I thought we were a better team.

[Ray Stehr]

For a game in which if we win we get a 4 point buffer to finish in the top 2, that was such an incredibly insipid performance. Against a team that was mentally fragile for us to lead 18-4 we should've put them away, any good team would've. Our team has the mental toughness of a brain dead chicken. I have completely lost all confidence in them. If the club has any brains and is serious about winning a premiership then they need to go after Cronk. Pearce is an embarrassment to this club, his performance today was so incredibly poor and after 10 seasons of Pearce I've had enough of him. I'm not going to bag Manu because he's young but he has a lot of potential and one day he'll be a really good player. The loss rests with Pearce today, Green and Cherry Evans schooled him. I'm sick of the sight of him. C'mon Pearce prove me wrong, bet you can't.

[Tommy Smith]

Today didn't surprise me in the least.

That's because I saw us do the same against Cronulla a month ago. And against the Broncos a few months ago.

We're a good team that can get really hot in patches but can also get trampled over when momentum goes against us.

You seem to have been under some illusion as to how good we are. At no point has our F&A been over +100.

Not even close actually. And that's despite a 14-5 record before yesterday. At least it means we've been damn good at closing out tight games.

But beyond that we've been flogged just as much as we've handed out a flogging which hardly makes the reading of a great team.

And yet despite that I still thought we might be capable of a GF appearance because at full strength we absolutely could win two finals games in a row if we finished 2nd or 3rd.

alas we haven't been at full strength for even one ****ing game all year and rather than getting troops back we're just getting more and more injuries.

[Danish]

There is very little difference between the 2016 and 2017 roosters. The only real change is that we've fluked a handful of wins this season which were losses last year (seriously, 2 Mitchell Pearce winning field goals in 1 season!)

3-4 coin toss results has given the side and many of its fans delusions of grandeur

[Rooster_6]

There is very little difference between the 2016 and 2017 roosters. The only real change is that we've fluked a handful of wins this season which were losses last year (seriously, 2 Mitchell Pearce winning field goals in 1 season!)

3-4 coin toss results has given the side and many of its fans delusions of grandeur

Yep we've fluked our way from 2nd last to 2nd and you can barely notice a difference in performance!

Geez this place is full of cringe after a loss

[Danish]

Yep we've fluked our way from 2nd last to 2nd and you can barely notice a difference in performance!

Geez this place is full of cringe after a loss

We lost multiple games games last year by less than a try. We've won multiple games this year by the same margin.

i know you can't stand anyone speaking ill of your precious roosters, but those are just the facts.

you base your entire analysis of football on stats. Surely you should be aware of it

[Vasco]

There is very little difference between the 2016 and 2017 roosters. The only real change is that we've fluked a handful of wins this season which were losses last year (seriously, 2 Mitchell Pearce winning field goals in 1 season!)

3-4 coin toss results has given the side and many of its fans delusions of grandeur

Agreed.

Our position on the ladder whilst nice, is a little misleading.

Our squad has quite a few weaknesses.

[The Prowler]

We have a team loaded with talented players which is why we are sitting in second place on the ladder.
But at this stage of the season when you are up against clubs whose season is hanging by a thread and others with nothing to lose having a talented roster is not enough.
It comes down to leadership and the team's confidence and belief in that leadership.
Without Cordner and Friend that responsibility rested on Pearce as our most experienced player and half.
His weaknesses were exposed yet again, he was unable to control the momentum shift with his kicking game (which he caused in the first place with his poor grubber) and while he tried hard you could see mentally he had thrown in the towel. Under pressure and out of ideas, he once again fell back on his 'hail Mary' play, attempting to barge over the line carrying three or four defenders.
Even with Tedesco joining the club next year I don't think this team will ever reach its true potential with Pearce at half.

[The Brain]

I agree Pearce was shut today.. Screaming for Cornish to come on st half time to add variety around the ruck.
The bad sign fir me was the first 5 minutes of secibd half. Our firwards and whole team cane out slow and soft.. Said to my kid... Man we are gonna get done they have completely switched off

[Rooster_6]

We lost multiple games games last year by less than a try. We've won multiple games this year by the same margin.

i know you can't stand anyone speaking ill of your precious roosters, but those are just the facts.

you base your entire analysis of football on stats. Surely you should be aware of it

I base my analysis on what I see, I use statistics to back it up.

Dont get them confused.

[Guest]

There is very little difference between the 2016 and 2017 roosters. The only real change is that we've fluked a handful of wins this season which were losses last year (seriously, 2 Mitchell Pearce winning field goals in 1 season!)

3-4 coin toss results has given the side and many of its fans delusions of grandeur

so theres little difference between this year and last year except that we win games now that we lost previously that makes sense great analysis

[Danish]

I base my analysis on what I see, I use statistics to back it up.

Dont get them confused.

you base your analysis on your supercoach scores, and shoehorn in whatever statistics you can think of to try and make your point since you have zero actual league knowledge to do it with.

its idiots like you who allow useless logs (but statistically Pell brilliant) like Aaron Woods and Josh Jackson to play origin

[Johnny Tobin]

There is very little difference between the 2016 and 2017 roosters.

This gets the prize for the most ridiculous post in Pen history.

[Maxy Walker]

Yesterday just continued the trend we've seen all year. We beat up the poor sides, struggle against the good sides.

We've not had a convincing victory against a top 4 contender all year. Except maybe Parra but that was before they came good. Couple of inconclusive wins against Melbourne and Brisbane during origin. Other than that we've mainly been hammered against the best sides.

Some excuses for yesterday though. Losing SST was the killer.

[zac]

Manly were always going to be tough at home, after two losses. No doubt we should have put them away, but they played some good footy in the last 45 minutes.

But when you add Cords, SST and Friendy to that team there will be a lot more resolve.

We need to learn from the second half - which was an embarrassment - and never let that happen again.

[ROC181]

Just because we've gone from the cellar to the penthouse in one season does not mean we have improved, that much. Last year was a year of disruption from the start. Players missing due to suspension, and injury and I am not counting on the ones that left. Had we had Pearce, Cordner, JWH from the start, we might' have had a better 2016...and then SST gets injured... To say we have improved from 15th position, it's actually false because last year we were a better team on paper than that. This year we have been lucky to win some games, by 1, and lost some games when we were favourites to win. A good team, like the storm would rarely lose a game when they are favourites because they have the talent to get it done.