Official Match Day Thread: Roosters v Eels

[NorfolkStreetKid]

Great result, and some very encouraging performances. Baker, Whyte, Turpin and Allan all performed very well off the bench.
I hope Allan gains confidence from that, he could be valuable for us.
Great effort from Hutch, and I loved Robbo's praise for him in the presser, he's no Aubo, but as long as he tries to be one, that'll do.
Teddy would have murdered them, no malice in it from the defender but frustrating to lose him.
How good was Toops..... what a legend.
Paulo went well again.
Allan filled in well, great to see.
Joey S did some great work, I wish he had got that ball off Gutho.... needed that for a double. Nevermind. He's getting better every game.....but still looks a bit slow to me.
Keary still not 100%, but still good, I think that parra player took a dive in that try movement. Kez hardly touched him and I think he was just putting his arm out to stop a fall. Maybe I am one eyed....blame it on the shingles.
Sammy Walker.... some GREAT defence, and attack.... the kid could be TOP LINE. Great 50th, and hes 20 years old. Hope he's a Rooster for another 14 years, imagine a one club Rooster retiring with 350 games.
Rads worked hard in his 100th, some great defence too, and he was everywhere.
The Butcher boys did plenty, imagine how good that must feel for them, two brothers running on and playing back row together... how proud would their family be, and what memories. awesome.
JWH, the legend, hope his hammy holds out, hope we can get him another ring.
Collins was great, tough hard runs, just what we needed.
Smith, very clever to set up that break for Sammy, and did plenty of work. Could be the difference we have been looking for.
We could have won that by 30 tonight, but it's good for the coach to let them know they have plenty to work on.
We will miss Teddy next week ofcourse, big chance to Joey manu to step up, I hope he is ready.
Still plenty of improvement to come.
Could be a big year for us, the only worry is injury, especially in the halves.
Go the Chooks, I've had a good weekend already, and it's only Friday.

[The Lip]

Just read Robbos comments that Teddy will be out for two weeks - do you guys think that he meant one week being the Parra game and next week or is he out for the next two games as well?

[Marce]

What a victory

[QWERTY]

Just read Robbos comments that Teddy will be out for two weeks - do you guys think that he meant one week being the Parra game and next week or is he out for the next two games as well?

He should be ready in time for the game against the sharks, as the 11 day period will be up by then. Just as well, as our next two games (storm and sharks) are winnable but tough games, and having Tedesco on board for at least one of those games will give us a massive boost.

[The Brain]

Good win..lame clocking off at the end byt Parra lucky we didnt win by 30 or more .

[Bansai Pipeline]

Very good signs early in the season, which is somewhat rare for us.

A lot of depth in the squad, but agree with Norfolk that the halves are the weak link injury-wise. Fingers crossed I guess.

[Thirteen]

Good on Robbo for saying this - too many on here disrespect the Hutchinator - I have always rated the Hutchinator and what's more important so does the Coach and he is the only one that counts/matters in the washup

I rate him too. Always have. He’s a genuine footballer. Lacking speed so I’d rather not see him in the centres but he’s a good versatile player.

[Thirteen]

Good win..lame clocking off at the end byt Parra lucky we didnt win by 30 or more .

Maybe you weren’t at the game and didn’t get the same perspective as I did, but Rads really was top shelf last night.

In my opinion:

3 Radley
2 JWH
1 Walker

[Johnny73]

3-1 after 5 rounds. Good first block done. Now onto the next 5.

Not one 6again in the first 40 minutes. Really started to pull through them at times and Parra would just hold on. Atkins wouldn't oblige, we see you mate. The Eels winger should have been sent off in my opinion, late and high. Getting tired of it really, Tedesco was building to something in that first half and now he's gone for next week as well.

I think Parra's scramble vs Drew out wide nullified them getting spanked in the first half, although we may have scored more points with Manu, Hutcho definitely made up for his lack of pace by shutting down Sivo tonight.Great work from Paulo to draw them in and the Hutchinator to wrap around the outside for his try. They'll have to be doing it next week too.

I think the more I watch Sualii play this year and the next, the sadder I'll become about him leaving. I've been in denial about it all week as I was very excited to watch him play with us for a long time. Hopefully a supposed "handshake agreement" has taken place for him to return someday. Big ask of him to fill teddy's shoes for 65 mins and he did, some of the moves he puts on are a marvel to watch.

Daniel "The King of Tonga" Tupou. What Jared is to the forwards this guy is to the backs, stands so tall in every game, watch what he does at the end of his carry for the last try before he gives it to Keary. Absolutely brilliant.

LUKE KEARY IS BACK EVERYBODY! Lesssss goooooooo!

Sam Walker. 20 years old. 50 games. Keep playing it again, Sam. The maturity in his game has skyrocketed this season. So much better in all facets, scary to think of what he will become.

