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

[Guest]

Good thing it was the first game of the season. Very scrappy. If we dished that up later in the season we would be getting thumped. Thought we went sideways a bit last night at times. It was almost like we got into this mindset that instead of getting past the advantage line, we went back to old habits looking for second phase play and a try every time we touched the ball. That's shit football. It's never won a team any grand finals and it isn't going to win us one here. Get over the advantage line first and win the battle in the middle.

Honestly don't know how you got that impression... we went with a one out hit-up game plan the entire game. A little more willingness to go wide (even given our miserable options out there) would have been good to see.

[Guest]

I for one loved the Mini try at the end. Yes we did have some miserable calls and at times were incredibly sloppy BUT the players kept trying and I was happy with the teams effort even when the score was 20 - 18 obviously was ALOT happier a few minutes later!! It was such an improvement on the games for most of last year. Hoping that we can keep playing with heart this year! Souths were playing well and even though it wasn't a great game by the Roosters they still won - we can improve and I'm sure they will and I think they showed great spirit so 2012 is looking good.

[theGman]

To be honest I would have felt equally as confident about next week as I do now had we lost that game 20-12. For the most part BlindFreddy is spot on. We were very poor in some crucial areas, namely dominance in defence, attacking kicks, and discipline in the tackle. Souths were 100% more disciplined when it came to making it back the 10 metres. I was sitting up high on the 50 and they were hardly ever offside, while we were struggling to make the 10 from the 20 minute mark onwards. Sure we got some dud calls. The one where Taylor (might have been Burgess) kicked the ball from Perrett's grasp while he was on the ground about to play it only for it to be called a knock-on was pathetic and so blatent it wasn't funny. While Boyd's tackle was a cracker, to the letter of the law it was illegal.

Pearce needs to learn the art of the tactical grubber. His bombs were not accurate at all. Nearly all of them were 5-10m long. The one where Mini got penalised for getting checked was probably the closest to "well-placed" he produced all night.

Mortimer was pretty ordinary. As mentioned, he was unsighted for most of the game. Good kick for Guerra's try but other than that he was sub-standard. His passing game and general decision-making is not up to first grade standard. I'd much prefer Kheirallah there who imo has a better, more varied kicking game, is much faster, and has a superior passing game (apparently very good on the weekend). Anasta may be average when it comes to being a 6 but his absence showed just how valuable his leadership is to the team. I think if he gets back next week we'll be a vastly improved side.

On Mini, was great to see him outpace Reynolds for the match-winner, but let's be honest, other than that moment he was pretty facepalm tonight. Running across field losing metres on kick returns just like last season only slower. I realise that he adds great experience to the team and is generally pretty safe and reliable on the big plays but god I can't wait til Tuivasa-Sheck graduates from NYC to take his place. He is infinitely better returning kicks, far far quicker and can actually chime into the backline and set up tries for edge runners.

Good game by Carney. He ran hard and made great metres each time, often making our sets look respectable. His height is still a major problem though. Tonight it meant that no matter where BJ was, he was the one who had to contest the kick. And to compound that Carney is probably the worst and most overt blocker in the game. Got penalised numerous times for it last year so he just didn't bother at all for the first try.

P.S. Kane Evans will be in first grade very soon. He is where Lama Tasi was at the end of 2010. Almost single-handedly won the 20s game today. If only his team mates didn't go to the Kenny-Dowall School of Drawing and Passing.

Yak,
Disappointingly, again Kane didn't get enough game time last night (10-15 min 1st half, 25 min 2nd half). He has the propensity to
make things happen when he's on the field like last night when he ran to the line, fended and ran 50 metres before wrong footing
the fullback to score.
On a side note, we will be without Jack Seijka (probably for the season) with a sternum injury. Brandon Tago will be out for a while...
he managed to roll both ankles. Poor bastard was walking about with moon boots on both legs .

[melon....]

Defence wins matches

Agreed. And when Sutton scored thanks to 4 or 5 pathetic attempts to tackle him I new then we'd lose if thats teh defensive effort we were capable of. That try was a gift that made a useless hack like Sutton look like a line busting giant.

It was soft, pathetic defense that wouldnt win you a chook raffle let alone a game. I still dont know how we found the grit to win.

[Guest]

[QUOTE=melon....;180754]Agreed. And when Sutton scored thanks to 4 or 5 pathetic attempts to tackle him I new then we'd lose if thats teh defensive effort we were capable of. That try was a gift that made a useless hack like Sutton look like a line busting giant.

It was soft, pathetic defense that wouldnt win you a chook raffle let alone a game. I still dont know how we found the grit to win.

[QUOTE]

But we did!!!

ps... sutton still sucks!

[Guest]

The first try we let in was soft. It was embarrassing really.

The amount of dropped ball in the game, from both sides, was amateur.

That penalty against Minichiello for tackling an opposition player in the air was a joke and I almost smacked the guy behind me who butted into my conversation with my mother and kept repeating "but you can't touch them in the air". He slid under him and almost got kicked in the face, there was no tackle there.

We may not have deserved to win but if Souths deserved to win, then they wouldn't have dropped their heads with time still on the clock. I will take those 2 points and all the screaming done in the final 3 minutes is worth the extremely sore throat and man-voice today. I'd make a fortune manning the phone-sex lines.

[SConcierge]

The first try we let in was soft. It was embarrassing really.

