2012 - Round 1: South Sydney Rabbitohs v Sydney Roosters @ ANZ Stadium (Match thread)

[Guest]

There is only one thing left to do now. Can anyone else here guess what it is? Its not that hard really but we should have a go at it....

[Spanner in the works]

Can believe we won. Could see hearts breaking in the crowd. Anyway I had a few observations on the game:

Point 1:cr
The first thing that really grated on me was the gameplan. We tried to play really direct with lots of dummy half runs. For the love of god, WHY? The wins that came from the end of last year were on the back of offloads and lots of second phase play.

Tonight we were out muscled by Souths, and their forwards had the better of us all game. We should have played to our strengths and run those big guys around, tiring them out and creating holes for runners like Guerra and Aubo and for those little inside passes Mitch favours so much.

It gave me great satisfaction that our winning try came from an offload from FPN which kept play alive. He did about 4 or 5 on the night which should be commended. I can hardly recall anyone else making an offload before the last play.

I was a big fan of our dummy half running. Easy metres up the field and was good for our forwards in the first game of the year. Second phase play is crap. We tried that a lot last year but it rarely ever worked - lots of dropped ball and as a result broken defensive lines. For our inexperienced side, simplicity is the best game plan.

I'm also not surprised we were outmuscled. Firstly, we are obviously a far more mobile (and smaller) pack. Not that that is a problem if used well... Secondly, our forwards player-for-player aren't quite at the standard of Burgess, Taylor and Asotasi. Burgess is close to the best forward in the game, Taylor is virtually unstoppable, and Asotasi has far more experience than any of our pack. Give them time they'll become dominant players. I have big hopes for Cordner, MK, Tasi and Masoe in particular.

Point 2:
Mitchell Pearce cops so much shit from people, but tonight again proved how unfair it is. He wasn't brilliant, but brilliance isn't his thing - that just needs to be accepted. On the other hand he's incredibly competitive. He had his heart in it all game and when we were so lost in the second half you could genuinely feel how hard he was trying.

Agreed. He's never going to be gamebreaker in the mould of Carney or Marshall. He's more an organiser and scrapper. I think we need to stop comparing him to that kind of player.

Point 3:
Pearce's kicking game left a lot to be desired, but he was under intense pressure without Anasta as an option. I hope our level of directionless play highlighted to a few people that while Braith is no world beater, he still needs to be in the team; we DON'T have better alternatives.

Agreed. Needed to give it to someone else once in a while. He got targeted every single time. Even a quick kick from Friend would be an option just to break it up a bit.

Now I don't want to rag on Morts at all (because frankly he had some good touches and set up a try), BUT he lacked presence on the field. Clearly I understand he's been out of first grade for a while so he will be slow to start up, but there were times on the field when he received the ball and didn't make a decisive move out wide or even turn the ball back inside.

As it were, Jake Friend and Mitchell Pearce were the two that clearly dominated our play when we had ball in hand.

Give him time to learn the way we play. Most of our team have been together for quite some time, so a lot of this will be second-nature to them.

Point 4:
Justin Carney is another one of our whipping boys but tonight I was almost impressed. Granted it may have been becasue I had such low expectations , but excluding one errant pass from dummy half, the speed and intent with which he attacked the line was positive. He seemed to push his nose through more often that not.

His one reasonable game for the year. Now dump him before he screws up.

Point 5:
Last thing I wanted to touch on was the attitude of the team. I remember stating last year, whist in the throws of despair over our shocking form, that all I ever wanted from this team was effort. We may only be one game into the season but I honestly saw that tonight. It felt like they cared and as I fan I find it hard to begrudge a team that tries its best, win or lose.

When they did stupid little things you could see teammates voice encouragement, offenders cry our in anger and self-admonishment and a defensive workrate that saw the Souths only score one try will all that possession in the 2nd half. Their forwards may have dominated ours, but in the end that had really nothing to show for it.

I think it was that positive attitude that carried us to a win. It make sound a little romantic and idealistic, but I'd like to think they never gave up on each other tonight. That sort of team first ethos shaped by hard work and trust is what I really hope to see us build on this season.

Go Easts.

Agreed. Long way to go yet but even a minor come from behind victory is a great start to the season. Always a happy camper when we start of the season with not just a win but something that bit more.

[bondi-boy]

Great win, sure.

Great 10 seconds from Minichiello.

Sorry to bring the vibe down, but fuuck we were a dumb football side for eighty minutes.

When our forwards were rolling on in the first thirty, why did we NEVER go wide? Not once did we go to the fringes. Hit up, hit up, hit up is not gonna fool anybody...

