He better be confident of a result on Friday night, naming JA on the bench was not necassary. Again i understand the reason for not naming N.Brown there as he has Maka, Rodwell and Kaufusi, all middles don't want four middles on the bench, need variety so a utility or a back-rower is suitable. El-Zakham perhaps? hmmmm maybe not quite yet, Cartwright not ready? ok go with a utility, Opacic didn't make sense do lets go with a player who plays numerous positions? Perfect Hayze Perham; who can play Fullback, Wing, Centre, Five-eighth and has played Halfback for the Warriors lower grades. Oh he wants JA who plays five-eighth, halfback and............................oh that is it.
I know i am saying things people already know, but as a coach and a father wouldn't be better letting him at 19 develop as much as he can in NSW cup? How many 19 year olds are starting for NSW Cup, better yet a NSW cup team that is competitive? Not many if not none, just him, perfect environment for him to develop his craft, what is sitting on the bench going to do? I have been an advocate that playing minutes int he top grade is the best form of development for any player, even getting 10mins gets them an idea of the speed. JA getting FG game time will help, but if Opacic wasn't able to get on the field, how will JA be able to? The only way i have said JA should be on the field is if Moses or Brown are hurt or get hurt mid game, or he comes on in the middle as a third ball player feeding forwards and feeding Moses and Brown on either side creating more in our attack. In the past he has brought a centre off and put JA in at 6 and Brown at centre. Doing that only once, against Gold Coast in round 1 when Russell got hurt, so argument to be made that it was BA's best option at the time. So there is no proof as of yet that he is going to do that again, but JA has been on the bench twice before this game, round 1 and round 2, round 2 didn't get on as the game was close. But he has done it 50% of the time done that. If he does that on Friday, questions will be asked if you are bringing a centre off to accomodate Jake being put in, why not do the same straight swap with Opacic on the bench?
At a time where his job has been questioned by the media, where we are inconsistent this year and holding onto the top 4 ever so slightly, where the fanbase is on a very tight rope with you do you give them fodder to hammer you more if we lose? BA will cop it if we lose to the Warriors on Friday but that will go higher with Jake being there and the kid will cop it too if he gets onto the field.
If the game gets close, i doubt JA sees the field unless a backline injury, if we are leading by a bit he may give Moses an early mark then i am ok with his addition, but no guarentees. Let the game get to a result before we determine fully if the selection was fine or not with JA. I am hoping an injury free night to see how JA's inclusion is justified. I guess if he doesn't get on he could play NSW cup on the weekend which would not hurt his development, but if we win then he goes into Brisbane and Penrith with JA on the bench, not sure how that will go down.
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The way Ba has typically being playing 4th reserve is more for injury coverage . I wouldn't be surprised reason is to give Moses rest at end of the game to preserve him and / or get some more experience at end of the game for Ja as next half I like . If you think about it without any Ba hate blinkers .. if you want to ensure someone is ready / has required experience to throw into the side for the semis to come into run on side due to injuries it would be a half or a all positions bar possibly hooker you could get away with sending a debutant into the side
I wouldn't mind it if we are up by a bit and in the last 10-15mins Moses gets an early mark to give JA some game time, as when it hits semis, if Brown or Moses are out he's getting the nod so get him up to speed, but can do that in round 25 if we are in the 8 that is. If we are fighting for a spot in the final game there is no room for that.
But if it is close on Friday night, JA does not get on, then you think well he can back-up for NSW cup so his development aint that hindered. But if we lose imagine the onslaught, it would have been bad for BA, imagine with JA added, good god.
You could also take it as if you want to get JA some game time to be ready incase needed for semis then no better opposition than the Warriors, as after them we only have one other team who is not in finals contention. But even then i shiver as we underestimate opponents, that is our problem with lower teams of late.
Anyway it will be fascinating to see the end result, if we win then the critics have not much to stand on.
LB by that logic why don't we put Rein on the bench in case Reed gets injured or rankin in case gutho gets injured later in the year.
There is no need to look for reasons mate
We know the answer already
The big "N"
Well no as having a second hooker is valid as hookers do a lot of work, plus Rein can play lock for defence
Rankin can play fullback but in the halves also, plus has some ability in him to be able to fill in at centre if we have an issue there
You're right
That makes Jakob's selection even worse
Perham is the logical choice if you want to carry a cover for the backs on the bench.
What are we missing with JA's selection
Surely it can't be this blatant nepotism
Can ANYONE offer any reason for this selection just so I don't lose complete hope and confidence in our coach
If we win then there is no leg to stand on for those against it, but yeah the N word is hard to argue against also. Only thing i can come up with is giving him game time ready for semi's incase Moses or Brown go down. That's it, even then it is a big i guess.
Rankin can't get selected as he isn't in the top 30 squad.
If and it's a very big if I the Eels are up by 10 or 15 points against the Warriors and Super dope puts on Jake I can see the Eels losing by 20 points
Hahahahaha LB , I dont think it matters what BA does, the sack BA brigade want him gone no matter what he does, its that simple, wins against Penrith/Storm and Roosters in the same year, youd think a coach would be sort of safe. Throw in last years top 8 team Manly and throw in a win against Canberra as well, and well one can just laugh at the absurdity .....hahahahaha
So you think JA is the right choice for the bench Blue eel
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