2020 Finals Week 2 V Roosters: Game Day

[Coastalraider]

Impressed by Robinson in the presser. In the past he's come across as a bit of an dick when things don't go their way. Tonight he's owning the loss. Not making any excuses.

Yeah he's a decent bloke.

Took 8.5 minutes to mention there was another team out there though.....

[Coastalraider]

I’m a bit bemused about so many comments floating around the web about us playing a ‘rested’ Melbourne next week.

Given the fact they rested 10 players in round 20, the vast majority of their squad will have only played 1 game in nearly 4 weeks. They played Souths in round 17 which was a solid match, then cowboys, tigers then the round 20 ‘resting’ game against the dragons. I can’t say the Parra game was all that tough in them either. They have hardly been tested and have no momentum at all.

Conversely, we had a rest week in round 20, beat the sharks in a semi decent match, then found the best for of the year this week. We have won 11 from our last 13. We are in form and have all the momentum.

I know which team I’d rather be...

[-PJ-]

The chooks were offloading for fun.

I couldn't understand why our boys couldn't shut that down.

It was frustrating.

[-PJ-]

I’m a bit bemused about so many comments floating around the web about us playing a ‘rested’ Melbourne next week.

Given the fact they rested 10 players in round 20, the vast majority of their squad will have only played 1 game in nearly 4 weeks. They played Souths in round 17 which was a solid match, then cowboys, tigers then the round 20 ‘resting’ game against the dragons. I can’t say the Parra game was all that tough in them either. They have hardly been tested and have no momentum at all.

Conversely, we had a rest week in round 20, beat the sharks in a semi decent match, then found the best for of the year this week. We have won 11 from our last 13. We are in form and have all the momentum.

I know which team I’d rather be...

They're all looking over their shoulder mate..
We are firing, led by "rolling thunder" up front.

[boomer]

I’m a bit bemused about so many comments floating around the web about us playing a ‘rested’ Melbourne next week.

Given the fact they rested 10 players in round 20, the vast majority of their squad will have only played 1 game in nearly 4 weeks. They played Souths in round 17 which was a solid match, then cowboys, tigers then the round 20 ‘resting’ game against the dragons. I can’t say the Parra game was all that tough in them either. They have hardly been tested and have no momentum at all.

Conversely, we had a rest week in round 20, beat the sharks in a semi decent match, then found the best for of the year this week. We have won 11 from our last 13. We are in form and have all the momentum.

I know which team I’d rather be...

This. I think we are better positioned for this match than Melbourne. Absolute master stroke from.sticky resting our boys rd20. Knowing we.can.win the comp from any position. Winning outside the top 4 means nothing..I wouldn't be surprised to see no. 5 vs. No.6 in the grand final

Edit: a quick note. I actually think thr top 4 stat about winning the comp is invalid this year.. if it were a full competition we finish top 4. No doubt in my mind. So we basically are a top 4 side.

[Kryptonite]

How good were Valemei and Young tonight? That's a real step up.

Valemei reminded me of Noa Nadruku with his running game and post contact meters, he has come of age

[julian87]

Don't think I've ever been prouder of a Canberra footy team.

And I love players stepping up and making me look stupid. George Williams has really started to adapt this last month and just plays to the game plan perfectly. Valemei was absolutely sensational. Ridiculously good for a kid how bloody solid he was. And Hudson Young. There were a couple of big games last season where he showed glimpses of stepping up in them. Really seems that sort of player he was sensational last night.

[yeh raiders]

**** me, watching footage of Tapine's try. Incredible. Only a VERY small handful of forwards in the game of similar size would be capable of doing that, and one of them has recently signed for the Titans at a whopping $1.25M per year.

Thank **** we've got him signed until 2023.

Him and Papa do their best work when they’re given a lot of ball and a lot of responsibility.

I have no issues with Lui and Sia being “quiet” last night, we should be playing the majority of the game through our best players, playing to our strengths.

[Azza]

Don't think I've ever been prouder of a Canberra footy team.

And I love players stepping up and making me look stupid. George Williams has really started to adapt this last month and just plays to the game plan perfectly. Valemei was absolutely sensational. Ridiculously good for a kid how bloody solid he was. And Hudson Young. There were a couple of big games last season where he showed glimpses of stepping up in them. Really seems that sort of player he was sensational last night.

I can't exclude Rapana from that list, we all thought he'd get schooled in defence but I actually thought he really stepped up against Morris.

[Azza]

Third prelim in five years. Who the **** is this team?

Still not a huge achievement, but considering the poverty of the 20 prior years....

The more you make - and the more GFs you make - the better chance you give yourself of winning one.

[gerg]

Have to say. Big question mark on all 3 Roosters tries. 1st one was a forward pass, albeit marginal. 2nd try a blatant obstruction the bunker chose to ignore. Last try was a clear forward pass.

