Round 22: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks vs Gold Coast Titans

[Supergoose]

I agree Teke - he should've been sent off for that IMO - He will now get a week or two and the Titans don't get any benefit when they were the ones infringed on. Henry does seem to lie in the ruck a lot though. He is one strange character. He hangs around offside, just seems to drift in and out of the game - puts on a hit here and there and then goes missing again. He has something about him, but has yet to really impress.

I'm loving Rankin at fullback - he has really provided something. With Prince out will they play Ranking at halfback and bring in Mead to fullback and perhaps Vickery or someone else on the wing - maybe even Walker to fullback for one last hurrah, or will Presto get 80 mins at halfback for the rest of the season. Tough one really and maybe there's a case for playing Srama at half with O'Dwyer and Presto sharing hooker. I still reckon Bird at hooker is a trick we have missed. I thought Peyroux did some good things especially in defence tonight. Anyway, good to see some experimenting and great to finally get a win no matter how absurd the game was.

[Titanic]

I thought that the Bailey/Laffranchi issue became clearer tonight. These two guys should not be on the field at the same time. We looked a lot better with one on and one off and younger legs around the ruck in defence.

Minichiello has me beat - you can't fault his commitment but his execution is horrible.

Sorry for Prince but not sorry for the team. Morris' try was a direct result of Prince being sold the dummy five meters out and although he had a fair game in attack plus had a go in defence, I think he is not the vital cog that he is made out to be.

Rankin looked a lot more comfortable tonight and Peyroux showed enough to suggest that he's going to see a fair bit more NRL in the future. Peyroux v Neilson wil be worth the price of admission.

I think Henry has a bit of John Sutton about him and once the team can work out how to switch him on he should be fine. His kicking is erratic but his defence is stable, his passing is crisp but his positioning is questionable.

I'd like to add a little pat on the back for Will Mathews who I really though would be a waste of space ... good effort.

Matt Srama = 80 minutes ... please, whoever is coaching the team.

[Super_Matt]

Rankin had an awesome game, so stoked that he's getting some good game time, and making the most of it.

Was quite impressed with Mark Minichiello this game. Despite the bias love, he's stepped up with recent injuries, and playing all but 80 minutes (77), he logged up some great tackles and meters.

His hands are getting alot better too, he's worked quite hard on it i reckon, and it's starting to show. All this when he's virtually destined for the bench next season, and 20-30 mins a game! Love that he's committed to staying though.

Great game, poor Prince though!

[shamus]

I thought that the Bailey/Laffranchi issue became clearer tonight. These two guys should not be on the field at the same time. We looked a lot better with one on and one off and younger legs around the ruck in defence.

I can't comment as I didn't notice. I will watch the reply during the week.

Minichiello has me beat - you can't fault his commitment but his execution is horrible.

I thought he had one of his better games tonight.. He didn't try to offload..

Sorry for Prince but not sorry for the team. Morris' try was a direct result of Prince being sold the dummy five meters out and although he had a fair game in attack plus had a go in defence, I think he is not the vital cog that he is made out to be.

Yeah, you are correct, he did fall for it, but it was Morris only moments earlier that interfered with Prince, not the other way around that led to the Sharks being down that end.

Rankin looked a lot more comfortable tonight and Peyroux showed enough to suggest that he's going to see a fair bit more NRL in the future. Peyroux v Neilson wil be worth the price of admission.

I thought both were great. Rankin was a standout!

I think Henry has a bit of John Sutton about him and once the team can work out how to switch him on he should be fine. His kicking is erratic but his defence is stable, his passing is crisp but his positioning is questionable.

.......Jury is still out on this one....Really silly stuff like being 1000 metres off side on a charge down on the last tackle.... WTF!

I'd like to add a little pat on the back for Will Mathews who I really though would be a waste of space ... good effort.

TBH I didn't notice, 17 blokes out there and I find it difficult to watch all of 'em (I think it is the alcohol)

Matt Srama = 80 minutes ... please, whoever is coaching the team.
Agree 100%

[shamus]

.....Oh and we broke the milestone hoodoo last night.

First win for a Gold Coast team EVER at Shark Park!

[Ryan]

I can see why prince is scared to tackle/get tackled, he is made of paper

Steel actually, if you are talking about the plate thats in his arm
26 tackles is more than what he should have to make, but the team have to make 100 more tackles than Cronulla....



Well you can certainly notice the difference when the boys want to turn up and play, the difference in effort compared to last week was blinding. And the efforts in defense on our line gives me hope not concede 100+ to Melbourne next week! Still a scrappy performance and realistically we probably wouldn't have beaten a better side, but even though we lost the penalty count 10-3, the possession 58%-42% and missed 40 tackles - it was good to see them put some ticker into their game.

Rankin showed his potential in #1, it would be good if he can do that week in week out. Minichiello played nearly 80mins for only 1 error! And finally some support in attack for Prince, with genuine threats from Campbell & Rankin. Hopefully we can jag a few more wins and offload the spoon to Parra in the last round

[patskE]

it will be interesting to see what they do at halfback now. prob see just campbell there n lawton on the bench maybe

[TitansFan2020]

I reckon we will see
1. rankin
3. zillman
6. henry
7. presto
9. srama
17. lawton

but i hope

1. walker
3. zillman
6. rankin
7. henry
9.srama
17. presto

[Titanic]

I wouldn't change anything except Campbell to 7 and Lawton on the bench with Bird starting replacing Mathews with Minichiello on the bench, however...

Doesn't anybody else think that Minichiello is so often caught out of position in defence on that left side, that he chokes the left side attack (Zillman looked good once he got some ball), that he will try to off-load every tackle no matter what (thank heavens he somehow just didn't let them go last night) and that he gives outrageous penalties every week (the NRL's most penalised player)?

I know he tries his heart out, he can tackle and bend the line occasionally but fairdinkum.... Thompson, Ridge, Bird and even Mathews (on last nights dig) are surely better options.

Did anybody pick-up on that sarcastic comment Belcher made about why Bird wasn't playing, "they said he had a hamstring problem or something"? He sounded like he suspected that there was some other reason, such as being dropped.

[teke]

The left side defence is where alot of problems start. I havnt picked it yet but I wanna know why there is often a 1 or 2 man overlap on the right edge.

[Coaster]

Bird tweeted he went skydiving yesterday.
Make your own conclusions

[Titanic]

Skydiving is a well known cure for hamstrings. That's how they treated them years ago ... without a parachute ...lol.

[Coaster]

Skydiving is a well known cure for hamstrings. That's how they treated them years ago ... without a parachute ...lol.

It's not a good look.
If I was paying someone 200k+ and they had a sickday, I would be plssed if they went skydiving lol

[matti]

he prob went with carty lol

[DIEHARD]

I know Bird is contracted to us, but I'm sus about the Knights.