Sunday, July 11, 2004
Media Wrap: Poor chooks tired
If you read a lot of the media reports that followed Parramatta's defeat of the Roosters, you might think the poor chooks spent the eighty minutes sleeping.
"We looked tired, we played pretty tired," Roosters coach Ricky Stuart was quoted as saying in the Sun Herald.
The ABC Online managed not to give any credit to the mighty Eels, only lamenting the Roosters as "lethargic" and saying they "lacked cohesion in both defence and attack and appeared generally disinterested at times".
"The Roosters had six players backing up from Wednesday night's State of Origin clash and it appeared as though most of them were suffering an emotional letdown, with five-eighth Brad Fittler particularly out of sorts," the report said.
AAP's report said the result "justif[ied] coach Ricky Stuart's fear of a post-Origin hangover.
Thankfully, not everyone forgot that Nathan Hindmarsh was backing up too, and that he was far from lethargic.
"Led by NSW forward Nathan Hindmarsh, the Eels were punishing in defence," said AAP.
In the Sunday Telegraph, Smith said Hindmarsh was the most courageous player in the game.
"I know there are some courageous players in the NRL, but Nathan is special. He was simply inspirational tonight. I don't know what he runs on, but it is high octane."
Smith said the performance was "easily our best [defensive] showing of the year". "This win will act as a real confidence boost for the boys and just showed them what they are capable of."
Said Hindmarsh: "Our problem has been that in some games, half a dozen blokes have played their best and half a dozen haven't turned up. For some reason, we all chose to fire tonight and it was great to see."
Smith also praised Wade McKinnon at the press conference, while the Tele said Lee Hopkins and Craig Stapleton were "outstanding" and praised Michael Witt's kicking game.
Witt told the Sun Herald of his decisions to keep bombarind the left side Roosters defence with bombs: "Once we got the first try, I thought why not go there again. Then I put myself in that position, thinking if I've dropped two in a row I don't want another one. It was all definitely a bit strange."
"We looked tired, we played pretty tired," Roosters coach Ricky Stuart was quoted as saying in the Sun Herald.
The ABC Online managed not to give any credit to the mighty Eels, only lamenting the Roosters as "lethargic" and saying they "lacked cohesion in both defence and attack and appeared generally disinterested at times".
"The Roosters had six players backing up from Wednesday night's State of Origin clash and it appeared as though most of them were suffering an emotional letdown, with five-eighth Brad Fittler particularly out of sorts," the report said.
AAP's report said the result "justif[ied] coach Ricky Stuart's fear of a post-Origin hangover.
Thankfully, not everyone forgot that Nathan Hindmarsh was backing up too, and that he was far from lethargic.
"Led by NSW forward Nathan Hindmarsh, the Eels were punishing in defence," said AAP.
In the Sunday Telegraph, Smith said Hindmarsh was the most courageous player in the game.
"I know there are some courageous players in the NRL, but Nathan is special. He was simply inspirational tonight. I don't know what he runs on, but it is high octane."
Smith said the performance was "easily our best [defensive] showing of the year". "This win will act as a real confidence boost for the boys and just showed them what they are capable of."
Said Hindmarsh: "Our problem has been that in some games, half a dozen blokes have played their best and half a dozen haven't turned up. For some reason, we all chose to fire tonight and it was great to see."
Smith also praised Wade McKinnon at the press conference, while the Tele said Lee Hopkins and Craig Stapleton were "outstanding" and praised Michael Witt's kicking game.
Witt told the Sun Herald of his decisions to keep bombarind the left side Roosters defence with bombs: "Once we got the first try, I thought why not go there again. Then I put myself in that position, thinking if I've dropped two in a row I don't want another one. It was all definitely a bit strange."
