OFFICIAL Jersey Flegg Cup

[PrattenParkMagpie]

Something certainly changed at the Raiders, at round 17 they were last with 12 pts and a 3-11 record, now they are 8th with 24 pts and a 8-11 record.

 

[Yossarian]

It cracks me up how everybody is saying how good our Juniors are and our forwards in the flegg side are "hot".
they are in 9th spot on the ladder i believe?.
It makes me think the 8 teams above must be very special.

If other people's opinions "crack you up" fine. Everyone has an opinion, just because yours is different doesn't invalidate mine. But please do tell us which ones you think are duds.

I'd suggest our NRL team also has a good forward pack but they've won 3 games. You may also want to consult the team lists for the season so far, it hasn't always been the current six.

 

[Yossarian]

Maybe they want to bring that pack through together. You can really regenerate a team doing that. Broncos did it the year before their spoon year. They debuted a lot of young players at the same time. Haas, Fifita, Flegler. and Carrigan all debuted around the same time. Of course, it all fell apart for them before Kevvie arrived.

And I'd imagine there's something to all that. The Flegg boys seem to do a bit of work with the NRL side. Watching them on the weekend they seem well drilled and cohesive. In the forwards anyway.

 

[Yossarian]

Something certainly changed at the Raiders, at round 17 they were last with 12 pts and a 3-11 record, now they are 8th with 24 pts and a 8-11 record.

Probably young guys coming up. They looked a decent team.

 

[240z]

I just think our coaches have absolutely no idea what they're doing, there's no rhyme or reason for their team selections this year. All grades have been absolutely atrociously managed this year. And there's no one pulling the strings for our juniors, no one guiding them from u15s to the NRL. It's just ad hoc random selections by individuals (that's the only way it can be interpreted). Matamua will have played fewer mins this season than any since he was a young child.

Faagutu should be the first name on the team list, and should have started in round 1 of Flegg.
Ethan Strange is making his first grade debut this week for the Raiders, yet our star of the u19s Origin is on the bench in flegg, not due to form or fitness, purely due to team management. It's unprofessional and simply not good enough.
Herman should be playing flegg every week, he's been good, and i don't mind him coming off the bench at times as he is an impact player. He should probably have gotten a taste of nsw cup too. But when someone like Owen maintains a starting spot all season, ahead of the likes of Faagutu, Laulilii, and Hermann it just beggars belief. He's a solid player, but won't ever get close to first grade.

If we're not careful we'll piss off all of our precious juniors. Sheens was supposed to be overseeing this role, but anointed himself head coach instead and now the club is a rudderless mess.

Hey BB

Fair comment but I think you opening statement should read:

"Supporters have no idea what out coaches are doing"

Unless you a part of the the team make up (coach, physio, trainer, manager etc) you don't really see what is happening behind the scenes. What seems to be a good player not making a team may not be a selection mistake or favouritism, it is more likely that a deemed good player has other unresolved issues. This could be poor attitude, poor trainer, personal issues, lingering injuries or a planned player game management roster.

Being a manager at a rugby club I get to see the selection process. Decisions made about the playing roster may seem strange (I have been asked a few times about why certain players are not selected) but there is mostly good reasons for selections by the coach. If you aren't privy to this background selection decisions it may be strange, but I think in most cases you have to rely on the decisions of the coaches and their team to make the right choices

Im not trying to defend coaches here, just giving my opinion that people looking in at the team selections don't always know the full background of the players

Cheers

 

[PrattenParkMagpie]

Probably young guys coming up. They looked a decent team.

Yes, something you see most years in flegg, teams improve dramatically when the young players come up while others hit a brick wall, Newcastle are another example, 7th at Round 16 now running last.