I thought their first try was ok. The second one... Croker was blowing up about it - he was penalised for an obstruction only moments earlier, Flanagan was obstructed as much as Croker was. And yep that third try was definitely forward. There was a lot of forward passes let go. We did get the rub of the green in the first half and Klein flipped it in the second.

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[gerg]

Also might I add Brad Fittler is an absolute dunce of a commentator, up there with Anasta.

He is horrendous.

His favouritism was nauseating.

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[Northern Raider]

Have to say. Big question mark on all 3 Roosters tries. 1st one was a forward pass, albeit marginal. 2nd try a blatant obstruction the bunker chose to ignore. Last try was a clear forward pass.

I thought their first try was ok. The second one... Croker was blowing up about it - he was penalised for an obstruction only moments earlier, Flanagan was obstructed as much as Croker was. And yep that third try was definitely forward. There was a lot of forward passes let go. We did get the rub of the green in the first half and Klein flipped it in the second.

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Decisions on obstruction this year have been terrible. So often they've pulled it up where defense has been slightly inconvenienced. Other times like the Manu try they say it has no impact when it obviously did. I really don't know what the rule is any more.

[Northern Raider]

Don't think I've ever been prouder of a Canberra footy team.

And I love players stepping up and making me look stupid. George Williams has really started to adapt this last month and just plays to the game plan perfectly. Valemei was absolutely sensational. Ridiculously good for a kid how bloody solid he was. And Hudson Young. There were a couple of big games last season where he showed glimpses of stepping up in them. Really seems that sort of player he was sensational last night.

I can't exclude Rapana from that list, we all thought he'd get schooled in defence but I actually thought he really stepped up against Morris.

Yep. Statistically Rapana had a lot of missed tackles but he was consistently stopping his opponent. Positionally he was excellent.

He also should have scored when he passed to George for his try. Don't think he realised he had Aubusson beaten for pace.

[nachopants]

I was surprised the obstruction on Croker didn't get more of a mention too, yep...

Aubusson clearly over-ran the ball and was in the defensive line

[Roger Kenworthy]

What have we done to deserve Ginnane two matches in a row? I really hope he isn't up in the box next weekend - he had a serial fixation on the Roosters.

I hope we remember we have challenges to use next week. Surely we could have challenged the Tupou play the ball penalty on the premise it was a knock on.

[moto748]

Only got back home after a night down South, and watched the game (Friday evening here), so I'm not going to go back and read scores of pages of posts, but what a game! Relatively quiet game for George, but showed good support for his try, and his defence in that "where was Tupou?" moment in the second half was crucial. If his kick for Wighton got a fortunate bounce, well, the peach of play for CNK, which was very well defended by Butcher, deserved a try. It seemed to occur to the Roosters late in the game that they'd get more joy attacking down their right, rather than the left, and it nearly paid off for them. Manu is indeed a very good player, there are so many talented centres in the NRL right now. JB was good too. Whitehead needs to lose his habit of sticking a leg out; hasn't he been pinged for a trip before this season? As it turned out, the Roosters scored anyway, but he could have been seeing ten minutes and a ban for that. Papalii awesome of course.

[moto748]

Funny thing about Tapine's try, good as it was, he only got the ball because a bludger of a pass went right over Williams' head and he picked it up. Roosters' defensive coach would not be impressed by that, though.

[moto748]

OK, now I'm going to my recording of our game against Warrington. I am not optimistic.

[gangrenous]

Have to say. Big question mark on all 3 Roosters tries. 1st one was a forward pass, albeit marginal. 2nd try a blatant obstruction the bunker chose to ignore. Last try was a clear forward pass.

I thought their first try was ok. The second one... Croker was blowing up about it - he was penalised for an obstruction only moments earlier, Flanagan was obstructed as much as Croker was. And yep that third try was definitely forward. There was a lot of forward passes let go. We did get the rub of the green in the first half and Klein flipped it in the second.

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Decisions on obstruction this year have been terrible. So often they've pulled it up where defense has been slightly inconvenienced. Other times like the Manu try they say it has no impact when it obviously did. I really don't know what the rule is any more.

That decision was a disgrace. You pretty clearly have video referees with very different interpretations of obstruction.

From the video ref comments last night it sounded like whoever it was ruled that because ultimately Croker had a chance to tackle Manu that the earlier obstruction didn’t count. That’s not the rule. Annesley should call that out, but he won’t. Shame on the commentary not forcing him to talk to it as well.

[gerg]

What have we done to deserve Ginnane two matches in a row? I really hope he isn't up in the box next weekend - he had a serial fixation on the Roosters.

I hope we remember we have challenges to use next week. Surely we could have challenged the Tupou play the ball penalty on the premise it was a knock on.

