NRL 2022

@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2022:

@bayimports what’s unfortunate with all these stories is that we’ve had a really impassioned message from JT about mental health and his former coach, and that becomes just another story with all this noise. I know there’s always a lot of noise with the NRL players past and present in any event, but this does suck for what is a real issue.

I think the distinction needs o be made clear and called out where players and their agents are taking the piss. Topical example:

Finch sat emotionless as he fronted Sydney's Downing Centre Local court on Tuesday morning.

His lawyer, Paul McGirr, told reporters outside court his client was seeking treatment for mental health issues.

"We just ask that everyone remember that there [are] mental health issues in play and we have to respect that at this stage," he said.

An alternative viewing of that is someone (allegedly) caught sending child abuse material has mental issues and there's nothing to respect. If his life is falling apart as a result and he's suicidal, those are called consequences and repercussions of your own actions. Care and compassion are reserved for the people having to deal with your choices.

Holy shit Yeo pushes down in every tackle he makes and never gets called for it.

Watching Isaiah Tass play gives me flashbacks of Clinton Toopi. Very similar in terms of style.

What a game.

good game alright

After last night i have moved on Penrith. Nathan Cleary is not their most important player (no matter what Ch9 would have you believe) it's the part time accountant, full time work horse Isaah Yeo. He is in the middle of what makes Penrith good.

Effectively Penrith beat you with pressure. Their game is to pin you in your end, wear you down, and then pounce on the inevitable error. Their entire team is full of metre eaters, and Yeo is in the middle of it, either taking another 10m run, or ball playing to someone else to make 15m. This puts them in a position for a high kick, which has you again working out of a corner. And then it's linespeed, gang tackles, and slow play the balls. You make 30m and kick. rinse repeat until you fuck up. And then they'll wear you down for a try, or one of their strike runners will find a mismatch. It's incredibly effective, basic and brutal football.

And Yeo is in the middle of it. He leads the line. He organises the middle attack. Makes a thousand tackles, slows down every play the ball. He's an absolute weapon.

Penrith can be beaten. That linespeed does gas them at times during teh game, and if you are brave like Souths were, you can outflank them early. But you have to be prepared for the game to be high pressure for 80 minutes. And you have to not panic when they have you under the pump. There are not many teams in the comp who can do that.

Clubs should be intent on stealing Penrith's strength and conditioning coach, and their defense coach. You can go a long way in the NRL with those two (of course it also helps if you have Koroisau, Kikau, Edwards, May, To'o etc to give the opposition defense kittens when you have the ball)

Normal service is resumed

@booboo said in NRL 2022:

Normal service is resumed

Holy shit.

Just read the look at four days of the thread.

Was only commenting on the Worriers.

@booboo said in NRL 2022:

@booboo said in NRL 2022:

Normal service is resumed

Holy shit.

Just read the look at four days of the thread.

Was only commenting on the Worriers.

really? i thought you were insinuating Reece Walsh was about to get caught snorting coke off the butt of a cowboys player that had just been Hopate'd

Worriers were never going to be in this, but some of the tackling especially from the little guys has been really poor.

Enjoy watching the cowboys this year though, they are fun to watch when they're on form

The Warriors are back to looking like a bit of a rabble.

Watene-Zelezniak didn't exactly hurry back there, and then got a close up of the Cowboys scoring a try right under his nose. 42 - 4...

Ouch. 48 - 4 now with the Cowboys butchering a couple of possible tries too.

Much better cover D from Watene-Zelezniak there.

Nothing like a game against the Warriors to get a team a bit of confidence before the finals.

Hey Walsh, don’t let the door hit ya on the way out. You were rubbish tonight and have checked out.

Warriors were always gonna get a walloping there last night against a much classier and well coached side that was also playing with a bit of emotion and respect for Paul Green.

Well I'm thrilled Madge was sacked as coach., That certainly fixed things.

When you watch the warriors lose in an emotionally charged game due to Paul Green and then watch the Tigers just give up against the Roosters and think we are shit but at least we are not the diarrhoea that are the Tigers

@bayimports said in NRL 2022:

When you watch the warriors lose in an emotionally charged game due to Paul Green and then watch the Tigers just give up against the Roosters and think we are shit but at least we are not the diarrhoea that are the Tigers

Expect for when we play the storm

@Mackerzzzz hey! Every 10 or so games we really show up against the storm

Lol half the comp is already in Bali

@mariner4life stimulating the economy and snorting up a storm no doubt!

Sensational runaway try from the two props Papalii and Tapine keeps the top 8 race alive. Exhilarating competition.

@ARHS said in NRL 2022:

Sensational runaway try from the two props Papalii and Tapine keeps the top 8 race alive. Exhilarating competition.

The Raiders poor points diff will probably cost them.

