Positives & negatives

[Teddy]

So disappointed after last night, couldn’t bring myself to post until I had calmed down a bit. There were some real positives from the game:
Angus was a beast and future captain if he doesn’t switch to union.
The Morris twins , no need to elaborate.
Kyle absorbed so much pressure put on him and came up with the goods at crucial times.
Keary proved again what a champion half/5/8 he is.
SST what a workhorse.
Friend despite his frustrated nudge that led to the penalty.
Toupo for most of the game and his errors can be blamed on fatigue and carrying injury.
Our young bench players who never took a backward step despite being under the pump .
Our bloody defence that tackled so many repeated sets , showed why we are the benchmark team.
The negatives were our errors, far too many for a roosters team that has won B2B.
Bloody injuries. JWH, Cordner, Toupo adding time the 3 ACLs we already have and Isaac Liu makes me worried about our title defense.
Manu’s lack of vigorous involvement.
overall I was quite upset we lost but not enough to slash my wrists. The players gave their best despite not having the rub of the green from the red, but they stood strong and put the rest of the competition on notice that to win the title they need to go through us.

It’s tough watching the boys with all the injuries they’re all warriors Robbo has a monumental task ahead next 5 games are crucial.

[Johnny Brass]

Thought the effort was superb from the boys and some of the defensive sets and scramble are amazing. The set when the storm started a metre off our line and ended 20 metres out getting tossed over the sideline was indicative of the resilience and desperation.
I was thinking a positive would be us getting back on our home ground at the scg but I don't know what's happening in regards to AFL teams being relocated in Sydney.

[ROC181]

Manu didn’t have the space to run like he had being fullback. Crazy idea I had during the game was since Teddy was just not having the effect to make breaks like he usually has was to have Manu swap with Teddy at times, if only in an attacking position. Manu likes to have a go but is restricted to stay on the right. Anyway Robbo will sort it.

[Vasco]

It’s tough watching the boys with all the injuries they’re all warriors Robbo has a monumental task ahead next 5 games are crucial.

We should win at least 3 of those 5 so will be in decent shape for the run home to the finals provided we don't get too many more injuries.

[Bruce Pickett]

More positives than negatives from the game.

Storm were up for the game. I've never seen Cam Smith as animated as he was before the game. They circled Thursday night on their calendar a long time ago.

Positives:
Faumasilli
Flanagan
Collins - dropped ball, but improving
Morris bros - best value purchase Easts have ever made. Prove me wrong!
Defence - didn't 3 of 4 tries come from knock ons, intercepts and kicks?
The clutch - we have quite a few players

Negatives:
Short kick offs - mucked up on a few occasions this year
No 6 again. Wait, we got one I think early on and it was on the first tackle.
Some droppsies - but a lot due to defensive pressure.

I thought Melbourne were done, but they'll be up there. I still fancy our chances against them if we're all fit and it was a final.

[King Salvo]

They could have easily pinged friend for not being square on that Brandon Smith play anyway

the penalty against friend for the penalty goal win for the storm should have been a penalty to the Chooks - you can't put the ball on the ground and then rise to your feet - have to rise to your feet and then place the ball on the ground- Friendly was asking the ref if he could challenge - no was the response - when can you challenge? - ditto the knock on - the bunker was doing what - GF last year Raiders get 6 again and then the bunker whispered in the refs ear and he changed it to 5th and last - sure chooks shot themselves in the foot in losing the game but the NRL still has much to sort out in what captains can challenge and incidents in games which go unnoticed which influence the results of games. If there was 2 refs the knock on would have been picked up as well as the storm player placing the ball on the ground before rising to their feet.

[Tommy Smith]

EVERYTHING went Melbourne's way
They played that game like it was a GF
We could barely complete a set in the second half
We gifted them 3 of their tries
We were busted after multiple short turnarounds
And yet we had 6 LBs to 1
And we still threw away the game - TWICE

So they should be very worried about a rematch as our best cleary trumps theirs

[Rooster_6]

Right edge needs a lot of work defensively and offensively. Flanno & Gus are still very new in those positions for us, gotta remember Gus only played the first dozen or so games of last year there and Flannagan is only 9 games in. Our attack seems to break down on that edge quite often unless Keary & Tedesco become involved. Those combos will come good because individually Flannagan, Crichton, Manu & Morris have all been in good touch this season, collectively it still looks like they are playing together for the first time. No more evident than in Melbourne's first try of the game.

