Roosters vs Titans match discussion

[Danish]

Of course you should pick your utility with injury coverage in mind. We're pretty lucky with players like Mitchell, Aubusson & Matterson all in the starting side so we could probably get away with picking someone like Carter if it made more sense given the opposition but to say you shouldn't balance your bench with injury in mind is a little short-sighted.

So your ideal side and game plan is one that leaves a man without any game time each week?

[Ray Stehr]

The good news is that the team showed how good they can be in the first half, the bad news was the side showed how bad they can be in the second half. Robinson has some work to do.

[Tommy Smith]

Keary is such a good defender for a little fella (by NRL standards).

And that speed and slashing running game.

What a weapon!

[Danish]

Keary is such a good defender for a little fella (by NRL standards).

And that speed and slashing running game.

What a weapon!

Robby just needs to ban all attacking kicking.

We destroyed them when Pearce and Keary were running the ball in the first half. In the second when we started trying rubbers and looking for repeat sets our attack became blunted

[Andrew Walker]

Great result Disappointed Connor Watson got no game time. I hope this isnt a sign of things to come for him here

[ism22]

YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS!!!!!

(Jarryd Hayne)

[Thirteen]

Dunno about you blokes but I'm just pumped we won round 1, we had to wait a few weeks last year and even though 2nd half was still dissapoiting that first half was sublime. Don't stress, we will be fine this year just enjoy the first win !

Exactly. Not many will beat them there.
2 points ours!

[Thirteen]

Fantasic that we won, although I would have picked Carter over Matterson, Carter just has that mongrel about him and is fearless in my opinion, Matterson is neither he is just a bigger Braith.

Skidsy and Toop's need to work on their error rate and play the percentages. Halves were very good tonight especially in the first half, Jake is still passing too damned flat and is making errors at dummy half either with forward passes or flat out hospital passes, he used to be better maybe he needs the captaincy taken off him to concentrate on his own game.

Someone needs to lay the law down onfield to try to overcome the adlib/rushed gameplay and to try to get back to the structures, Jake ain't it.

Matterson had a fantastic game. He well and truly justified his selection.

[Guest]

So your ideal side and game plan is one that leaves a man without any game time each week?

there's only 13 players on the field so how does it matter it only 3 reserves were used instead of 4? back before you first became a penrith fan substitutions were permanent and you're whinging because 10 were made between 3 players give it a rest

[Rooster_6]

Why do you think Watson couldnt have come on & defended really well in the middle?

We have only seen him there briefly in the past, he's still a huge unknown defending in the middle. Where as we know Jake is a brilliant defender in the middle.

[Guest]

The good news is that the team showed how good they can be in the first half, the bad news was the side showed how bad they can be in the second half. Robinson has some work to do.

and they did it without mythorima too

[Rooster_6]

So your ideal side and game plan is one that leaves a man without any game time each week?

No, like I said I think you should pick your utility with injury in mind not solely based upon.

Connor Watson happens to be the best option that provides attacking impact and he covers the whole spine so for mine he's a no brainer. Unfortunately the game just wasn't set up for him to come on and do his thing last night. So many coaches would've just thrown him on because it's what they had planned to do all week, the best coaches react to what's happening in front of them.

We needed strong defence in that second half, not another player who was going to chance their hand on attacking plays. We already had 13 drongos out there doing that already.

[Spanner in the works]

For an opening game I thought we were really good, albeit a bit patchy in the second half. I'd like us to work on a few things over the next 6 months:

* getting a few more kilomtetres into our legs, just to eliminate some of the factors that occur with fatigue. I think that hurt us in the second half and we reverted to our natural state, which was what we saw last year and pre-2012.
* more work on our defensive communication under fatigue conditions and while under pressure;
* more work on our attacking decision making under fatigue conditions and while under pressure;
* work on our kicking options under pressure in order to gain repeat sets, which I think is really important when an opposition side is in control;
* find another option for that sweeping Pearce/Keary/Mitchell move that was so succesful in the first half, but largely worked out by the Tits in the second half in my view. Maybe a ball back on the inside to a second rower;
* work on our defensive options for when a team runs hard and straight on our fringes, which I thought caused us a bit of grief.

I think a lot of this could be done at training. For example, points 2 through 5 might be done after point 1 when our first grade side is knackered, and could be as simple as having a 11 v 13 game with the 10 metres shortened to 8.

[Intercept]

My two cents worth - an extremely impressive first half by our boys. That they wanted to play like millionaires in the second half I put down to boyish enthusiasm. It's been a long off-season for our lads!

Plenty of room for improvement. Gordon and SKD not communicating, Gordon not realising that the Titans kicker was inside the 40 for their 40/20, Latrell not showing much urgency to out-jump Hayne or to shield that ball out from the kick to the in-goal area, Tupou wanting to score off every break.

Robbo has plenty to work with and plenty to work on. Two final thoughts:

- How good were the Titans in that second half, when they got their share of possession? Agnatius Paasi came out and showed that they were not going to go quietly. Kane Evans played well last night but the fact remains that we are still prone to losing our dominance in the middle when JWH and Napa are off the park. Glad they made a game of it because it will give our boys a reality check.

- How good would our attack be with Tedesco at fullback? I admit that I am one of the ones that have been slow to realise just how good he is but what an attack that could be!

[Arties Pie]

Matterson had a fantastic game. He well and truly justified his selection.

So..who would you leave out to fit Carter in ?