Round 15, 2011: Cronulla Sutherland Sharks v Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, 2pm Sun 19 Jun @ ANZ Stadium

[phoenix]

as for friz in i know he would do the job, tt does have stupid penalties in his game and when you are in a close one they can be game or at least momentum changing.

the problem is getting the balance of hard workers up the middle and edge forwards right. it depends on what flannagans game plan is and how expansive he wants to go, usually he likes them to play up the middle but after yesterdays game it looks he has changed that plan a bit

 

[goodbyepenrithhellosharks]

did our coach have any thing to say after the game, I cant seem to find anything

 

[sharks2010]

he was happy
mentioned snowies effort
said gal will back up

 

[Ramzyv1]

Suprised hasn't been alot of mention of our kicking game.
It was much improved both long and short.

We actually got some repeat sets and scored a try from kicks as well.
Even graham had some decent kicks.

Still some way to go in this regard but was really positive to see an improvement along with players standing deeper of the play the ball. Obviously Flano has done alot of work on this with the boys the last few weeks so well done to responding to some issues and executing accordingly.

The early ball movement didn't always work but exciting to see them give it a go and stated their intentions pretty early. lets hope they continue to move away from legacy Ricky game plans.

Barba really blew Gards away suprisingly on that break but think his ankle didn't help nor losing his footing. His legs move too quick for his little body lol!

Didn't notice Sam out there really - have to watch a replay but that also means he didn't really make mistakes so not all bad.

TT I just cannot stomach in this side. Please give someone from the lower grades his spot.

So happy for Gal and Wade to get tries and for Toops to be so involved.

Not easy getting a win against Dogs at ANZ, well done Sharks.

Really positive hearing gards talk in post match interview that Sharks have a four week plan about getting season back on track. So glad they havn't thrown in the towel.

This is one of the few good things about the top 8, even half the season gone we are stil a chance of playing finals.

Best makes me more nervous than Poms with ball in hand suprisingly but thought Colin looked strong and was very unlucky not to make some breaks.

Wright was impressive and starting to earn his keep.

Agree with the majority of this and was very impressed with the kicking game at times. Like you say, has plenty of improvement to go, but we actually had a kicking game to speak of for a change. Not just Townsend either, Graham also had a few and it was good to see Gards coming in and play-making a little as well, with a kick for Poms to score.

One thing I would credit Flano with this season is improving our discipline in both penalties conceded and ball control which were issues each week under Ricky. However it seems Tautai was taking a dump when they passed out that memo at season's start.

Yeah was keen to see the Barba, Gardner race but Barba got him. Stapo almost caught him at the end though surprisingly. Issac Gordon was in the grand stand for the game (saw him, Aiton and Porter afterwards on the way out heading to the car park). I reckon if he wanted to he could have changed into his playing gear, gotten on to the field and probably caught him...

 

[A.Snowden]

Game is about to start on fox 2 if anyone is interested!

after watching this game again, i don't buy the bulldogs lost it, i loved the way we threw the ball around, we are so much better with Townsend in the team. He steered the team around well and actually showed the ball.

 

[Murphy]

did our coach have any thing to say after the game, I cant seem to find anything

foxsports videos

 

[sharkyboy]

i dont know if its already been mentioned, but at one point sam taga rushed up and put pressure on one of the doggies players and was ready to put a big hit on, which forced the player to throw a quick, rushed ball that got called forward i think. he definantly forced the error with it. hes just such an intimidating man. i loved it!

 

[teflon77]

Was a pretty good game by us, well played boys. They could have dropped their bundle at 12-10 but they stuck it out. I think some of you blokes a getting carried away with the alleged free flowing ball movement theory. Whilst we did string some good passes together we are still only dangerous in the middle third of the field. Our wingers are only good for kick returns and hit ups. A tip of the hat for Mathew Wright. Was very strong yesterday. I bet he dreams of the day he gets the ball on the end of a sweeping backline movement.

I'd like to take up the challenge of those of you who thought John Morris played well yesterday. Can you explain why? He makes far too many mistakes and his service can be very sloppy at times for a dummy half. I thought he was below average and we didnt really kick on until he was replaced. I really wish he didn't decide to stick around because I'm sure Coach Flangan will feel obligated to play him next year. We would be a much more dangerous team with DeGois starting and either Flanagan or Peachey on the bench.

All in all a solid performance. Hope we back it up against the Tits.

 

[SHARKSTER]

Game is about to start on fox 2 if anyone is interested!

after watching this game again, i don't buy the bulldogs lost it, i loved the way we threw the ball around, we are so much better with Townsend in the team. He steered the team around well and actually showed the ball.

I don't either. However the dogs were bad. Very bad. They were not moving up on us in defence all day, which gave us a lot more space. Having said that we played much deeper than we have been and let the ball get to the back line more than I have seen for a long time. Was good to see. Flanagan is trying to stamp a new style on the team and the signings so far seem to compliment what he is trying to achieve. Not bagging anyone, but I would still like to see a good signing in the centres.

