Official Match Day Thread: Roosters v Titans

[The Sack]

I am so sick of Dom Young!

Should change his name to Dumb Young.

[Renman]

To all the Doomsayers out there ........... your pretty much on the money.

That was truly awful last night. Teddy, Mark N, Whyte, ZDC and Angus can hold their heads high. Rads looked concussed for most of the game and the rest were either useless or disinterested or dont know their role.
What happened to the damaging runs of Spencer? He looks more Angry Birds than JWH. Is SKD our new skills coach? The forwards need a real mongrel injection they are lacking any intimidation factor.
Billy S needs to replace Toia who, I think,will be quality but isn't there yet.

If Watson is back next week put him in the halves and drop either Chad or Sandon. Be it Watson or a youngster we cannot have the same 6 and 7...ever.

Losing to the Titans, at home when they were missing Kini, Foran and Pereira and Sammy V (for 15 min), 19 Errors, 8 Penalties and only 440 kicking meters has be set a new low standard. Very, very disappointing.

[bondi.boy]

There are some things that Robbo just can't seem to fix.

He's a 13yr veteran coach with 3 GF wins.

Why the hell can't he address & fix certain playing issues?

Because he doesn't have players to coach who are seasoned professionals like all our stars of the past.

Want better results...buy him seasoned professionals.

Storm has no problem buying a team.
Dogs have no problem buying a team.
Nor does any other club.
It's only our club that seems to have a guilty conscience.

[Rooster_6]

Na sorry mate normally I agree with your posts to an extent but this post ain’t it. He can try all he wants mate but the fact is he isn’t up to standard… his pass selection tonight was shocking. It’s quite evident that he is more of a runner of the footy ( a fullback) than a six. Poor kicking game, has poor communication with his outside men.. you don’t have to overlook this one and try to spin a narrative. He was very poor.



It’s quite evident man.

My response is in relation to those saying he was the worst on the field and/or he needs to be dropped.

It's about pragmatism, he was not the worst player on the field and based on our current options he should not be dropped. He has shown enough today and over the last few weeks to suggest he's currently our best option in the halves.

You might not think he's good enough for NRL level at the moment and you might not be happy with his play but they are different discussions to the one I'm having which is let's remove the emotion, analyse his performance fairly because he's going to be in the halves for the next 8-10 weeks.

If you read my posts you will know I'm big on Rodwell, there is almost no doubt in my mind that he will be the half that wins out over the next couple of seasons and ends up partnering Walker long term. This is not a Sandon Smith fan club I'm trying to start but I'm also realistic and think the criticism is disproportionate.

[SamKerrSimp]

We did...with a different team from the one we fielded tonite.
Foketi, Losalu, etc

Two guys who have 2 games of first grade experience between them are the difference makers? We'd have won last night if we had Sam Walker controlling the team but that doesn't excuse a 57% completion rate that's the killer

[HunchoRooster]

My response is in relation to those saying he was the worst on the field and/or he needs to be dropped.

It's about pragmatism, he was not the worst player on the field and based on our current options he should not be dropped. He has shown enough today and over the last few weeks to suggest he's currently our best option in the halves.

You might not think he's good enough for NRL level at the moment and you might not be happy with his play but they are different discussions to the one I'm having which is let's remove the emotion, analyse his performance fairly because he's going to be in the halves for the next 8-10 weeks.

If you read my posts you will know I'm big on Rodwell, there is almost no doubt in my mind that he will be the half that wins out over the next couple of seasons and ends up partnering Walker long term. This is not a Sandon Smith fan club I'm trying to start but I'm also realistic and think the criticism is disproportionate.

Hey mate, do you think Sandon will be in the side for next 8-10 weeks? I see more performances like last night coming for this team and I don’t think we will be able to persevere with that pairing for that period of time.

Dont disagree with a lot of what you said, I too believe Rodwell is the one long term. I’d probably drop Chad before I drop Sandon but me thinks the way Robbo is, he has it in his head that he needs an organiser with experience paired with a rookie that’s more of a runner. I don’t see him using 2 rookie halves.

[Rooster_6]

Hey mate, do you think Sandon will be in the side for next 8-10 weeks? I see more performances like last night coming for this team and I don’t think we will be able to persevere with that pairing for that period of time.

Dont disagree with a lot of what you said, I too believe Rodwell is the one long term. I’d probably drop Chad before I drop Sandon but me thinks the way Robbo is, he has it in his head that he needs an organiser with experience paired with a rookie that’s more of a runner. I don’t see him using 2 rookie halves.

Personally I would play Sandon and Elliott as left and right halves and forget trying to have a dominant halfback. They'll just have to share kicking and organisation duties. With a lock rotation of Radley and Foketi who are both decent ball players, they can jump in at first receiver to push Elliott and Sandon a little wider when needed. I think that's probably our best chance of success.

IMO Robbo is probably more likely to drop Townsend for Savala.

I don't think there's an obvious answer though. But whilst ever Townsend is in the side all clubs will know all our attack is going to come down the left edge and they're just going to stack their defensive numbers. We need a ball playing threat down that right edge.

