Finals Week 2

[Go Storm]

I think many Bai-standers have gone mad!!!

[Turtle188]

For gawd's sake..... it's less than 24 hours since our loss and everyone wants to dismantle the club. When performance, both on and off field, match the likes of Wests or Parra, that is when I'll have doubts about this great club.
I'd concentrate on revamping NRL operations, especially referees, before anything else.

[storming]

it was a long season and it caught up with the players, niggling injuries we never hear about and the start to the year was big and used alot of fuel. i thought i seen cooper stretch and look sore in goal during the game, he could have something that has slowed him up the last month.

the only real issue we have is guys relying on the big 3 too much, they need to step up and go to the next level themselves. i think waqa and chambers could do this and hampton has a lot of self belief from what ive seen. then mclean, tohu and j-brom up forward need to lead the way

im still confident of a top 4 in 2014. if smiths contract get sorted early

[Rina]

I agree that we need new ideas and with our two assistant coaches leaving the club perhaps we may find some in whoever we bring in. However, believe a major overhaul should really only occur when we stop being competitive and whilst I'm not pleased with what I saw in this finals campaign (or the few weeks in it's lead up) I don't think we're there yet.

[Mattpoet]

Like the touch judge who was watching the crowd and not the game when Sisa got hit?

On the Big 3,

Billy was our leading tryscorer again and scored 50% more tries than his nearest rival (Sisa and Will).
Cam lead well throughout and we wouldn't have gotten to the top 4 without him.
Cooper's early season form was the reason why we got off to such a flyer.

Their combination directly lead to a win on more than one occasion.

All the Yoko Ono's out there who want to break up the band just need to take a deep breath and look at it in the cold light of day later in the week or in a month's time once you calm down.

Yes, we will go backwards at some point, we have a once in a century combination in Slater/Cronk/Smith and they are IRREPLACEABLE, what is important is that we continue to show our support when times inevitably get tough so that the players can concentrate on getting us back to the top and not have to worry about declining support.

[blazza18]

I just think the big 3 need more help as their careers move ahead. This year proves that have 3 great players just isn't enough. Team needs some kind of revamp to it. We need to make things easier on the guys that can win us big games.

Hopefully whoever gets the number 6 jersey is able to cause trouble himself and be given the confidence of calling his own shots (something I think even Widdop never had) and adds a new spark to the team.

[stormy]

I am so proud of the efforts of my CHAMPION TEAM even though we lost in the finals. Gosh the things some people are saying you would think we lost by heaps. We only lost last night by 2 friggen points folks( 1 try unconverted) and Billy should have been paid a penalty for being taken out in front of ref by buderis. We knew we weren`t going to get any favors from the vid ref cos it was luke patten.
Even after the long year our BIG 3 have had NOW they have to train and play in the World Cup to get Australia the trophy.
And I still think it was monahan that lost us the WC last time and not Billy. Monahan gave away an 8 point penalty try. Billy gave Australia the first 2 tries of the final(try assists).But the media(nsw) being the media they wanted to lay the blame all on Billy.

If anybody on here thinks that the boys didn`t try hard last night just look at their faces as they left the ground.






rant over.

[Michael :P]

There is no way around it. It was a wasted season. As I said prior to the game , we don't play for week 2- we play to win the premiership.

I also have to say that if there was such a thing as a draft in the NRL then I would trade both Billy and Cam for picks.
I love them both and their contribution to the purple is unforgettable but it is time to break up the "big three".
I actually think they hurt us now more then they help us. They are to set in their ways and so is Craig in the way that he coaches them. What was once electric is now monotonous. We need a shake up and the only way to do that is either to break up the group or get a new coach.
Craig has not a had a good year and has been surpassed by the next generation. You can no longer win playing the style of football that he likes. It is all well and good to love hardworking guys but these days size is paramount. JM and TH should have started this game. SV should have been on the bench. He has stayed with same hand for to long and become to comfortable.
However he has led us to five GF's and 3 Premiership's and I am not sure there is anyone else out there that you could replace him with. On top of that by breaking up the "big 3" you may just rejuvenate him as a coach.
On the other hand BS physical issues are staring to become a factor. My fear is that he might be on the beginning of a downhill slide.
Cameron has played a lot of games and mad a HELL of a lot of tackles. To me he has not been the same player this year that he has been in the past. He might be running out of steam.
As for CC. He was very inconsistent post SOR but your chief play-maker is the hardest player to replace.
I worry for us going forward because at the end of the day I fear as though we are going to come back with same core group and the same coach and the same habit's and that we will certainly go backwards and not forwards.

