Random, disjointed thoughts on the Souths game after a re-watch this morning

[Avalon Rooster]

Great to be a Rooster! Awesome atmosphere there last night

We were far better in the ruck than them. Very good performance in defence and attack from our pack
All Souths tries were off our mistakes or penalties. Sigh.
Still too many errors from us. Ultimately, while we were better than them, we were lucky Cody and Latrell had shockers.
Our turf is not good. Way too many players losing their footing.

First half might have been the best I've seen Lindsey play for us ever, or certainly in years. Really went hard into contact, looked for work, strong in Defence
Rob Toia is an excellent defender. Really good. If Mark had trusted him, AJ's first try doesn't get scored
Marky is exciting but terrifying. Plays so loose and is an X factor but too many errors and it will cost us a game or two
Sam wasn't flashy but I loved how he took on the line. He defended well other than the rush out on Wighton that cost us the try
Ioelu was excellent again for us. I'm now in the camp of being worried we'll keep him longer term. When Robson plays, I'm not sure we can keep Ioelu and Watson in the team and Ioelu is too good for reserve grade


Jye Gray is terrifying. My God he is elusive. We bottled him up very well but he's gonna be a helluva player
Koloamatangi was exceptional for them.
Souths' 1-5 is as good as there is in the comp but it's not gonna be enough for them because their 6,7,9 is about the worst in the comp.
.

[BraveTheWorld]

Agree with most of it, although I wasn't concerned when Jye Gray was running the ball. Felt like we were handling him with relative ease, and never seems to look to pass. Ran the ball into some poor positions as well, I thought.

Definitely agree re Ioelu - he's a quality player who I think will become exceptionally good given more time. I can't say I'm upset we signed Robson, but I do hope we can somehow keep Ioelu as well.

[SupermanSupportsEasts4Eva]

I thought Lindsay had a cracker. Hope to see more of the same. Toia was great. At the game, I missed some of his defensive efforts, so I'm glad I caught up with the recording this morning. Teddy, what more needs to be said. Our halves went okay, but there is still a lot more that needs to improve. As good as beating souffs is, I'm still of the opinion that Hugo/Sammy would be a better option for us.

[Bates]

Benny (22 years old) has 2 more seasons with the Roosters. Robson (27 years old) has 3 more seasons.

It should eventually be a seamless transition for Benny to be our longterm permanent 9.

Great planning by the club imo.

[BTRD]

Take the win absolutely. But letting them achieve that on our home ground - inexcusable !!

Our 2 trials and first game were terrible. Souths didn't play semi's last year, we did.

So the Panthers game is so important to show where we are really at.

Lindsay was great. He is our ' top dog '. He needs to bring it every week.

& ukc the wabbits !!

[Bates]

Collins played with more intent. SOO type of intent which made a huge difference!

He set the tone with his 1st hit up.

14 runs for 128 metres is respectable and takes the pressure off the other boys who are generally doing the majority of the hit ups.

Sharing the load helps players like Whyte who had 15 runs for 149 metres.

[QWERTY]

Agree with most of it, although I wasn't concerned when Jye Gray was running the ball. Felt like we were handling him with relative ease, and never seems to look to pass. Ran the ball into some poor positions as well, I thought.

Definitely agree re Ioelu - he's a quality player who I think will become exceptionally good given more time. I can't say I'm upset we signed Robson, but I do hope we can somehow keep Ioelu as well.

With Connor Watson most likely heading over to Perth Beniah should at least have more time off the bench in these next few years

[Bates]

Right edge is sorted imo. Now to refine it.

DCE defending between Wong and Toia worked a treat. Wong to chaperone DCE moving forward imo.

Most teams run a block play to isolate the 2 in defender. Toia all over it as his defensive reads are top shelf.

I mentioned during the off season that Nat Butch is best utilised in our prop rotation. His lateral speed is too slow to play on an edge.

[Chook2]

Agree with all of this
tbh souths never really hit top gear but it’s also that we didn’t really give them a chance too
we wanted this morning being more physical in d and in attack which was great to see
now just need to back it up next weekend

[Avalon Rooster]

Agree with most of it, although I wasn't concerned when Jye Gray was running the ball. Felt like we were handling him with relative ease, and never seems to look to pass. Ran the ball into some poor positions as well, I thought.

Definitely agree re Ioelu - he's a quality player who I think will become exceptionally good given more time. I can't say I'm upset we signed Robson, but I do hope we can somehow keep Ioelu as well.

you're right that Gray didn't always take the right option. And their lack of a decent half meant he wasn't used properly. But he's so wriggly and his acceleration is world class. And he's strong too.

He reminds me a little of Jason Robinson - the Wigan and GB winger who went to Union and won a world cup for England in 03. Very fast feet and extremely shifty.

[Avalon Rooster]

Right edge is sorted imo. Now to refine it.

DCE defending between Wong and Toia worked a treat. Wong to chaperone DCE moving forward imo.

Most teams run a block play to isolate the 2 in defender. Toia all over it as his defensive reads are top shelf.

I mentioned during the off season that Nat Butch is best utilised in our prop rotation. His lateral speed is too slow to play on an edge.

Yes, re Butch, I agree too. Back row depth is probably the strongest in the club. He's coming back from injury so let's see, but not much zip out of him in attack. Albeit he's a safe pair of hands and hard working defender

[Avalon Rooster]

Collins played with more intent. SOO type of intent which made a huge difference!

He set the tone with his 1st hit up.

14 runs for 128 metres is respectable and takes the pressure off the other boys who are generally doing the majority of the hit ups.

Sharing the load helps players like Whyte who had 15 runs for 149 metres.

interestingly, NRL.com has him at 14 for 149 and Fahu at 15 for 175

[Bansai Pipeline]

Someone mentioned in another thread that JWH took the forwards aside and told them what was expected of them against Souths.

I'd love to know more about that.

[milanja]

Someone mentioned in another thread that JWH took the forwards aside and told them what was expected of them against Souths.

I'd love to know more about that.

Pretty sure at the end of that quote was something in brackets saying “at least I hope he has, hahaha”

[Bates]

interestingly, NRL.com has him at 14 for 149 and Fahu at 15 for 175

Hey mate, the stats I've quoted are from Fox Sports.