2023 v 2022 Sharks Team

[apezza]

I'm sure after then end of the finals we will debate whether we feel this year was a success or not.

I thought that it would be good to reflect our thoughts on our current team / form compared to this time last year prior to the finals.

It's easy to look at where we finished (2nd v 6th) to say we have gone backwards this year.

However, in my opinion I feel better about our team now and our potential moving into the next few years. Reasons:

1. Last year we took a lot of teams by surprise (eg Nicho new to halfback so teams could do minimal review / plan etc). Even Fitz appeared surprised by our attack.

2. We have a better balanced side now with Trindall / Hynes with even more potential with Dykes next year.

3. The last month or so we have stared to show patience by playing grinding football first before throwing the ball around

4. Have bled some new talent to replace old players from last year (eg Tom, Jessie replacing Andrew, Tolman etc)

5. More players in career best form (Ramien, Nikora, Kennedy, Tracey, Williams)

 

[BurgoShark]

I'm sure after then end of the finals we will debate whether we feel this year was a success or not.

I thought that it would be good to reflect our thoughts on our current team / form compared to this time last year prior to the finals.

It's easy to look at where we finished (2nd v 6th) to say we have gone backwards this year.

However, in my opinion I feel better about our team now and our potential moving into the next few years. Reasons:

1. Last year we took a lot of teams by surprise (eg Nicho new to halfback so teams could do minimal review / plan etc). Even Fitz appeared surprised by our attack.

2. We have a better balanced side now with Trindall / Hynes with even more potential with Dykes next year.

3. The last month or so we have stared to show patience by playing grinding football first before throwing the ball around

4. Have bled some new talent to replace old players from last year (eg Tom, Jessie replacing Andrew, Tolman etc)

5. More players in career best form (Ramien, Nikora, Kennedy, Tracey, Williams)

Do you mean as in who is fit/available for finals, or just 2022 vs 2023 roster?

Could go down a rabbit hole talking about the blokes who were missing or patched together with gaffa tape for last year's finals.

 

[apezza]

Do you mean as in who is fit/available for finals, or just 2022 vs 2023 roster?

Could go down a rabbit hole talking about the blokes who were missing or patched together with gaffa tape for last year's finals.

I'm just thinking as an overall squad and playing style which team to we feel more comfortable with.

 

[Proud Shark]

It's a great discussion. My main thought would be that I think our resilience under pressure hasn't developed, and if anything has gone backward.

This year we have folded in tough games to concede points in rapid succession:
- Rd 5 v Warriors - Up 18-0 and 24-6. They came at us in the second half and we conceded 3 tries in 22 minutes.
- Rd 10 v Dolphins - Concede 5 tries in the opening 30 to be down 30-0.
- Rd 15 v Storm - Concede 6 tries in the first half to be down 34-6 at the break. Conceded another 3 in the second half.
- Rd 20 v Warriors -Lead 6-0 in the opening 20 then concede 4 tries in 12 minutes to trail 22-6 at the break before rolling further over for 4 more tries in the second half.
- Rd 21 v Manly - Concede 5 Tries in the first half to be down 24-0 at halftime at home.
- Rd 26 v Newcastle - Fought hard in the first half, then rolled over to concede 5 tries in 28 minutes, including 3 in 8 minutes.

Compare that to last year, and other than 20-point losses to Canberra and Easts, I don't think we really folded like we have this year.

I'd say I've seen patches of us playing grinding football recently, Cows, Knights, and Canberra first halves, but it's the resilience when we crack that is the bigger worry.

Ultimately, I think we're a team that only plays well with momentum, and the injuries in our pack this year have made maintaining momentum tough. Hopefully the last month or so is a sign of adding another string to our bow, and we can flick the switch to stop the errors that lead to the catastrophic breakdowns.

 

[MMsharks]

It's a great discussion. My main thought would be that I think our resilience under pressure hasn't developed, and if anything has gone backward.

well, we need to turn it a complete 180 from this weekend

 

[BurgoShark]

It's a great discussion. My main thought would be that I think our resilience under pressure hasn't developed, and if anything has gone backward.

