Official Match Day Thread: Roosters v Raiders

[RoosterFanNZ]

Pity we gave them 18 points start.
No way Teddy can stay at FB now.

if some one like drew is unable to be dropped from the 17 theres no way in the world that teddy will be moved

[kakaruk]

[QUOTE=Eggspert;n1010034]

Next year will be Robbo's 12th year in charge.

That's a long time in any sport, after a while the message gets old & the expiry date is reached.

All I hear now from him is waffle & dribble most of the time. Some of the decisions this year have been very average.

Fresh ideas & face's are needed if next year is more of the same under him.[/QUOYep its time for a change imo there is no rational explanation for some of the team selections and relegations of players to Reggie's imo but who do you replace him with

[Lockie]

At least Victor wasn't on report/binned/sent off for the bullshit lay down by Croker in the final stages. Maybe the match review will revisit it? He went well tonight.

Pretty sure I saw it placed on report . Gotta feel for Victor on that one . He was really good tonight , probably his best game this season .

[Johnny Brass]

Very disappointing result and shows where we are at as a team at the moment.
Gus looks so slow and can't be picked in the side let alone on an edge where they looked like creating an overlap everytime they went his way because his lack of mobility. I actually thought Rads looked quite good playing that role in the 2nd half just ball running and movement in defence.
Our red zone attack is non existent as we never engage the defence and create overlaps which coupled with our pop gun kicking game sees us constantly losing the arm wrestle field position.
I thought we looked better with May and Whyte punching it upfield and Browns tip ons.
Joey was starved of the ball but showed his class when given rare opportunities.
Teddy looks jaded and run down, still trying hard but no longer pin balling off defenders and busting tackles.
Tough times ahead and can see our crowd numbers dwindling quickly if we become a down the ladder team.

[ccfc bondi]

The main reason we lost this game (apart from the ref missing a Raiders forward pass and Joey's inexplicable attempt to pass the ball whilst over their line) was they - like many other teams - have players who can kick longer and higher than us. That gave them the upper hand with territory for a lot of the game. We did well to get the ball up to the halfway line a lot of sets, but in the end, they scored two tries from high kicks and ours never threatened.

[Bates]

It looked like reasonable crowd for a Sunday night game

[Funky Chicken]

Here are some of my humble thoughts after tonight;

• Teddy - Tried his guts out as always, but I think he just needs a couple of weeks off to give his body and mind a refresh and recharge.
• Toops - Mr dependable, absolutely love him but he just doesn't get any quality ball at the moment and is just being used as a battering ram.
• Billy Smith - I thought he went pretty well tonight, if he stays injury free and keeps working at his game I think he can be good for us.\
• Joey Manu - Can be amazingly brilliant, but this year he tends to drift out of games and almost appear uninterested.
• Keary - Tried his ass off, but I think a bit like Teddy is missing a bit of pace and confidence.
• Sandon - I like this kid, moving forward I would love to see him and Sammy as our halves pairing into the future.
• JWH - As always gave 110% tonight and really led by example.
• Lindsay - I have always loved this guy, he always gives his all, never gives up and will hopefully be a lifetime Rooster.
• Turpin - Initially was against his signing, but there is a bit of Jake Friend about his attitude in defence.
• Nathan Brown - I think he offers us a fair bit, and hope we re-sign him - runs hard, tackles hard and provides some great ball playing.
• Rads - Thought he was pretty decent tonight, when he runs hard, tackles hard and cuts out the nonsense you remember how good he can be.
• Nafua Whyte - I am really warming to this guy, reminds me of Isaac Liu v2 with his late footwork at the line and his post contact metres (definitely a keeper)
• Terrell May - I thought his stint tonight was pretty solid, his potential is high if he can listen and learn from the big dog JWH.
• Angus - Still a mere shadow of himself, I feel like he should have been left in reserves for a much longer stint. It's heartbreaking to see, but he just looks lost and his heart doesn't appear to be in it.
• Hutch - I love the guy as a person and his team mentality, but moving forward he should be nowhere near first grade as he makes Chad Townsend look like Peter Sterling.
• Junior Pauga - Tries hard but reminds a bit of Matt Ikavalu
• Sitili - His hard running and tackling are sorely missed.
• Sam Walker - The rot really set in when he was dropped, we lost so much of our attacking potency and unpredictability. They need to stop trying to turn him to Cronk and let him play his way (it's what got him into 1st grade in the first place. The kid is a freak and should be allowed to throw the shackles off and play what he sees. Seems to be working pretty well for Mam and Walsh at the Donkeys. Kids like Sammy don't come along very often, so please Trent and Co. don't fark this more than you already have.

Watching the game tonight, one of the things that really struck me was how little we offload these days, it's really hard to create second phase play and threaten defenses without offloads (provided they are done at the right time and place). JWH used to be a great offloader, but he appears to have put that side of his game away (or been instructed to by the coach).

Always have and always will love the Roosters and as the saying goes "The sweet ain't as sweet without the bitter"..........

[roosterchook]

The main reason we lost this game (apart from the ref missing a Raiders forward pass and Joey's inexplicable attempt to pass the ball whilst over their line) was they - like many other teams - have players who can kick longer and higher than us. That gave them the upper hand with territory for a lot of the game. We did well to get the ball up to the halfway line a lot of sets, but in the end, they scored two tries from high kicks and ours never threatened.

That seemed to be their game plan all along and it does depend a lot on luck but it worked. Our kicks on the other hand didn’t put them under any pressure at all. We played well but the ball bounced the right way for them tonight. Our attack is too predictable. We need the creativity of players like Walker. When is he returning?

[Waerea-Beast!]

They also gave away cynical restarts, early count, to reset their line whenever we had good ball in their half.

There is absolutely no advantage to the attack with early set restarts.

[BillyBonkers]

Very subdued atmosphere around here compared to other losses, maybe we have run out of steam as well.

[BillyBonkers]

If you think it's disappointing for us, spare a thought for Mickie...50% of the teams he supports lost.

[rooster till i die]

[QUOTE=kakaruk;n1010045]

Next year will be Robbo's 12th year in charge.

That's a long time in any sport, after a while the message gets old & the expiry date is reached.

All I hear now from him is waffle & dribble most of the time. Some of the decisions this year have been very average.

Fresh ideas & face's are needed if next year is more of the same under him.[/QUOYep its time for a change imo there is no rational explanation for some of the team selections and relegations of players to Reggie's imo but who do you replace him with

Hearing that Uncle Nick is reviewing potential new blood for end of year. So that is great news!

[Inflictor]

[QUOTE=rooster till i die;n1010085]

Hearing that Uncle Nick is reviewing potential new blood for end of year. So that is great news!

Is that from that underground Facebook page that only few have the privilege of being accepted into?

FFS

[RoosterBooster]

I felt that way leaving the ground last night, resigned that our season is over and we are just an average team.

There are some green shoots coming through with Whyte, S Smith, B Smith stringing some games together, finding a Friend clone in Turpin.

QUOTE=BillyBonkers;n1010080]Very subdued atmosphere around here compared to other losses, maybe we have run out of steam as well.[/QUOTE]

[Andrew Walker]

Also a very subdued atmosphere at the game Maybe it’s the new ground ( I preferred the old one ) Or maybe most now know we are a very ordinary side this year and are just accepting our fate which is no finals footy this year