Next Week:
Team list:
- Gutho
- Blake
- Penisini
- Simonson
- Sivo
- D Brown
- Moses
- RCG
- Hodgson
- Paulo
- Carty
- Doorey
- Hopgood
- JA
- Murchie
- Greig
- Makatoa
*If N Brown is fit, bring him in for Greig or Makatoa.
*If Asi is fit, bring him in for JA.
Centre/Wing
With Russel out for te season and apparenlty Dunster leaving at HT in NSW Cup we dont have any options in our outside backs. Cini was very poor last week defensively in NSW Cup, and witht the smashing we got today, I doubt he has improved much.
W Blake is an absolute potato at centre. He does not have any ability to sum up attacking plays or setting up his winger. Defensively, you can see that he does not trust himself, as he is so passive and retreats so much allowing the opposition to gain so many meters before he gets a hand on them. We really miss Opacic. This is why we should shift W Blake to the wing. He played well there last year. He does not need to set up any plays. WIll provide good carrys back. And he is good for defusing those chip bombs that matauldo scored from at the end. Defensively he is required less and just needs to follow his centre inside of him (Penisini). Simonson at centre is good option. He was great there last year. His running game isnt strong enough from kick defusals and is a much better defender than Blake. He also has a passing game to set up his winger. I can't believe why BA is not using this after last year observations.
Hooker/Utility
Hodgson cannot play the full 80min. He is way to slow at the back end of halves. He needs a spell in games. He struggles to provide pressure from the inside with his slow movement. When fit, I hope Asi can do this job. Yates and Hands do not have a top 30 contract so they cannot play. Rein has passed his used by date. So that leaves JA as our back up half just like the GF last year.
Backrow
Carty has been quiet impressive. He has been gaining meters and defending well. I do think he could be better used off the bench, but until Lane returns, I think he needs to start. Doorey has been solid for us, but I honestly cannot see much potential in him. Cannot last 80 minutes and does not even have any damaging runs in him. Personally, once Matto is back so we have quality middle forward of the bench, I would like to see Murchie have a go at the backrow. Its his best position and has had a few good games there at other clubs. He good be like Papa. Papa was only bought to be a middle forward bench players but until he was given an opportunity in the backrow we could see his potential. Papa looked bog average in the middle for us. So maybe Murchie is the same. Doorey just looks like a stop gap.
Lock
Hopgood will be an 80minute player for us however he needs a few games before he reaches that match fitness. So I would give him a small stint for the next few games.
Bench
So JAis our utility till Asi returns. Momoseia is meant to be Niukore replacement but he is a reserve grader. He shouldnt be here until he improves. That just leaves Makatoa, Greig and Murchie since everyone else is dogshit at the club. We need to only carry the 3 forwards on the bench since that is all BA uses. So the last shot should be an emergency utlity player and someoen who can take minutes of Hodgson.
Long Term:
Team list:
- Gutho
- Blake
- Penisni
- Simonson
- Blake
- D Brown
- Moses
- RCG
- Hodgson
- Paulo
- Lane
- Carty/Murchie
- Hopgood
- JA/Asi
- Matto
- Murchie/Carty
- N Brown
* Depending on how Simonson and Blake play, I would be relacing one of them with Dunster once he gets his fitness because he is the future of the club.
* N Brown future at the club is still a mystery. Unless we buy someone we might as well use him for short stints. Greig, Doorey and Makatoa our probably he is only competiton right now
* What is Asi ability at dummy half ? would love him as a 14.
Outside backs
I heard people saying they saw Russel fine at the stadium so fingers crossed. Dunster needs game time and lets see if Cini improves in reserve grade. Dunster should edge out one of Blake or Simonson hopefully.
Backrow
Lane will take the spot obviously. I would like to see Murchie have a crack and if he does well he should keep it in my spot because he is not very effective on the bench. I gave my thoughts on him above anyway.
Lock
Hopefully Hopgood can play the 80minutes with ease later on. Otherwise NBrown can give him a breather in the rotation.
