NRL 2023 + Internationals

Both these teams will be there at the pointy end.

Penrith's pattern is being copied by nearly everyone. The outside backs do all the heavy lifting to gain yards, while the big boys rest. Yeo is the ball player in the middle allowing Cleary to play a pass wider, and Luai to operate as effectively a 2nd centre. And then those rested middles just crush you with linespeed all fucking game.

Totally reliant on Cleary's kicking game, and the ability of their outsides. And they have a fucking good one-two punch with their hookers too. They are barely missing Koroisau.

The Warriors are Penrith light without that polish, and accurate kicking

@mariner4life said in NRL 2023:

In extra time Penrith get a guy binned for a high shot and Moses makes no mistake with the field position and it's a one-point Eels victory. Fucking cracking game of football.

absolutely great game and that finish was amazing. I thought the Eels had blown another one when Clearly smashed the two point field goal to take it to extra time.

High level of skill all over the park.

I think the Eels have the Roosters next week and Im sure the Nathan Brown scenario will have that also as a spicy game.

@mariner4life said in NRL 2023:

The Warriors are Penrith light without that polish, and accurate kicking

Absolutely this, both sets of halves with Penrith and Parramatta are a class above what we have. At least we are trying to muscle up on defence this year.

Lets see how we go without Egan or Barnett this week, both who have been instrumental in our success so far, again a lot will come back to our kicking game, Im sure

also increasingly likely that Suaalii ends up in the Wallabies for 25 just in time for the British and Irish Lions..

I swear league journos must bug people phones..

Watching Reece Walsh not suck fucks me off

Broncos fluffed that one. Ran away from his support

@mariner4life said in NRL 2023:

Watching Reece Walsh not suck fucks me off

TBF, when I turned over at half time he did suck in defence like normal in 2 of the 3 tackles he was in a position to make. In the 3rd one he actually executed an excellent tackle ... but I think he was just in the way.

Milford is shit.

Loving some of the speed through the middle that we are showing. Great to see SJ score a try like the old days

Holy shit our new coach is awesome

We look like a real football team

We copped an awful decision that cost us a try. We immediately gave up a long ranger, and that's traditionally the point where we fall in a heap

Instead it actually steels us and we get better. Some incredible goal line defence to secure it as well.

SJ is playing bloody well which helps enormously.

Watched the game at Mt Smart. Fuck we got totally screwed over by the ref and somehow managed to grind out a win. The ref was disgraceful

I’m numb to us getting screwed by the refs.

Our resolve is far better. The way we use our forwards as a secondary phase playmaker is better. We have speed and workers. SJ and Martin are playing like they are in the top half of halves combos.

@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2023:

I’m numb to us getting screwed by the refs.

absolutely, by letter of the law I don't think SJ's try counts..but given we got stiffed with Kikau's supposed non strip it was nice something went our way.

No Egan or Barnett, then lose Tohu and Niukore playing broken..that was some serious dig deep effort.

Also lucky Canterbury's only attack was give it to Burton, so when under pressure, they had nothing late.

Martin should take more last play kicks still for mine and let SJ run other times

Still massive win under pressure

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2023:

I’m numb to us getting screwed by the refs.

absolutely, by letter of the law I don't think SJ's try counts..but given we got stiffed with Kikau's supposed non strip it was nice something went our way.

No Egan or Barnett, then lose Tohu and Niukore playing broken..that was some serious dig deep effort.

Also lucky Canterbury's only attack was give it to Burton, so when under pressure, they had nothing late.

Martin should take more last play kicks still for mine and let SJ run other times

Still massive win under pressure

It was crazy at the ground. We had the misfortune to be seated behind a bunch of Bulldogs supporters, who were more vocal as the game wore on. Then they all went quiet....

It was a most un-Warrior-like win, apart from the soft first try an the end to end runaway try that almost broke us, our defence was very solid. I have been sceptical of SJ, but he made all his tackles and that run to score the winner was like SJ of old.

@canefan SJ has had some good moments in last last two weeks, seems to be digging in at the line more before passing committing extra defenders. His enthusiasm is infectious and when he is smiling it lifts others.

