Players such as Shaun Lane, Will Smith, Tom Opecic, Niukure, Stone, Hipgrave and maybe even Nathan Brown and Ryan Matterson will test BA's selections in coming weeks.
We now have the position that Papalli, Kafusi, Cartwright are going into the certain 17 group.... no arguments with Papalii there of course and Opecic probably as well (but a question mark in my mind).
Interesting thing is Waqar Blake's return....will he come straight back in? will Niukure push Opecic out.
Opecic is very solid and honest, whilst I believe BA will stick with him (he has done nothing wrong) I think with the quality back row alternatives Niukure gives us greater match winning potential in the centres than Opie. In saying this I am assuming Blake will come straight back in..... if thats the case Niko will have to go on the bench? hardly fair, he's good enough to start anywhere.
Matter of fact I think he is our third best middle along with Papalii....after the obvious first two and then Kafusi. I would argue that they are also our best two edge forwards, interesting when it comes to rotation and resting players? Interesting to see how Lane gets a spot anywhere in the 17? ie Niukure is a top middle, edge and now centre, probably handle wing as well lol.
Hence this brings us back to the blog title..... I wrote this differently because the choices some may make will mean that BA's tradional loyalty will be tested!
I suppose this is a good position to be in and is a credit to O'Neill and BA's player management and recruitment.'
Lack of backline pace is the only current weakness I can identify at present.
WILL BA's LOYALTY BECOME A WEAKNESS?
Replies
Our roster puts us in a good position. We can rotate and rest players and still have a strong team. I hate to say it, but we should take a note of how Ricky Stuart rotates and rests some of his forwards to stop the burn out. I'm sure you can all remember Parra fading badly in the second half of last year. BA has to be smart with his choices.
We have Matto, Lane, Paps, Cartwright AND Niukore that are all first grade standard for backrowers, not counting Brown who is a middle. We should rest them if they are even slightly hurt and use our depth to give everyone game time so when finals comes our team isn't too tired, and our reservers actually have some confidence to come in and do a job.
It is not a weakness, it is a good probem to have.
With the level of injuries in the game these days, you need depth. I'm pretty sure we will also have at least two forwards playing Origin.
When the side is in form in winning, you tend to stick with the winning combination. For mine, that means Matterson and Waqa don't return to the side unless there is an injury or form dictates it. That's exactly what you want - players competing for spots.
Marata and Opacic have been defending far better than Waqa ever did.
Nice post! I think BA"s loyalty to his players can only go so far. He knows a deep journey into the finals is a minimum to keep the punters happy, bar injury and SOO selection he needs to maintain that balance
"Will Niukore push Opacic out?" No way. Opacic is a real centre and is starting to build nice combos out there. He runs beautiful lines and that helps Sivo get quality ball
I think giving bench players more game time is the way to go to build up 80-minute intensity, share the love, and enhance connectivity with all the squad. The focus of the game these days is mental and physical fatigue with most points being scored late in the game.
To take the pressure you speak of Poppa about putting more pressure on BA with choices around selection I think that job should be shared by smarts and responsibility-sharing with the coaching staff.
Spot on with all of that brissy
Nice post and agree with this brissyeel.
Nice spot to be in for the fans, hard one for BA. Especially as it was injuries and not form which had them out.
Both Matto and Blake deserve to go straight back in the team, they were the incumbents. Then the players that replaced them have been doing a brilliant job.
The best 17 get selected BA must decide who are the best 17. Carry and Opecic out Blake and Matt back in. It's a hard call, Everybody on notice perform or it's Reggie's.
There spots were safe, and BA was happy with there output, injury not form had them out. As I said BA has some hard decisions to make.
Not sure turning a positive into a negative Is very productive!!
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next