Round 8, 2011: Cronulla Sutherland Sharks v South Sydney Rabbitohs @ ANZ Stadium

[Mark^Bastard]

That intercept graham threw was the turning point in my book.

There was two turning points, the missed penalty goal was one of them, but you're right that we could have scored to turn the game back in our favour but instead Souths got the intercept. 12 point turnaround that one and made me sick to my stomach.

 

[gando2230]

I don't know why the sharks went for the 2 points.
The rabbitohs looked tired and they were on the back foot.

Even if wright kicked it. The rabbitohs have had a rest
And get the ball back.

Ben Pomery had a great game, strong
Acouple of good runs unlucky to have not scored that try.

 

[coogeeboy]

Last nights game was played by 2 teams that are struggling to find consistency, that are trying hard to be competitive & are trying even harder to turn their season around.
I thought Souths controlled the rucks better for the 80 minutes which allowed other players like Sandow, Inglis & Sutton to do things.
Your match plan seemed one sided with it starting & stopping with Smith / Graham so maybe that's what you need to work on.
Otherwise i think the game was played out by 2 teams that should be desperate enough not to rest on their laurels & continue to look for improvement.
But never under any circumstances lose support for your club no matter how bad their going.
Chins up till next week & then it all starts again.

 

[Long Suffering Sharkie]

First and foremost: It was an unbelievably bad call to play Gardner last night...he didn't play badly but he didn't have his speed tonight. Two weeks rest not aggravating his ankle would have been the best thing for both him and the team. Everytime he handled the ball, my blood pressure would rise because he would hobble as he got up from being tackled. It was really selfish and unreasonable for Flanno to keep him on the field for the whole game in those conditions - and very risky. I can't imagine any other coach doing that to their star player. thank goodness he didn't sustain a season ending injury.:take that

2nd Point: Colin Best is a quality centre and needs to be fed the ball with room to move so he can set up his winger - thus we need to pass it out quicker. Gallen is great but has no absolutely idea what a mess he is making of any of our backline play and how that massively limits our creativity. If you go back to our match against the Dragons we were doing sweeping backline moves that had the opposition running around desperately (and tiring them out too). All this one/two pass then inside pass to a forward to run back into the fray means the tacklers don't have to move too far to make their tackles - thus conserving their energy for later in the game.

3rd Point Ball handling was really poor and is simply gifting the opposition with more ball to wear us down - which further creates a downward spiral of being too tired from making tackles to do anything creative - and also get sloppier with ball control.....:gal:

4th Point: Our season is effectively going downhill fast. That game should have been an opportunity to blood the young guns before the week off to assess and review things. It was good to see JB back but putting Tim Smith in instead of Chad Townsend was a poor call. I cringed each time Smith lunged for a tackle that was just out of reach - he was too slow off the mark and was given the run around a few times. The time was ripe for experimenting with a new face - not bringing back an old hack.:take that

I like Flanno but some options this week were poor!

Come back quickly JoMo - we need your organisation skills NOW!:glasses-cool:

 

[A.Snowden]

If we are not going to go with Townsend next week, it has to be Porter. Smith is just not good enough. I had a glimmer o hope but that was extinguished last night

 

[Blix]

Do people not agree, that they are continually running out of steam EVERY match.

Seems like everyone is happy to accept that they cant play the 80 minutes, and that they get progressively worse as the match wares on, but put it down to a mental thing.

I see them towards the end of the first half, and they look like they are physically spent!

Am I the only person that thinks this???

 

[Casey]

If we are not going to go with Townsend next week, it has to be Porter. Smith is just not good enough. I had a glimmer o hope but that was extinguished last night

I strongly support the campaign to bring back Effie.

 

[A.Snowden]

Do people not agree, that they are continually running out of steam EVERY match.

Seems like everyone is happy to accept that they cant play the 80 minutes, and that they get progressively worse as the match wares on, but put it down to a mental thing.

I see them towards the end of the first half, and they look like they are physically spent!

Am I the only person that thinks this???

I don't agree with the fitness aspect sorry. It more seems when our structure changes we lose our bundle. When Williams went off, we had to re shuffle, it's like the players don't know what to do when changing positions. Not versatile enough in my book. Our forwards compared to most teams are big minute players. So tiredness i don't think comes into it. It's a confidence thing more to the point.

 

[sharks4ever]

i think the loss against manly a few weeks ago sucked all the confindence out of them

 

[kiwishark]

this club hurts me so much, but i cant wait for round 10

:Yes: I'm with you there!!!!!

