‘Minister Tevetano’ likely right the right person on his corner… all three of them…

Mancrush is the other guy worth mentioning our attack looked sharper with him at lock.

The Critter try was our best play, Reed- Mancrush- Hutch - Kicks- Critter we set up the pass from Hutch to Critter well.

Salmon did a lot of work, but was involved in too many penalties and mistakes. 

My hunch is KK might play Salmon or Morrin might be left out,

Xerri might still play... Wilson perhaps a bit suspect under the high ball 

Mancrush, Hutch and Curran get involved and play with energy.

I thought The Fish did very little other than dish the ball out when playing at lock…

Morrin goes hard but I think we need Hello Kittys size…

Lots of code names.... Struggling to keep up or decipher what is being said.

I have never believed that size is what we lack in our go forward. I've always believed it is to do with our one out hit-up style, inability to get quick PTB, and the fact we tend to not run in numbers or keep the defence guessing and stop them compressing.

We are easy to pick off, no matter what size our forwards are.

This must change if we are wanting to become a tip 8 team. Nearly all the top 8 teams (along with some on the fringe) have the ability to get on a roll and make good territorial advancement withoit the need for penalties or 6-agains.

We on the other hand, struggle badly and rely on mistakes from a big kick or piggy back from the refs. The minute we dont get the rub of the green from the ref, we are effectively finished and its only mistakes from the opposition that keeps us in games or gives us the chance to win.

There's alot of work to be done.

Unfortunately, i dont see us playing finals for a few more years unless we address the above. We looked good running in numbers and enthusiasm in thst first trial but it was against weak opposition and intensity. Sharks trial and Parra were a higher intensity and speed games and we crumbled. Hope we can turn it around quickly.

We can start by completing at a high rate but thats not enough. We need to learn to win the territorial battle and put ourselves in position to turn it into points on the scoreboard.

Sharks are known for playing a grinding game of footy. This is an opportunity to win a game with only 3 tries, maybe even 2 but we cannot do this unless we complete our sets and return the ball deep in opposition half. 

Further to this.... Mahoney hasnt been bad, but it seems our next ruck play is abitvtoo telegraphed.

Once again, i have to be critical of our hit up strategy. If its solely reliant on who Mahoney picks as a run, its too easy for the defence to number up (its really only 1 player left or right of ruck).

Its why it is so important that Burton and the halfback demand the ball and play 2 passes wide. Hutch gets involved and im sure Sexxy will when guven the chance but Burton is too passive until last tackle and we are too predictable. 

Id like too see our halves demand the ball alot more particularly when we are outside our own 20m. Inside the opposition territory id like to see our halves at first receiver at least 3 times in the set.

You look at Penrith, Storm, Parra, Manly, Cows etc and the halves are touching the ball more often than any other player.

I know we've historically been a team that relies on forward play more than others but this must change. The game has changed and our continual persistence to play a style from the 90's is just not cutting it anymore and our results show this.

If anything, the fact we lack quality forwards should be reason alone to move away from that style.....

Unfortunately what you think doesn’t work. 

Marki. You need to look at the defence of the side and stop worrying about our attacking issues. Players struggle to set up try’s, be in good positions for try’s, put in good kicks etc when they are tired from constantly defending. 

For the Mocks benefit - 

S Hughes - Shoes
Salmon - The Fish
Kitione K - Hello Kitty
Mann - Manncrush
Sexton - 7exy
Burton - Burto 
Marki - Mock or Mockstradamus…

Yes, being unable to defend is a slippery slope that ends up meaning all you do is kick off and defend.

The issue against Parra was a lack of possession and a lot of energy used up defending means that we had little energy needed for attack. 

Teams tend to run one out when they are tired and that sends them further down the slippery slope.

Good players can find the energy to attack and can get into position when they are tired.

Partially that is down to individual effort, but I think our side needs to look at how we play those yardage sets. Salmon starting at lock is the only team selection I am questioning at this stage. But the team needs to review how we play those yardage sets.

We also need to look at errors and penalties, the defence did seem good so perhaps less of a focus.

For starters I hope that the Sharks drop a bit of ball at the start of the game, an early run of possession would help us.

Patolo I think that we have been trying to add some size and we have some good young prospects.

King - smaller but a whole hearted competitor.

Knight - seems to have lost his mojo needs to find it.

Sutton- injured last year but similar to King.

Hughes- has size and potential needs more NRL experience. 

Patolo - good young player unfortunately injured most of last season. 

Faamausili- similar to Hughes but also needs to work on mobility and fitness. 

Suluka-Fifita- injured but will be similar to Farmer when he is back.

Tetevano- hopefully not injured has size and experience need to see what he can do.

There are 3-4;young players but they are not really options for NRL this season. Young Issac M-B is 6 foot 5, 130 kgs but has just had the screws taken out of an ankle injury which kept him out for a year. Gus is hoping that Issac can become the player he seemed destined to be.

Overall it is a long grind this season to get the younger forwards in the list above up to regular week in  week out NRL 
.
We might have a bigger pack by the end of the season. If we defend well complete we'll, kick well and execute in attack a smaller side can still win, especially if it shades the opposition in those areas.

Injuries were definitely a factor last season,  we seem to be over the worst of that.

I dont think any would argue that all things being equal (posession, ruck speed, discipline, etc) that the bigger man would have the advantage over the snaller man..

What i find flawed in your arguement is that the bigger man is a necessity. Its not. Its just 1 ingredient. And on its own, it isn't enough. The teams that win the big semi games and GFs might have some big forwards, but they also play better.