Raiders play Manly next week and will probably win (manly have been trash over the last month or so). But they will need to win by 25+points and then rely on the Broncos losing to the Eels by more than 21 points.

The thing for the Eels is that they are sitting at 5th and can't finish any higher than 5th even if they win by 21+. If they lose and both the Roosters and Bunnies win, the Eels will drop to 7th because the Roosters and Bunnies have far superior points diff.

@ACT-Crusader Agreed there

Strange game this one.

Broncos are pretty passive in defence.

Raiders play Manly next week and will probably win (manly have been trash over the last month or so). But they will need to win by 25+points and then rely on the Broncos losing to the Eels by more than 21 points.

Or just hope the Broncos lose by 47 points or more and just try to beat Manly.

Broncos have fallen in a heap.

Perhaps Kevvie had them playing above themselves earlier in the year. Perhaps the toll of the season has finallly cooked a young side. Perhaps Carrigan is everything to that side

But this is an alarming end of season collapse.

Thank you Walshy

@FakatavaAllBlack said in NRL 2022:

Thank you Walshy

How poor was that tackle attempt by him for the first Panthers try. Useless.

@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2022:

@FakatavaAllBlack said in NRL 2022:

Thank you Walshy

How poor was that tackle attempt by him for the first Panthers try. Useless.

Him and SJ are two of the worst defenders in the comp.

Terrible defense by the whole team in this one though. 53 missed tackles.

Stupidity from Radley there. Very lucky to not get ten for me... completely unnecessarily starting a altercation

Roosters looking a class above the Storm at the moment.

This is getting good.

Pretty bad concussion. Radley convulsing.

Decent game. Storm worked their way back into it. Still 8 minutes to go.

The dream stays alive Raiders. Nice weekend in turning the points differential on its head

very nice article from The Roar on trends in the game this year

This really highlights the absolute waste of time the Warriors have had the last couple of years. The coaching, recruitment, and on-field plan all completely at odds with what the top sides are doing. The shit clubs at the bottom all doing kinda the same thing

@mariner4life said in NRL 2022:

very nice article from The Roar on trends in the game this year

View embedded content

This really highlights the absolute waste of time the Warriors have had the last couple of years. The coaching, recruitment, and on-field plan all completely at odds with what the top sides are doing. The shit clubs at the bottom all doing kinda the same thing

Was a very interesting article, but noticed he had to have a dig at rugby which was generally wrong - especially in an era of box kicking.

I haven't watched enough league this year to notice these tactics but I'll keep an eye out for them when I watch a few more games in the finals series.

@Nepia is this the part you thought he was having a dig at rugby?

Rugby union loves territory more, as you can defend position and capitalise on penalty goals, so basic tactics involve kicking with no intention of getting the ball back.

I actually think he is bang on there and I didn’t read it as a criticism.

I don’t think he’s implying all kicking in rugby is about giving up possession rather the situations say at set piece where a team kicks the ball away (for territory) resulting in not having any possession for a good amount of time thereafter. We definitely see that with teams holding possession for double digit phases.

His penalty goals point is probably a little simplistic, but there are teams you could say that play for penalties!

@ACT-Crusader yeah, I read it the same way, he was a simplistic but it can be a legitimate tactic and he was trying to use it to compare other sports.

As for the rest some interesting points but not all top teams paly the same way, however they are consistent in what they try to do.

Interestingly for me when the Warriors had Payten for a small amount of time, Katoa was used significantly on the seam and (apart from injuries) hasn't had the same impact since and has been shipped to the Storm.

Lol watch him terrorize next year.

@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2022:

@Nepia is this the part you thought he was having a dig at rugby?

Rugby union loves territory more, as you can defend position and capitalise on penalty goals, so basic tactics involve kicking with no intention of getting the ball back.

I actually think he is bang on there and I didn’t read it as a criticism.

I think these paragraphs are utter bullshit:

Rugby league is a game that has always lived on the balance between territory and possession. All football codes have this push and pull to some degree, but league lives on the edge more than most.

Some might say that it is what makes the game so interesting: the constant battle of physicality and skill, of guts and guile, of individuality and solidarity.

Rugby union loves territory more, as you can defend position and capitalise on penalty goals, so basic tactics involve kicking with no intention of getting the ball back.

A game that has a central tenet of contest for possession makes the statement 'no intention of getting the ball back' utterly fucking daft. Particularly when the prime objective in a kicking duel is to receive the ball in a favourable position.

NAS once again doesn’t get suspended. What a joke

So the good Parramatta turn up last night, jeez they would be tough to follow. Melbourne wont be in the top 4 for the first time since 2014. Given the injuries and the results that happened earlier, to finish this high still earns them some merit. Not convinced either team goes too far in the finals though