NRL 2024 - Preliminary Finals

[Ed_Gein]

The Storm will blow the Sharks away too if they somehow make the GF, I want a Penrith v Storm GF, that will be a good contest.

I'd rather not... I live in Penrith. Just about everyone I know including my family go for Panthers. I'll have to go into hiding if we lose to them next week.

Let's go Sharks.

 

[Munga]

That was bloody great

 

[Guardian Hawk]

That was so good. Got a bit nervous early in the 2nd when they got within 6 and were getting offloads to gain big metres and then the Storm just put the foot down. What a game (and season) Hughes has had.

 

[kaiserchief13]

The Storm will blow the Sharks away too if they somehow make the GF, I want a Penrith v Storm GF, that will be a good contest.

I don't want to see another blow out.

Well I guess it depends, do you want a Storm premiership or a good game next week? Storm may lose to Panthers, probably not, but it's a chance, they will beat Sharks by 30

 

[Paul Kersey]

Come on Sharks hit 'em hard.

 

[Iamspock]

Well I guess it depends, do you want a Storm premiership or a good game next week? Storm may lose to Panthers, probably not, but it's a chance, they will beat Sharks by 30

Storm premiership....always...

 

[ESKIE]

STORM

 

[damicky]

I hope the Sharks win tonight … BUT it is very unlikely

The Storm have done everything right so far

 

[damicky]

No NAS in the GF

I wasn’t expecting him to cop a 4 week ban:

NRL Judiciary Report: Kiwi games counted in NAS ban

Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona will only miss one game at the start of the 2025 season after it was ruled that three of New Zealand's Pac Champs game would count as part of his ban.

www.nrl.com

 

[Paul Kersey]

No NAS in the GF

I wasn’t expecting him to cop a 4 week ban:

NRL Judiciary Report: Kiwi games counted in NAS ban

Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona will only miss one game at the start of the 2025 season after it was ruled that three of New Zealand's Pac Champs game would count as part of his ban.

www.nrl.com

It'll be challenged. Tough one to overturn given Collins was ruled out.

 

[nobbyiscool]

No NAS in the GF

I wasn’t expecting him to cop a 4 week ban:

NRL Judiciary Report: Kiwi games counted in NAS ban

Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona will only miss one game at the start of the 2025 season after it was ruled that three of New Zealand's Pac Champs game would count as part of his ban.

www.nrl.com

God that's tough. There was no swinging arm, he didn't do that thing where players sometimes "crouch and launch" and get players high. He's just a huge dude.

I totally get that in 2024 he's responsible for his own height and the damage he causes. Didn't have an issue with the sin binning, but missing time for that is rough IMO.

 

[damicky]

Grade 3 is pretty harsh for that incident

It would be a lot easier to get a Grade 2 downgraded to a Grade 1

Hopefully, the 3 injuries aren’t too bad

 

[Iceman!]

God that's tough. There was no swinging arm, he didn't do that thing where players sometimes "crouch and launch" and get players high. He's just a huge dude.

I totally get that in 2024 he's responsible for his own height and the damage he causes. Didn't have an issue with the sin binning, but missing time for that is rough IMO.

I’d have a lot more sympathy for him if he wasn’t a grub with a horrendous track record.

 

[PhatBoy]

Well that was ugly.

Some thoughts on the game:

- don’t really have a tremendous amount of sympathy for NAS. 4 weeks is way too much for that. A week would suffice and there was no intent to hit Collins high and of course being the size he is, he can’t help his own height but the thing is as as professional footballer it’s incumbent upon you to find a technique that means you aren’t hitting guys in the head with your shoulder. Collins’ body height was normal, he didn’t slip or fall into the tackle. If it was NAS’ chest that got him front on or something I would cop that but it was his shoulder. You’re a seasoned veteran - work it out mate.

- we shouldn’t have taken the two points at the start of the game. I understood why we did it but you don’t get many chances to put tries on Melbourne starting on their line when they’re a player down. Yes we scored not long after anyway but we should have aimed at one straight up.

- Angus Crichton’s defence has to be put under the microscope. The commentators kept highlighting Luke Keary for sliding left to allow runners cutting back inside - that’s what halves defending outside back-rowers do. It’s a back-rower’s job to bodyguard smaller men in defence and Crichton can’t tackle a wet lettuce leaf unless it’s running directly at him. It’s embarrassing from someone who’s had so much air blown up his arse this season for what he’s done with the ball. He’s a Liam Martin clone - a few big pieces of contact when he hits guys front on cover for the fact that he can’t tackle anyone on an angle. It’s pathetic for a second rower. I hope he spends the whole off season watching tapes of Victor Radley, the one bloke in our pack since Friend and Cordner retired who A
CAN tackle.

- Crichton can also take some responsibility for that missed knock on when we were balls deep in the game in the second half. I have no idea what he was thinking trying to tap that bouncing ball back. All he had to do was try and catch it, or let a Storm player catch it and then wrap them up. At any rate it was a terrible decision by the ref and sucked the life out of what was a decent comeback up to that point.

