Salmon was first choice 5/8 just before Brown came through, has a kicking game and ok defensively. Brought through the jnrs as a half and was part of many wins at the beginning of 2018- remember the Bankwest opener and many good wins in 2018..Didn't disappoint.
Matterson is my second choice as he is very strong defensively and played all his junior and second grade league at 6.
Takarangi very erratic player, cant kick. You can't go into a game with one kicker as the opposition will destroy Moses
Field cant kick, shocking defense and cant organize.
Will Smith cant defend and hasn't shown anything to prove he is a first grader.
It has to be Salmon as I'd rather keep Mattos defense in the second row to help Moses....
Replies
Salmon is an ordinary defender, arm grabs and first contact is usually poor but he has experience in the halves but seeing as BA has been reluctant to have him in the 21 this season I can't see him being picked.
Have you been watching matterson defend lately?, falling of tackles repeatedly. Hasn't played in the halves for a while and I would not put him there, he would be my last choice.
I would consider putting gutho at 6 with field at 1, I'm not a fan of field in the halves but it would be worth having a look at him at fullback.
I know moving your fullback (gutho) could be disruptive but sometimes you have to put your best players in a position that will help the team overall.
Will Smith should not be considered so BA will probably pick him.
Taka should be replacing waqa in the centre but once again BA doesn't drop players.
Taka should come in for Waqa 100%. He will create chances for Fergo and well do better in defence that Waqa. I honestly would consider recalling George to replace Sivo. Their defence is equally as bad, but George has a much higher work rate and provides alot of good carries from our own end. Matterson will get exposed by Kodi Nikorima's pace and footwork if he plays at five eight. I dont know about moving Gutho. He will defintely help our defence, but we will loose the approx 200m he runs a game espicially since Sivo does bugger all these days and field is too weak (same thing will happen to him that happpened to French).However, Field has openly said himself that fullback is his position and he definetly has the footwork and speed to spark our attack.
Alternately, I do like the idea of moving Gutho to the halves, Fergo to fullback, Waqa to the wings with Marata at centre. Fergo actually does have a good passing game and Marata will help with strengthening the defence. I would keep Taka on the bench just in case we need to add a little spark to thats side attack considering his aerial and offloading ability.
I think people forget that when Semi Radradra was the leading try socrer in the NRL, he had Taka inside of him providing him good ball. Fergo needs the same things. However, I do understand that we need to strengthen that side defence, before thinking about getting points on that side. However, I don't think Taka can do much worse than Blake.
^^ this. Agree
I'm not BA and I'm not watching them run their drills so I can't really criticise BAs final decision. I will say though that the least disruptive choice is either Taka or Salmon.
I'd go with Salmon for these reasons.
1. He's played there before and done the job pretty effectively.
2. I want Taka to replace Waqa.
I would agree with this. Just can't see BA doing it.
As do I, makes sense to me.
Taka was a strike weapon in the air, defensibly and offered a decent offload, he would need to be asleep on the field to be worse than Blake defensively. Taka created opportunities for Fergo, it cannot be a coincidence that Fergo has not scored a try with Waqa playing inside him.
Salmon has pace and experience; he is no Brown but miles ahead of Field defensively and has a better passing and kicking game.
As frank has mentioned, we have no idea how Taka and Salmon have trained off field. Our slump is in no way Waga Blake’s fault but he is the standout weak link in our demise, Taka surely based on past form deserves another crack, Salmon would be the logical choice given his proven defence, Field would just add another weakness we can’t afford defensibly.
I concur with your selections Frank but additionally I would replace Sivo with Dunster. Sivo has been an embarrassment over the past few weeks apart from his game against the Storm reserve grade. It won't happen but just a suggestion. There is certainly cause for change. Our wins of late have been delusional.
He has. I'd be dropping Sivo and put Waqa on the wing in his place. Taka to the centres.
What about Rankin? Field isnt too bad. Wouldnt put Taka there. Salmon is ok. I wouldnt swap players out of their normal positions like Gutho or Matterson it would be a stupid move. I would go with:
1) Rankin to see what he has to offer.
2) Salmon - hes pretty good defensively and can be elusive.
3) Will Smith - can be good when hes on and reasonably good defensively. Can also be elusive and support play is reasonable.
4) Field - ok defensively for his size. Has great speed and can be elusive. Field at fullback and swapping with Gutho would be a really dumb move.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 5 Next