Yeah I was screaming at the tv to challenge that penalty. But they weren't listening.

Fitler was probably equally awful to listen to.

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[gerg]

Have to say. Big question mark on all 3 Roosters tries. 1st one was a forward pass, albeit marginal. 2nd try a blatant obstruction the bunker chose to ignore. Last try was a clear forward pass.

I thought their first try was ok. The second one... Croker was blowing up about it - he was penalised for an obstruction only moments earlier, Flanagan was obstructed as much as Croker was. And yep that third try was definitely forward. There was a lot of forward passes let go. We did get the rub of the green in the first half and Klein flipped it in the second.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

Decisions on obstruction this year have been terrible. So often they've pulled it up where defense has been slightly inconvenienced. Other times like the Manu try they say it has no impact when it obviously did. I really don't know what the rule is any more.

That decision was a disgrace. You pretty clearly have video referees with very different interpretations of obstruction.

From the video ref comments last night it sounded like whoever it was ruled that because ultimately Croker had a chance to tackle Manu that the earlier obstruction didn’t count. That’s not the rule. Annesley should call that out, but he won’t. Shame on the commentary not forcing him to talk to it as well.

Yep... Maybe if Croker just threw his arms in the air or took a dive he would have won the penalty. They have to at least be consistent on it in the same game.

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[gangrenous]

What have we done to deserve Ginnane two matches in a row? I really hope he isn't up in the box next weekend - he had a serial fixation on the Roosters.

I hope we remember we have challenges to use next week. Surely we could have challenged the Tupou play the ball penalty on the premise it was a knock on.

Yeah I was screaming at the tv to challenge that penalty. But they weren't listening.

Fitler was probably equally awful to listen to.

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I think this one is a tricky call to make tactically. I think that was a dropped ball and would be called as such -70% of the time by the ref. Once it’s called a penalty and referred though, the video ref is charged with completely disproving the decision. If any player still had the slightest touch on him up until not long before he drops it then they’ll stick the decision and we lose our challenge too early in the game.

[Azza]

What have we done to deserve Ginnane two matches in a row? I really hope he isn't up in the box next weekend - he had a serial fixation on the Roosters.

I hope we remember we have challenges to use next week. Surely we could have challenged the Tupou play the ball penalty on the premise it was a knock on.

Honestly you thought he was bad, you should have listened to the love fest for the Roosters on Ch Nein, particularly Fittler who is monosyllabic at best

[GreenMachine]

I thought the ref had a good game....believe me thats rare for me to say.
The only Roosters try i had a problem with was the forward pass from Touponoua to Teddy....it was thrown forward.

[GreenMachine]

What have we done to deserve Ginnane two matches in a row? I really hope he isn't up in the box next weekend - he had a serial fixation on the Roosters.

I hope we remember we have challenges to use next week. Surely we could have challenged the Tupou play the ball penalty on the premise it was a knock on.

Honestly you thought he was bad, you should have listened to the love fest for the Roosters on Ch Nein, particularly Fittler who is monosyllabic at best

Ginnane is MILES ahead of Andrew Voss or any of the rabble on Nien.

Warran Smith is my pick but he rarely calls our games.

[Azza]

Yeah I actually think Ginnane is pretty good towards us. And yes I thought Klein had a good game.

[Dr Zaius]

What have we done to deserve Ginnane two matches in a row? I really hope he isn't up in the box next weekend - he had a serial fixation on the Roosters.

I hope we remember we have challenges to use next week. Surely we could have challenged the Tupou play the ball penalty on the premise it was a knock on.

Honestly you thought he was bad, you should have listened to the love fest for the Roosters on Ch Nein, particularly Fittler who is monosyllabic at best

I don't usually care about commentators, but Freddie was a bit much. One decision he said that the Roosters were unlucky? Unlucky Freddie? Keary was a metre and a half offside.

[Dr Zaius]

I thought the ref had a good game....believe me thats rare for me to say.
The only Roosters try i had a problem with was the forward pass from Touponoua to Teddy....it was thrown forward.

I'd agree with this. There were a few forward passes let go, but no more than usual. That pass to Tedesco for their last try was clearly forward. Some of the other decisions were line ball but I didn't have a problem with them.

[Roger Kenworthy]

Yeah I actually think Ginnane is pretty good towards us. And yes I thought Klein had a good game.

I thought Klein was fine too. Calls go both ways in such a big match - we had some 50/50s go our way.

It's the put on excited voice from Ginnane that winds me up. We actually have both commentaries as an option here in NZ. Nine was like a retirement home, Fox was like excited teenagers. What Warren Smith has done to be relegated below Ginnane I'll never know.

