NRL 2023 + Internationals

@bayimports good write up

but that team isn't good enough to win the NSW Cup let alone "push for the 8" in the NRL

I think we'll score more points because Brown was fixated on playing risk-free dour shitbox football. And he was a crap coach

I saw more shape in the trials than i did all year last year. SJ is a total bust and while he will start this weekend, if the coach is actually focused on improvement, he'll be out of the team by week 3.

While i expect to lose nearly every week, i hope we play with some fucking intent and give us something to watch, because tuning in to watch your team play dour football and still get dicked gets harder and harder as the year progresses. Have a fucking go. And when in doubt, pick youth.

@Duluth said in NRL 2023:

@bayimports Thanks that was a good summary for someone like me who doesn't follow league closely. I've aded that to the front page with a few pictures

I've been looking for longish posts to throw up on the website. Strangely even though we are primarily a rugby site the only one's of found over the last week have been this one and the NRL by @mariner4life

lol nothing i say should be promoted anywhere

@mariner4life

Write more than two semi coherent paragraphs and you are a TSF subject expert

@Duluth said in NRL 2023:

@mariner4life

Write more than two semi coherent paragraphs and you are a TSF subject expert

i do that? high fucken 5!

@mariner4life said in NRL 2023:

@bayimports good write up

but that team isn't good enough to win the NSW Cup let alone "push for the 8" in the NRL

I think we'll score more points because Brown was fixated on playing risk-free dour shitbox football. And he was a crap coach

I saw more shape in the trials than i did all year last year. SJ is a total bust and while he will start this weekend, if the coach is actually focused on improvement, he'll be out of the team by week 3.

While i expect to lose nearly every week, i hope we play with some fucking intent and give us something to watch, because tuning in to watch your team play dour football and still get dicked gets harder and harder as the year progresses. Have a fucking go. And when in doubt, pick youth.

To be fair I said they would finish 12th ..they would have hopes of 8th and have a chance with a myriad of other teams, but would fail. I agree entirely with your assessment of SJ, I am not even sure he plays out this year. Luke Metcalf is an exciting prospect..hopefully he is fit enough to play most of the year while SJ retires off early into the sunset

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

Luke Metcalf is an exciting prospect.

My god I hope this dude lives up to the hype he's been getting, but I also hope he doesn't become another Chad Townsend where he looks like a local club player for us before going on to win a premiership with Cronulla.

@Nepia said in NRL 2023:

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

Luke Metcalf is an exciting prospect.

My god I hope this dude lives up to the hype he's been getting, but I also hope he doesn't become another Chad Townsend where he looks like a local club player for us before going on to win a premiership with Cronulla.

that says more about our set up than the player when they win elsewhere sadly. But I agree with you, Sharks did aggressively tried to reverse his decision (like they successfully did with Toby Rudolf) but we were able to keep him, but I have only seen highlights and not enough to know if the hype is real. He has speed, so that already sets him apart from Chad lol!

I know its not first grade, but it gives me some hope

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

@Nepia said in NRL 2023:

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

Luke Metcalf is an exciting prospect.

My god I hope this dude lives up to the hype he's been getting, but I also hope he doesn't become another Chad Townsend where he looks like a local club player for us before going on to win a premiership with Cronulla.

that says more about our set up than the player when they win elsewhere sadly. But I agree with you, Sharks did aggressively tried to reverse his decision (like they successfully did with Toby Rudolf) but we were able to keep him, but I have only seen highlights and not enough to know if the hype is real. He has speed, so that already sets him apart from Chad lol!

I know its not first grade, but it gives me some hope

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Well, I hope for your sake (and his uber fluffers out there) that he lives up to the hype. My natural pessimism with the Warriors means I wont be disappointed if he fails.

As an aside, WTF has happened to NRL prices? Went to grab some tickets to Warriors v Chooks and tickets around the 22m (well 20m I guess) are $70.

@Nepia $70 really? perhaps that's how roosters are keeping all their players under the cap! sounds like pub and tab me

i think we have all earnt the right to pessimism lol

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

@Nepia $70 really? perhaps that's how roosters are keeping all their players under the cap! sounds like pub and tab me

i think we have all earnt the right to pessimism lol

That's not even the centre either, those tickets aren't available to non member plebs.

Going to sit in the corner which is a somewhat more reasonable, but not really $50.