The amount of dropped ball in the game, from both sides, was amateur.

That penalty against Minichiello for tackling an opposition player in the air was a joke and I almost smacked the guy behind me who butted into my conversation with my mother and kept repeating "but you can't touch them in the air". He slid under him and almost got kicked in the face, there was no tackle there.

We may not have deserved to win but if Souths deserved to win, then they wouldn't have dropped their heads with time still on the clock. I will take those 2 points and all the screaming done in the final 3 minutes is worth the extremely sore throat and man-voice today. I'd make a fortune manning the phone-sex lines.

Women with husky voices are the bomb especially when they are redheads ...........wolf lol

[Guest]

By the way Lauren, ive maxed out my credit card but here is the number of my ex's...... 6101 2002 9350 UFF5

lol..

Glad you got 2002 in there..

[redwhiteblue]

Send Chicken pizzas to Russell Crowes address?

Oh yes, the address...in Sydney's eastern suburbs...so glad I left Rose Bay..that suburb is not big enough for the two of us!

[Guest]

For me watching the game on TV was bloody enjoyable especially the end.

The thing that gets me about the Roosters is the coaching decisions. Tasi & FPN were really playing well but they were replaced around 18th min by Arona & Mose, that was a mistake. Arona has NO impact. Carney kicking off then BJ kicking off, puzzling.

Overall I thought the whole team put in & played for the full 80 minutes, sure their were mistakes & penalties but they are a very young side & playing without Anasta & playing a gigantic good side it was a great effort.

Maubs as the future captain I like it. Maubs got crushed by Dave Taylor at about the 66 minute mark, if I copped what Maubs copped I would be in hospital. The courage.
Carney was great & will be in the run on side next week no matter who is fit.
Kennedy is sort of clumsy Im not overly sold on him. I know it was his 1st game in 12 months but he was no different 12 months ago.
Tasi & Hargreaves were our best & they both should have been given more game time especially Tasi.

I thought especially in the 2nd half that we lacked any spark, A Mitchell tried hard but we lacked that SKD brilliance.

Overall I was more than happy with the win, it made my day. Thanks Roosters.

[Gary Worthless]

For me watching the game on TV was bloody enjoyable especially the end.

The thing that gets me about the Roosters is the coaching decisions. Tasi & FPN were really playing well but they were replaced around 18th min by Arona & Mose, that was a mistake. Arona has NO impact. Carney kicking off then BJ kicking off, puzzling.

Overall I thought the whole team put in & played for the full 80 minutes, sure their were mistakes & penalties but they are a very young side & playing without Anasta & playing a gigantic good side it was a great effort.

Maubs as the future captain I like it. Maubs got crushed by Dave Taylor at about the 66 minute mark, if I copped what Maubs copped I would be in hospital. The courage.
Carney was great & will be in the run on side next week no matter who is fit.
Kennedy is sort of clumsy Im not overly sold on him. I know it was his 1st game in 12 months but he was no different 12 months ago.
Tasi & Hargreaves were our best & they both should have been given more game time especially Tasi.

I thought especially in the 2nd half that we lacked any spark, A Mitchell tried hard but we lacked that SKD brilliance.

Overall I was more than happy with the win, it made my day. Thanks Roosters.

I'll give you credit Mickey. You were the only believer in J Carney during the week. He played well.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

For me watching the game on TV was bloody enjoyable especially the end.

The thing that gets me about the Roosters is the coaching decisions. Tasi & FPN were really playing well but they were replaced around 18th min by Arona & Mose, that was a mistake. Arona has NO impact. Carney kicking off then BJ kicking off, puzzling.

Overall I thought the whole team put in & played for the full 80 minutes, sure their were mistakes & penalties but they are a very young side & playing without Anasta & playing a gigantic good side it was a great effort.

Maubs as the future captain I like it. Maubs got crushed by Dave Taylor at about the 66 minute mark, if I copped what Maubs copped I would be in hospital. The courage.
Carney was great & will be in the run on side next week no matter who is fit.
Kennedy is sort of clumsy Im not overly sold on him. I know it was his 1st game in 12 months but he was no different 12 months ago.
Tasi & Hargreaves were our best & they both should have been given more game time especially Tasi.

I thought especially in the 2nd half that we lacked any spark, A Mitchell tried hard but we lacked that SKD brilliance.

Overall I was more than happy with the win, it made my day. Thanks Roosters.

They take turns in everything including kick-offs because they are a very young side.

Thats only fair.

[stsae]

I'll give you credit Mickey. You were the only believer in J Carney during the week. He played well.

There were others, but yes Lickey Mane put it out there.

I will admit Carntey worried me but I knew Smiff would pick him for rnd 1 on experience alone. It's a very Smiff decision IMO. That's why he's always been in a 1st grade job for over 25yrs, he makes the hard decisions. And seriously as a few said after the Tigpies trial he wasn't actually responsible for all the 3 tries down his side. And even if he was he wouldn't be the 1st and won't be the last caught out by Bunji and his amazing skills.

[Chook Norris]

just how many times has Maubs been involved in the final clutch play, at centre and out of position, over the years.

amazing

[stsae]

just how many times has Maubs been involved in the final clutch play, at centre and out of position, over the years.

amazing

Do we gat a prize if we gat it right maaaaaaate???

I vote for 1623 times, your post count.