Brandon "The Craftsman" Smith, I always thought he was just a wombat that would be dangerous off a quick PTB, but dare I say he was playing underwater 4d chess tonight, great service and clever motion at the ruck. Even when Turpin came on, who was also good, I couldn't wait for the wheel of cheese to return to the field.

The Butcher Brothers. Great work tonight, Egan's best game by far, even though he got caught napping in Gutho's try, he'll follow the same path as Collins (who put in another supreme performance) so maybe a step backwards here and there before the sky's the limit for him too. I know Lord Angus will eventually reclaim his spot but I'm enjoying watching Egan Git Gud starting on the left.

JWH, what to say. Please stay fit champion, we've got a premiership to win with your name on it.

Victor the 100 game Inflictor, congrats mate you are absolutely invaluable to our structures on both sides of the ball, the only critique is more running please. He hurts dudes tackling and carrying.

Didn't see a lot of Baker, but quality when he was on. Allen sound.

Whyte. He moves like SST does before the line. He doesn't look like the biggest forward, but not getting dominated in the tackles with that late footwork. One to keep an eye on.

It's good to have beaten two potential top four teams in a row, I am very keen like everyone else to return to the top four and these wins help immensely. As aforementioned by another poster the next few games could show us what our season will look like.

GO EASTS.

Great comments. I wasn't sold on Brandon Smith either but I am now.

[MCMLXVI]

Just read Robbos comments that Teddy will be out for two weeks - do you guys think that he meant one week being the Parra game and next week or is he out for the next two games as well?

I just watched the presser and Robbo was including the match last night as one of the two weeks. Because Teddy was eliminated in the first ten minutes of the game, he essentially missed last night's game. He'll miss the Storm game but should be back for the Sharks.

[HunchoRooster]

Fortunately for the Roosters Robbo is the Coach and not you one has to say.

As a wise person said on the Atlanta Braves fan site I frequent in response to similar folk who criticise particular players and don't want them anywhere near the squad - " Remember they are doing something you could never do - keep that in your thoughts when next posting"

Wise words indeed and not mine

You are good at research it seems. Go and research some of my last few comments on Hutch and you'll see that I do think he has a role in the squad, especially with injuries. A model professional who did an admirable job in the centres. My gripe was the comparison to Aubo. A role in the starting side when fully fit is a different story. He isn't in our top 17 and that will come to the fore when we get a fully fit squad back (Watson, Sitili, Angus, May, Lodge, NBrown would also get a bench spot over him). Even Fletcher Baker and Turpin would likely get the nod over him. Given our luck though, I doubt we will ever be lucky enough to have all available at once. Which is where Hutch comes in handy.

Same can be said that Robbo is the coach and not the oracle that is King Salvo otherwise we'd be running with Hutch as captain and halfback going forward. You'd probably even float the idea of him going to fullback next week to cover Teddy.

[QWERTY]

One thing this game showed was just how bad Sivo is. Sivo gets scared when more than one play is up tackling him (he makes a lot of irrational decisions because of this too), and every time he makes a hit up he falls to the ground straight away. He made just 23 post contact metres, meaning that he made just over 1 post contact metre on average when he ran. A very timid player for his size and stature. And he isn’t especially footy smart. Sometimes I wonder about Parradoesn’tmatta

[Paddo Colt 61]

Good post Stringas. Total agreement on Smith particularly. I thought he created the platform - a terrific buy and the hooker we needed.

The precision passing right at the defence line was a joy to watch and when it didn't come off it was a Parra knock on. There's a lotta training goes into that though it is vulnerable to sustained up and in D.

The side is now formidable and ominous especially in the forwards with Lodge, Sitili, Gus, May and Brown yet in the wings, The hunger for a spot going forward will be palpable and injuries should be less of a concern as a result.

Without our two best on the field, the backs were also impressively competent. Unlike others here I've always rated Allen since his Full Back stint with Souffs. He's, hopefully found the right coach and environment.

[Mickie Lane]

The whole team played well.
JWH is the key to success, he makes such a difference.
Parra hung in there in the first half considering they played half of the 1st half with 12 men.
What the score would of been if they didn’t have Gutho God only knows.
Anyway we can now all relax for the weekend well sort of, our house goes up for auction tomorrow & we’ll see what happens.

[Recky62]

So, the ref was an atypical clueless wank , that eel turned his shoulder into Teddys head , 11 days v 10 minutes ..GET F**ked....Hutcho Hutcho Man was bonz as usual , Lyndsay, Jared Whatta Hardarse and yes even Cheese , who i wasnt fussed on, were brilliant , Sam "Hunnert Percent" Walker was typically outstanding, sure we let them get a couple of soft ones late , and thats not great BUT we got the points , Bondi done good for a kid with what? 30 games under his belt , Lukey and the Butchers were usually great and the 100 game Inflictor was brilliant

the million dollar slippery ...um, wasnt, and Gus must be downing eno's by the jar ,