Round 23 - Raiders vs Storm

[Storm Spirit]

They played their grand final tonight, we have bigger ambitions, forget that one move on.

yes ...the only thing we agree on

[blazza18]

Jesse was ordinary as well tonight by his standards. Considering how much their pack dominated I was hoping he'd step up but he was too casual at times. I wish he showed more aggression like Kenny does. Help lift the pack more.

Raiders were really good and full credit to them. Anyone doubting their premiership credibility after the last two weeks should be shown the door.

[Kettles]

Please don't bait the Will Chambers Cheer Squad around here. What inept, d!ckheaded penalties he gave away tonight. I am frankly over this guy. If a player is so woefully out of form as he, you are given a spell in the feeder teams until your form warrants selection. History and representative honours mean squat, current form (or lack thereof) is (or should be) the yardstick that determines whether you're picked or demoted.

[glennb]

I agree kettles. But CB will not do that

[Ice]

Our attack was pretty limp tonight but that said you have to give their defence a hell of a lot of credit. As for resting Cam and Coops, as much as I've been in favor of it you can't rest them if they don't want one or they think they don't need one.

Bellyache said as much and given how long they've been in the game and they know their bodies better than anyone he leaves it up to them which is fair enough I think. Besides they certainly weren't our main issue tonight.

As mentioned above we had enough of the ball to win it we just didn't do enough with it. It was more just an attitude thing tonight and maybe just the good kick up the arse we need.

If we were to make it to the big dance and we faced Canberra I'd still be comfortable going up against them and winning. Don't get me wrong, they can certainly win it but all things being equal I think we have their measure. They were excellent tonight and we were decidedly average by our own standards. If we were anywhere near our best we'd have won fairly easily. That's all hypotheticals though, we weren't near our best and the best team won.

[blazza18]

I'm over debating Chambers one way or the other. But if you dropped every player for being out of form you'd be struggling to find a team some weeks. Chambers has earned the right to get back in form.

I thought both penalties he gave away were a joke and brought on by poor officiating. There was nothing in either of them imo.

[The Mauritian]

Credit to Finucane & Harris. Gone back to our 2015 attack. No cut out passes in sight. 3 bombed tries by being selfish and not passing. Proctor, Cronk and Green. And probably Munster at end. Shit decision to drop Nas and Kaufusi.
I have zero confidence in Green. Every time he touches ball i worry. We have been poor for a number of weeks now. Hopefully its the high training load gearing for finals.

[bushman]

F##k guys I hate loosing but some of you talk as if it's the end of it for us. We are on top, Canberra played well tonight they defended as if they needed to stay in the top four we play ok but not to our best let's move on we did not get smashed by 30.
We have players coming back lets see how we go on the short turn around. We will see then if rest is needed as this was a long turnaround which we seem to not like as much I think I could be wrong if someone has the data would be interesting long against sort. Anyway go the Knights hope u get the point. One game is not the season. Just enjoy the ride still see more wins that losses.
Ps if wil dose not get his mojoe back he will get dropped but he has earned the right for time.

[Ice]

As for Chambers being dropped, maybe it'd be the best thing for him as well to have a spell in the magoos just to get some more miles in his legs and more importantly just to find some touch.

That's not a hate thing because as I've said i think we're a better side with a fit and firing Chambers in the side but the problem is he's just not at the moment.

We all have our favourite players and I can understand those who love him as a player find the criticism of him hard to take, but if you're completely honest with yourselves you'd have to admit that he's just not doing enough to warrant keeping his spot. Surely?

All that said if he's not dropped I'd love nothing more than for him to come out and score a triple next week. Like I said it's not anything personal I have against him, if he helping the team and earning his spot then I'm happy to have him in.

[Gaiscioch]

None of White, Hampton, Griffin and Croft played yesterday. Someone has to replace Kaufusi , who did play, but will it be White or Hampton? Are Griffin and Croft resting , or will our encumbent nos 7 and 9 be rested tonight ? No idea, but makes me nervous !

As to the right centre issue, some observations.

1. Morgan has been excellent since he joined us.
2. Chambers has been disappointing since his return.
3. Morgan's performances this season with us have been better than Chambers's performances since his return.
4. Chambers's best is much better than Morgan's best.

Matching point 4 with point 3 creates the conundrum for the selectors. I except they are hoping Will hits his straps before the finals. There is no easy answer to this one, nor is there a clear answer to whether it is "Chambers's" or "Chambers' " !

I totally agree with you here RobbieRoss.
I'm surprised on Morgan's demotion, anyone know why? Was it purely because of Chambers was fit to play?

[tugga]

56% possession and a completion rate of 85% and we still only score one try.
Credit to the Raiders' defence though.

[Danger D]

We've been playing ordinary for weeks now and it was only a matter of time that we came across a quality team that lifted against us. That's exactly what the Raiders did. Credit to them. The good news is that (apart from this game) we've been managing to win which ordinary performances and I agree with others on here that the loss will be a good thing in the long run as we get to pick apart things to work on and lift our game to the next level.
Didn't someone suggest that Chambers needed his own thread? Anyway, for what it's worth I wasn't impressed with his runs out of dummy half. He pretty much stopped trying once he got tackled and wasn't quick to his feet and it gave their defence a chance to reset. Compare that with runs by Koro and Suli and see what I mean. That's just an attitude thing and hopefully he gets a spark under his backside and lifts for the next game.

[Scooter]

I'm over debating Chambers one way or the other. But if you dropped every player for being out of form you'd be struggling to find a team some weeks. Chambers has earned the right to get back in form.

I thought both penalties he gave away were a joke and brought on by poor officiating. There was nothing in either of them imo.

Blazza18 I understand you supporting Will but seriously nothing in those penalties he was all over Croker both times. Both times we had Canberra under pressure. His form is bad enough without him compounding it with stupid needless penalties. He missed 3 months with injury and I would have brought him back through Qld Cup to find some confidence and form. Having said that the week he came back I did read somewhere that Morgan was injured that week. Chambers has been a very good player for the Storm but based on form I think Morgan should be in the team.

That was Blair's worse game in Storm jersey Leilua smashed him.

Can someone tell me what Ben Hampton brings to the team?

[blazza18]

Those penalties were ridiculous imo and wouldn't have been called if the game had gone differently. They were clear momentum penalties.

I'm not even trying to support him. I don't care for Chambers one way or the other. Just think it's absurd he's been thrown under the bus since his return. Let me know which one of our veteran leaders over the years has ever been sent to the q cup coming back for an injury or dropped because he's been in bad form? Let alone be dropped for a fringe player we picked up during the season because of depth issues. If it has happened it is very rare.

[Scooter]

Blazza18 fair point re leaders coming back in Qld Cup. I do remember Billy playing for North Sydney after his stomping suspension but that was ages ago so he may not have been a leader at that stage.

Having said that it doesn't mean people can't have an opinion that Morgan should be in instead of Will. If you were given the option of Player A (Morgan) and Player B (Chambers) based on current form and not knowing the history I think most would pick Player A.

Something I just thought of was 2nd tier salary cap. Even if Bellamy wanted to pick Morgan with Chambers fit it could be a 2nd tier cap issue. We have had a truckload of injuries this year.