Bench
Matto is one of the best bench players in the NRL for impact so keep him there. We need him when RCG and Paulo are off. Need to carry a utiliy incaseof injuries and for Hodgson and the fact BA only uses 3 middle of the bench anyway. Worst case Murchie and Carty can swap between backrow and the middle depending on the game plan. Carty is an 80min backrower idk about Murchie. So if Carty is the bakrower, than means we will only need 3 middles and those ones listed are all capable of big minutes.
Defence:
Our defence was in shambles. We are way to condefensed and than we start to shit ourselves when teams spread because we are way out of position. We also need more line speed coming outwards from the inside players. Due to our players defending so passively and slowly, opposition teams that run at speed (bunnies are a big one) so easily run past their oppostive number before squaring up. This always result in our edge three defending to an overlap. We need our defensive players on the inside (Carty espicially) to push fast outwards so we can slide fast and be man on man.
Replies
Everything ok there except for simonson out cini in and Jacob 18th man with asi off the bench.
Watch last week NSW Cup highlights and look at Cini defense. Legit 2 tries scored by players running through him. With the smashing we got this week, woudlnt eb surpised to see more of that in the highlights this weeks. IT disappoitning after seeing how well he did in the trials.
Idk, call me crazy but when BA mentioned the fast start in prior years, I reckon he is trying the Roosters mentality of starting slow, of course don't lose games on purpose but maybe not have them up as much right now?
Maybe badly looking for positives, Lane and Matto make an automatic difference. My biggest concern at the moment is left Centre. Getting another middle is up there also but a Centre is crucial and I think we go to market.
In terms of N Brown, he is better than Rodwell, Ogden, Greig and Makatoa, so use him if fit.
Yea thats why I put NBrown on the bench. IDK about that. If BA didnt care about fast starts why would he burn his forwards out so much already.
we're fucked. Speed and agility in the backs is where we will be foud out. Gotta take those half chances and convert... only speed can do that 100% of the time. Except for Moses we have no known speedsters... that's gonna hurt us in the long run, no pun intended...
Moses and Dylan are the fastest in the NRL in their position. Sivo and Penisini are power athletes. Simonson and W Blake (espicially Blake) are pretty quick but unfortunately they are the ones we have problems with rn.
Yes, good points but I keep replaying that possible turning point in the grand final where if simonsson had the Fox's or Fergo's speed he would have been under the posts with plently of time to go... it just seems that they have plugged the holes in the departing forwards pretty well but not tried to get a quality back like when they signed Blake Ferguson. If you got Fergo in the clear it was shut the gates... thats what we needed.. Just one of those type of players.
These losses hurt and the 2 points will undoubtedly become meaningful later in the year. But we're not as far away as some of the stuff I've been reading here.
Lane and Matterson back into this side and suddenly our edges don't suck and our bench is much better quality. We improve markedly right there.
However there are a few issues that need to be addressed.
Waqa: I hate singling a player out but how many chances can one bloke get? He's a mistake merchant we can't afford to carry. We need to move him on.
Simonnson: He's a borderline for me. Partnering next to Waqa makes for a disaster so we can't have that again. I've seen him do some good stuff so not entirely convinced either way.
Hodgson can't play 80 minutes. BA needs to come to terms with that fact sooner rather than later and adjust the bench accordingly. Lots of sides have a hooker on the bench. I know it's not BA's preference but get over it. It's 100% a necessity from now on.
Hopgood. The bloke is an absolute weapon in the middle with his offloads and post line passing. We need to incorporate him into our attack more and play through the middle more. We go to the edges too predictably and too often. If we add Hopgood into the middle as a genuine point of attack we could be extremely tough to contain.
Anyway just my 2 cents.
Agree with everything you have just said. Hopgood will only make our attack better but this will just come with games played together. I am tired of W Blake as well. Many is so naturally athletic but cannot seem to apply it to the rugby. Unfortunately due to our injury situation and depth we have no choice but to sfick with them for the time being. But BA needs to put Blake on the wing and Simonson who was very impressive in the finals at centre. Once Dunster gets fit I recon he will take over W Blake spot.
Absolutely on all points!
We miss Lane and tight arse so much they'll help.
So very much hope Ba goes the way you mention with Hodgson on bench...being honest think Hodgson would love it too!
thank goodness for Hopgood hope we've locked him up?
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