NZ v AUS Rugby League Test- May 5

[Simon]

So the decision to throw a speculator five metres out from his own line was the right decision? Otherwise he had a quiet match, which means he didn't do much else wrong besides get flattened by Pritchard.

It wasnt a great option, but every player makes mistakes like that at times, look at Tahu...
Hunt was exception, no one expected him to be, hes not minichiello and he knows it, he played within himself and he didnt let anyone down. He was no worse than Cooper, Gasnier, King and Tahu, all had pretty reasonable games but didnt do much that was all that spectacular...

 

[steds]

Just looking at the side New Zealand fielded and comparing it to their Tri-Nations final team, wondering what went wrong. Without Vatuvei, Jones, Rauhihi and Wiki it does look pretty ordinary.

 

[Smudge]

Haha, broncoman got it way wrong. Aussie only won by 38!!!




, kidding Simon.

I only caught glimpses of it (damn flatmates wanting to watch Footballers Wives), but it sound like we handed over ball at crucial times and the constant wave of Kangaroo attacks usually resulted in tries.

 

[Blewy]

Haha, broncoman got it way wrong. Aussie only won by 38!!!




, kidding Simon.

I only caught glimpses of it (damn flatmates wanting to watch Footballers Wives), but it sound like we handed over ball at crucial times and the constant wave of Kangaroo attacks usually resulted in tries.

 

[Smudge]

I flat with two girls - I'm horribly outnumbered.

 

[Blaze]

I dont look so stupid now do i?

Great win for the aussies, we prove we are easily the best in the world, Darren Lockyer, what a performance, Kennedy, outstanding, Mason and Petero just brilliant, simply too good across the paddock...

Yep we were completely out played and you read it superbly. I underestimated how much losing Jones would hurt us.

 

[Blaze]

even though we won easily the Kiwis did better than i expected, they have plenty to work on for the tri nations and i expect it to be closer then...

What did we do that was better than expected? I don't think we can play much worse...

 

[Simon]

the kiwis first half was ok, they completed 13 of 16 sets, imo they just didnt do enough with the ball when they had it. You've got guys like Whatuira, Tupou and Vagana out wide yet they saw very little ball, if you guys had of gone wide during that first half i think you would have gotten more meters and then the pressure would have been on the Aussies...
The second half was pretty much a disaster for the Kiwis an they were passengers really, once the aussies got on a roll they couldnt stop it, we scored one or two lucky tries at the end and you guys never gave up and keeping in mind you'll have a stronger side in the tri nations id say theres a bit to work on...

 

[Burpey]

It wasnt a great option, but every player makes mistakes like that at times, look at Tahu...
Hunt was exception, no one expected him to be, hes not minichiello and he knows it, he played within himself and he didnt let anyone down. He was no worse than Cooper, Gasnier, King and Tahu, all had pretty reasonable games but didnt do much that was all that spectacular...

Tahu, Gasnier, and Cooper were all excellent, while King and Hunt had solid matches. Not once have I said Hunt played badly, just that he's not good enough yet.

Also, the NSW three-quarters look awesome for State Of Origin just quietly.

Note: I only mentioned that pass because you said he took all the right options, and it was a pretty big blunder as they scored from that set.

 

[Simon]

imo Queensland three quarter line is potentially just as strong, its the forwards where we might be in some trouble...

Tahu wasnt that great imo, he scored a couple of tries and did that miracle tap back (and a rather poor one) but i dont think you can say he was outstanding...

 

[Burpey]

Except for the two tap backs (I thought the first one was silly but luckily it came off), Tahu played very well. He looked dangerous in attack and together with Cooper the left-hand defence was fairly watertight.

That said, it wasn't hard to play well last night if you were Australian.

 

[Dick Rockett]

There were two dodgy tries in the second half that I thought really knocked the fight out of the kiwis - the one where Gasnier should have been called held and the one straight after it that came off a forward pass.

Still, the aussies were the better team, but really the margin was a shame as I don't think it was a true indication of the gap between the teams.

Some thoughts:

* The kiwi halves combos were poor, and Leuluai's kicking was worse than ordinary.
* The defence on Webster's wing was terrible, big ups to Tupou on the other side though.
* Kiwis: the ball is your friend, hold onto it!
* This game has shown that Darren Lockyer should never have been moved from fullback for the Broncos.
* Surprised at my local paper whacking on about what a great game Andrew Johns had, when the only time I remember him doing anything was stepping up to kick goals.

Anyway, well done Kangaroos.

 

[Simon]

yeh i dont think Johns was that great, he was over shadowed by Lockyer and Buderus...