v Counties-Manukau
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Well that sucked...
This is fast becoming a season of more what ifs than normal
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The most frustrating thing about this season, is we have been so close to being undefeated this season, if not for a bit of luck and some very poor closing periods, we have lost too many and not picked up any bonus points, which oddly enough is something we do normally get in these types of games in years gone by.
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Lots of work ons, especially the lineout, that was freakin awful.. Got to get 5 points from the Magpies now, and that's no given as they looked vastly improved against Harbour.
These next two we need to go in with our strongest lineup possible. Got to have Jack back in the midfield and Alaimalo back to fullback.
Want to see Douglas back too,.. him, Ram and Matich in the loose trio for me. DP off the pine..
Counties wanted that more, but hell they weren't much chop. We were just worse. A case of shoulda, coulda, woulda?!
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@j77 said in v Counties-Manukau:
A case of shoulda, coulda, woulda?!
Add didn't...and Yep, that sums up our last 4 games really...
This team, is so close to being outstanding, but are missing a final ingredient and making themselves look very average at times.
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Just watched it.
Suffered from our now customary dropsies, a lack of energy and yet again some very questionable refereeing decisions.
But I think the biggest thing that stopped us winning was the god damn lineout. Just awful and not good enough for this level. Can't expect to win games when you just gift the ball back to the opposition on such a regular basis.This definitely isn't our year. Hopefully the majority of the team stick around for next season, as (hopefully) they'll have learnt a lot from how the last 4 or 5 games have played out.
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@taniwharugby the thing with this team is we have the players but we don't manage the game well enough yet.
- What was taking a tap about? Kick for the line and throw to the front.
- On that, after the first few times of struggling with throws to the middle we needed to play % and just throw to the front. Terrible day at lineouts. We went from being down on their line throwing in to missing two throws and defending.
- Also sometimes you have to play what is front of you. Two times I thought we missed a beat - one when when we wrapped around from the ruck 3 times to the same side and kept going backwards, the other time when we could have cleared our line but took the hit up, lost Hohia turned the ball over and gave away the winning try.
This team is really good and it won't take much to flick the switch. Some of our seasoned players are just sensational at the moment - Ram, Wright and Ranger. Scrum is good and line out is just about options - we look better when Douglas is an option.
Tough game against Hawkes Bay who look to have a few players back from injury. We don't need to do anything special. Just play as we have, reduce mistakes, make better decisions.
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@gunner said in v Counties-Manukau:
yet again some very questionable refereeing decisions.
That's another thing, I don't usually go hard on bagging the refs as they have a bloody tough job, but hell we get a lot of poor calls go against us.
I think the touchies need to step up too. That forward pass that lead to their first try was a howler, surely someone should have picked that up..
Without sounding all conspiratorial I think we at least need neutrals on the sideline (TMO included)..
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@gunner said in v Counties-Manukau:
Seems to be a perennial problem with Northland.
Too right it does, I can't ever remember having a consistent lineout since the Glenn Taylor days.
We have the timber there, so I cant really see why we keep faltering. It works in dribs and drabs, but never on a regular basis.
I'm no expert, but to me it looks like we overthink it...
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@kev I agree, this team is so close to being outstanding, as I said above, an ounce of luck and we'd have only 1 or 2 losses to this point.
Our lineout had been pretty good after a wobbly opening game and slowly improving, but today, I guess weather, the opposition the best lineout, and well, we saw how that turned out.
There was that restart where they knocked it on, thier guy picked it up and ran, which is a penalty, unless you are French and have a deal.
In the first half they seemed to get away with flying off thier feet alot as well as a few no arm cleanouts, but those are always 50/50 calls anyway, and we got none.
We lose ALOT of direction when Moulds goes off, and our lineout didint improve.
We had those 2 errors by Alaimalo and Tua in strong positions and both normally very safe sets of hands.
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What is it with the idea of taking the captain off at the time he is needed most?
Unless you have great leadership elsewhere it just seems crazy to me to take the captain off when you have a small lead. It's not like Moulds isn't fit. He is a full time professional. -
@crucial been a constant theme this season and most noticeable in our last 4 games, and not just him though.
With the improvements the coaches have made, this appears to be one area they are getting so wrong
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@taniwharugby said in v Counties-Manukau:
@crucial been a constant theme this season and most noticeable in our last 4 games, and not just him though.
With the improvements the coaches have made, this appears to be one area they are getting so wrong
Not only in the short term (as in games) but if you are developing leadership surely you want them to learn how to close out games. How do you learn how to lead through the tough stuff from the sidelines?
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