I'm only going to check out the new stadium and so my uber fan Warriors mate will stop bugging me to come to a game early in the season.

death, taxes, Melbourne winning in R1

@mariner4life although surprised me how well both teams played without a lot of key players from last year. After watching a lot of rugby of late and then watching this, the head contact was insane

Lets see how well they go if Munster requires an operation on his finger

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

@mariner4life although surprised me how well both teams played without a lot of key players from last year. After watching a lot of rugby of late and then watching this, the head contact was insane

Lets see how well they go if Munster requires an operation on his finger

Melbourne are Melbourne. Even when they are outplayed they stay in the fight, and wait for a key player to do something great. Losing Munster would be massive though as that is going to add a lot or pressure to Hughes and Grant and the very young Meanie to fill that attacking void.

Jesus big NAS had a big game though, by god did he eat some people.

Parra will be disappointed, they were the better team for probably 65 minutes of the game. But their attack was very scratchy (as you expect in R1) and while their new edge players tackled well, they aren't weapons with the ball yet (oh yeah, and dumb Katoa turnovers i have seen before). And they got real tired for a while and were probably lucky Melbourne didn't make them pay when their defensive line just fell apart. Also i think i hate Cling Gutherson more than any other player in the comp right now. All he did last night was whinge at the ref. Then he stayed down for an eternity hoping for a penalty. Hugely overrated player, all mouth no output.

Warriors start with an unforced error and then SJ missed tackle conceding a try ..normal service resumes.. sigh

Call me a pessimist, but I just switched over from the rugby to have a look at the Warriors.

A really good set out of their own end, get to their last tackle and no one knows what the fuck is going on, and it results in Johnson putting up an absolute shit house bomb.

Have these guys just met?
Have they not trained any last play options?

Groundhog Day.

As I type the Worriers go over in the corner. Well done….

@Gunner for the most part sadly SJ just doesnt look up to it, which all of us have noted

still warriors back in this one 4-6 Newcastle

Warriors getting some confidence and the big middles having their expected impact 10-6

Warriors actually showing some enterprise on attack, well I’ll be. No try this time, but that was actually fun to watch.

Someone kick pompey in the nuts ‍️

The Ozzy imports have been great !! Ford and Barnet even Dyaln walker bringing that energy!! Let's go Warriors!!

SJ may have had a nice run leading to that try but in general he's been fucking awful

We look clunky when we are shifting it but through the middle has been good. The halves need to reward with repeat sets.

Newcastle are shit, ponga at 5/8 is a waste. We should win this.

@mariner4life said in NRL 2023:

Newcastle are shit, ponga at 5/8 is a waste. We should win this.

Are you new to the greeeeeaaaaaatest competition on earth?

Are league players not allowed to tackle around the head any more, or is this just a round one thing?

some real effort in defence, but Ponga showing what a creative player can do against tired bodies..in comparison SJ down the other end of the field..

without halves we are average at best

probably lucky independent doctor removed Knights only threat..

stand by saying we won't win many without a half back, but all new recruits had some big effort...

well done warriors 20-12

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

some real effort in defence, but Ponga showing what a creative player can do against tired bodies..in comparison SJ down the other end of the field..

without halves we are average at best

Did they win, my feed cut out with 2 minutes to go. Kayo claiming I should check my internet connection but Stan has been running the whole time.

Out shit halves and their inability to organise points despite a thousand sets on their line and a man advantage would have lost that game last year.

So defensive resolve had to do it.

Some good signs. Egan bloody good. Loved Ford and Barnett. Harris was pretty good but if he's our ball playing middle he still has work to do.
Some nice work by the back 5 too

Nice to win a game that we should have

@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2023:

….snip
Brisbane
Titans
Manly
Warriors - it’s our year
Tigers
Dragons
Dolphins
Knights

We won, but after week 1, my revised bottom 8

Brisbane
Titans
Manly
Tigers
Dragons
Warriors - it’s clearly not our year
Dolphins
Knights

No faith in our halves, our kicking game, our ability to actually break the line with any sort of variation or speed, our goal kicking unless it is under the posts.

Bulldogs spent a lot of money to get fucking torched by manly in R1

Maybe seibold learned a few things

Bulldogs didn't look great but looked ok in patches. Reed Mahoney their best buy by a long way. Manly looked ok, Turbo played a key role even at 75%..clear he is not stretching out to full pace yet. Siebold tried to bottle that game yesterday by playing Weekes at fullback and giving Turbo 60 minutes and let the Bulldogs back into the game briefly. Only thanks to an injury did Turbo have to come back on and then game was put out of reach. I may have overrated Manly, if Turbo gets injured again, Siebold will kill that side.

