Off Season Vibes

[HunchoRooster]

To me the season was all on track until we dropped Walker.

Pants pulled down against "The" in their first game, not the first time they have surprised this season. Fair enough.

Then we beat Warriors and Souffs without looking amazing but still playing OK for the most part and good in patches. Standard start to the season. Slowly building.

Carve up Parramatta in what is one of Sam Walker's best games for us.

Get outgunned against Melbourne playing rushed and ill disciplined footy. Humbled a little bit but not a disaster, everything on track. Nothing surprising, standard early season form from us.

Then lose to Cronulla in a very winnable game. Lots of errors and poor discipline, they have the quality to ice their moments and they beat us. They are a Top 8 side for sure, nothing major. Not a good result but not a disaster.

Then we drop Walker and play an atrocious game on Anzac Day, the spotlight is all over us after making such a big call to our side. Then apart from a game the following week where we caught the Warriors on one of their bad bipolar days, we haven't looked even close to a Top 8 side. The lowlights in particular being outplayed and outclassed by a very average Cows side that we have since played into form in Magic Round and then truly embarrassed by the Riff, showing how far off we were from the top sides. Lost to a coachless St George, a team that hasn't looked like winning a proper NRL game before or since that game (they beat a reserve grade Souffs side).

Let's also not forget that we beat the Dogs by 1pt and conceded some schoolboy tries against them. Since that result, they've conceded something like 200+ points and look like a Jersey Flegg standard side.

That Manly game was probably the best game we've played since the Parramatta game all those months ago and we were shafted by the refs and had some unlucky moments. We can hopefully take a bit of solace out of that and build to finish the season strong and give the young guns a chance to shine. Finals are gone. The season is gone.

[Tennessee Tornado]

They are widely available so why not? I enjoy them myself. MDMA and cannabis are in that drug class. Mushrooms are legal in some places. What's hard to believe? Cheese is a cocaine sniffer right? We still signed that moron.

Glad you enjoy them. Have fun. . But I think you’ll find ASADA doesn’t think they’re so good.

[HunchoRooster]

I wonder if a reason Walker was removed from firsts was to keep him away from lodge?

Can I ask what is meant by this?

Is it known that he has been a bad influence on Sam in particular or something?

[Bates]

I'm not giving up. With that said, dropping Walker and moving players around created the form slump. Injuries have also contributed to our poor season.

[Dr. Voodoo Man]

Glad you enjoy them. Have fun. . But I think you’ll find ASADA doesn’t think they’re so good.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think this is how professional athletes should spend their spare time. I'm only speculating but there seems like there has been something wrong with the squad since the pre-season.

[Sentimentinel]

Can I ask what is meant by this?

Is it known that he has been a bad influence on Sam in particular or something?

Total wonderment. I thought maybe with Sam calling the shots at halfback some "players" may have had their feathers ruffled.

Carlos made a good point in that they would just drop lodge. I said a reason not the entire reason. He probably did need to work on his game management skills in reserves which Robbo clearly stated.

[On the Nose]

Its probably too soon to conduct a post mortem on the season in early July. If we play with the same intensity and focus as in the game at Brookvale we will certainly win more than we lose of the remaining games. Of course we need a fair go from referees which we didnt get last Sunday. I mainly want to use the rest of this season to develop some talent further going into 2024. Sandon Smith, Whyte, May, Wong. And any others that could emerge from the lower grades this year.

Postmortems are conducted on the dead and our season is just waiting for the headstone to be planted, so it's not too soon, unfortunately. I agree with most said on this topic, except maybe the drug and gambling rumours. It seems to me, in the last couple of weeks someone finally told Robbo "enough is enough" with his positional switches. I'd like to ask the coroner who tapped him and why so late. More than half on the Chookpen (rightly or wrongly) have questioned Robbo's choices, so it goes that more than half the board and half the coaching staff would also have questions.

[Lydon]

What a wasted season,instead of blaming injuries like previous seasons justifiably we are sitting around confused as to why it went so wrong!

The dropping of Sam Walker was a massive blunder and I’m sure contributed to our demise..

Hopefully Uncle Nick is watching closely and doesn’t allow too many more seasons like this where the Coaching staff has ruined it with their own hands!

[Qld Chook]

Hopefully in our remaining 8 games - we might put more than 30 on someone. Are we the only side not to put more than 30 points on the opposition this year.

The coach gets 0 out of 10 this year. Don't forget he enjoyed the game we lost to the bloody dragons.

A shocking season - and embarrassing.

That comment from Robbo broke me as a fan.

I was furious and just wanted to see some similar passion out of him. How the media aren’t on his back more about how dismal this year has been for us as a club doesn’t make any sense to me. The Titans are above us on the ladder and even their coach got sacked, we have a much superior roster.

[Eggspert]

I personally want the season to end ASAP so the road to reflection & recovery can start ASAP.

Yes last week was a turning point but it's pretty bad to start thinking that with only 8 games left with the squad we have.

Watching the team at times this year has been very uninspiring & forgetful.