This year we have folded in tough games to concede points in rapid succession:

While this is correct, I think this has been a league-wide trend in 2023 rather than anything specific to the Sharks. We've also piled on points against teams in short periods. Imo 2023 has been a lot like 2020 in seeing large swings where one team dominates possession, penalties, 6-agains and points. It's not as bad as 2020, but definitely noticeable compared to 2022 imo.

 

[apezza]

While this is correct, I think this has been a league-wide trend in 2023 rather than anything specific to the Sharks. We've also piled on points against teams in short periods. Imo 2023 has been a lot like 2020 in seeing large swings where one team dominates possession, penalties, 6-agains and points. It's not as bad as 2020, but definitely noticeable compared to 2022 imo.

So @BurgoShark - are you liking more what you currently see with our overall squad, playing style etc over this time last year or vice versa?

 

[BurgoShark]

So @BurgoShark - are you liking more what you currently see with our overall squad, playing style etc over this time last year or vice versa?

There is a fair bit to unpack with this one...

Forwards Passing
2022 we saw a lot of passing from between forwards. This year McInnes has really grown as a ballplayer (which is great) but the trade off has been that with Dale out Cam is the only bloke regularly throwing passes now. I liked it better the other way, and feel like making Cam the only guy is "dumbing the play downs" a little, but given that a lot of the experienced middles have missed big chunks of time this year, it could just be a case of KISS.

Yardage Runs
2022 it didn't seem necessary to use forwards inside their own 20, since the back 5 were doing the job really well. This year Talakai hasn't been as effective in yardage, and we are seeing the bench middles come back in to their own 20 to help out. Imo this probably wouldn't work with the higher minute guys, but definitely appears to be the plan with Tom and Royce. I'm a fan of this, as long we we keep it to the guys in that role.

Halves
The new halves combo is a work in progress for me. Trindall is taking time to adjust to playing on the left and with Nicho. While I have definitely loved some of Tricky's moments, I don't love the halves combination or the left edge combination just yet. I'm not bagging Tricky, I just think combinations need time.

Wilton / Graham handover
A tough first year as a starter for Teig, but I think he has been at least as good as NIkora was in year 1 or 2, so there is plenty to work with. It's a shame he got injured when he did, because it would have been really good to see him playing on that edge with Tricky over the last month. It's great that Wade got to go out as an edge player rather than a 10 minute benchie though. I think Teig will be better for the year he had, but I reckon we are still going to see some teething problems.

Middle Forward Injuries
The whole year has been spent with middles either missing or coming back from injury. This has been great for the younger guys, but it's been really hard for the team to develop any consistency. They've played one game all year with all of their middles available (round 4). I think the team really struggles when one of the starting props is missing, and they really need one of the other guys to grow into a player who can start a game, play 40 minutes and do as good a job as BHU and Toby. They have experimented with Hunt and Kaufusi without much success so far.

 

[apezza]

There is a fair bit to unpack with this one...

Forwards Passing
2022 we saw a lot of passing from between forwards. This year McInnes has really grown as a ballplayer (which is great) but the trade off has been that with Dale out Cam is the only bloke regularly throwing passes now. I liked it better the other way, and feel like making Cam the only guy is "dumbing the play downs" a little, but given that a lot of the experienced middles have missed big chunks of time this year, it could just be a case of KISS.

Yardage Runs
2022 it didn't seem necessary to use forwards inside their own 20, since the back 5 were doing the job really well. This year Talakai hasn't been as effective in yardage, and we are seeing the bench middles come back in to their own 20 to help out. Imo this probably wouldn't work with the higher minute guys, but definitely appears to be the plan with Tom and Royce. I'm a fan of this, as long we we keep it to the guys in that role.

Halves
The new halves combo is a work in progress for me. Trindall is taking time to adjust to playing on the left and with Nicho. While I have definitely loved some of Tricky's moments, I don't love the halves combination or the left edge combination just yet. I'm not bagging Tricky, I just think combinations need time.

Wilton / Graham handover
A tough first year as a starter for Teig, but I think he has been at least as good as NIkora was in year 1 or 2, so there is plenty to work with. It's a shame he got injured when he did, because it would have been really good to see him playing on that edge with Tricky over the last month. It's great that Wade got to go out as an edge player rather than a 10 minute benchie though. I think Teig will be better for the year he had, but I reckon we are still going to see some teething problems.

