Round 2 Takeaways

I said at the starting year, I taught Adam Field Blake will be by the season and I'll stand.

By it, but I'll tee it to Rell May. He started the season.

His performance yesterday and seventy three minutes and the quality of his work.

He's been the most dominant forward in the park for both the Tigers performances and great yesterday. But that first half yesterday made it was. It was uninspiring from both teams, like it was there for the taking and all one team had to do after about twenty minutes was complete. The next five sets, they would have scored one or two tries. I thought the Tigers obviously got their game together,

Something fast came up with a play.

Luckie Galvin came up with one, and Durine Buller on that kick return all of a sudden just saw tired, lazy defenders and went for it. So there's one thing that I thought Jerome Lee should have with appy Corus. How was there was acres of space in the middle third of the field in the paramount of defense if they had have just used some of that forward momentum from Tyrell may quick play the ball, run scoot run as opposed to pass past pass because there was a

Yeah, passes the ball become runners.

What we're seeing, coops, with the tendencies in the game, I'm looking where these upsets are driven by and good performances are driven by. And it's a lot of times the outside backs getting into the middle because with the fast rucks, I just said, that's where the space and making those big opposition middles miss and fatiguing them and

There was a little bit of this, little bit.

Of that, and that's a consequence Jerome and Lucky Galvin put themselves under a bit of pressure. If the Tigers, I think he'd be far better served, no fuss coming out of trouble. Right drive, drive, drive, drive, Get yourself in a position maybe for an attacking kick.

Knock it down the other end. If you want to push the ball wide and this opportunity, just get it there. But there was just at.

Times in that first thirty minutes they were betwixt and between.

I like what Lucky Galvin brings like he's energetic, like he just wants to be involved. He'll turn up on the left hand short side, he'd be two passes wide on the right. He's just wanting to be involved in the game. He needs to hold onto that. I think Jerome Leui doesn't need to fall into this game manager with the seventies back where he just shovel pass, shovel pass, and when he steps he's stepping sideways. I think he

Halfway through the year.

Last year, when Origin just emerged, he found his best football because there was more step accelerate rather than step and step, and you know he's you can see at the moment.

There were a few things during the game.

I watched him and he was trying to corral the players into shape and I was struggling getting there.

There was once from a.

Scrum, a player was supposed to run a certain line.

He didn't.

He missed his cue. I saw Jerome get into him. He's wrestling with a lot of that stuff at the moment. To come from a system in Penrith where the players are locked into position, you see blokes, two or three blokes at a time, swinging from edge to wedge. It's so coordinated. And to be in that machine for a long time then suddenly go into a new team with new combinations and trying to corral them, it's very difficult.

Yeah, there was a player in the second half earlier. It was it was ripped. It was slow, it was bad. It was shovel pass. Shovel pass end up being an error on the on the on the extreme side. But if it had just been maybe dummy half front, just forward through us, then Jerome gets it and he might bounce off his left and go forward and there's a inside pass.

You know, all these things they'll be able to tinker with. I think they'd be Tiger's fans going Jesus Christ.

Boys. We did win, which they did, like.

You know, and I thought, with how coming back dream Buller, I had a feeling they're going to do a job on paramatter. At the moment, paramatter in a very dark place. But but I think there were some things in that game. For if your Tiger supporter gives you of optimism where their season can go.

There's something great about our game when the Tigers are winning and smiling. Oh yeah, they were through Ofver scored a couple, he was pumped up, the crowd was getting involved.

But what do you make a para matter.

Look at the moment.

A lot of those young rookies just find themselves at the moment out of their depths. A lot of them have come into the side at the same time. I don't know many teams in the modern era where all young guys just come into his side and suddenly everything clicks. You go through hard times. I remember that Manly Side and Canberra with a green Machine. Guys come through and they sort of picked up and they were surrounded by

I will say this, I picked up something interesting. Lomax was the big off season signing. Wanted to play center, wants to dominate the center position. He's spent three months sort of practicing the yard of defending back in the centers.

I actually, if I'm Jason, I like that, Coops, because I think Jason Rowles looks at the team and says, right, where are my experienced guys?

Who are the guys that can win a game for me?

And there's only a couple there, and he's one of them. And I think he looks at it rosy and says, look, I'm just going to work out a system of play where i can get as much as I can out of Zach. Look, I don't think Zach has a problem doing that. It's the guy he plays alongside, you know, he mirrors it. He's got to do the opposite. That's typically three young player.