He is still guilty of too many nothing bombs that are either not too high or deep enough on the fifth tackle but it is nice to see some positives that has been missing for a while for sure.

Kosi (apart from allowing the fox go on the outside for that 80m try) is another who I frequently bag for stupid mistakes but for the most was outstanding on the wing today and made massive early yards.

A lot to like from this set of Warriors so far. Lets see if injuries catch up with them and how they go against some strong teams..so far better than we all expected!

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

@canefan SJ has had some good moments in last last two weeks, seems to be digging in at the line more before passing committing extra defenders. His enthusiasm is infectious and when he is smiling it lifts others.

He is still guilty of too many nothing bombs that are either not too high or deep enough on the fifth tackle but it is nice to see some positives that has been missing for a while for sure.

Kosi (apart from allowing the fox go on the outside for that 80m try is another who I frequently bag for stupid mistakes but for the most was outstanding on the wing today and made massive early yards.

A lot to like from this set of Warriors so far. Lets see if injuries catch up with them and how they go against some strong teams..so far better than we all expected!

SJ's kicking game definitely needs work, although he kicked for touch at the death to basically seal it. As you say too many non-competitive bombs. Our back 3 were super solid running it back and under the high ball

The Dogs made life a little easy for us. For all their recruitment, their halves and fullback are not creators
Flanagan is just very average
Burton, for all his rep and money, is a hole running centre who kicks bombs
Their fullback can't pass.

In a game that's a grind they will struggle to score.

We weren't that much better really. SJ having a dig definitely makes us better. But those points in the game where we re winning the field position game we need more than high kicks with no chase.

the NRL is fucking great at the moment. The weather is good, so there are a lot of quality games.

Thursday was finals quality being played in March
Friday started with the weekly Tigers loss, and then an epic at Suncorp in front of a huge crowd. The Broncos should have won that by more, but the Dolphins are fucking tough.
The Cowboys bounced back, but it's not flowing in Townsville, and the injuries are mounting
Souths v Manly was fucking awesome, ruined by what looked to be the worst ref call of the weekend (until yesterday happened)
Newcastle got a win
And Cronulla gave their neighbors an absolute touch up

Some incredible games to start this season, however my bold pre season predictions way off at this stage.

Some of the original teams noted for top 8 looking good, but there does seem to be gap to middle and then lower teams. Tigers and Dragons have wins in them but deserve to be where they are.

Even the Warriors winning as many as they have, they are not in that top group although the ladder will tell me otherwise.

I do wonder how long the dolphins can keep this up, Wayne has certainly instilled a sense of belief in them. Given Redcliffe was our base last year, I imagine our clash with them will also be a heated one.

@bayimports the Warriors look to be a genuine 7th to 12th side at the moment. Lets see what July looks like though

The Dolphins have good defence (of course) but if they are now relying on Milford for the year they are in trouble (SoS has actually done a decent job). They will definitely fall down the table as the grind kicks in.

@mariner4life yeah I think like the dolphins, our halves are not consistent enough to beat the top teams frequently, however defensively both have been extremely good so far. Good enough to keep us in games and even win, where we would normally lose.

Mind you some top teams also have not looked great without certain players either, Munster and Hynes impact on their sides was highlighted on the weekend.

Proving to be a relatively even comp which is making it tough to pick but great to watch (unless you support the Tigs)

@bayimports Melbourne' strategy is so risky. Essentially they have assembled and paid heaps for a fucking great spine. Fill teh squad with role players and let their superstars win them games. Which happens a lot because their spine is fucking great.

The problem is their fullback is made of glass. Their halfback is suspended. Munster missed a couple. the equation looks very different when it's the role players and two superstars.

@mariner4life said in NRL 2023:

@bayimports the Warriors look to be a genuine 7th to 12th side at the moment. Lets see what July looks like though

The Dolphins have good defence (of course) but if they are now relying on Milford for the year they are in trouble (SoS has actually done a decent job). They will definitely fall down the table as the grind kicks in.

I'm too scared to get hopeful with the Warriors.

