Christchurch_Warrior
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Or not.
Post Match Dragons v Warriors - [Round 7, 2024]
- Thread starter mt.wellington
- Start date
Definitely a concern for our struggling second rowers to line up against Fifita who looks like he’s coming into form as a match up. AKP on the wing too is going well, along with Kelly who played well last night. If we don’t turn up, we’ll be the first win of the season for them
100%
I suppose it can be the nature due to the recent success we have been fortunate to be part of…. And we are all allowed our own opinion but players aren’t world beaters one week then rubbish their next. Aside from Addin and maybe SJ - all players looked off it…. Ineffectual. These are the same players that made most of us dream after the Souths game. Luckily Webster is more consistent with his selections, otherwise we would barely have any combinations.
In saying all that… something was off. It may have come down to workload during the week or possibly their travel?? I think I saw on Instagram they flew up on the day - I could be wrong - but a change in the travel detail can throw you off your routine.
What I do witness consistently in the NRL is when a good team puts in a less than average performance - they usually back it up with a very good one…. So I am really looking forward to next weeks game!Time to eat!!!
In saying all that… something was off. It may have come down to workload during the week or possibly their travel?? I think I saw on Instagram they flew up on the day - I could be wrong - but a change in the travel detail can throw you off your routine.
What I do witness consistently in the NRL is when a good team puts in a less than average performance - they usually back it up with a very good one…. So I am really looking forward to next weeks game!Time to eat!!!
I refrained from posting during and after the match. Coming back on here and seeing all the negativity vindicates that decision.
This performance reminded me of that crazy win we had against a then top 4 canberra side in 2021 when we were still mud. We scored the upset that day not because we were better, but because Canberra was playing that game without a bench. They built up a solid lead (25-6) at half time but we were always going to be a chance to run them down given their lack of a bench. For us to win yesterday, we had to bank a huge lead early and weather the storm as our starters got gassed and their bench came on. We started well and dominated them early but unfortunately failed to take advantage.
That really was the beginning of the end for us. You just can't play games 17 vs 14 without a functioning bench and expect to win in the nrl. That sort of handicap is hard to overcome, even against lower tier sides like St george. Had we possessed a serviceable bench for this game (ie our bench for the souths game), I daresay the result would have been very different. Last year our bench was a point of difference for us and helped us maintain the rage and smoke teams at the back end of games.
Walker coming back next week helps in the sense that we have a two man bench now (yay). But I think webby needs to trust our youngsters a bit more until the cavalry come back (Niukore, Bunty, Jazz). They may not be serviceable at the first grade level for an extended period yet, but we just can't keep playing games without a bench.
Nonetheless, I don't think we can extrapolate too much from this game. I think we should reserve judgement until after our anzac day game.
This performance reminded me of that crazy win we had against a then top 4 canberra side in 2021 when we were still mud. We scored the upset that day not because we were better, but because Canberra was playing that game without a bench. They built up a solid lead (25-6) at half time but we were always going to be a chance to run them down given their lack of a bench. For us to win yesterday, we had to bank a huge lead early and weather the storm as our starters got gassed and their bench came on. We started well and dominated them early but unfortunately failed to take advantage.
That really was the beginning of the end for us. You just can't play games 17 vs 14 without a functioning bench and expect to win in the nrl. That sort of handicap is hard to overcome, even against lower tier sides like St george. Had we possessed a serviceable bench for this game (ie our bench for the souths game), I daresay the result would have been very different. Last year our bench was a point of difference for us and helped us maintain the rage and smoke teams at the back end of games.
Walker coming back next week helps in the sense that we have a two man bench now (yay). But I think webby needs to trust our youngsters a bit more until the cavalry come back (Niukore, Bunty, Jazz). They may not be serviceable at the first grade level for an extended period yet, but we just can't keep playing games without a bench.
Nonetheless, I don't think we can extrapolate too much from this game. I think we should reserve judgement until after our anzac day game.
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Beastmode
Contributor
I agree with your comments in large. You think Webby needs to trust the bench and give them more minutes ?
Or they just not good enough ?
I'm sure webby had his reasons for his bench selection which I'm sure will make sense to all of us ex-post should he eventually reveal them. But from where I am standing, it comes down to Webby not believing Zyon Maiu’u was ready. Webby clearly has high expectations for what he considers nrl standard and I don't believe he felt Zyon Maiu’u met them. tbf, I can see that: I wasn't blown away by his performances in nsw cup. So if Webby decided against blooding him, despite our bench situation I think it reveals alot about where Zyon Maiu’u is at.
We are clearly at a stage now where we have exhausted our quota of nrl ready players. So I understand where webby might be coming from. But I don't think we have a choice anymore. We can't keep playing games handicapped without a bench.
Of course I am not underplaying the fact that we were clearly off our game which is a separate issue altogether. I put a lot of that down to the 90 minute golden pt game from last week. All 4 sides that played 90 minutes of gp (us, manly, canberra and titans) seemed quite off this week too. We should reserve judgment on whether this game is truly an anomaly or indicative of a coming form slump after the titans game this week.
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You don't need to be nervous.
Just wait until we lead 6 - 4 with 65% possession and 27 tackles to 4 in the opposition 20
Whats the worst that could happen? We lose? Did that...
Except winning is everything and this argument rests on webby being happy to lose as long it doesn't rush one juniors development. To me its the timidness of a rookie coach.