Flannagan has a tremendous left to right spiral that he can throw, once Crichton and Manu can understand the timing around when he's going to throw it I think Joey will be a weapon, he' just not getting put into any kind of space at the moment to show what he's got.

[zac]

the penalty against the friend for the penalty goal win for the storm should have been a penalty to the Chooks - you can't put the ball on the ground and then rise to your feet - have to rise to your feet an then place the ball on the ground- Friendly was asking the ref if he could challenge - no was the response - when can you challenge? - ditto the knock on - the bunker was doing what - GF last year Raiders get 6 again and then the bunker whispered in the refs ear and he changed it to 5th and last - sure chooks shot themselves in the foot in losing the game but the NRL still has much to sort out in what captains can challenge and incidents in games which go unnoticed which influence the results of games. If there was 2 refs the knock on would have been picked up as well as the storm player placing the ball on the ground before rising to their feet.

lol, you're right. hadn't picked that one up. finucane's left leg is straight but his right knee is firmly planted on the ground when he places the ball in front of him. wow. the calls on both of the storm's final scoring plays were wrong.

[Gary Worthless]

The Negatives - Storm played really well and are a serious contender for 2020. In particular, Storm forwards are really strong.

[ism22]

So disappointed after last night, couldn’t bring myself to post until I had calmed down a bit. There were some real positives from the game:
Angus was a beast and future captain if he doesn’t switch to union.
The Morris twins , no need to elaborate.
Kyle absorbed so much pressure put on him and came up with the goods at crucial times.
Keary proved again what a champion half/5/8 he is.
SST what a workhorse.
Friend despite his frustrated nudge that led to the penalty.
Toupo for most of the game and his errors can be blamed on fatigue and carrying injury.
Our young bench players who never took a backward step despite being under the pump .
Our bloody defence that tackled so many repeated sets , showed why we are the benchmark team.
The negatives were our errors, far too many for a roosters team that has won B2B.
Bloody injuries. JWH, Cordner, Toupo adding time the 3 ACLs we already have and Isaac Liu makes me worried about our title defense.
Manu’s lack of vigorous involvement.
overall I was quite upset we lost but not enough to slash my wrists. The players gave their best despite not having the rub of the green from the red, but they stood strong and put the rest of the competition on notice that to win the title they need to go through us.

I think that's what's sad ay... simply because we lost, the fact we played 75 mins worth of quality footy (including two amazing Morris Brothers tries) gets thrown out the door.

[ROC181]

Even with all of our injuries and our errors, and even with Smithy at the Storm, the Roosters are still comfortably favourites with the bookies to win the GF. Outsiders are more objective in assessing the facts more than passionate fans.

[King Salvo]

EVERYTHING went Melbourne's way
They played that game like it was a GF
We could barely complete a set in the second half
We gifted them 3 of their tries
We were busted after multiple short turnarounds
And yet we had 6 LBs to 1
And we still threw away the game - TWICE

So they should be very worried about a rematch as our best cleary trumps theirs

4 tries - 2 off the offloads and 2 from kicks Toops spilt- they didn't look like scoring otherwise - sure munster was out but chooks attack was a notch or 2 above the Storms

[Mad_Rabid_Rooster]

Agree there were more positives than negatives, but I am not sure about who should play lock while Liu is out. I am not convinced, from last Thursday night, that Nat is the answer in the short to medium term. I rate him, though, don't get me wrong. Perhaps we could have either Angus or Aubo in there?

[Paddo Colt 61]

Cooper would have closed that game out. Chooks thought it was all over after the Keary FG hence the two short kick off blunders - one...okay..two...WTF? On the other hand Smith (Cronk's mentor over the years) was as decisive in those last few minutes as he had been all game. That sweeping pass to Papenhausen was the same one that Cronk threw to Latrell to get the one point win against the Storm in Adelaide last year. Whatever, it was a terrific game but can we beat Melbourne without the Cronkster?