Middle Forward Injuries
The whole year has been spent with middles either missing or coming back from injury. This has been great for the younger guys, but it's been really hard for the team to develop any consistency. They've played one game all year with all of their middles available (round 4). I think the team really struggles when one of the starting props is missing, and they really need one of the other guys to grow into a player who can start a game, play 40 minutes and do as good a job as BHU and Toby. They have experimented with Hunt and Kaufusi without much success so far.

Nice answer mate. Though it was similar to the response I got from my Ex wife when I asked if the reason for the marriage failing up was Me or Her.

Basically what I got was that all the good things in the marriage was due to her and the bad due to me!

 

[stormshark]

I think We will Fire on Sat, win and be Very competitive next Semi ( perhaps even shag a shock win) . This will be the ultimate test of grading improvement IMHO.

 

[Sir Chadley]

I think We will Fire on Sat, win and be Very competitive next Semi ( perhaps even shag a shock win) . This will be the ultimate test of grading improvement IMHO.

I hope you are right mate but I can't help thinking you are on the juice at the moment.

 

[Deleted member 3365]

There is a fair bit to unpack with this one...

Forwards Passing
2022 we saw a lot of passing from between forwards. This year McInnes has really grown as a ballplayer (which is great) but the trade off has been that with Dale out Cam is the only bloke regularly throwing passes now. I liked it better the other way, and feel like making Cam the only guy is "dumbing the play downs" a little, but given that a lot of the experienced middles have missed big chunks of time this year, it could just be a case of KISS.

Yardage Runs
2022 it didn't seem necessary to use forwards inside their own 20, since the back 5 were doing the job really well. This year Talakai hasn't been as effective in yardage, and we are seeing the bench middles come back in to their own 20 to help out. Imo this probably wouldn't work with the higher minute guys, but definitely appears to be the plan with Tom and Royce. I'm a fan of this, as long we we keep it to the guys in that role.

Halves
The new halves combo is a work in progress for me. Trindall is taking time to adjust to playing on the left and with Nicho. While I have definitely loved some of Tricky's moments, I don't love the halves combination or the left edge combination just yet. I'm not bagging Tricky, I just think combinations need time.

Wilton / Graham handover
A tough first year as a starter for Teig, but I think he has been at least as good as NIkora was in year 1 or 2, so there is plenty to work with. It's a shame he got injured when he did, because it would have been really good to see him playing on that edge with Tricky over the last month. It's great that Wade got to go out as an edge player rather than a 10 minute benchie though. I think Teig will be better for the year he had, but I reckon we are still going to see some teething problems.

Middle Forward Injuries
The whole year has been spent with middles either missing or coming back from injury. This has been great for the younger guys, but it's been really hard for the team to develop any consistency. They've played one game all year with all of their middles available (round 4). I think the team really struggles when one of the starting props is missing, and they really need one of the other guys to grow into a player who can start a game, play 40 minutes and do as good a job as BHU and Toby. They have experimented with Hunt and Kaufusi without much success so far.

Lol don't like the new halves combo just yet? What you don't like the fact the 5/8 isn't a turnstile or that Nicho doesn't have to do 95% of the work?

Yeah I get the development part but sheesh you're really putting the 9th Immortal down.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Lol don't like the new halves combo just yet? What you don't like the fact the 5/8 isn't a turnstile or that Nicho doesn't have to do 95% of the work?

Yeah I get the development part but sheesh you're really putting the 9th Immortal down.

He said love, big difference.

 

[Deleted member 3365]

He said love, big difference.

You changed man, you used to be cool. You used to be about the music man.

 

[HaroldBishop]

You changed man, you used to be cool. You used to be about the music man.

Haha

 

[BurgoShark]

Lol don't like the new halves combo just yet? What you don't like the fact the 5/8 isn't a turnstile or that Nicho doesn't have to do 95% of the work?

Yeah I get the development part but sheesh you're really putting the 9th Immortal down.

Does every frikkin' thread have to be about Moylan? FFS it's reached peak Chad levels and he's not even in the 17 anymore.

... and it's the 14th Immortal. There are currently 13