Eight talking points from NRL Round 2

A great read, Scott. Cheers. The Bulldogs v Roosters game was a great game - Big solid hits, fast pace and some flair in their as well. Having a quality 6 in Keary to partner Pearce has done him the world of good, taking a lot of pressure off him. I'm not a big fan of Pearce, but I have to say he has played some great footy so far in 2017. It's good to see. I'm surprised you made a comment about a tame draw for the roosters until game 6 - Playing against the Panthers in Penrith this weekend is surely a test and would have to be labelled as the game of the round (perhaps second to Storm v Broncos) Both teams have big packs that go about their business well, and they both have exciting halves and some flair in the backs. The Panthers were woeful round 1, but gee they hit their straps against Tigers. The attack was impressive, but the effort in defence was outstanding. To hold a team like that scoreless is a great effort. Cleary and TMM looked comfortable and the help of Moylan clearly had the defence asking some questions. Panthers V Roosters will be a cracker. I can't wait!

By the way why are you giving me the stats? I never said that Keary was better than Walker just that he'd played better than he had for years.

The NRL has some great stats but kicks are one area they could improve. At the moment there's only number of kicks, metres gained and 40/20s but none of those speak to effectiveness. As an example Keary put a beautiful cross field kick for a Roosters try but it would have only gone 15 metres and wouldn't show in the stats above. Yes he'd get the try assist but nothing to show the effectiveness of the kick. Distance isn't necessarily the best metric.

Not sure that the spine is too much at fault and seems to be settling in. Its more a mind set on how to approach the game (no mistakes!). . . we need a few wins on the trot and i think we can fire.

"Its not all hopeless (yet)." It's round 2 Pedro, You can't pick a Melbourne Cup winner in the first 50 yards. Even the Knights are looking impressive at this stage and could easily be undefeated after the first 2 rounds. Although they will not be an easy challenge, I am confident Souths will account for them this week but the Rabbitohs can't afford to gift 3 tries in 12 mins with sloppy defence, poor ball control and gifting restarts from kick offs at the half way line. There's a LONG way to go yet mate. However, the Dragons spine still needs a lot of work IMO.

"Walker runs rings around him (Keary), always had and always will." I shouldn't need to justify that statement. Anyone who knows the game should understand that already. Cody Walker is capable of winning the Dally M this year Keary never will. Walker can put his team before himself, Keary never will. Walker can turn a game by himself (even when his team is going backwards and their attacking efforts are stifled), Keary can only run if a team is going forward and cannot create under pressure like Walker can. Walker has a clever short/mid range kicking game, Keary does not, there is no skill or consistency to his kicking game which consists of "hoiking" the ball into the air and hoping for the best. Walker can read a game and a tired defence and Keary cannot. Most importantly, Walker can command the respect of his peers and fellow team mates and Keary cannot. Keary has gotten off to a good start to the year but this will not last, and neither will the Roosters run. Pearce and Keary are playing well together at the moment and at present this is paying off for them, but teams will adjust to their tactic of running the ball to the line with a supporting hole runner and if teams shift their defensive style to match the Eels with their speed off the line in defence they will deprive the Roosters halves of the time and space they require to execute their plays.

Cheers 3Hats. Exactly what I was mentioning!

Just not enough ink in the computer to write it all down, but you cant hope to get close to winning if you keep dropping the ball. 2nd issue is the edge defense - Nene McDonald needs to learn to stay on mark and not come in ... He let in 3 trys al be it one was spectacular. The one thing is that was promising was the effort when St's had the ball... Its not all hopeless (yet).

Check out my correct stats below, Walker is better so far.