And I will say this, I think Junior Barlow needs to lead at those stages. Yesterday Did he fly out of line and try and rattle the Tiger's defender? Did skittle defenders carrying the ball like he just needs to lead.

The concern Coops in Paramatta is that when the Tigers scored, like there's a lot of areas both sides, but Penrith dug him defensively and they repelled him a few times. But once the Tigers got that first try, you could see their defensive effort start to subside, and that tried before halftime just killed them.

On a On another note, what about your Roosters. In my time in rugby league, I'm trying to think of a bigger upset.

I remember the Roosters one year winning the competition and the goal case sped him in the last game of the round, which are about ten eleven to one. But who thinks about odds and winning money? But that one eleven to one to start the game. The Roosters look coops. They scored thirty eight points. But upsets are driven by defense and high pressure defense. Defense within defense wins matches, defense wins comps because defenses desire.

That's what it is.

And you can see they'd burned their bondet after the week before, and rightfully so. Their sword had been sharpened by all the criticism. And let's not take anything away from the Roosters, but they came up against a side who all week have been told you're going to win by fifty sixty points, eleven to one, twelve to one. Is this the biggest despised outsiders in modern history of the game. And I got no doubt that bled into them.

And one thing for the Roosters was Panthers probably played an average game. They still scored thirty two points and they went within a centimeter potentially sent it to golden points. So the ability for Penrith, even though they're not playing well is to still compete on every play.

We've seen this previous seasons have we you know, they build into their year and they have a game like this last year they knocked over by Wigan and a couple of years ago though they'll beat in the early rounds.

But I think one thing that the Roosters did well is probably the first time in a while, the tall timber of say Daniel Tupo and Dominic Young really exposed sort of doing Edwards Bryan Tott and the smaller back three where they were just jumping up and catching everything or competing for things.

And I think Melbourne actually.

Did it at Penrith when they beat them basically for the minor premiership at home last year too, So that might be something that teams with bigger our side bags might try and do.

A lot of Not a lot has been made of this, but the move from Penrith Park or Blue Belt Stadium to Combat.

Will be it will be a factor this year.

How big a fact of that.

As far as minor premierships like I still see them in the top four.

But put it this way, Coops, I reckon Penrith Park.

I reckon a lot of size that would travel out there on a Friday or Saturday night would be beaten before they get off the bus. It's just such a tough place to win. And it's just that that's say it's a furnace with all the Panthers fans. I liken it Coop to the Broncos. In the early nineties, early actually right through the mid nineties, they moved out of Lange Park while it was getting redone and they went to a Q two stadium iet what it was called sixty four thousand people.

It was such it was an awful place to play. Although there were.

Sixty thousand people, it was a long way away, a little bit like the old Stadium Australia when it was the Olympic track on there. But the Broncos loved it because it was such a tough place to go, and you did. I didn't like playing there, and the parents didn't like playing there. Their win rate was about damn good side but coops. Then they moved back to their home sun Corp Stadium.

But everyone else loved me. The other sides love playing there as well.

I'll give you that.

I think some teams that played pen at Penweth Park would have been half beaten before they arrived. But I think Penrith, on the other hand, have this mindset of they'll play anyone anywhere. I don't know if Penrith would suffer from not playing at home because they've just got this ability to play the core play at some court, play at Las Vegas still get the job done. But I'll give you the tip that maybe other teams feel a little bit more happier that they don't have to go to.

What about you, blokes, the Old Olympic Park. What a mass of a place that was, What an awful place. And then you move into Amy Park and like the winning continues, but for opposing teams, such a better place to play.

So in winter at the Old Olympic Park, Bellamy would never let us wear a jumper. It's three degrees outside on a Saturday night. Refuse for us to run out and the warm up and wear a jumper. But he always said, if the opposition's wearing a jacket, we've got a beat before they start. And you run out for warm up and you see maybe six of the guys wearing their hoodie or a bit of a jackety go.

Yep, we've got them tonight.

Oh okay, another side, who the upsets? Yeah? The upset? Well, let's it's Warriors.

I loved about the Warriors that they robbed to self correct themselves after Vegas. I thought in Vegas they just they pushed the ball unnecessarily to the edge all the time trying to create. When you've got two, you got seven and six there in Metcalf and Schnelle who knew that are really game managers.

So you need Wade Eagan to be the.

Focal point of your attack and lead the attack. And they enable to do that because they did less. They centralized. They play far more north south, and with Egan running the show in the middle, it allowed Metcalf and Chanelle to sit back and actually play to their strengths.

