SST & Cordner

[Tommy Smith]

I'm so excited to *hopefully* see them both play on Saturday. They've only taken the field together in 5/20 games this season.

Robbo mentioned after Sunday's loss that he felt we were weak in the 2nd half and it's hard to disagree. And whilst there's no excuse you can't help but think that Cordner's absence and SSTs injury played a huge part.

The same also happened against the Sharks a month ago and not surpisingly both were missing that day too.

Having both on board makes our forward pack twice as good. When you look at Cordner's impact in the 2nd Broncos clash and SSTs against the Cowboys they were both enormous.

The quality and quantity of their runs is outstanding and imo they're probably our two best players. Having both in the 17 should also lighten the load for JWH too.

I still don't think we'll beat the Storm but it's very exciting to see what sort of forward dominance we can establish (if the refs allow it) against arguably the best pack in the comp.

[zac]

We've done very well to be second at this stage of the year with these two missing so much footy.
If they fire we are capable of going all the way.

[Rooster_6]

Yeh this will be our best chance to see what we are really capable of. The only concern will be our defensive vulnerability with Manu and Watson.

The best thing about all the injuiries is we now have a genuine dummy half option from the bench who you wouldnt be afraid to throw on the field at any stage of the game. Be interesting to see how Robbo uses him.

[Red_Rooster]

Couldn't agree more on SST & Cordner, they had so much starch to our pack and get us out of jail when we're camped deep within our 20. These two are also solid 1:1 dominant defenders meaning we don't draw as many fringe defenders into the middle and expose our outside backs.

If we can somehow do to the storm what manly did to us (5 to 6 repeat sets) early in the game, it will pay dividends later.

[Maxy Walker]

So what you're saying is we're a better team with our two best forwards on the park.

Yeah it really makes sense when you think about it.

[Danish]

Yeh this will be our best chance to see what we are really capable of. The only concern will be our defensive vulnerability with Manu and Watson.

The best thing about all the injuiries is we now have a genuine dummy half option from the bench who you wouldnt be afraid to throw on the field at any stage of the game. Be interesting to see how Robbo uses him.

Don't expect him to get much game time.

Robbo was on the Roosters podcast earlier in the year talking about his use of the limited bench, and basically said with the lower number of interchanges you cant afford to use 2 changes on taking Friend off and bringing him back on again.

He likes to use his changes as follows -

1-4: prop rotation
5-6: lock rotation
7: hooker or 2nd rower swap in the 2nd half, depending on who needs to come off most
8: kept spare in case of injury


With reduced interchange and the modern trend of using lock as basically a 3rd prop in pretty much all teams, the days of bringing on your bench hooker for 10-15 mins per half are over. Hence why Watson was getting so few minutes from the bench.

This is part of the reason why the Storm are so much more dominant now. Smith is one of the few genuine 80 min hookers who is equally as effective in the 1st minute as he is in the 79th, so they have an extra interchange up their sleeve to keep their pack fresh.

80 minute hookers should be able to write their own cheque at this point. 80 min locks' stocks have also gone up tremendously

[Tommy Smith]

So what you're saying is we're a better team with our two best forwards on the park.

Yeah it really makes sense when you think about it.

Just pointing out that they've only played 5/20 games together and the role that's played in our major collapses against the Sharks and Manly.

But thanks for the great contribution.

Keep up the stalking!

[Johnny Tobin]

I think we can easily match them in the forwards.

The penalties and three-quarter defence are my real worries.

[Mickie Lane]

I think we can easily match them in the forwards.

The penalties and three-quarter defence are my real worries.

Your kidding me right?
Napa is so out of form & shows no aggression, Friend & Cordner are coming back from injury & will not be match fit. SST will be playing possibly needled up whilst all they will be missing is Harris who has been out for a while.
Mate the Chooks are really up against it IMO.