sometimes I feeel like Des is handicapping us so we don't get carried away. 6 interchanges with 16 players is pretty strange.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Was looking at the ladder last night, and thinking who can genuinely contest this comp

Dragons are the obvious lock to be there past week 2, Looking at the other sides, the 2 most consistent imo to be among that level, were the 2 on display last night, us and the Gold Coast.

Penrith and Tigers, if they find a consistent game, are right in this comp as well. Souths just a level below those 2 as well imo

Outside of them, I don't see massive threats tbh, Dogs or Eels maybe, but this is a pretty wide open comp among the top 6 sides

Have put as line through Warriors, Raiders, Knights and Sharks as being any sort of threat

 

[Volley]

Our front row isn't up to it.

Perry will drop off once the Rep seasons over and he's got a new contract signed somewhere. Plus he isn't going great guns anyway.

Kite was back to his 2009 form last night. Piss poor. King's average. Rose is too injury prone.

Having only 16 players each week makes it too difficult at the arse end of games, as does making 6 interchanges.

Backrow is superb, wish Rodney could play 80 minutes. Who knows, maybe he can? Des loves his boy Bailey plodding along for 30 minutes too much though.

When you look at our wins, Newcastle are sh*thouse, Warriors are poor and we only just beat them, smoked the Sharks who are the worst side in 60 years, and beat a Melbourne side that was down mentally, knowing exactly what was about to unfold. Cam Smith played like Shayne Dunley and Scott Fulton rolled into one that night.

Plenty of improvement left, especially the halves. Loving how they're going, but can't seriously see us winning this year.

 

[Volley]

Have put as line through Warriors, Raiders, Knights and Sharks as being any sort of threat

Exactly, and they're 3 of our wins.

 

[OneEyedEagle]

They way I look at last night’s loss is that the Titans got the bounce of the ball where we could have easily put another 12 points on the board if we had better options. Two of the Titans tries came from when we were attacking within their 20m line (one drop ball and a kick rebounding off a Titans legs.

It’s a painful loss and although there were dull moments I think the team put in for 80 mins and don't forget we still have a number players out injured.

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

Front row rotation: volley you forget cross. All up, with rose back on deck I think it's one of the stronger engine rooms.

Halves are the x factor. experience there is key if we do make it into the top 4 and have a real shot. I was thinking dessie would make lyon shift in and do some playmaking like he did in the 08 finals series to ease some of the pressure on hodko (especially). the last 20 mins is always where the experience counts most. maybe lyon could step in there a bit in the late stages.

farrar should just do some more work on the bombs and get on with it and have a go. he certainly doesn't lack the cojones.