But Dolphins are my genuine second team now as I'm watching the doco and they have my favourite player in Bromwich. I think your mate Bennett is actually coming across really well in the doco. But yeah, that fat fuck Milford is a worry.

Much like the Breakers, I'm happy for Webster to build the team on a defensive foundation, defence will keep you in games. Great to pick up wins that we should get, as the team becomes more familiar with each other hopefully our offense improves and we pick of a few of the better teams. I think most warriors fans would be happy if they were offered this kind of start before the season started, even though we haven't played many good teams

Trip to Shark park will be interesting. I have the Sharks finishing near the pointy end and Nico Hynes is impressive. As a warriors fan I will be happy with a close loss purely based on lower expectations. Should be a good marker though to where we are it.

Unlikely to have Tohu and I don't know who will play his role in the middle, maybe a recall of Curran (doesn't have his ball playing skill though), but we will likely get back Barnett and Egan which are two pretty big ins, especially Egan who seems to be having a breakout year behind more bigger bodies going forward.

Assuming he is named today.. Jesse Bromwich

James Tamau is not a fucking kiwi

More than half of Blair's games would be dogshit

@mariner4life I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with the six and had a similar reaction, still Bromwich, Benji, Wiki and Mannering deserved their spots

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

@mariner4life I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with the six and had a similar reaction, still Bromwich, Benji, Wiki and Mannering deserved their spots

Yep, 4 absolute legends

@mariner4life said in NRL 2023:

James Tamau is not a fucking kiwi

+1

Shit, the NRL keeps delivering.

The Lions are playing tonight and i still think i will watch the Eels v the Roosters. Should be a fucking belter.

Also, have the Eels got the hard shaft from the draw or what? Melbourne to open the season, Cronulla expected to be top 4, Manly who look top 4 (and coming off the bye), Penrith the back to back champs (coming off the bye), now the Roosters (coming off the bye).

Eels certainly got the rough end of the draw, getting so many top teams off the back of a bye is insane. Although they delivered last week, losing Paulo is pretty significant.. still should be good game, don't think the roosters have really clicked yet, so should be pretty even.

I don’t mind the sinbin’s from last nights game but it’s going to take time for the league fans to get used to it.

A man down in league has far greater consequences than rugby.

@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2023:

I don’t mind the sinbin’s from last nights game but it’s going to take time for the league fans to get used to it.

A man down in league has far greater consequences than rugby.

Brad Arthur is fucking kidding himself if the thinks either was debatable.

That was a bit of a beating in the end. If the Roosters had decent halves they probably win by more, despite some heroic last ditch tackling by the eels.

Lots of fans don't like it, but its easy to see why Tupou makes rep teams (despite having dick fingers a bit too often). He makes huge yards from the back, and generates quick play the balls. The try he set up for Keary was bloody well done as well.

Good to see sin binning, I know they appear to have gone away from it for a few rounds, but agree both were deserved, personally I would like to see more games with this consistently used. The annoying part for me is that someone will probably do the same thing this round and will just go on report.

I actually wonder of the Roosters are better without some of their stars. Seriously looked like a better team flow last night admittedly against a team without their forward leader. When they have had guys like Teddy and Manu back the combination with the halves has been out of joint. Like a team of seriously good individuals that play average as a team. Obviously if they do click they will be hard to beat.

Tupou also great with his height at diffusing bombs and scoring from them too, great winger

@bayimports Tedesco makes their attack worse because they constantly give him the ball, and he he jinks around trying to find holes, and can't actually make plays for others. He's a weird player in that he is a superstar but i think the team is worse for him in it unless he's doing shit for himself.

@mariner4life thats my point, I think players like himself and Manu (when at fullback) work extra well in teams where their halves aren't as dominant as it they try to overplay their hand sometimes..but both superstars in their own right, to the point they could walk into most rosters and have an immediate positive impact.

They are trying to use Tedesco in the way Bennett used Lockyer when he was still a fullback. Not going to work.

He is at his best running the ball back and then running off the shoulder. His playmaking is only regulation - not terrible but nothing to shout about.

FFS, the first time I make an effort to watch the Warriors in two seasons and they concede two tries in the first five minutes! I am changing channels.