I agree that we cant win the comp with this current pack. But we cant change that. The only thing we have control over is the way we use the cattle we do have.

One out runs with small forwards is a recipe for disaster. We need other options in attack to bring us back to the fold.

No. I think its you that needs to relook at things.
Failure in attack leads to the opposition getting a leg up and have posession, which eventually leads to more defence for us.

Amd that's not even talking about field position. By gifting teams the territorial battle, it means they are likely to get repeat sets on our line and tire us even more. 

Our defence has so far been OK although its early days. Hard to gauge off the last game due to too many errors, ill discipline and losing the 50-50 calls. 

We certainly need to cut the errors and have higher completions but if we can improve on the attack, we can potentially shut out teams early and have them playing high risk football rather than think they are still in it.  

Lol you forgot
Foxx
Critta
Lou
Farmer

We need to improve all areas.

Play better, add size...

This season we have added depth,  improved the defence, and we are working on adding size and improving the attack.

How this season goes will determine the recruitment priorities for next season.

I am hoping that there is a lot of improvement in us this season, early on I am hoping a combination of effort, speed and luck can get us some wins. Finishing over the top of an opposition forwards pack will be late in the season and even then not common. 

High completions and moving the ball give us the best chance when the opposition is bigger.

Good points, although id argue Salmon being in there from the start, gives us defensive starch around the middle while also ball playing at the line in attack which offers variation to the one-out runs.

I see many here and in TK want Curran to start but i dont see the benefit. Curran is not as good as Salmon in defence and his greatest attribute is hole running. Unfortunately, just like Kikau, the halves arent hitting him as when he was at his previous club.

I LIke Salmon's work in defence,but he gives away too many penalties. 

Later in the game I prefer Mann at lock he is a more dangerous ball runner, throws a better long pass and seems to have good instincts. He also makes a lot of tackles 
.
Lack of size cost us more against Parra at the start, particularly when we had the ball. Curran would help that. He has a bit of ball playing ability 
.
I can see why we signed all 3 players but long term maybe only 2 should be in the top 17 and so far Salmon doesn't seem as good as the other 2.

The bigger man is a necessity FULLSTOP

Please look at Leota, Fusha Harris, Haas and Flegler. Then look at every grand final side. 

For us to win it’s pretty easy but very hard to implement. 

He doesn’t understand… he’s been like that forever re forwards being unimportant… All flash and no substance is his go… Perhaps coaching kids has made it worse because the star kidlet, usually  bigger, faster, or stronger can often negate the need for the pack laying a platform… 

Its a chicken and egg scenario my friend.
Its also round 1, warm day and off the back of a 70-30 possession count. Yes, we would have been monstered by their pack anyway, but those other factors played a more significant part i reckon.

If we are talking about the same thing in about 6 weeks time, then yes, size could be the issue. 

This i agree with. 
Ive often said we play a style that needs too many moons to align to pull it off. Hence why our good games are too far apart.

Like you, i also think we need a real dominant half to bring in a new dimension.

I never said forwards are unimportant.
I said they are like pawns. They play a role but the flashy bishops and queens do the real damage.

Focusing on forwards only at the exoense if your spine wont get you anywhere. 

Still early days, we are looking for an improvement on last season, being competitive most games and enough wins to make the season enjoyable.

Against the Eels I was happy with how we hung in at the start but once they lead 14-0 , I didn't expect us to win. When we posted this the trys it was too late to get excited. However if we posted a 3rd it would have been interesting.

Against the Sharks we should get more ball, I hope that we make a change to add more size in the forwards.

I am slightly more confident than I was at this stage against the Eels, the players know some areas where we need to improve.

I don't think our lack of size means that we are no chance.

‘What I meant was’… 
bloody he’ll mate… Karine Jon Claude Pierre van dame would probably do you justice…

When you don’t grow up playing the game it is hard to understand why it’s so hard when you watch it I guess. 

Well Melbourne Storm are arguably the benchmark club of the last 20 years and in that time, they have shown that you dont need the biggest forwards to have a winning team. They certainly didnt go out and buy established or big name forwards. Never been Bellyache's philosophy.

Their philosophy is about having players hitting their KPIs and a superstar spine will do the rest. 

The amount of forwards they have turned over in this timefrane is astounding. The minute players want to take the bigger paycheck elsewhere, Bellamy has not stood in their way. He just finds the next person to jump in. 

While they've had some bigger bodies in the team, its the way they play thats more important to Bellamy and winning the territorial advantage.

Are you seriously using Melbourne Storm as s as n example?

They are the example I was going to use as having and buying huge forwards for the entire time they have been in the comp. 

The good thing about forwards is that the job they need to do is fairly simple.

They need to learn a defensive system, but that can be coached.

Otherwise they need to catch the ball, run  hard, use a bit of footwork and occasionally off load or pass.

While the really good experienced props are expensive, younger guys or slightly less explosive guys are affordable and not hard to find.

What we are mostly lacking is a leader, apart from that we have a fair amount of depth one or 2 rungs down the ladder.

KO will not be playing NRL this season, recovering from neck surgery and may never play again due to medical advice. We are trying to get a salary cap exception. Should we have more cash to spend before June 30th, I think that Gus will try to add more quality at prop. We might do a player swap.

Otherwise it is a matter of trying to improve the players we currently have.

I think it is a gap that we can partially close.

BTW Micko big Nelson has taken his omission from your list personally 😉 

Thrashing machine… Im picking NAS by KO in the first… 

Love him. Just another one to prove my point.