[Roger Kenworthy]

What have we done to deserve Ginnane two matches in a row? I really hope he isn't up in the box next weekend - he had a serial fixation on the Roosters.

I hope we remember we have challenges to use next week. Surely we could have challenged the Tupou play the ball penalty on the premise it was a knock on.

Yeah I was screaming at the tv to challenge that penalty. But they weren't listening.

Fitler was probably equally awful to listen to.

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I think this one is a tricky call to make tactically. I think that was a dropped ball and would be called as such -70% of the time by the ref. Once it’s called a penalty and referred though, the video ref is charged with completely disproving the decision. If any player still had the slightest touch on him up until not long before he drops it then they’ll stick the decision and we lose our challenge too early in the game.

My only thought is it may have been a discretionary penalty if it wasn't for a strip. Seemed like it was for a strip though.

Definitely a better challenge than the 1 in 1000000 longshot we went for a few minutes later.

[Azza]

Yeah I actually think Ginnane is pretty good towards us. And yes I thought Klein had a good game.

I thought Klein was fine too. Calls go both ways in such a big match - we had some 50/50s go our way.

It's the put on excited voice from Ginnane that winds me up. We actually have both commentaries as an option here in NZ. Nine was like a retirement home, Fox was like excited teenagers. What Warren Smith has done to be relegated below Ginnane I'll never know.

Yeah I hear you, but honestly it was hard to believe how bad Fittler was. I listened to the first half on 9 and I couldn't stand how often he was interrupting with pointless comments. I had to switch to Fox at half time.

[Northern Raider]

Have to say. Big question mark on all 3 Roosters tries. 1st one was a forward pass, albeit marginal. 2nd try a blatant obstruction the bunker chose to ignore. Last try was a clear forward pass.

I thought their first try was ok. The second one... Croker was blowing up about it - he was penalised for an obstruction only moments earlier, Flanagan was obstructed as much as Croker was. And yep that third try was definitely forward. There was a lot of forward passes let go. We did get the rub of the green in the first half and Klein flipped it in the second.

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Decisions on obstruction this year have been terrible. So often they've pulled it up where defense has been slightly inconvenienced. Other times like the Manu try they say it has no impact when it obviously did. I really don't know what the rule is any more.

That decision was a disgrace. You pretty clearly have video referees with very different interpretations of obstruction.

From the video ref comments last night it sounded like whoever it was ruled that because ultimately Croker had a chance to tackle Manu that the earlier obstruction didn’t count. That’s not the rule. Annesley should call that out, but he won’t. Shame on the commentary not forcing him to talk to it as well.

Yep... Maybe if Croker just threw his arms in the air or took a dive he would have won the penalty. They have to at least be consistent on it in the same game.

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Yep, bunker always seems happy to reward the player who makes no effort to tackle of they suspect an instruction. Croker pulls off some Morris like theatrics then it gets pulled back.

[Coastalraider]

Have to say. Big question mark on all 3 Roosters tries. 1st one was a forward pass, albeit marginal. 2nd try a blatant obstruction the bunker chose to ignore. Last try was a clear forward pass.

I thought their first try was ok. The second one... Croker was blowing up about it - he was penalised for an obstruction only moments earlier, Flanagan was obstructed as much as Croker was. And yep that third try was definitely forward. There was a lot of forward passes let go. We did get the rub of the green in the first half and Klein flipped it in the second.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

Decisions on obstruction this year have been terrible. So often they've pulled it up where defense has been slightly inconvenienced. Other times like the Manu try they say it has no impact when it obviously did. I really don't know what the rule is any more.

All true.

But what really pissed me off was that Toots was so busy waving his arms he missed the opportunity for a clear second effort at the tackle which would have shut the play down.

Yes, he was initially impacted initially. But he had more than enough opportunity to tackle him prior to the try.

[Northern Raider]

Have to say. Big question mark on all 3 Roosters tries. 1st one was a forward pass, albeit marginal. 2nd try a blatant obstruction the bunker chose to ignore. Last try was a clear forward pass.

I thought their first try was ok. The second one... Croker was blowing up about it - he was penalised for an obstruction only moments earlier, Flanagan was obstructed as much as Croker was. And yep that third try was definitely forward. There was a lot of forward passes let go. We did get the rub of the green in the first half and Klein flipped it in the second.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

Decisions on obstruction this year have been terrible. So often they've pulled it up where defense has been slightly inconvenienced. Other times like the Manu try they say it has no impact when it obviously did. I really don't know what the rule is any more.

All true.

But what really pissed me off was that Toots was so busy waving his arms he missed the opportunity for a clear second effort at the tackle which would have shut the play down.

Yes, he was initially impacted initially. But he had more than enough opportunity to tackle him prior to the try.

One thing overlooked in that Manu try. Whitehead channelling Darius Boyd in the last line of defense.