 

[Murphy]

I don't agree with the fitness aspect sorry. It more seems when our structure changes we lose our bundle. When Williams went off, we had to re shuffle, it's like the players don't know what to do when changing positions. Not versatile enough in my book. Our forwards compared to most teams are big minute players. So tiredness i don't think comes into it. It's a confidence thing more to the point.

we looked terrible after williams come off, still cant believe we played gardner, he didnt look right warming up,

 

[A.Snowden]

yep same when Gards and Kelly come off last week, no idea at all.

 

[Sparkles]

There were good signs in the structure of the play, but Gallen HAS to stay out of the back line. How can guys like Graham develop into their roles if they're being pushed out of the ball playing? Sorry Galls, you're one of the best forwards in the game but no Bird. And I don't care if it is to extend your career for a few extra seasons (as He is quoted as saying), it's selfish and affecting the teams performance.

 

[Blix]

I don't agree with the fitness aspect sorry. It more seems when our structure changes we lose our bundle. When Williams went off, we had to re shuffle, it's like the players don't know what to do when changing positions. Not versatile enough in my book. Our forwards compared to most teams are big minute players. So tiredness i don't think comes into it. It's a confidence thing more to the point.

First 6 weeks we had nearly no injuries at all (hence no restructuring was really required) and still we were getting progressively worse in comparison to the opposition as the matches went on.

We say our forwards are big minute players, but maybe they arent and Flanno is running them into the ground (for example playing playing Wright for 18 minutes and Cordoba for 30). By the end of the first half, the team are out on their legs, and none of them are getting off the line in defense.

 

[Lumpy]

Gal is great but we don't need him standing in the back line. We looked great at the end of last year when Flanno took over and we had a deep back line and sweeping the ball out the line. This year Gal is working too hard and trying to do to much. There is no trust and we need to give Best and Pom early ball to take the line on. With young halves they are going to be pushed into giving someone like Gal the ball. He is an Aust and NSW player so who are they to say no to him.

That is why I want T Smith at half back. He may not be at his all time best but with some confidence he can run the team around and set some plays up for our back line. Gal and J Smith are very similar players so they should both be in the 2nd row. They could play either side of the ruck and do their thing. Right now we seem to be to reliant on off loads in traffic. I would like to see Best and Pom get into the action more.

 

[toni_m]

The fact that they played gards has just annoyed me even more, a break would have done him good, i understand we lost both gards and Kelly last week and lost spark, but come on, that is ridiculous, hope he has pulled up good today and the break does him good this week.
Looking forward to morris coming back, i wouldn’t even mind him playin as half back, but i also aint a fan of aiton playing hooker. Also don’t think townsed being rushed is a good idea, but again worked fine for hopa at manly. Hoping porter gets a call at 7 against the roosters with morris at 9. The bench is killing us, anyone seen how vave is performing?

 

[A.Snowden]

First 6 weeks we had nearly no injuries at all (hence no restructuring was really required) and still we were getting progressively worse in comparison to the opposition as the matches went on.

We say our forwards are big minute players, but maybe they arent and Flanno is running them into the ground (for example playing playing Wright for 18 minutes and Cordoba for 30). By the end of the first half, the team are out on their legs, and none of them are getting off the line in defense.

Flanno i think sees it the way we do here. When Snowy and Dougie go off we lose go forward. So he has o keep them on. Time for fresh blood on the bench. Clayton and Vave/Mannah for mine.

 

[Platypus]

If we are not going to go with Townsend next week, it has to be Porter. Smith is just not good enough. I had a glimmer o hope but that was extinguished last night

Agreed Snowy - we need to sort out the halves - Tim Smith is good in park footy player but not up to NRL standard. Last night he had a poor kicking game, no individual ability,poor in defence. Townsend has no pace but he can kick goals - give a try he may click with Wade Graham.

 

[Long Suffering Sharkie]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/sharks-send-sos-to-backs-20110430-1e1my.html

I don't think Flanno is thinking smart in the way he used Gardner last night but Ben Roberts is a good option to consider signing at this stage......



Notice how he has changed his 70 minute approach to the full 80 now....

 

[Platypus]

Rep to you Coogee, great answer, thats what I love about Cronulla, a club that wont sell out to win a comp.

I agree - our club is the only club that will not sell out to win a comp for their supporters. Its not a big ask....come on Mr Irvine give us quality 6,7,9,10,8,3 and 5. Also Mr Irvine spend the salary cap as you said publicly at our season launch.