So what did people think of the bench rotation tonight? Could it have been more effective if done differently? Should we have brought Alvaro on sooner?
The first interchange I noticed was Junior Paulo, coming on for Wicks at 20 minutes in. This is when you would expect the interchanges to start kicking in, when the forwards are getting a little worn down. It's the perfect time for a big guy like Junior, and what I would call an 'impact' player, similar to other big guys like Klemmer.
The rest of the interchanges are a bit of a blur, though I noticed overall that Mannah, Choc and Wicks all got a lot of game time. Junior Paulo got a fair bit of game time as well, with shorter (or less noticeable) stints from Joseph Paulo and Pauli Pauli. I believe Pauli Pauli was taken off soon after his hit on Soward. He had been making a few errors and that must have been the last straw for BA.
Alvaro didn't make an appearance until roughly the last 8 minutes of the game. First hit up wasn't even noticed by the commentators - they only mentioned him on his second run. On about his third run he dropped the ball. From then on, none of the players (especially Peats) would pass to him and he just kept running decoy. I got the impression he wanted to impress, but the others didn't want to risk him dropping the ball again, which I think is an understandable situation. It would have been good if he came on earlier, though it was pretty tense all game and you wouldn't want to risk disrupting the flow - which makes me wonder why BA even bothered to bring him on at all.
Anyway, I hope he gets another chance next week. Hopefully the same bench, but with Gower in for a suspended/ dropped Pauli Pauli. Not sure who would take Seffa's place on the bench though.
On a side note, I'm wondering if Choc should be given less time on the field? He seems to run the ball in a way that risks a knock on or strip, holding it out quite far in front of him. I'm specifically thinking of that time he ran up and then did a terrible late pass to Morgan, which Morgs dropped. I suppose his defense is alright (?)
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Yeah, that's true - I remember Mannah having some issue towards the end of the game. It was as though BA didn't want to risk introducing Alvaro, as it was such a close game.
The most notable Choc moment was that terrible late pass to Morgan. Choc looked like a deer in the headlights. All he needed to do was run hard and straight - not look for a winger to pass to at the last second. You expect this from Seffa, but not the star signing of the season...
One of the worst passes ever. He flopped the ball at the knees of Morgan who did well to go so close to saving it. The shame was ot was a good lead up run from Choc. As you said, GP, hold on to the ball, Choc. You were never a Glenn Stewart at Manly.
Haha.... should we have signed Glen Stewart instead? Would have been a bit cheaper...
I don't think he would have been cheaper but Stewart was slaying them for Souffs before his injury. Choc's going okay in my book, he just does not seem to have found his rhythm or his place in the team..
Watmough really doesn't offer anything with his attack. He is far from our best forward.
Poor old Álvaro had limited minutes and it was unfortunate that he spilled the ball instead of scoring. Tepai's pass was great and should have been caught. Unfortunately Dan was hit around the arms at about the same time as trying to catch it, from a player in his blind spot. I reckon his eyes were on the white line. It would have been a try with his first touch in first grade if he had been able to hang onto it.
Hopefully BA will give him another shot next week.
I was really impressed with Tepai, Junior and Norman.
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