When we our halves were putting up generally (barring Pearce's shocker) well-directed bombs, WHY THE FUUCK WAS THERE NO-ONE UNDERNEATH THEM!?!? YOU CANNOT PUT UP BOMBS ONLY NOT TO CONTEST. Minichiello's kamikaze bullshit is of no use, we sorely need someone who will actually make the opposition fullback work to gather the footy.

We made a lot of poor errors, and gave away a lot of dumb penalties. MK's hand on the ball, Friend's niggle... yes there were some garbage calls from the pink pricks, but we deserved most of what we copped.

Justin Carney is barely a reserve grader. I will take Koups over him any day of the year. Arona should not be in first grade ahead of guys like Symonds/Taikarangi.

The only player to have a good game was Tasi. JWH was good but ill-disciplined (I still think we must keep him). Pearce stepped up at the end with a wonderfully-Carney-esque run, and showed moments of class with kicks to the corners, but was ordinary for the most part. Mortimer too had good touches, but they were in the minority.

We will need to be way, way better than that. On a side note, Burgess is the best forward in the game by some margin.

Still, we got the two points, and I will be having a laugh at Souffs till we next take the field (and, let's be honest, long after that).

It was tough going out there tonite against a good team...and a big pack of forwards, and big wingers.
12 all at half time.

4-0 to Souths the penalties in the second half until the 67th minute.

Justin Carney played well.
JWH was not ill-disciplned.
Pearce's kicks for touch after penalties awarded were brilliant....and he took the ball across field, dodging the defence, to Maubs to enable his run during the last try.

We made mistakes...they made mistakes.
First game of the year, we will improve.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

There is only one thing left to do now. Can anyone else here guess what it is? Its not that hard really but we should have a go at it....

Send Chicken pizzas to Russell Crowes address?

[SConcierge]

There is only one thing left to do now. Can anyone else here guess what it is? Its not that hard really but we should have a go at it....

Hold hands and sing Kumbaya

[bondi-boy]

Hi Justin's mum!

Nahh, credit where credit is due. He played well.

One of the Fox commentators called him "The Human Cannonball".

[Guest]

Sorry, but Pearce was crap tonight.


Brilliant touch at the end, but apart from that he was unsighted. Didn't do much organising either as we looked rudderless in attack.

Oh well, 2 points is 2 points. I'll take it any way that i can.

[Guest]

One of the Fox commentators called him "The Human Cannonball".

He had a good game today. Can't fault him.

Made 129m, without errors and generally great defence.

[Guest]

For posterity's sake..lol..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm3xbv2C5uM

Go Easts..

[bondi-boy]

Sorry, but Pearce was crap tonight.


Brilliant touch at the end, but apart from that he was unsighted. Didn't do much organising either as we looked rudderless in attack.

Oh well, 2 points is 2 points. I'll take it any way that i can.

We rarely had possession all night.
Anasta the organiser was missing.
Mortimer tried hard all night...all our players did.

What was going on when Crocker just strolled over for a try? we seemed not to be ready in defence.

[Guest]

We rarely had possession all night.
Anasta the organiser was missing.
Mortimer tried hard all night...all our players did.

What was going on when Crocker just strolled over for a try? we seemed not to be ready in defence.

JWH/FPN left a gaping hole because they were more or less .... snoozing.

[Guest]

Great win, sure.

Justin Carney is barely a reserve grader. I will take Koups over him any day of the year. Arona should not be in first grade ahead of guys like Symonds/Taikarangi.

disagree completely - Carney was sensational tonight - ran like a man possessed!

[Darkone]

Tonight was entree's

Next week we could have Braith, SKD & Moga

Which of course will be the Main

[Renman]

Not too much to disagree with in the posts here but a couple more points.
Maubs did a job on GI and Cordner handled Taylor really well.

Mose was quiet and I would have loved to have seen a Mose or Tasi special on Taylor.

Yes, I know I'm a Roosters supporter but shame on the guys in pink and the Fox coverage.

They all hate the Roosters. For Cordners tackle to have been penalised is a joke. The penalty against Mini was a farce; Sutton dropped a shoulder on him and cannonballed (sorry Justin) into the Fullback. Burgess goes for the ball when tackling Perret and knocks it down. Perret regathers 6 again not a knock on you dipsticks.

Please let the refs get better ; I cant afford another hernia.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Tonight was entree's

Next week we could have Braith, SKD & Moga

Which of course will be the Main

Sounds like downtime for the Ant, BJ and Carney then.