Oh and Tef, I think Morris did his job, that about it though.

 

[goodbyepenrithhellosharks]

do people think toups just bought his game boots for this game or maybe some of the press stuff during the week about him getiing shopped around was the inspiration?

 

[A.Snowden]

do people think toups just bought his game boots for this game or maybe some of the press stuff during the week about him getiing shopped around was the inspiration?

little from column A and a little from column B. I believe he plays better off the bench.

 

[goodbyepenrithhellosharks]

little from column A and a little from column B. I believe he plays better off the bench.

yeah just throwing it out there, he does make a hell of a difference when hes playing like that.It would be great if he could consistently carry some of the load.Adds a new dimension to our attack

 

[SharkySlats]

little from column A and a little from column B. I believe he plays better off the bench.

I think he plays better from the bench too, thats where he makes the impact that got him blue & green and gold jerseys

 

[HrvatskaDomovino]

Was a pretty good game by us, well played boys. They could have dropped their bundle at 12-10 but they stuck it out. I think some of you blokes a getting carried away with the alleged free flowing ball movement theory. Whilst we did string some good passes together we are still only dangerous in the middle third of the field. Our wingers are only good for kick returns and hit ups. A tip of the hat for Mathew Wright. Was very strong yesterday. I bet he dreams of the day he gets the ball on the end of a sweeping backline movement.

I'd like to take up the challenge of those of you who thought John Morris played well yesterday. Can you explain why? He makes far too many mistakes and his service can be very sloppy at times for a dummy half. I thought he was below average and we didnt really kick on until he was replaced. I really wish he didn't decide to stick around because I'm sure Coach Flangan will feel obligated to play him next year. We would be a much more dangerous team with DeGois starting and either Flanagan or Peachey on the bench.

All in all a solid performance. Hope we back it up against the Tits.

Respectfully disagree. At least 3 of the tries (Pom’s, Gal’s and Gards’) came from taking the inside option instead of going out the back to a sweeping player. We had the defence stretched and taking either option would’ve resulted in a try. Even the ball which Pom dropped (which would have been a try) if it had gone out to a sweeping Gardner we would have scored.

The key to our offense was we had ball runners coming back inside against the grain at pace (a key of which was the depth we played with) whilst we had players sweeping around. So instead of the usually defensive slide which is employed by most teams, the Bulldogs were flat footed because if they slid they would’ve been caught on their inside as they were on many occasions. The key in the next few weeks will be the timing of our attack which was perfect yesterday. If we’re mentally a bit off then it might not go as smoothly, let’s hope not.

 

[DeathMoth]

I noticed a couple of times on Sunday that Gallen called for the ball several times but The play went to the other side of the field. Each time Gal threw his hands up in disgust. One of these times Gardner crossed for a try. It proves he is really wanting too much ball and that has been getting in the way of the play makers' game. It also proves that when the play makers do what they're there to do, not what Gal says to do, we have points in us.

 

[since1967]

Respectfully disagree. At least 3 of the tries (Pom’s, Gal’s and Gards’) came from taking the inside option instead of going out the back to a sweeping player. We had the defence stretched and taking either option would’ve resulted in a try. Even the ball which Pom dropped (which would have been a try) if it had gone out to a sweeping Gardner we would have scored.

The key to our offense was we had ball runners coming back inside against the grain at pace (a key of which was the depth we played with) whilst we had players sweeping around. So instead of the usually defensive slide which is employed by most teams, the Bulldogs were flat footed because if they slid they would’ve been caught on their inside as they were on many occasions. The key in the next few weeks will be the timing of our attack which was perfect yesterday. If we’re mentally a bit off then it might not go as smoothly, let’s hope not.

Mate Gards try was a sweeping run and Gards got the ball from a sweeping run before kicking for Pom.

 

[HrvatskaDomovino]

Mate Gards try was a sweeping run and Gards got the ball from a sweeping run before kicking for Pom.

Agreed (that supports what I'm saying). The essence of my point about our offense still stands. On both occassions he went himself instead of shifting it to the wingers. Our ball runners/decoys created both tries:good:

 

[since1967]

Ok misunderstood what you meant because on 2 occasions Gards was the sweeping player Your post said that the tries came from the inside option instead of going out the back to a sweeping player.....

 

[HrvatskaDomovino]

Ok misunderstood what you meant because on 2 occasions Gards was the sweeping player Your post said that the tries came from the inside option instead of going out the back to a sweeping player.....

I confused myself a little. Teflon was saying neither winger received the ball (that was what I meant to have meant by "inside") Thanks for pointing out my errors :cheers

 

[A.Snowden]

Think some people need to watch this. http://nrl.com/gameAnalyser/tabId/1...94/matchid/1285/videoQuality/med/default.aspx