 

[boonboon]

Raiders topped the SG Ball ladder so their changing Flegg Results probably reflect those players coming up

 

[balmain boy]

Hey BB

Fair comment but I think you opening statement should read:

"Supporters have no idea what out coaches are doing"

Unless you a part of the the team make up (coach, physio, trainer, manager etc) you don't really see what is happening behind the scenes. What seems to be a good player not making a team may not be a selection mistake or favouritism, it is more likely that a deemed good player has other unresolved issues. This could be poor attitude, poor trainer, personal issues, lingering injuries or a planned player game management roster.

Being a manager at a rugby club I get to see the selection process. Decisions made about the playing roster may seem strange (I have been asked a few times about why certain players are not selected) but there is mostly good reasons for selections by the coach. If you aren't privy to this background selection decisions it may be strange, but I think in most cases you have to rely on the decisions of the coaches and their team to make the right choices

Im not trying to defend coaches here, just giving my opinion that people looking in at the team selections don't always know the full background of the players

Cheers

Yes of course there can be unforeseen issues to the general public. But looking at our track record over the past decade, very very few players have come into the club and improved, so I have no confidence in the club making the correct decisions. History shows we get it wrong more often than not...

 

[Tigers_Wests]

 

[balmain boy]

They lost 24-18. TDS mysteriously out , along with Matai. Ahead at the half only to get overrun in the second half. But at least Faagutu started. The only positive

 

[Yossarian]

They lost 24-18. TDS mysteriously out , along with Matai. Ahead at the half only to get overrun in the second half. But at least Faagutu started. The only positive

TDS came off the week before with a leg injury. Maybe they didn’t think it was worth the risk given they’re out of contention. It’s a pretty young side.

 

[Vicious]

In Sydney visiting family this weekend, and watched this one at Lidcombe Oval. Disappointing loss for the Flegg boys. Another game I thought they were the better team for large portions of the match. Storm got the jump in the first 15 minutes, but the Tigers wrestled back momentum and were clearly on top going into the half time break at 12-6 thanks to the Tigers middles winning the battles here. They probably should've been 4 tries to 1 up after the first 35.

Second half began like the first though. They allowed Melbourne to score first after the break with the Storm's big middles rolling down the field at ease and posting points off the back of it. Tigers got the momentum back again briefly, but also looked to play wide in yardage. They gave away forward passes twice on the right edge between the centre and winger at about 30-40m in Melb territory. In doing so, they were failing to put pressure on the Storm like they did in the first half and gave them the ball in decent position. On top of that, they began to give away yardage penalties piggy backing Storm into goodball. I was surprised at 16-18 when Tigers decided to kick for goal on a penalty in one of the very few goodball positions they had in the second half - Melbourne on their tryline. After converting the penalty goal to go 18-18, the Tigers didn't score another point.

Who were the standouts ?

 

[ancient_magpie]

In terms of individual players, #1 Heath Mason had a solid match. He was tested under a few high balls and came out on top for all of them. Positioning was great 90% of the match. #2 Trey Peni and #3 Compton Fuatimau were good, although a couple of passages in the second half along with their right side half #7 Michael Tannous where they ran the ball on 5th tackles in yardage plays in the second half ended up being pulled up for forward passes. They troubled Melbourne a bit, but it came to nought for the Tigers and decent field position for Melbourne to begin their sets. Certain try bombed in first half when #3 failed to pass to an open #2. #4 Livai Saukuru was fantastic in the first half. Really hard to handle in goodball situations. He was barely seen in the second half. Likewise, left-side half #6 Mitchell Chester was very good in the first half distributing ball to his centre and running unders plays for middles which was having an effect on tiring storm middles. Didn't get much of the ball in the second half though. #7 Tannous had a few average kicks in him today. One led to a 7-tackle set at a crucial time in the second half, leading to a 4th tackle penalty and ensuing pressure. Can't remember if it ended up a try or go-ahead penalty conversion. Definitely got the lion's share of attacking ball in the second half in comparison to #6. Mitchell Chester definitely has the better kicking game of the two.

