NRL Round 21 2016 Cronulla Sutherland Sharks vs Gold Coast Titans @ Cbus Super Stadium Monday August 1 @ 7pm

[BurgoShark]

That's not lazy, that's amazing defensive involvement flopping for 35 tackles

It's "good" involvement but 35 tackles and 35 flops are not the same thing. I would say it takes more out of you making 15 good tackles than it does making 35 flops... given the extra effort in terms of getting of the ground and running back into the defensive line. Ryan James is a good player, but the fan and commentator obsession with his stats is just dumb. He is a gun with the ball for sure, but his defensive work is massively over-rated.

I should also qualify what I mean by "lazy defender". I don't mean "his work rate is poor" or that he is a "lazy footballer". I mean that his effort in terms of up & back, and sliding in the defensive line, is not what it could be, and he is definitely susceptible to being beaten around the ruck, on the slide, or with the inside ball... and the "arm grab" is definitely part of his game. His work ethic/rate is good. His technique and positioning is bad. He needs to fix that before he is good enough to deserve the wraps he gets from his stats alone.

 

[evertonshark]

Mate, i was taking the piss with that comment

 

[Born&bred]

Seriously? I thought it's the worst theyve been in ages. Perhaps all year. Only started playing after the 80 minutes was up. Out enthused, bashed in the middle, and more than anything lost all shape with the ball and waited for a teammate to do something.

Passive.

This

 

[BurgoShark]

Mate, i was taking the piss with that comment

Righteo ... thanks

Did want to qualify my statement though.

 

[BurgoShark]

I was at the game live. Just watched the replay. A few notes:

- Give the Titans some credit. They had nothing in the first 40 minutes but after that played well. As expected, they built the game on defence and a good short kicking game. Neil Henry teams aren't fun to watch, but they can be effective.
- I can cop the obstruction try. I don't agree with it but it's not as bad as some other bunker obstruction calls this year
- Overall we got an even share of the 50/50 calls in general play. The biggest botched calls were the Holmes touch in goal (which lead to a Titans try), the grab on Bukuya (but we scored from the dropout anyway), and the offside penalty that wasn't offside
- Ryan James is an even bigger sook than Gallen
- Zeb Taia was great. He has been one of the buys of the season
- Great game from Wade Graham
- There is absolutely NOTHING in that Maloney tackle on Hurrell. No twisting. No diving at the leg. I'd argue that you could probably find 20 similar incidents in any game.
- Val wasn't tackled in the 80th minute. It should have been play on ... but the ref had blown the whistle before Maloney kicked the ball and the Titans had stopped chasing ... so while it was a bad call you can't say the FG should have counted
- Blatant holding down on Townsend in the 89th minute should have been penalized, but it would have been almost a 50m shot at goal from there (about 45m out but on an angle)
- That was probably the worst game ever from Luke Douglas

 

[BurgoShark]

A quick positive from this game ... I got free tickets to the game from one of the Sharks NYC boys. He had some extra family tickets and saw me standing in the ticket line with my 7yo son and came up and gave them to me. I don't know who it was so I can't call him out by name .. but a big thumbs up to him for that. Getting free tickets from a "Sharkies player" gave by little one a thrill

 

[HaroldBishop]

- Overall we got an even share of the 50/50 calls in general play. The biggest botched calls were the Holmes touch in goal (which lead to a Titans try), the grab on Bukuya (but we scored from the dropout anyway), and the offside penalty that wasn't offside

Is that the one where he caught a bomb in the corner and was pushed back?

 

[sharks2010]

Is that the one where he caught a bomb in the corner and was pushed back?

put his foot on the touch line anyway

 

[creg]

Yeah. They sent it to the bunker and they still got it ****ing wrong. Should have been a scrum.

 

[HaroldBishop]

put his foot on the touch line anyway

Yeah and hit the corner post.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Yeah. They sent it to the bunker and they still got it ****ing wrong. Should have been a scrum.

Goal line dropout was a better result for us.

 

[slide rule]

Goal line dropout was a better result for us.

Nope, we would have won the scrum against the feed again. :glasses-cool:

 

[Sparkles]

Prior can be an absolute sledgehammer at times. He's so close to stringing it together consistently. Becoming one of my favourite Sharkies.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Prior can be an absolute sledgehammer at times. He's so close to stringing it together consistently. Becoming one of my favourite Sharkies.

You don't think he is doing that now?

 

[snowman]

Is that the one where he caught a bomb in the corner and was pushed back?

im struggling to see how that was wrong?

 

[deano the p]

im struggling to see how that was wrong?

It was slightly wrong, it should have been a scrum not a drop out which is a worse result for us anyway.

 

[snowman]

i thought his foot hit the corner post first, making it a drop out

 

[Proud Shark]

i thought his foot hit the corner post first, making it a drop out

Isn't the corner post not out anymore? It's always taken out in scoring tries etc.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Either way they got the ball back which was correct. I don't see how anyone could dispute that call went against us, that's crazy.

 

[BurgoShark]

i thought his foot hit the corner post first, making it a drop out

Corner post isn't out anymore. On field touchie stuffed up.

Either way they got the ball back which was correct. I don't see how anyone could dispute that call went against us, that's crazy.

This is true ... though the on field touchie not knowing the rules of the game is a bit concerning. I was sat right next to that corner. He was waving his flag for touch in goal as soon as Val's foot hit the post. I am moreso just pointing out incompetence than saying that the "call went against us".