Team for this week

[Guest]

My friend let me introduce you to the one and only Old Man Cogburn. He spreads joy and happiness every where he goes.

Cog and I had a set to last year over something that was either misinterpreted or misunderstood.

We are old enemies.

Like the Master and the Doctor.

Not these douchebags.



More like these two guys.

The real Master.



My Doctor (growing up)

[Guest]

throwing the ball wide on the first set of six in the game - and spill it most of the time, and our back 3 will look to throw long stupid looping passes on kick returns instead of making the hard yards straight upfield.

We looked very good doing these things against the Warriors, and made one mistake from such plays in the entire game (which could easily have resulted in a length of the field try). We made an additional 11 handling errors, but they were either when we were attacking up their end, or from straightforward hit-ups (when we were indeed trying to make "the hard yards straight upfield"). They had nothing to do with "spinning the ball on the first set of six" or "long stupid looping passes on kick returns" and everything to do with the fact that a few of our players, including Todd Carney, had forgettable evenings.

It isn't difficult to track the errors using the NRL game analyser:

5 min: Justin Carney drops a difficult chance from a crossfield bomb near the Warriors' line.
11 min: SKD fluffs an attempted offload trying to keep the ball alive on the 5th tackle 15m from the Warriors' tryline.
21 min: Phil Graham fails to clean up a Todd Carney pass that went along the ground from a regulation spread, on the attack in the Warriors' half.
26 min: Todd drops the ball cold, one off the ruck 10 metres out from their line. (It wasn't that great a pass from dummy-half by Friend, but Carney still should have caught it.)
27 min: Exhibit 1 of a grand total of 1 for Fred's case. Mini fields a kick, and we quickly move the ball to the right through BJ who then throws a no look pass too far in front of SKD, who otherwise would have been away down the touchline with empty field in front of him.
37 min: Graham drops a very poor Todd Carney pass (low and well in front of him) as we were spreading the ball on the 4th tackle in their quarter.
41 min: Masoe loses the ball from a hit-up 10m out from their line. (There might have been an undetected a strip.)
55 min: Justin Carney loses the ball from a dummy-half hit-up.
61 min: BJ loses the ball from a dummy-half hit-up.
63 min: Maubs drops a difficult inside ball from SKD on the Warriors' 10m line.
65 min: BJ has the ball jolted lose from a hit-up one-out off a scrum.
74 min: BJ loses the ball again in a heavy tackle making a straightforward kick return.

[Guest]

JWH is very unlucky to lose his starting spot. He has been one of our best forwards since he was promoted to the starting side

[rooster_booster]

Any news on when Toddy might resume kicking duties? For SuperCoach

[BUDDY]

Any news on when Toddy might resume kicking duties? For SuperCoach

Smithy said in an interview that he had resumed very light kicking training but is still abuot one month away from being at his best playing level as well as kicking.

[Guest]

I wouldn't think Naughton is on the radar for first grade at the moment... I saw him play a few times and although he tries his heart out, I don't think he offers too much as a 1st grader. Then again, he might be a 'safe' option, like a Luke Phillips (a gritty-type player who always gave his all). I think we will see Sammy Perrett, K Linnett or even Rhys Pritchard (usually the Jets fullback) as our fullback before Naughton gets a look in.

Also, I think Ryles should start putting in some decent performances, as I think he would currently be in the bottom 3 or 4 starting props in the game at the moment. I am thinking "over the hill" is about right...

[rooster_booster]

At the end of the day you don't want to peak too early into a season. Nothing I have seen from Smithy is cause for concern. Some of the comments on this forum are nothing short of ludacris.

[Pass the Ball]

Do Easts season ticket holders get in for free..??

Do SFS members get in for free..??

Thanks..

[Guest]

Do Easts season ticket holders get in for free..??

Do SFS members get in for free..??

Thanks..

No. But there is a discount available for members. I believe GA tickets are $10 for adult members

[Cockadoodledoo]

Do Easts season ticket holders get in for free..??

Do SFS members get in for free..??

Thanks..

no and no.

[Pass the Ball]

IMO - Every Easts season-ticket holder should have received a ticket in the mail this week which is transferable.

How much does BlueTongue pay Easts for taking the game there..??

[Cockadoodledoo]

IMO - Every Easts season-ticket holder should have received a ticket in the mail this week which is transferable.

How much does BlueTongue pay Easts for taking the game there..??

It was never going to be a home game. The second Warriors game was scheduled to be played in Christchurch originally as a 'home' game as was done in 2010 however it was decided to play that game at the SFS and instead this game was relocated to Gosford. The season tickets were clearly sold as for '11 home games'. No idea what the club is getting but it must be enough to make them think it is worthwhile.

[Guest]

IMO - Every Easts season-ticket holder should have received a ticket in the mail this week which is transferable.

How much does BlueTongue pay Easts for taking the game there..??

It used to be $100K a couple of years back

[Guest]

Anthony Minichiello 1
Justin Carney 2
Mitchell Aubusson 3
Shaun Kenny-Dowall 4
Joseph 'BJ' Leilua 5
Todd Carney 6
Mitchell Pearce
Jason Ryles
Jake Friend
Martin Kennedy
Braith Anasta
Frank Paul Nuuausala
Nate Myles
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
Mose Masoe
Mark Riddell 16
Daniel Conn 17
Tom Symonds

Drop Riddell for Symonds, and then switch Symonds with Nuuausala. That is probably our best team at the moment.

Minichiello, Carney, SKD, Aubusson, Leilua, Carney, Pearce, Ryles, Friend, Kennedy, Anasta, Symonds, Myles, BENCH: Conn, Nuuausala, Masoe, Hargreaves

I'm still not happy with that balance - I'd prefer bringing back Linnett in the centres, shifting Aubusson into the backrow and moving Symonds onto the bench, but at the moment that would mean dropping either FPN or Conn to accommodate Linnett - better for team balance, but I think Conn in particular has earned his spot in the team over Linnett regarding value of performance.

[Vasco]

It used to be $100K a couple of years back

Weren't the Tigers offered around $120K per game to play at the SFS?

You would think the Roosters would be on a similar deal. If so, Bluetongue must be offfering much more for the game for us to play there.