Could go on a long rant about everything this year but in the end they are a product of Robbo's coaching imo.

[rented tracksuit]

You honestly think that our players messed with psychedelics. If there was any substance to the rumour they wouldn’t be playing this year. The integrity committee would have been all over it like a rash. Especially if it involved the roosters

Posts like yours that perpetuate the myths give power to the f-wits who start these BS rumours

lol. I see what you did there.

[BraveTheWorld]

I think in hindsight, the dropping of Walker may seem like a massive blunder (and I think it definitely was a blunder), but he probably would have been back in the side within a few weeks if he hadn't gotten injured. If he had then played super well, we'd all be saying how genius it was to drop him, like he did with Latrell and Manu. Unfortunately, Trent never got the opportunity for the ploy to pay off.

Definitely persevering with a losing game is what I would say has really stuffed our season. Suaalii too much at centre, Joey too much at 5/8, Hutch too much at centre etc. None of it worked and I think if those experiments had ended sooner, we'd probably have a few more of those close wins.

The squad also still lacks a real game-manager. Keary has been able to do it in the past, but it's not when he's at his best. The hooker can also play that role ala Cameron Smith, but that's just not Brandon's go.
We get into strong positions and just can't come up with the appropriate play - and that doesn't mean just scoring tries. We don't seem to have someone who can settle everyone down, make them get through the sets and just turn the ball over in good positions.

Ultimately; a few squad issues, a few coaching issues, a few injury issues, and maybe a sprinkle of overrating ourselves and then panicking when it was going south. The culmination being our season.

[roosterchook]

Hopefully in our remaining 8 games - we might put more than 30 on someone. Are we the only side not to put more than 30 points on the opposition this year.

The coach gets 0 out of 10 this year. Don't forget he enjoyed the game we lost to the bloody dragons.

A shocking season - and embarrassing.

Even west tigers put on 50+ points. Our bad form across the park is very difficult to pinpoint because the entire team has played bad. But when you closely observe Robbo, he doesn’t seem to have a clue which makes me question if it’s not Fitzy all along who was the major factor in our successes. We’ve gone down hill since and Robbo’s decision making has been very weird. Suualii was a boon on the wing so he moves him to centre. He publicly calls Hutch the new Aubs? We scored hundreds more points last season with Walker - he dumps him. Robbo this year appears totally irrational. Manu another. Rads another. Now that our best assistant has departed, are we seeing the real Robbo?

[Headless Chook]

Total wonderment. I thought maybe with Sam calling the shots at halfback some "players" may have had their feathers ruffled.

Carlos made a good point in that they would just drop lodge. I said a reason not the entire reason. He probably did need to work on his game management skills in reserves which Robbo clearly stated.

I think that has something to do with it, but I don't think that the senior players got their noses out of joint because Sam was running the team. I think it was more an issue that Sam is a free spirit when it comes to footy and tries the unexpected which is part of the reason we love him. But I think the point Robbo was trying to impress on Sam by dropping him was that there is a time and a place for that low percentage play and there are times where you have to play the long game. I have said this before and one poster replied more or less saying 'yeah but he's the only one trying to create something and the players should get over it' That's a hard thing to do if you're a JWH, or a Lindsay or a Nat who have just tackled your backsides off for a few sets and then put in the yards to get the team out of danger only for Sam to throw a pass over the sideline or put a nothing kick in which allows the opposition straight back at you. And yes, I know there are some experienced players who were poor during that time too (eg Radley) but if the coaching staff are stessing to Sam what they want and he's ignoring it then what else can they do, given that he was charged with running the team.

Anyway, will be glad to see the little bloke back in the team and hoopefully he can help spark something

[Tennessee Tornado]

I think that has something to do with it, but I don't think that the senior players got their noses out of joint because Sam was running the team. I think it was more an issue that Sam is a free spirit when it comes to footy and tries the unexpected which is part of the reason we love him. But I think the point Robbo was trying to impress on Sam by dropping him was that there is a time and a place for that low percentage play and there are times where you have to play the long game. I have said this before and one poster replied more or less saying 'yeah but he's the only one trying to create something and the players should get over it' That's a hard thing to do if you're a JWH, or a Lindsay or a Nat who have just tackled your backsides off for a few sets and then put in the yards to get the team out of danger only for Sam to throw a pass over the sideline or put a nothing kick in which allows the opposition straight back at you. And yes, I know there are some experienced players who were poor during that time too (eg Radley) but if the coaching staff are stessing to Sam what they want and he's ignoring it then what else can they do, given that he was charged with running the team.

Anyway, will be glad to see the little bloke back in the team and hoopefully he can help spark something

Agree with this. In the games against Melbourne and Sharks, Sammy made some critical errors and was unable to shake them off. His confidence was shot and dropping him to a lower grade was an attempt for him to regain his mojo (against 'lesser' opponents).

The fact he got injured is coincidental to his time away from first grade.

I hope he's in the team next week and I hope he gets back to where he was last year when we were killing it for the last eight weeks.