#18 Christopher Faagatu. Apart from his name on rep lists, I'm unsure what some posters here see in him from the two matches. Seems to have some impact with carries, but can be extremely lazy and undisciplined in defence putting teammates outside him under pressure. Still very much a work in progress. #23 Jackson Owen gave away a penalty late in the tackle count at a crucial time in the match. Following set led to a try. An aggressive player that can go a bit rogue. It was when both #18 and #23 were on the field that Melbourne were particularly dominant, or perhaps Melbourne had gun middles on at the same time.

#13 Bailey Hodges was great again. Doesn't shirk his role as a smaller middle, and really sparked the attack with good distribution when he shifted to 9 later in the first half. Both edge forwards #22 Brandon Tumeth, and #12 Sione Vaihu got through lots of work and metres. #9 Danny Ghantous is a handful with his darts from dummy half, but seems to make wrong choices with his distributing in goodball.

#10 Tony Sukkar - I liked him again. Really bent the line and poked his head through on his carries leading to quick play the balls. #11 Cayne Nicholas was great with support running which troubled Melbourne and lots of effort in defence. #17 Herman Tofaeono another wrecking ball performance with ball under arm with some unders runs. #24 Apisalome Saukuru was much better this week than last week. Got injured early in second half and didn't play again in the match. I'd say he was a loss. Really made an impact when he came on in first half with his carries and work in defence.

Great post thanks for the info..Wish we could get that every week

 

[Tigers_Wests]

In terms of individual players, #1 Heath Mason had a solid match. He was tested under a few high balls and came out on top for all of them. Positioning was great 90% of the match. #2 Trey Peni and #3 Compton Fuatimau were good, although a couple of passages in the second half along with their right side half #7 Michael Tannous where they ran the ball on 5th tackles in yardage plays in the second half ended up being pulled up for forward passes. They troubled Melbourne a bit, but it came to nought for the Tigers and decent field position for Melbourne to begin their sets. Certain try bombed in first half when #3 failed to pass to an open #2. #4 Livai Saukuru was fantastic in the first half. Really hard to handle in goodball situations. He was barely seen in the second half. Likewise, left-side half #6 Mitchell Chester was very good in the first half distributing ball to his centre and running unders plays for middles which was having an effect on tiring storm middles. Didn't get much of the ball in the second half though. #7 Tannous had a few average kicks in him today. One led to a 7-tackle set at a crucial time in the second half, leading to a 4th tackle penalty and ensuing pressure. Can't remember if it ended up a try or go-ahead penalty conversion. Definitely got the lion's share of attacking ball in the second half in comparison to #6. Mitchell Chester definitely has the better kicking game of the two.

#18 Christopher Faagatu. Apart from his name on rep lists, I'm unsure what some posters here see in him from the two matches. Seems to have some impact with carries, but can be extremely lazy and undisciplined in defence putting teammates outside him under pressure. Still very much a work in progress. #23 Jackson Owen gave away a penalty late in the tackle count at a crucial time in the match. Following set led to a try. An aggressive player that can go a bit rogue. It was when both #18 and #23 were on the field that Melbourne were particularly dominant, or perhaps Melbourne had gun middles on at the same time.

#13 Bailey Hodges was great again. Doesn't shirk his role as a smaller middle, and really sparked the attack with good distribution when he shifted to 9 later in the first half. Both edge forwards #22 Brandon Tumeth, and #12 Sione Vaihu got through lots of work and metres. #9 Danny Ghantous is a handful with his darts from dummy half, but seems to make wrong choices with his distributing in goodball.

#10 Tony Sukkar - I liked him again. Really bent the line and poked his head through on his carries leading to quick play the balls. #11 Cayne Nicholas was great with support running which troubled Melbourne and lots of effort in defence. #17 Herman Tofaeono another wrecking ball performance with ball under arm with some unders runs. #24 Apisalome Saukuru was much better this week than last week. Got injured early in second half and didn't play again in the match. I'd say he was a loss. Really made an impact when he came on in first half with his carries and work in defence.

Thanks for the update mate! Much appreciated!

