PattyKwasagun
Norm Smith Medallist
Date: Friday April 25
Time: 7:45 PM local (5:45pm AEST)
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand
Weather: 19° Cloudy
Preview by Fatcat08
Lest We Forget,
Those will be the words that will linger in the ears of both teams this week, and for the Lions it will be the first time that they have that extra meaning that comes from playing on ANZAC Day. While some may bemoan the fact that this will be one of those games that take our Melbourne tally down by one, I can't help feeling that as a player, playing on ANZAC Day at the home of our long time ally across the ditch, will be something special. Its a special day for both countries, where we remember those who have laid down their lives for the freedoms we enjoy every day. In typical Aussie style, I doubt that those who have fallen would want it any other way than us sitting down with a beer, a bbq and a footy game of any kind on the TV.
While the year has started in fairly solemn fashion for we who follow the maroon, blue and gold, it's moments like these that should have us all sitting down this week with, take a deep breath and grab a bit of perspective.
That certainly doesn't mean we should just shrug off some of the efforts we've seen this year, that's for sure. We've been solid in patches, brilliant in flashes and pretty bloody ordinary for the majority. While some have bemoaned the effort, others our fitness I tend to sit in the skills and execution department. You can have the first two, but if you don't have the last part the others just tend to fade into the background. When you miss targets by hand and foot, you put pressure on your teammates and yourself, you have to run further for longer and you have to continually do it over and over again. It compounds everything and before you know it you're stuffed, both mentally and physically.
So what can we expect this week? The Saints shocked most people last week in beating a fairly impressive Bombers team so far this season. The blueprint for their win is one that we've been calling for every game so far this season. It was a victory led by their senior players in Hayes, Montagna, Reiwoldt, Schneider and Gwilt and a fairly consistent effort from the rest of their younger players. Its the sort of senior player led effort that we've been craving. Rockliff is out there giving it his all, but for the majority of the time he's played as a loan hand. Some have stood up for a period within a game, or perhaps even one game itself but none have done it for the length of time we need with our injury list.
Looking at the cupboard its still pretty bare. Merrett will come back this week although his form pre-suspension doesn't tend to fill you with confidence. Green may be back although last weeks injury report had him 2 weeks away. Raines and Polks were again listed as influential in the reserves reports however one tends to think their papers have been stamped, while O'Brien was also in there and may come into the mix. There was something to like about each of the draftees again last week with all of them showing something in different ways. Some have said that Aish could do with a rest, however I tend to think the way he goes about it, while unassuming and without the explosive highlights of others, is the most rounded and complete of the newbies.
For me, I still think we're a bit tall down back and with Merrett back there Lisle is the one I would have coming out in a swap. The other change I would make is Green in for Gardiner if he's fit. I just don't see how 4 talls would match up on the Saints forward line and our lack of run off our backline is continuing to be a problem.
So how does this one go? There are two things working in our favour this week. The first is that the Saints have 100% losing record in Wellington which can only be a good thing. The second is that they don't call it windy Wellington for nothing, a quick weather search shows it to be mild and breezy. What's breezy in Wellington...... 31-42 km/h, and as someone who as an opening bowler had the keeper standing up at the stumps, I can assure you it can get far far worse than that. Given we can't hit a target by foot or hand in even the best conditions you'd have to think that's got to even things out a bit. What we will have the joy of seeing are 2 key forwards who will one day sit in the hall of fame and currently sit 3 goals apart on the all time goal kicking list.
All up I'll be looking for a steady improvement in most areas, particularly from our senior players. Do that and we may end up with our first win of the season.
Time: 7:45 PM local (5:45pm AEST)
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand
Weather: 19° Cloudy
Preview by Fatcat08
Lest We Forget,
Those will be the words that will linger in the ears of both teams this week, and for the Lions it will be the first time that they have that extra meaning that comes from playing on ANZAC Day. While some may bemoan the fact that this will be one of those games that take our Melbourne tally down by one, I can't help feeling that as a player, playing on ANZAC Day at the home of our long time ally across the ditch, will be something special. Its a special day for both countries, where we remember those who have laid down their lives for the freedoms we enjoy every day. In typical Aussie style, I doubt that those who have fallen would want it any other way than us sitting down with a beer, a bbq and a footy game of any kind on the TV.
While the year has started in fairly solemn fashion for we who follow the maroon, blue and gold, it's moments like these that should have us all sitting down this week with, take a deep breath and grab a bit of perspective.
That certainly doesn't mean we should just shrug off some of the efforts we've seen this year, that's for sure. We've been solid in patches, brilliant in flashes and pretty bloody ordinary for the majority. While some have bemoaned the effort, others our fitness I tend to sit in the skills and execution department. You can have the first two, but if you don't have the last part the others just tend to fade into the background. When you miss targets by hand and foot, you put pressure on your teammates and yourself, you have to run further for longer and you have to continually do it over and over again. It compounds everything and before you know it you're stuffed, both mentally and physically.
So what can we expect this week? The Saints shocked most people last week in beating a fairly impressive Bombers team so far this season. The blueprint for their win is one that we've been calling for every game so far this season. It was a victory led by their senior players in Hayes, Montagna, Reiwoldt, Schneider and Gwilt and a fairly consistent effort from the rest of their younger players. Its the sort of senior player led effort that we've been craving. Rockliff is out there giving it his all, but for the majority of the time he's played as a loan hand. Some have stood up for a period within a game, or perhaps even one game itself but none have done it for the length of time we need with our injury list.
Looking at the cupboard its still pretty bare. Merrett will come back this week although his form pre-suspension doesn't tend to fill you with confidence. Green may be back although last weeks injury report had him 2 weeks away. Raines and Polks were again listed as influential in the reserves reports however one tends to think their papers have been stamped, while O'Brien was also in there and may come into the mix. There was something to like about each of the draftees again last week with all of them showing something in different ways. Some have said that Aish could do with a rest, however I tend to think the way he goes about it, while unassuming and without the explosive highlights of others, is the most rounded and complete of the newbies.
For me, I still think we're a bit tall down back and with Merrett back there Lisle is the one I would have coming out in a swap. The other change I would make is Green in for Gardiner if he's fit. I just don't see how 4 talls would match up on the Saints forward line and our lack of run off our backline is continuing to be a problem.
So how does this one go? There are two things working in our favour this week. The first is that the Saints have 100% losing record in Wellington which can only be a good thing. The second is that they don't call it windy Wellington for nothing, a quick weather search shows it to be mild and breezy. What's breezy in Wellington...... 31-42 km/h, and as someone who as an opening bowler had the keeper standing up at the stumps, I can assure you it can get far far worse than that. Given we can't hit a target by foot or hand in even the best conditions you'd have to think that's got to even things out a bit. What we will have the joy of seeing are 2 key forwards who will one day sit in the hall of fame and currently sit 3 goals apart on the all time goal kicking list.
All up I'll be looking for a steady improvement in most areas, particularly from our senior players. Do that and we may end up with our first win of the season.
