Monday, June 05, 2006

Broncoes wrapup

Well I have to admit I have not spent the weekend fretting over the Warriors as per usual. In fact I have just returned from sunny Geneva having watched the All Whites sustain a brave performance against insurmountable opposition. I think we can say that the level of football of the Brazilian starting eleven is on a level all of its own and that to lose four nil while having generated a number of viable scoring chances against the worlds best NZ can feel justifiably proud. I may even post some pics I took at the match.

Anyway despite the digression I see the Warriors managed a good effort in defeat against the Broncoes with the boys lifting as suggested below against benchmark opposition. I find interesting that both coaches commented on the fact that only two penalties were given in the entire match, one for each team. This seems very strange to me and I wonder whether this is Harrigon refereeing gone mad or just a new policy to create more scoring movements by tiring the teams out. Either way it seems that applying such an extreme policy can only lead to a game degenerating into cheating and thuggery. It is the job of the referees to strike a fine balance, keep the game and the players under control without ruining the flow of the play or determining the outcome. I would appreciate some input on this as it is no doubt a significant talking point amongst NRL fans.

Of course despite the improved effort it is yet another loss moving the warriors to a 4-8 record still in 14th place. The Warriors season is effectively over and I am now moved to consider what Cleary should do with the remaining games. Surely trying out new players and combinations is an option but this could ensure further losses that may ultimately cripple the clubs finances. Cleary needs to keep the home fans onside while recognising that it is all over for this year and developing the team for next season - you guess is as good as mine as to how he can actually manage this. So without wanting to state the totally obvious if Cleary Year Two is to be any improvement on year one (of course presuming there is a Cleary Year Two) then Cleary has to got to use the next weeks to unearth some more cheap, quality talent from somewhere, instill some mental toughness in his squad and win some games to keep the fans hopeful for next year.

Also any thoughts on Patrick Ah Van, is he a hope for the future? Also if anyone has info on the incident that saw him play in place of suspended Misi Taulapapa feel free to divulge it here.

Roosters next week who will be weakened by the absence of players on origin duty. Lets keep a positive attitude and hope for the best.

1 comment:

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