BJ wrote:I don’t think other teams will play into our hands like the Eela did. Smart footballers don’t continue to try and play through the middle when the defence is that focused, they attack down the edges. Eels looked much more dangerous and made a lot of extra ground when the went wide in the last 20 minutes.
Absolutely. As the game went on it gave me a real insight into what Dylan Brown offers as a primary playmaker.
BJ wrote:I don’t think other teams will play into our hands like the Eela did. Smart footballers don’t continue to try and play through the middle when the defence is that focused, they attack down the edges. Eels looked much more dangerous and made a lot of extra ground when the went wide in the last 20 minutes.
Absolutely. As the game went on it gave me a real insight into what Dylan Brown offers as a primary playmaker.
Not a great deal.
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Eels fans reckon he's one of the top 5 fastest in the comp and a "devastating runner" (I've never seen it). He might be better off as a centre. Or they are hoping he turns into a Jack style 5/8- but even Jack runs a nice sweep play pass.
BJ wrote:I don’t think other teams will play into our hands like the Eela did. Smart footballers don’t continue to try and play through the middle when the defence is that focused, they attack down the edges. Eels looked much more dangerous and made a lot of extra ground when the went wide in the last 20 minutes.
Absolutely. As the game went on it gave me a real insight into what Dylan Brown offers as a primary playmaker.
Not a great deal.
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All true... I wonder if they were trying to play tight and keep it simple due to Moses being out... didn't work
One thing the good teams do especially melbourne is rush off the line like maniacs. Since removing offside as a penalty it's become clear that bellamy doesn't care if he gives a few set restarts away to belt the opposition in their own 20 with defence. You really lose nothing rushing up, putting a hit on and giving away an extra tackle because momentum has been stopped
BJ wrote: ↑July 24, 2021, 7:44 am
I don’t think other teams will play into our hands like the Eela did. Smart footballers don’t continue to try and play through the middle when the defence is that focused, they attack down the edges. Eels looked much more dangerous and made a lot of extra ground when the went wide in the last 20 minutes.
Yeah I think a smart team would make yards and a quick play the ball more often than not targeting Williams and Croker rather than try to target the middle where Starling actually tackles like a mini Gillmeister and even Hodgo caught the mood.
Not sure I agree with this. Between Frawley and Williams they made 50 tackles and Hudson Young and CHN made a combined 90 + tackles (according to NRL.com stats).
Agree with Pete, our linespeed was the best it's been all year. As was our scrambling. I have absolutely no idea why it's taken 19 games to play like that.
BJ wrote: ↑July 24, 2021, 7:44 am
I don’t think other teams will play into our hands like the Eela did. Smart footballers don’t continue to try and play through the middle when the defence is that focused, they attack down the edges. Eels looked much more dangerous and made a lot of extra ground when the went wide in the last 20 minutes.
Yeah I think a smart team would make yards and a quick play the ball more often than not targeting Williams and Croker rather than try to target the middle where Starling actually tackles like a mini Gillmeister and even Hodgo caught the mood.
Not sure I agree with this. Between Frawley and Williams they made 50 tackles and Hudson Young and CHN made a combined 90 + tackles (according to NRL.com stats).
Agree with Pete, our linespeed was the best it's been all year. As was our scrambling. I have absolutely no idea why it's taken 19 games to play like that.
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True. Young was tackling anything that moved, 50 tackles with that much sting in them is extraordinary really.
Perhaps teams with better halves might more effectively target our edges by passing outside the backrowers better. But if they all tackle like that again they'll hold up well.
Croker will be up against Mann, if the Knights line up the same way so certainly shouldn't be overpowered at all actually.
BJ wrote: ↑July 24, 2021, 7:44 am
I don’t think other teams will play into our hands like the Eela did. Smart footballers don’t continue to try and play through the middle when the defence is that focused, they attack down the edges. Eels looked much more dangerous and made a lot of extra ground when the went wide in the last 20 minutes.
Yeah I think a smart team would make yards and a quick play the ball more often than not targeting Williams and Croker rather than try to target the middle where Starling actually tackles like a mini Gillmeister and even Hodgo caught the mood.
Not sure I agree with this. Between Frawley and Williams they made 50 tackles and Hudson Young and CHN made a combined 90 + tackles (according to NRL.com stats).
Agree with Pete, our linespeed was the best it's been all year. As was our scrambling. I have absolutely no idea why it's taken 19 games to play like that.
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True. Young was tackling anything that moved, 50 tackles with that much sting in them is extraordinary really.
Perhaps teams with better halves might more effectively target our edges by passing outside the backrowers better. But if they all tackle like that again they'll hold up well.
Croker will be up against Mann, if the Knights line up the same way so certainly shouldn't be overpowered at all actually.
True. Williams made a few 1-on-1 tackles on Papalii but I guess this is the time of year that Parramatta start **** the bed. They certainly didn't play as well as earlier in the year - the opposite to us really.
So long as Best doesn't play I think our edges can manage. Just stop Ponga, which we failed to do last time. That second half was diabolical.
BadnMean wrote: ↑July 24, 2021, 1:53 pm
Perhaps teams with better halves might more effectively target our edges by passing outside the backrowers better.
Watching the Storm last night this is exactly what they did against the Cowboys. Their backs are wide spaced and they have a number of decoy runners which commit the defenders to stay in and not slide out giving the outside backs room to exploit.
Raiders like to have highlights of the year. Last year it was Papa running down a halfback. This year could well see Rapa up there with that effort. I love it when great defence makes the highlights reel.
This is the Raiders that I thought we'd see throughout the year. They seem to play better under adversity, but you don't want to put yourself in that situation. Canberra have worked really hard to move into ninth spot and they look like making a run into the eight. They'll be a tough out if they make the finals. Saturday's clash with the Knights is a four-point swing and a win would all but knock their opponents out.