The problem isn't with the b3, though I do agree they have begun the walk down the hill. The problem is not having enough impact players in the pack. Hoffman out wide wont work no more, Toho is best suited there and Hinchy can't be your 13 when the team isn't going forward regularly. And Kevin Proctor is way to inconsistant with his 100+ games. Hes only young but maybe by the middle of next year Lodge will be ready to come into the side.

I'm hoping Walker has a bit of an ego as that's the only way he can come into the team and thrive while cooper is in control. For all his gifts he doesn't have the ability to take over a game.

Also McLean isnt ready to start and I don't know if he ever will be. His impact is just OK coming off the bench so he would struggle to make an impact against fresh players

[tugga]

There is no way around it. It was a wasted season. As I said prior to the game , we don't play for week 2- we play to win the premiership.

I also have to say that if there was such a thing as a draft in the NRL then I would trade both Billy and Cam for picks.
I love them both and their contribution to the purple is unforgettable but it is time to break up the "big three".
I actually think they hurt us now more then they help us. They are to set in their ways and so is Craig in the way that he coaches them. What was once electric is now monotonous. We need a shake up and the only way to do that is either to break up the group or get a new coach.
Craig has not a had a good year and has been surpassed by the next generation. You can no longer win playing the style of football that he likes. It is all well and good to love hardworking guys but these days size is paramount. JM and TH should have started this game. SV should have been on the bench. He has stayed with same hand for to long and become to comfortable.
However he has led us to five GF's and 3 Premiership's and I am not sure there is anyone else out there that you could replace him with. On top of that by breaking up the "big 3" you may just rejuvenate him as a coach.
On the other hand BS physical issues are staring to become a factor. My fear is that he might be on the beginning of a downhill slide.
Cameron has played a lot of games and mad a HELL of a lot of tackles. To me he has not been the same player this year that he has been in the past. He might be running out of steam.
As for CC. He was very inconsistent post SOR but your chief play-maker is the hardest player to replace.
I worry for us going forward because at the end of the day I fear as though we are going to come back with same core group and the same coach and the same habit's and that we will certainly go backwards and not forwards.

Thank god someone in here doesn't wear purple blinkers 24/7.
Bellamy's season was ordinary. However, I will give him the chance to rejuvenate. The best coaches adapt. What he tried this year didn't work. I will back him to turn it around, but if he doesn't I will also be the first one to question he or anyone else.

[Go Storm]

I think we need to just accept the fact we're likely to lose a couple of games around origin time.
I'd suggest the origin stars train continuously with the team during this time but are rested on game day. Similar to how the Broncos used to handle Locky and co.
Not having them at training is causing the side to look very disjointed around this period, and we're still losing anyway even with them playing. So rest them on game day, but keep them at training for cohesion.
Just my opinion. There may be other factors at play.

[Scooter]

Getting back to the Jordan McLean incident. In my heart of hearts I don't think a head clash should he penalised. But according to the 2013 rulebook you are not allowed to shoulder charge. At no time did McKinnon attempt to tackle him. It was a shoulder charge every day of the week and should have been a penalty.

I thought it was funny that the None commentators mentioned it was the same as the Ashley Harrison incident and was ok. Then Cam mentioned Richie Fa'aoso incident to the ref. It was the same incident and what the commentators conveniently forgot was the Titans got a penalty and Fa'aoso got suspended for a number of weeks.

Good luck for your recovery Jordan.

[waveydavey]

In my heart of hearts I don't think a head clash should he penalised.

Agreed. But neither should it result in a turnover of possession for a knock on, the kid was out on his feet, or were the numerous video replays to see if he was out before he released the ball!!! Then the two mongrel acts by the Knights players whilst he was on the ground. This soured the night for me, but I have no doubts that the better team on the night won the game.

[blazza18]

Yea I think the NRL need to change that ruling. If a player is knocked out and loses the ball it should not be classed as a knock on and the attacking team should be able to play the ball.

[yourhero]

Then the two mongrel acts by the Knights players whilst he was on the ground. This soured the night for me

I will never forget or forgive Leilua. That was a massive dog act to stand over and mock a seriously injured player. For the rest of his career, I will be hoping each week that someone seriously nails him.

Not even mentioned really by the Newcastle supporte.... ergh I mean the channel 9 commentary team. Big surprise... Had that been Slater doing it to a Newcastle player, can you imagine the media hysteria?

What was the second act?

[yourhero]

Yea I think the NRL need to change that ruling. If a player is knocked out and loses the ball it should not be classed as a knock on and the attacking team should be able to play the ball.

I don't know about that... It then opens the door for players to exploit it.

I am comfortable for it to remain as is however if the head clash is due to an illegal tackle, the attacking team needs to be awarded a penalty obviously... Well, obviously to me, apparently not the referees.