Interesting re: Fa'agutu. Maybe the long season (starting with Ball in Feb) is taking its toll on him resulting in some lesser performances of late.

When I saw him play a couple of months back against the Dragons, he was all effort with and without the ball and the word "lazy" was not mentioned in the same sentence as him. I remember him charging down a kick from 30 out, the ball deflected to the in goal. Fa'agutu chased hard and pinned the fullback in there to earn his side a repeat set. Not another Tigers player anywhere near the chase or putting in the effort on that play.

 

[Vicious]

Can I only go off what I've seen in the past two weeks, and I think Tofaeono and Sukkar have been better than Faagatu v Canberra and Melbourne. If Faagatu is a potential NRL player, he should be a stand out consistently at this level. In saying that, Sukkar came on in the second half very fresh. I'll go as far as to say that Faagatu and Owen starting and finishing the match together isn't ideal from what I've seen. Both were slow on the retreat back into the line in comparison to Tofaeono, Saukuru, Sukkar, and Nicholas yesterday, and it's when the Tigers starting middles were on that the Storm middles seemed to be on a roll.

In the modern day game you should have props who can run like second rowers and second rowers who can run line centres.
You don’t mind short stocky forwards who have great leg speed and play with high energy such as Cotter at Cowboys, but some of ours don’t seem to have much athleticism to go with their short stocky builds.
Tray Lolesio is one that is tall, athletic and very aggressive, I noticed he didn’t play yesterday and I think he would have been missed.

 

[AceofSpades]

Now I've been to majority of games this year for Flegg and Ball and can say that wasn't one of Faagutus best games. But in saying that the kid missed majority of the game yesterday which is strange don't you think? Subbed out after 13mins and bought back in last 10mins or so as a starting prop? I think we're being a bit critical here when talking about "defence". The kid put in the effort and completed majority of his tackles apart from a couple which he missed. Now there are some holes in his defence which he needs to work on sure but to call him "lazy" is a complete reach for me.

 

[coivtny]

Now I've been to majority of games this year for Flegg and Ball and can say that wasn't one of Faagutus best games. But in saying that the kid missed majority of the game yesterday which is strange don't you think? Subbed out after 13mins and bought back in last 10mins or so as a starting prop? I think we're being a bit critical here when talking about "defence". The kid put in the effort and completed majority of his tackles apart from a couple which he missed. Now there are some holes in his defence which he needs to work on sure but to call him "lazy" is a complete reach for me.

Impressive that you've been to the majority of Flegg and Ball games. Are you a parent or a fan?

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Now I've been to majority of games this year for Flegg and Ball and can say that wasn't one of Faagutus best games. But in saying that the kid missed majority of the game yesterday which is strange don't you think? Subbed out after 13mins and bought back in last 10mins or so as a starting prop? I think we're being a bit critical here when talking about "defence". The kid put in the effort and completed majority of his tackles apart from a couple which he missed. Now there are some holes in his defence which he needs to work on sure but to call him "lazy" is a complete reach for me.

In your opinion, who are the ones who have NRL potential in them from what you have seen this season?

 

[AceofSpades]

Impressive that you've been to the majority of Flegg and Ball games. Are you a parent or a fan?

Just a fan

 

[AceofSpades]

In your opinion, who are the ones who have NRL potential in them from what you have seen this season?

In your opinion, who are the ones who have NRL potential in them from what you have seen this season?

From what I've seen this apart from our usual suspects in Feledy, Faagutu, Laulilii, TDS, etc. I've been impressed with players like Mason who's been dangerous with every touch, Sione Vaihu is another one who's gonna be a standout if he keeps going how hes going, good size, good length and he could have the potential of Olokauatu or Koloamatagi, Jay Kirk got good height for a winger in Todays NRL and gets busy, Tofaeono is our version of Spencer Leniu in my opinion, wrecking ball impact player, Iverson Matai is good with ball in hand as he dishes out to our centres early giving them space and room to run. Those are just a few of them who I think have NRL potential and i could name more but itll just drag on and on lol