I’m hoping this is my first and last post like this. Congrats to the Roosters - but we made them work for that.
This is what it took to beat us.
Tedesco - 380 run metres*, 83 post contact, 12 tackle breaks *new record for run metres in any NRL game topping Guthersons 369m set in 2020.
Nawaqanitawase - 237 metres, 90 post contact, 5 tackle breaks, 2 tries.
Whyte - 17 runs, 189 metres, 78 post contact, 4 tackle breaks,
Nat Butcher - 22 runs for 167 metres.
Leniu - 7 runs, 94 metres and 42 post contact.
13 of our players made 20+ tackles.
9 of theirs did.
Knights 90+ run metres - 7 (Crokes with 88 makes the cut cause I’m feeling like a Bondi accountant).
Roosters 90+ run metres - 11 players
They put a lot of effort into that game - they were relentless with their running. They played their perfect gameplan. We were gallant in defence. We had to dig deep to defend them and for the most part, we did.
The difference in the end…they got lucky:
- Mark soccering it one foot, to the other, and in behind to dive on. Not many can do that - I don’t think kicking it twice was in his plan either
- Billy Smith somehow getting that ball down despite the desperate efforts to stop him.
- a GRUBBER bouncing up to hit the corner of the crossbar and post, and Mark going over in the corner.
- even that one they gave him where Mark somehow catches it and puts it down while seemingly in the air was incredible athleticism.
Talk about kissed on the you know what.
I’ve said it before, DCE just had so much time to place his kicks. He’s too good to be given that much time. Just relentlessly targeting the Marzhew - Mark matchup.
Anyway, I guess my point was that it took a lot to beat us. They threw everything at us, let’s not pretend they walked that. It perhaps looked dominant due to our fatigue - but not nice did our team give that up.
We held the gloves up and kept fighting - in the end it’s those flukey moments and luck that separated us.
I can absolutely see the players using this to ensure they don’t lose another one.
Spot on in identifying what it took to beat us.
Spencer is almost as bad a matchup for our middles as Mark was for Greg. I was really hoping Watson got cleared so Leniu didn't see the field.
The performances of our undermanned pack have relied on guys making those 1% efforts consistently - just getting enough into a tackle to prevent a linebreak/half-break that lets the other side build unstoppable momentum. Roosters had the privilege of having Spencer replace the freak that is Naufahu Whyte, who had already set a dominant platform so that Spencer was able to run downhill - it's practically impossible for a fatigued middle defence to handle Spencer in that situation, every carry is so dominant that you're left with a retreating A+B defender and rarely 2 markers - 1% efforts can hold you up in a grind that is somewhat evenly-matched but aren't capable of preventing the momentum of a genuine impact middle.
In the modern game these guys are rare because they usually don't have the gas tank to be useful in every game situation but in the right circumstances they can either completely turn the momentum of a match or provide a killing blow to a side barely holding on - Spencer is, IMO, by far the best in the current game - Nelson Asofa-Solomona had a similar capability albeit in a different style - both could be double-edged swords for their team.
Whyte was unstoppable, Foketi killed us with late offloads, Collins always performs in big games - their pack was superb.
Obviously they don't win without Mark, it is a crime against sport that he is wasting his talent in Japanese Rugby next year. Billy Smith was exceptional and troubled Gags bigtime.
Teddy deserved his Clive - we lost due to sheer weight of possession/field position and their inability to give up unforced errors. 38 runs for 388m exemplified this, the ****** was exactly where I didn't want to see him at all times (everywhere).
I'll now follow all that regrettable Roosters glazing with comments that I don't want to sound like sour grapes - beating us by one point is (obviously) a credit to us but surely has to be viewed as the worst performance by a winning halves pairing of all time. Their only attacking threat was kicking to a generational talent on the wing who has a 5-inch height advantage (and probably a 10+ inch reach/vertical jump advantage) on his opposite number.
- Tackles in the opposition 20: 51 vs 6
- Possession: 58% vs 42%
- Run metres: 2101 vs 1447
Yet it ends up 3 tries all, 3 linebreaks to 2, and a one point win (including a penalty goal). Obviously this critique is no sweat off their back, they won and the team deserved it, but if I see any media glazing DCE/Walker for that win I will be ropeable. If you replaced either of DCE and Walker with Hugo Savala they still win that game - different story for their pack and back 5.