- the Storm are a superb side, there’s no arguing it. Way too good for us. I wish there was more attention paid to where their line starts though. They camp themselves offside for most of most games and it doesn’t seem to draw any attention. Mind you we have blokes do it all the time too, we just don’t seem to do it in one line so we get picked up on it more frequently and give away more restarts. Penrith when they are trying to smother teams do it to and again it’s their ability to do it in unison that probably stops it from getting noticed as much.

Missus is a panthers fan - all aboard the Penrith train

 

[Aucklander]

Was expecting 1 or 2 given it's a GF he'll miss, but now Australia have ruled him out of the end of year test matches. Smart move I guess.

 

[damicky]

Well that was ugly.

Some thoughts on the game:

- don’t really have a tremendous amount of sympathy for NAS. 4 weeks is way too much for that. A week would suffice and there was no intent to hit Collins high and of course being the size he is, he can’t help his own height but the thing is as as professional footballer it’s incumbent upon you to find a technique that means you aren’t hitting guys in the head with your shoulder. Collins’ body height was normal, he didn’t slip or fall into the tackle. If it was NAS’ chest that got him front on or something I would cop that but it was his shoulder. You’re a seasoned veteran - work it out mate.

- we shouldn’t have taken the two points at the start of the game. I understood why we did it but you don’t get many chances to put tries on Melbourne starting on their line when they’re a player down. Yes we scored not long after anyway but we should have aimed at one straight up.

- Angus Crichton’s defence has to be put under the microscope. The commentators kept highlighting Luke Keary for sliding left to allow runners cutting back inside - that’s what halves defending outside back-rowers do. It’s a back-rower’s job to bodyguard smaller men in defence and Crichton can’t tackle a wet lettuce leaf unless it’s running directly at him. It’s embarrassing from someone who’s had so much air blown up his arse this season for what he’s done with the ball. He’s a Liam Martin clone - a few big pieces of contact when he hits guys front on cover for the fact that he can’t tackle anyone on an angle. It’s pathetic for a second rower. I hope he spends the whole off season watching tapes of Victor Radley, the one bloke in our pack since Friend and Cordner retired who A
CAN tackle.

- Crichton can also take some responsibility for that missed knock on when we were balls deep in the game in the second half. I have no idea what he was thinking trying to tap that bouncing ball back. All he had to do was try and catch it, or let a Storm player catch it and then wrap them up. At any rate it was a terrible decision by the ref and sucked the life out of what was a decent comeback up to that point.

- the Storm are a superb side, there’s no arguing it. Way too good for us. I wish there was more attention paid to where their line starts though. They camp themselves offside for most of most games and it doesn’t seem to draw any attention. Mind you we have blokes do it all the time too, we just don’t seem to do it in one line so we get picked up on it more frequently and give away more restarts. Penrith when they are trying to smother teams do it to and again it’s their ability to do it in unison that probably stops it from getting noticed as much.

Missus is a panthers fan - all aboard the Penrith train

Nice melt

 

[PhatBoy]

Nice melt

Translation: I don’t like reading anything that can’t fit on a postage stamp

 

[Aucklander]

Translation: I don’t like reading anything that can’t fit on a postage stamp

You forgot to blame the ref

 

[damicky]

You forgot to blame the ref

He blamed everyone else

I thought Trent Robinson had popped in for a visit

 

[PhatBoy]

You forgot to blame the ref

yeah I thought I was missing something.

I forgot that when you neglect to post during a match so summarise your impressions of it afterwards and lament mistakes your team made and concede that the opposition was a shitload better, it’s just a ‘melt’

 

[damicky]

yeah I thought I was missing something.

I forgot that when you neglect to post during a match so summarise your impressions of it afterwards and lament mistakes your team made and concede that the opposition was a shitload better, it’s just a ‘melt’

All I saw was “the Storm are a superb side, BUT …”

 

[PhatBoy]

He blamed everyone else

I thought Trent Robinson had popped in for a visit

What usually happens when a result, win or lose, is achieved? Does it happen through a series of random events or does it happen through the actions of the people involved, both positive or negative?

In a game where we made a number of mistakes, why the hell wouldn’t I point out that one player in particular who missed 3 tackles that directly led to tries, needs to work on his defence

I don’t think NAS hitting Collins had any impact on the result my comment on him was just an observation on what I think is his status in relation to his suspension. I don’t think he deserves 4 weeks for it but I think a week is probably fair.

 

[PhatBoy]

All I saw was “the Storm are a superb side, BUT …”

Take that however you want. I have more respect for them, and Penrith for that matter, than just about any sporting team on the planet.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Thought PhatBoy's post was fine.

 

[D Jenn]

God that's tough. There was no swinging arm, he didn't do that thing where players sometimes "crouch and launch" and get players high. He's just a huge dude.

I totally get that in 2024 he's responsible for his own height and the damage he causes. Didn't have an issue with the sin binning, but missing time for that is rough IMO.

I think if you cause that kind of damage to an opposition player you should at least get a mandatory 1 game ban. A sin bin is just a time to cool off. Meanwhile, most times a player is gone for the game with HIA.

NRL did the right thing, just happens to be a GF, which if Nelson had any brains he should've known that potential outcome before setting foot on the field.