Cowboys looked good like last year early and then also bottled it, letting the Raiders back in and it became a grind. Still winning ugly is important and I suspect any bottom of the table side lose that, so well down Cowboys.

Souths look the goods, their damaging left side was hardly used as Ilias looks like he has come good with countless raids down the right. Lots of players we all love to hate, but the looked very good against the Sharks.

Biggest talking point out of this weekend so far is the independent doctor. Personally thought that won us the game against the Knights. It impacted both the Bulldogs and the Raiders however I don't think it changes those results as much as Sticky will whinge otherwise.

And the Dolphins get the first up win - over the Roosters!

Can I just say, yet again, what a piece of shit streamer Kayo is! Every minute or so it just skips back a few seconds. I mentioned this to them at leat 2 years ago and it's still happening now.

The M4L curse hits all my top 4 picks bar the cows in R1

Great stuff Dolphins they were bloody good and the roosters weren't. Kaufisi rattled them by bombing anyone who came near him.

@Nepia said in NRL 2023:

And the Dolphins get the first up win - over the Roosters!

Can I just say, yet again, what a piece of shit streamer Kayo is! Every minute or so it just skips back a few seconds. I mentioned this to them at leat 2 years ago and it's still happening now.

yeah Stan is the best streamer for sport in Aus now by far

Dolphins old heads can't keep that up, but watch out if you play them early..jeez Kaufusi winding back the clock with massive hits

Roosters looked very rusty, although Keary a great halfback, I don't know if he fits within that backline, both halves just look to get in the way of each other

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

@Nepia said in NRL 2023:

And the Dolphins get the first up win - over the Roosters!

Can I just say, yet again, what a piece of shit streamer Kayo is! Every minute or so it just skips back a few seconds. I mentioned this to them at leat 2 years ago and it's still happening now.

yeah Stan is the best streamer for sport in Aus now by far

Yep, speaking of Stan I've just finished watching the Dolphins doco series first episode on Stan. Has been pretty good aside from the long intro and typical league "greatest sport on earth" B/S at the start.

Oddly they identified Isaako as "Samoan Representative" and not NZ rep - he's played one game for Samoa.

Bennett loves Jesse Bromwich. After seeing this episode Jesse might go into cruise mode as Bennett said he's fine if he only gets 20 mins out of him.

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

Dolphins old heads can't keep that up,

hindsight and all that but, we should have seen this coming. No one gets a group up for a one-off like Wayne. They were fucking hyped up. The Roosters were not.

Even though I can’t stand either side, that Eels v Sharks game was damn good. The way the Eels moved the ball wide was excellent.

Just caught up on the Broncos/Cowboys game, how quick is that Broncos 5/8! Reece Walsh had pretty good game too. Ran well and showed some nice touches

Warriors are a tough watch, clearly more resilient in defence, but attacking accuracy of a reserve grade team. Not helped by losing two players to HIA on a very hot day, just not enough in our squad to execute attacking plays consistently. A game unbelievably we could have won, ..but lose to the better team by 20-12

@bayimports said in NRL 2023:

Warriors are a tough watch, clearly more resilient in defence, but attacking accuracy of a reserve grade team. Not helped by losing two players to HIA on a very hot day, just not enough in our squad to execute attacking plays consistently. A game unbelievably we could have won, ..but lose to the better team by 20-12

15 minutes in I knew we had no chance of winning. TMM tackled after kicking and the refs did nothing despite the fact it's been a key tenet of the game to protect kickers for at least 5 years. Then multiple repeat sets to the Roosters for ruck/inside the 10 infringements - Warriors weren't getting the same in their favour.

Ah well, that's my annual Warriors game done, managed to not have a heart attack but will avoid blood pressure tests for a few days.

Allianz redevelopment is pretty good. Ticket and concession prices reflect the dev cost though.

@bayimports The couple of passes sideways and then Curran straightening as the only left hand side attack move was doing my head in.

@Nepia said

@bayimports The couple of passes sideways and then Curran straightening as the only left hand side attack move was doing my head in.

it looked like they were just trying to soften up Walker, i thought this was also funny though as Curran isn't the largest body to do that. I think I was annoyed by multiple average bombs without anyone challenging or kick being good enough to allow a challenge... and then the unforced drop balls on attack

still i could imagine in recent years this game would have been 30-0, so some improvement