Run the football.

I thought Egan was good, and I will say this about the Warriors. A lot of people wrote them off after their Vegas performance, and if you go back and watch the manly game, I think Turbo scored within the first few minutes. The Warriors actually come up with some pretty poor play inside the first ten minutes, like some really disconnected play, but the temperament of Egan, but Metcalf as well to hold their nerve and then hit the

So he needs to run the ball a lot.

And I like Chanelle too. Chanelle in Vegas really only ran the ball once. He's a beautiful, sweet left foot. He went bang, went half through and you can see he'd gone back. Had to look at his game and realized he was just trying to finest the ball around get back to his strength. About four or five times against mainly he come off the left and went half through.

So Webster was at Penrith and sort of contribute to the attacking system that they run out there, and he's bought that to the Warriors and metcalf runs the cleary system. You've got Harris Tavita on the left and you've got Charms on the right, and the threat of running that metcalf provides it opens up some passing lanes for everyone else.

Well, that's the thing like oftentimes, Coop.

We always think traditionally if fords go forward as the crowd space for the halves, but sometimes the halves can take you forward as well. You know, check off a right foot metcalf off of right foot, goes halfway through, Wade Egan sweeps the way he goes, you know, just building off that fast momentum.

And one of the other upsets was the Raiders the fancied Broncos.

That was a coaching.

Master class from Ricky, like he's been doing it a long time. But everyone expected Brisbane to go there and dominate like they did the Roosters. And it looks like Ricky did the old no tarpany but did the old like you know, how you match up the player for player and say, hey, you need to dominate your opposition players. Tonight, what probably in Hawesbury did to stop pass and Carrigan tremendous.

And zach Oskin too yep, Zach was very very good.

Very good, and then Foggy outplayed Reynolds. Like it's almost that Ricky did the old individual matchup and so you dominate your individual player and we'll go on and win.

And Jina Coop watching that game, it's like I've always been a strong believer, always been a strong believer. Is that every team must develop their own unique.

Style of playing. Right. So if you've got a unique stra.

Particularly if you're a club who's you know, toward the bottom end around the mid table, if you want to beat the top size, you can't play Diet Melbourne, Diet Penrith. You have to establish your own special style of football and then and if you can impose that style on the contest, you can cause an upset. That's what the Raiders have got. Raiders are playing very different to everyone.

Well said Chris has started really well. Timiko on the other side very good. So they've got threat to go apart on either side of the park, and they're forwards.

That's their strength. That's ultimately about strange.

Just two sides who are on the end of those upsets until wet Broncos. And second, but mainly we said last week, manly, you've got to be careful about falling in love with mainly.

Yeah, when they're on their on and when they're bad, they're bad. And we said that against the Cowboys that when they get they're attacking mindset on, they are great. But can they defend the long periods of time? Can they play when slow play the balls?

All that thing comes to their style of game and the Broncos well, I managed said after the game he said he's found out some new things about his sight.

Didn't say what they were.

I'm guessing that Michael McGuire showed a lot of opportunities for the Broncos to score points. This is me guessing because he said, I've learned a lot about my team and how to get them ready. And sometimes when you show a lot of vision to let's say Reese Walsh and Ben Han and all those guys, about how much opportunity there is a score points if you get the roll of sleeves up and do the dirty work first. You go straight into try assist mode. And Walsh had

For well, that's what Ricky would have done.

Yeah, regardless of their victory in Vegas, Ricky would have found a way through the week be agitated about something that puts his sides on their toes.

And that's the thing, coops. If you're you're a top line team and.

You want to beat an underdog, you beat an underdog by playing like an underdog.

That's what Penrith's is such a great side.

Regardless over the last four years, who've they've come up against is the generally exception the other night, but they have an established style of football. They're ruthless with working down the field, kick down the far end, pin the opposition against their line and just beat the shit out

What about the Dolphins.

Dolphins, they've been really disappointing the first week. You could forgive it, Coops, because all.

The circumstances with the floods and keymen didn't come down. But they'll pour against Newcastle. The concern, Coop was how slow moving it was. I could see what they're trying to do a little bit like we said about the Warriors in their first round in Vegas, is that they are trying to find creativity and points by going wide

They are so loose and so slow they just ended up in the green stand.

I agree.

They look like they are working to a field position, just slowly and one out and then they run their main play and they go, why didn't that work. I'll tell you why it didn't work. There's zero rock speed ability to create a quicker play the ball, and it just was sidewise, sideways, sideways, and Cartower set up one

That's right.

