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**Official** NRL 2009 Thread

Prince EWS

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
dontcloseyoureyes said:
I've said this countless time before, but let's look at the facts:

The Sharks side lost:
a) Their halfback, leader and one of the best players in the comp at leading a side around the park with no fuss.
b) Their Lock, who was undoubtedly one of the best locks in the NRL and so versatile it was like having an extra half on the park who alongside making 120m and making 25 tackles, could end games with 2 or even 3 try assists and good kick metres.
c) The most underrated hooker in the game in De Gois, who's creative and hardworking.

The Sharks side gained:
a) Trent Barrett. The biggest myth in Rugby League. 1 amazing game among 4 games you didn't even notice he played. Barrett is and can be a very good player, and will probably win the Sharks 3 or 4 games off his own back this season. But the rest of those games he'll contribute poorly. You're replacing Mr. Consistency with Mr. Inconsistency in the halves, and let's not forget how good Seymour was last season because he was allowed to be his own player and grow into the role of the 6 alongside a consistent performer. "Oh guess what Brett, you're back in 7, here's all the pressure and we expect you to be Brett Kimmorely for Trent Barrett now." Good job. What they conveniently forgot is that Brett was an absolute leader with experience and creative vision.
b) Anthony Topou and Reni Maitua. Great back-rowers, impact players, consistent. Creativity? Nope. Topou is a great impact player, hits the line hard, makes yardage, does the hard work. Same with Maitua. But Greg Bird did all that, and more. Neither Reni or Toops are leaders, Bird was. Neither Reni or Toops can win games by themselves and worry the opposition, Bird could. I didn't like Bird but he was a top class NRL level footballer. They may have replaced his yardage and tackles but they've neglected his leadership and creativity. Notice a pattern yet?
c) Corey Hughes. Good hard player, does the hard work. Was a good player half a decade ago. He's winding down and we can all see it, except for Ricky Stuart I guess. Hughes is a fierce competitor, tackles hard, shovels the ball well and has a decent kicking game. He lacks the spark that made him dangerous with the dogs early this century and losing De Gois's little bit of flair has hurt them as much as anyone. Credit where credit is due, he is a leader and has compensated for the above losses in that respect.



Alright, so basically. A side that struggled to score more than 20 points a game last season and had one of the best defence's going around in the competition lost 3 of their attacking weapons and replaced them with strong defensive players with little flair, and a wrong-side-of-30 player who's just as inconsistent as he was when he was 21. Top notch offy.
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Excellent post. Cronulla are a prank-team and it doesn't have half as much to do with the injuries/suspensions they've suffered as people seem to think.
 
luffy

luffy

International Captain
I've 5/7, so really, only really got 1 wrong and that was because i'm a biased fan, not counting the drawn match.
 
Blewy

Blewy

Cricketer Of The Year
Super comeback from the Tigers yesterday. The atmosphere at the ground was awesome.. Those saying the knights were robbed, need only look to the Tuiaki no try decision, even a member of the Newcastle coaching staff who was sitting near me conceeded he got the ball down. The camera angles never showed a perfect shot of it.

One thing that has amazed me so much this season is the amount of times players have kicked out on the full from kickoffs. Marshall has done is sooo much but there are sooo many others who have done it alot as well. I can't fathom though how professional footballers who can land goals from the sideline with precision cannot land the ball in a 50 squared metre area of grass..
 
chaminda_00

chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
Blewy said:
One thing that has amazed me so much this season is the amount of times players have kicked out on the full from kickoffs. Marshall has done is sooo much but there are sooo many others who have done it alot as well. I can't fathom though how professional footballers who can land goals from the sideline with precision cannot land the ball in a 50 squared metre area of grass..
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Lack of playmakers, what happens when you get backrowers and outside backs playing in the halves,
 
Blewy

Blewy

Cricketer Of The Year
chaminda_00 said:
Lack of playmakers, what happens when you get backrowers and outside backs playing in the halves,
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Im not talking about kicks in general play, Im talking from Kick-offs... I mean anyone even the local blind kid should be able to kick it in that area..

Its got me beat how it happens so often, and with the punishment for doing it so great, why coaches arent instructing teams to kick shorter and to the centre of the field..
 
chaminda_00

chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
Blewy said:
Im not talking about kicks in general play, Im talking from Kick-offs... I mean anyone even the local blind kid should be able to kick it in that area..

Its got me beat how it happens so often, and with the punishment for doing it so great, why coaches arent instructing teams to kick shorter and to the centre of the field..
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Focus on metres rather then percentages when it comes to kick offs.
 
Blewy

Blewy

Cricketer Of The Year
chaminda_00 said:
Focus on metres rather then percentages when it comes to kick offs.
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But you kick out on the full you go from the opposition being 90 away from your tryline to possibly being 20 or 30 away.. Silly to risk it, considering some of the efforts seen this year..

The risk isnt worth the reward
 
Ausage

Ausage

Cricketer Of The Year
Hilarious how bad I've been at tipping this year. Thinking of going the Brumby route and just sticking with the table most of the time.

Got a good feeling about tonight. It's looking like Lewis will be playing, while Rogers and Bailey are big losses for the Titans (particularly Bailey). At home, this really is a game we should be winning.
 
Ausage

Ausage

Cricketer Of The Year
Ausage said:
Got a good feeling about tonight.
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:cool:

I didn't get to watch the game though. Just followed it on the radio. Sounds like we were just too strong in the forwards, and with a real halfback moving us around we turned pressure into points.

To anyone that watched the game, how did Walsh play? Gould was giving him monster raps in the first half, but Gould is someone I generally take with a pinch of salt 8-)
 
Johnners

Johnners

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Wanted to smack Gould in the face listening to him tonight. I don't mind him in bits and pieces, or on the TV commentary. But on the Radio.....**** me he's atrocious. So overbearing, just wanted to reach into the radio and tell him to stfu, especially about the pedantic refs, and how everyone needs to harden up because back when I played yada yada yada.
 
Ausage

Ausage

Cricketer Of The Year
Clapo said:
Wanted to smack Gould in the face listening to him tonight. I don't mind him in bits and pieces, or on the TV commentary. But on the Radio.....**** me he's atrocious. So overbearing, just wanted to reach into the radio and tell him to stfu, especially about the pedantic refs, and how everyone needs to harden up because back when I played yada yada yada.
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Agreed, but actually found it hard to stop laughing at some points. Thought he brought up some fair points after the game regarding the need for less Sydney teams too. Mostly very annoying though.
 
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