Well, Barry, I am going to give you a detailed list of the stats for Both Keary and Walker. In 6 Categories Walker was better in 3, Keary in 1 and 2 was even. OVERALL: Cody Walker gets the Nod. Statistics:.......Walker...Keary. Trys..................1..............2 Assists:,,,,,,,,,,,,,..4..............3 EVEN Line Breaks.......4..............2 LB Assists.........3..............2 Walker is Better. Runs................24............18 Metres............209.........141 T Breaks...........6..............4 Offloads.............0.............2 Walker is Better. Kicks.................6..............8 Metres............161..........175 Average........26.83......21.88 Walker is better. Tackles..........28...........36 Missed.............3.............3 Keary is Better Errors...............2.............2 EVEN

You are right, but you can blame Mary for his key players suddenly dropping form so dramatically from 2015 to 2016. There is something there, whether it is the game plan, lack of faith in the coach or something else, but as coach he wears that one. I agree that they don't have the roster at the moment and that is not all Mary's fault. But I also believe that Mary will not attract the players they need, whether he has the power to sign them or not. I hate the coach being blamed for poor performances as much as the next bloke, but I honestly think the Dragons won't dig themselves out of the hole they are in with Mary in charge. Happy to be proven wrong though.

That certainly seems to be the way of it and it's admirable but it doesn't explain why there can be high tackles with head contact that don't warrant suspension but shoulder charges with no head contact that must be suspended. I think there can be a bit of moderation in how they're managed.

No Inglis, Scott or Parker. Slater in extreme doubt. QLD are at their most vulnerable. They are maybe one key injury away from disaster. If Smith another forward goes down we are toast I feel.

I think its an insurance policy to be honest...as in being seen to do the right thing as far as head injuries and concussions

I agree AEm. Their playing 17 last week had 5 players over 25 which would generally mean a team is rebuilding and everyone raves about their playing roster yet always back against them so surely if they thought the roster was that good they would back them to win.

It's definitely a fine line but I don't see why you can have a high tackle where contact is actually made high where an onfield penalty is sufficient but you can't have a shoulder charge where no high contact is made that isn't treated the same way. You could also argue that players like Hopoate this week and Taylor last would have been far better off from a head injury perspective if they'd copped a shoulder charge than the head clash brought about by the body check tackle they received. Probably a pointless discussion as it's unlikely to change.

But you can't blame the coach because the players keep dropping the ball or missing tackles . You can't blame the coach solely for not having any halves to provide any steady game management. So you will get what you got last year, more inconsistent performances. The Club management is to blame for poor roster management particularly regarding the lack of the crucial spine players. You can't keep blaming Mary for this, unless he had the open cheque book and full authority to spend up over the recent seasons and ensure a squad of promising local juniors as well. I suspect he didn't have any of that. In my opinion, they just don't have the cattle to be a serious threat ! Is that Mary's fault ?

Why do people think the Warriors have a great squad? They have some great players (particularly the spine)... but a horribly unbalanced squad. Just look at their wings - Maumalo & Lolohea... neither is a winger, the former is a forward who can't catch an even sort-of contested high ball, and the latter is a guy with talent but no place in the NRL (he played 6 in NYC but doesn't look a playmaker at the front of the play in the NRL, only looks good in attack from 1... but has no ability under a high ball and laughable defensive efforts) and an apparently bad attitude to boot. Vatuvei should be there, but he's still a >30 winger with turning-circle problems... and the other wing? When you're finished with the wings let's have a look at the middle forward group. Lillyman is quality if not a dominant presence, Matulino can be world class but is a) erratic and b) currently injured, potentially long term. Then Vete looks the part (but is still very much developing), but Lisone is an unreliable headcase, Gubb is straight up rubbish and Sipley apparently has stamina concerns over him. Gavet? Don't make me laugh. Good teams have a good (or more often, excellent) group of middle forwards. The Warriors do not. We've (predictably) seen this problem early... this group aren't breaking tackles.

I honestly think you guys need a new coach. Mary is a great bloke and a club legend, but I am not convinced on his coaching ability. Something must be said for the fall in form of Mitch Rein and Gareth Widdop last year, and Benji to an extent. People who write off Rein have quickly forgotten that only 2 seasons ago he was in the discussion for Origin. Obviously Doust is a problem too, and if it is true that he had final say on all recruitment, then I am not sure how much of an impact a new coach could even have. And, as good a ball runner as he is, I don't see Dugan as a modern day fullback, he must be moved to the centres, although I don't know enough about the next in line players to say who plays fullback instead.