So they need a little bit more athleticism play the ball speed and just something to get the fence not moving forward, staying back.

It was interesting that game just was watching trends.

Newcast most and Newcastles tries come as a result of a certain shape called split shape, which is one under one short he can go out the back with. It's a really good run pass option play. And both both the Dolphins tries come of that same shape. It's good for Katoa and it's good for players like Calum Ponga and the Fletcher Sharp because it enables you to run still that pass option.

Yeah, but if Carto hadn't changed speed, he doesn't go through through that That was the thing for me, seeing that everything else was slow, but he went fast and that changed the play.

Got some concerns around the Cowboys season that sort.

For the game, Toddy Peyton said, they asked what are you looking for? He used words to the extent of I want my side looking for collision, chase the collision, which means he wants them to play physical, he wants them to play tough. And I don't think they got the mema.

No they are.

They are so inconsistent, Like they beat the Melbourne Storm in the last week of the preseason and looked good and then there are two round games this year, I mean very poor. I will say this that defensively, that's ultimately where it sits that they need to be way better one physical but also decision making on their edges. But when you've got people like Eden and drink Water, in my opinion, I think you need back rollers that are arrow straight going down the field, catching the eye

Thing to sink coops getting the ball.

Players were wandering across the field, Players were overrunning them. Players were running the wrong running the wrong gaps. They are running into.

Each other at points. It was for a team.

My knock always in the last few years on the Cowboys is that they defend like they're just waiting to get the ball back. Hasn't been a problem with their attack. They love attacking. But the other night their attack was shocking.

But that's so hard to fathom because the year was it twenty twenty two. They were all about defense was they were all about chasing.

It had the balance right, yep.

And now if you put attack above defense for some reason since nineteenla, being attack mined doesn't help your defense, but being defense minded helps your.

Attack most definitely.

And the Warriors, the Warriors have wrestled that the last couple of years as well. When they had that really successful season in twenty twenty three, if you look at the way they started the season. It was very conservative football. It was let's conserve most of our energy by getting into defensively, and things stemmed off that. I thought last year they ventured away from that round one against the Raiders,

Another zero to two team, the Dragons.

Yeah, and.

Flane's comments about luck nearly is he would have liked to take those words back.

Yeah.

I think it was really strange and it's hard to comment because you're not in the sanctum.

You don't know.

Lachlan Newis didn't play his best game. It's round two, young half back, new to the club, and he had a little crack at him. Well, no, it didn't. He actually he didn't defend him when a reporter asked, Yeah, I find it strange. He knows Elie is better than you and I, but he also knows what it takes to when a young half gets criticized, how hard that can be to come back.

From, particularly with Lachlan because you can see he's pretty sensitive.

Young Blake.

You just get the sense of playmakers. There's some playmakers like a munster, like if you go with him all you want, go on the press conference, kick him out the ass, whatever. He'll just respond to it. But there's other players who don't respond to that. And Lachlan's had a very difficult last eight months at saus you know, leaving there, he's gone through through a lot.

And so I know that I know Flannel has rung him and apologize. Sometimes.

I don't think a private apology equates to.

A public's interesting to see how that happens, because you know, again, I don't know. I'm just judging from the outside looking in, Like him and Flannagan bent Hunt had.

Their issues whatever.

Yeah, yeah, and let's see if flaklands Maybe he just.

Doesn't like half backs Flanner, who knows he doesn't like you? And I yeah, well after tonight, I reckon he won't. Hey, just before we go, well under the Bulldogs they have with a lot of expectation on their shoulders. Two tricky games. First up, they've looked fantastic kick out Burton kick out button. Yeah, yeah, that's going to be a test. Interesting to see what they'll do. If Toby Sexton then Drew Hutcheson can work together, play together, I'm not sure.

Might a little bit pass happy.

He might look to put a big, big, rugged, strong body in the six jersey.

Yeah, like like from defensively, I think they still have the mojo to work for each other and stop up opposition. But just confidence and belief and presence that you know, Toby Sexton or someone else looks over the other side of the field on their left side and there's no Burton kickout there. When they put it together, the left side is red hot with a threat to kick out. A good balance of what Burt was doing before he got in.

Cherry ye yeah, yeah, Burton, that's such such a weapon. We talked about how Penris Breton butter is kick long or kick high and pin.

Them on their own line.

Well, that's what Burton's good at, those satanic bombs he puts up.

Please leave me out of that