We without a doubt have the worst centre pairing in the comp . You can look through every other side - neither of our centres would get a start in any of them . It's an area we have neglected in both recruitment and development. We have a rep level halfback and his strike on his side is battering ram Pensini who lets in 3+ try's a week and runs the 100m in about 22 seconds. He doesn't have the ability to compete for high balls , can't beat a guy with footwork , has errors in his game , can't draw and pass , can't catch and pass , defends on his heals , stops and comes in when the defence is sliding out , lacks attention to finer details .. he's just an out and out battering ram . His carries were pivotal in us beating the Dogs last week but they were needed because he invited the Dogs to score 3 try's.
Rusell isn't any better . Just no class about him at all . On his good days he competes hard and has a crack . He is a bog average player who has no clsss or finesse and worryingly still has more of both then Penisni .
Nanva showed more defensively in 2 games than either of the above 2 have in their first grade career. He has a bit of height and smarts about him and may be one to go with moving forward . We desperately need to recruit a strike centre who can compete athletically . It's an absolute must . If we want to keep Will for his tough carries going forward he needs a new position . He can't play back row because he doesn't have the motor or work ethic - he's gassed after ever carry . It's a dead set massive problem for us moving forward if the club fhinks he's a centre we can build around .
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Adam it is a fair point. The fact that 2 home teams had 40 put on them and 5 teams in 8 weeks have had 50 put on them. Can be an outlier.
Our defence is still rubbish though.
ohhhh so sorry you feel that way Adam and your entitled to your opinion. Can you show me any other Eels team since1947 that has been worse up to round 6 I havnt checked since then . I'n not speaking bullshit, but happy to be prove wrong . For the record I don't accept our team being rooted to the bottom of the ladder, other teams are able to perform better then is. Isn't the point to be champions not just making up the numbers for champion teams to play against us.
https://www.sportingnews.com/au/rugby-league/news/nrl-teams-scoring...
Decent article Adam, i hope we don't have to wait to long for our club / team to adapt like others have. We will really be left behind. Its all ready bad enough that out of 17 teams we have let in more points then every other club. We are dead set last for points conceded. Dosnt make good reading. Even the Titans with the same amount of wins as us, equal on the ladder have conceded 176 points , we have conceded 279 over 100 more. I get it that this year more points are being scored, i just don't want us to be conceding massive more then most other teams. We have to call them out, we all want better surely.
Adam don't forget in regards to rule changes ie the six agains causing big scores argument. That for 60 years the game had unlimited tackles, just take that in for a moment, then we also had the years of unlimited interchange. Where players could be subbed out for a couple of minutes get there breath back and then straight back out and into the attack again. Teams could interchange 40 50 times a game.
With all those periods this Eels team still has the worst defense of any Eels team ever. ie conceding points then any other Eels team ever after round 8 .
They can now add to that, they now also sit in the top 5 most conceded points up to round 8 since 1908 for any team, ever.
That is just a flawed argument BE.
It's no less flawed than Adam's argument though...
No MeelK, it is flawed. His statement about unlimited interchange produces more points is so wrong. Defensive fatigue doesn't come in to it. With the new rules in place now, and how they are policed, do you think there would be more points scored.
Just facts Micheal, No arguments just calling it exactly as i see it.
As members, supporters and fans are we getting full value from our on ground performances. I'm suspecting that some may be so used to our team and mediocrity that, that's what we are supposed to accept now. Winners and champions are winners and champions because they leave no stone unturned to be better. Are all 4 members of our R@R committee up to the task in your opinion Micheal. I suspect some are and some need more help. A lot of our players are not up to it, that's obvious. The continued general inability to make finals footy is telling I would suggest. Pointing out that this team has let in more points then any other is just a fact, it's not a guess. Instead of debating that and accepting that, imagine if they got called out and they fixed it.
It's a flawed comparison. Blowouts (20+) have never been higher than right now.
This is the first year the average score is over 50 points.
Blowouts have doubled since the Unlimited tackle Era and increased dramatically since the Restart Era, year on year.
Unlimited tackle era was completely different. 3 points for a try. Barely 5m line in your face. It wasn't policed. Everything was far, far slower. Most games were close. Now, everything is different.
It's not even apples and oranges. More mini mandarins and giant watermelons.
What's interesting is since the refs have eased up ok restarts over the last two weeks, blowouts have reduced (from close to 48% R1-R6). I doubt that's a coincidence.
It's manufacturing a product.
You only need to listen players and Gus and good analysts of the game like MM Woods.
All singing the same tune.
I hope PLV wakes up soon. It's enshitiffing the game.
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