Pretty sure we used flame the forums for Cleary's conservative choices back in the day.
Playing a bench that you dont use does a few things. It means that the players on the field dont get a break and are having to play against fresh legs coming on from the opposition. The players on the bench start to question the next man up philosophy and they dont get any playing time for match fitness. For a one off maybe but we have long term injuries. Week on week that's compounding.
If you are only going to play them for 5 - 10 minutes then do it before halftime so our starters get a break, not at the end of the game with the score already blown out.
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I agree. Plus you'd have to be pretty weak minded to finally get your NRL debut, then get demoralised cos we lost 30-10 or something. Im betting Zyon Maiu’u and Laban are slightly more resilient.
I see it as a win / win. They either shine in the heat or struggle and know what they have to work on.
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I actually agree with you. I'm just trying to rationalise why webby did what he did. He should have been bolder in picking Zyon Maiu’u and backing him to shine. We literally had no other options for this game. Playing 17 vs 15 as opposed to 17 vs 14 wouldn't have made much of a difference on the game but would have given Zyon Maiu’u valuable experience. Biggest test of webby's coaching career to see if he learns from this or continues to back himself in this corner.
It came up last year as well when he refused to play Volkman against penrith in the finals, instead playing Walker. Yes Volkman would have been targeted, but who knows maybe he has a blinder and the rest of the team get it done. As soon as Walker was picked in the halves we'd lost the game since neither of our halves could kick further than 30m.
Still, we wouldn't have even been there without Webby.
Still, we wouldn't have even been there without Webby.
The pressure is off us now. The Aussie experts won't be fishing for likes on twitter from the Wahs cult by stating that they have us as Premiership contenders.
Most of them would be thinking the old Warriors are back.
The solution for our club is obvious, the players need to keep the faith with their coach.
Even if they go out there and lose to a fired up ANZAC proud resurgent Titans. We need a different kind of resilience now, one where we do not worry about the ladder week by week, one where we believe in the plan and steadily rebuild after a devastating loss.
If we get that faith back, and show resilience, we will be fine, we will slowly and steadily claw back these bad losses.
If we do that, we are a chance of taking some big scalps, and if we beat some of the big boys, she will be on for all money again and no one will care about the bad patch.
We have to stick to that bloody stupid word process now, and find the missing cohesion in attack and defence. Individually the players are good enough.
I think the missing players from our bench impact model is playing too much on these boys minds.
Most of them would be thinking the old Warriors are back.
The solution for our club is obvious, the players need to keep the faith with their coach.
Even if they go out there and lose to a fired up ANZAC proud resurgent Titans. We need a different kind of resilience now, one where we do not worry about the ladder week by week, one where we believe in the plan and steadily rebuild after a devastating loss.
If we get that faith back, and show resilience, we will be fine, we will slowly and steadily claw back these bad losses.
If we do that, we are a chance of taking some big scalps, and if we beat some of the big boys, she will be on for all money again and no one will care about the bad patch.
We have to stick to that bloody stupid word process now, and find the missing cohesion in attack and defence. Individually the players are good enough.
I think the missing players from our bench impact model is playing too much on these boys minds.
Tookey 2.0
Contributor
I've been harping on about it, but every team is aiming up against us this year.
If the Dragons played that way, against all teams they'd be top 6 imo. But they won't, the same as most of the other teams I've watched since they've played us, they've all played much much poorer. Even Souths had us at 6 all until the 35th minute.
I remember Webby saying at the beginning of the year that we're going to be hunted and we're looking forward to that. Fast forward to rd 8 and we've had no easy games and a bucket load of injuries. We look tired, sore and flat.
I don't know how we turn it around to be honest. Deffo need Walker and a few other players who can change or swing thar momentum when we're struggling.
I like the idea someone mentioned about starting Ale so that we can have Barnett on the bench for some impact. Add in Walker and CHT (so far we seem to be using CHT for 10-15 at the end) as impact players and I think it's gives us an opportunity to go up another gear
If the Dragons played that way, against all teams they'd be top 6 imo. But they won't, the same as most of the other teams I've watched since they've played us, they've all played much much poorer. Even Souths had us at 6 all until the 35th minute.
I remember Webby saying at the beginning of the year that we're going to be hunted and we're looking forward to that. Fast forward to rd 8 and we've had no easy games and a bucket load of injuries. We look tired, sore and flat.
I don't know how we turn it around to be honest. Deffo need Walker and a few other players who can change or swing thar momentum when we're struggling.
I like the idea someone mentioned about starting Ale so that we can have Barnett on the bench for some impact. Add in Walker and CHT (so far we seem to be using CHT for 10-15 at the end) as impact players and I think it's gives us an opportunity to go up another gear
It's one game people. The vibe here is almost as depressing as whenever the ABs lose and the country has to analyse it to death. Every team this year, even the best ones, have had at least one shocking game where they just didn't turn up. Penrith had a forgettable night at Brooky a few weeks ago. Sharks had an even more embarrassing one than us against the Tigers. It was bound to happen to us at some point. That doesn't undo all the good that transpired in the previous 6 weeks that had us rightly pegged as premiership contenders this year. Extrapolating from this one game is something we should all avoid doing.
Look for the boys to respond this week. Webby wil have them primed and ready to go after that absolute shocker on friday night.
Look for the boys to respond this week. Webby wil have them primed and ready to go after that absolute shocker on friday night.
Poor titans
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