[bondi.boy]

Two guys who have 2 games of first grade experience between them are the difference makers? We'd have won last night if we had Sam Walker controlling the team but that doesn't excuse a 57% completion rate that's the killer

Our team is too small.
Radley needs a rest.
Leniu is best used off the bench.
If we don't pick the team we played the Panthers with, Souths will run all over us.

[HunchoRooster]

Personally I would play Sandon and Elliott as left and right halves and forget trying to have a dominant halfback. They'll just have to share kicking and organisation duties. With a lock rotation of Radley and Foketi who are both decent ball players, they can jump in at first receiver to push Elliott and Sandon a little wider when needed. I think that's probably our best chance of success.

IMO Robbo is probably more likely to drop Townsend for Savala.

I don't think there's an obvious answer though. But whilst ever Townsend is in the side all clubs will know all our attack is going to come down the left edge and they're just going to stack their defensive numbers. We need a ball playing threat down that right edge.

I think we both agree that the issue is Townsend. He is so pedestrian, offers no creativity and is a defensive liability. If he was an amazing yardage kicker or short kicker you’d forgive him but he isn’t, he’s bog average. The result is Sandon playing away from his natural game and feeling pressured to try things he usually wouldn’t. Granted it’s not all Chad’s fault either some of Sandons decision making, especially last tackle is just nowhere near good enough.

[The Lip]

Whilst i think Chad was useless when you look at the stats he made 1 error Sandon 5. Chad made 1 run for 3m Sandon made 11 runs for 97 meters. The errors killed is and Sandon made plenty. I don't know how to cut and dice that - Sandon missed 2 tackles and made 12 Chad missed 3 made 27. They both were pretty ordinary but i suppose when one of your halves had 1 run all game it makes out attack pretty predictable.

[ChookMaster]

My response is in relation to those saying he was the worst on the field and/or he needs to be dropped.

It's about pragmatism, he was not the worst player on the field and based on our current options he should not be dropped. He has shown enough today and over the last few weeks to suggest he's currently our best option in the halves.

You might not think he's good enough for NRL level at the moment and you might not be happy with his play but they are different discussions to the one I'm having which is let's remove the emotion, analyse his performance fairly because he's going to be in the halves for the next 8-10 weeks.

If you read my posts you will know I'm big on Rodwell, there is almost no doubt in my mind that he will be the half that wins out over the next couple of seasons and ends up partnering Walker long term. This is not a Sandon Smith fan club I'm trying to start but I'm also realistic and think the criticism is disproportionate.

Good post. I agree with you there, there is no better alternative as of right now, however it is looking like a huge fail from the club for putting all their eggs in Sandon’s Basket. I think most chook fans are hopeful young Rodwell.. he was a clear standout in SG.

[Roosterfarian]

My response is in relation to those saying he was the worst on the field and/or he needs to be dropped.

It's about pragmatism, he was not the worst player on the field and based on our current options he should not be dropped. He has shown enough today and over the last few weeks to suggest he's currently our best option in the halves.

You might not think he's good enough for NRL level at the moment and you might not be happy with his play but they are different discussions to the one I'm having which is let's remove the emotion, analyse his performance fairly because he's going to be in the halves for the next 8-10 weeks.

If you read my posts you will know I'm big on Rodwell, there is almost no doubt in my mind that he will be the half that wins out over the next couple of seasons and ends up partnering Walker long term. This is not a Sandon Smith fan club I'm trying to start but I'm also realistic and think the criticism is disproportionate.

I get your faith in the youngsters R6 and I too love seeing them come through into first grade. But I disagree with your views on Sandon’s performance. It was nowhere near first grade standard and bar the Penrith game, he hasnt played well when starting in the halves. Like you, I hope he can kick on and improve as I had high hopes for the kid. It may be too early to tell but I suspect his cards may have already been marked by the club. Robbo coming out and saying we are having a look at DCE speaks volumes. This would not be the case if they had full faith in Sandon tbf. It may not end well for him unfortunately.

[Chookies74]

"The stupid sideways runs as well, honestly he hasn’t improved one bit since joining last year." - Agreed.
2 did a couple of straight runs, and they were both excellent yardage gains, why can't he just run straight?

[King Salvo]

That one play proves Sandon does not have what it takes. He even looked up before hand but still made a terrible play.

At the 2:17 mark, one could say one A. Johns saw one B Fittler but still threw the pass. Even immortals can throw intercept passes. That was a turning point in that game - prelim final in 2000. - Johns often mentions that - still haunts him one suggests.

https://www.nrl.com/watch/news/final...final-1269702/

People reminded folk on here that one L. Keary threw three intercepted passes vs Manly in a regular-season game last year. - Can happen to anyone - 3 times in one game was an unusual occurrence though.

[MKCS]

At the 2:17 mark, one could say one A. Johns saw one B Fittler but still threw the pass. Even immortals can throw intercept passes. That was a turning point in that game - prelim final in 2000. - Johns often mentions that - still haunts him one suggests.

https://www.nrl.com/watch/news/final...final-1269702/

People reminded folk on here that one L. Keary threw three intercepted passes vs Manly in a regular-season game last year. - Can happen to anyone - 3 times in one game was an unusual occurrence though.

Yes, even the greatest players ever have played bad games or made a mistake but how many were ineffective for 35 games?