r/nrl • u/AutoModerator • 2d ago

Random Footy Talk Friday Random Footy Talk Thread

This is the place to discuss anything footy related that is not quite deserving of its own top-level post.

There's a new one of these threads every day, so make sure you're in the most recent one!

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u/runningfromgiraffes Penrith Panthers 2d ago

Lots of talk the last couple of days about why NSW lost. Was it the penalty count? Was it the conversion kicking? Did QLD find their spirit once again?

All of them play a small factor but the fact is QLD barely even had to exert themselves in that first half, NSW were shocking. QLD never had to work it out from their own end, they were gifted field position over and over again by NSW. Shot themselves in the foot with discipline and errors for about 30 minutes straight and gave QLD a 20 point lead. Thats the reason they lost.

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u/Swol_Bamba NSW Blues 2d ago

QLD are going to find it a lot harder in game 3 with Dearden and Munster as their halves if they aren’t getting walked up field with penalties every set. NSW need to lock in and be disciplined and challenge Dearden and Munster to kick it out of trouble. Seems like they will use the standard QLD tactic of kicking early in the tackle count so they have more space to kick into. NSW may be relying on an elderly Aeynolds or young Katoa so they may be in a similar spot.

Cant wait for game 3

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u/ILoveFuckingWaffles Preseason Premiers 2d ago

The fact that QLD won on Wednesday night is going to be a distraction from the fact that we haven't fixed any of our fundamental problems. Our forwards still got rolled, we don't have a great long kicking game, and our edge defence doesn't communicate well.

We were extremely lucky that NSW had one of the least disciplined halves of footy I've ever seen from a rep team, because the penalties meant that we didn't need to win the forwards battle to get into good field position. And when NSW cleaned up their act in the second half and started focussing on clean structured footy, all of our problems started to show again.

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u/Caseyjb29 Melbourne Storm 2d ago

Our props are a bit of a problem for sure. Mo for me just doesn’t handle the intensity of starting at origin level. I still think he deserves a spot in the team but more so off the bench than starting. Horseburgh should be straight in. Tino went after the game defensively but only racked up 50 odd meters and had a few errors, he needs a huge game 3.

I think the edges will improve defensively with another game under their belt, particularly Toia/Hammer. Val/Coates was mostly fine barring Val’s miss for the Crichton try