Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

BirchgroveTigers said:
Don’t get me wrong, we played very poor however I think we need to keep some perspective. It was a 12 point ball game that we were still in until the 60th odd minute. I’ve seen a lot worse from us over the past few years…
Click to expand...
I agree - so far 2024, when "bad" has not been as bad as previous years. I haven't seen the team drop its head yet; we are very willing in the first half and not giving up silly concentration points either side of half-time. The line speed is improved and the effort in defence is much better across 80 minutes.

What we haven't done yet is click with any attacking consistency. We seem to have an idea of what our best 17 might be but we've hardly had them on the park yet due to injury and suspension - concussions and suspensions have hurt us already this year.

So for example no shock at all that Galvin once we put Bud to the bench and concentrated on Galvin + Sezer, our form improved and we had 2 really good wins. Galvin gets suspended and we are back to being a bit lumpy. Bud should be able to play starting halves, and he's a good backup, but he just doesn't touch the ball enough for me nor structure a set. He comes and goes too much.

Sezer does what he's asked - he kicks pretty well most of the time, kicks goals, very dependable in defence. Even his odd runs have been well-timed.

But Galvin for me, the best thing so far with him starting is his involvement / work-rate. I like it when halves get their hands on the ball a lot, insert themselves into plays a lot, not just rely on the dummy half to roll through the first 3 tackles. So for example first 1-2 hitups. Then the half throws a wide early ball to a backrower, backing up for the offload. Then the half resets and sends the ball wide to the backs on the other side. Or he takes a run if he sees a gap. And then, after looking and probing and popping up all over the field, then you can sail it out to Sezer for the bomb.
 
jrtiger said:
Fui and Moors are your quintessential front row pairing. Fui is the workhorse who bends the line in attack and has the ability to constantly hurt attackers, whereas Moors is the big guy you turn to close to the line and can put a bellringer on to inspire his teammates. out of the two from what I've seen Fui is the better prospect, but both of them have a lot of upside.

Havea and Taai are both lock forwards but are different in the way they go about things. think of Taai as a bit like Isaah Yeo, and Havea as a more creative, less busy Cam Murray.

Taai has beautiful technique which is reflected in everything he does in attack and defence. the game comes naturally to him and he gives the side a lot of width while remaining square with the defensive line when they choose to go Lock-Half-Fullback. Havea I think has a bit of growing to do given how small he is (year young), but his short passing and deception is better than Taai's, but Taai is more well rounded which you would expect given he's got another 12 months on him.

PJ French is still getting used to using his size, whereas Moors is acutely aware of it. he's a tall frame and has some filling out to do, but I was impressed with his efforts in the times that I've seen him play.

you can probably tell by the description but I'm most bullish on Fui and Taai. the other three have upside but at this moment this is what I'm seeing. I'm hoping all of them deliver this weekend against Cronulla to secure a GF berth.
Click to expand...
Thanks @jrtiger arguably this Matts team is better than our premiership-winning team of 2 seasons ago. I love Isdale's control & direction too. Look forward to seeing them rip'n tear on Saturday.

The other not mentioned is Phoenix Godinet, stacks of ability too and hopefully we can keep him in league as he plays rah rah too.
 
jrtiger said:
I don't think it's a miracle we've won two games. there is genuine quality in our current 17, with a number of serviceable players in Sione and Latu, Naden, To'a, Matamua and Kepaoa. it falls off after that. a few injuries and we will definitely struggle, but at full strength and with our heads in the game we are a decent side.

I think it's a massive disservice to Luke Laulili'i that you haven't mentioned him above. he's been brilliant in Cup dealing with RMC-standard halves. Miller is a huge project but he is talented, no question. Feledy is an NRL-calibre attacking player and while his defence needs considerable work, he is definitely one to watch.

you're right in regards to HM but there's every chance someone jumps out of the ground and takes their opportunity. very much a wait and see type scenario.

Richo's right in the sense that we've got a decent squad, we just need to recruit some quality in the outside backs and bolster our depth in the forwards. that will mean we have to make a few tough calls on some youngsters, but it's really only 2-3 players needed for the top 17 with an additional few as depth options. we do that and I believe we will have the right mix of quality, depth, leadership and youthful exuberance.
Click to expand...
With Feledy, he has has an uncanny knack of finding the try line, a combination of his strength, hole-running & ability to get a ball down too. However, I want to see his tackling technique improve and ability to tackle 1-on-1 front-on around the hips & chest. I haven't seen this in him yet. Too many arm grabs & pulling someone down from the side. If he could tackle like Latu Fainu, he will be something!!!
 
Vicious said:
I cannot believe many of our supporters still think it’s ok for an edge back rower to never ever make a line break, rarely if ever break a tackle or score a try, rarely if ever contribute to a line break or a try,
EVERY other NRL team has edge back rowers that do this regularly.
Last season everyone was blaming our halves, surely this season the excuses have run out,
Kepaoa for all his faults at least knows how to hit a hole, runs the ball with enough venom to break tackles and threaten to make line breaks.
If he doesn’t start and Papali’i to 13, then Benji is off his head.
Click to expand...
I don't think anyone thinks that's ok. Same as when Luc L was playing 80 and was good with the ball but got gassed and caught out in D - use to get bagged on here consistently. Left on big dollars to play at the Cows for half the workload. The expectation placed on decent players to play 80 and be able to shine in all areas is unrealistic. Not sure how much longer Api can do it before he starts getting bagged. Good clubs strengthen their rosters around their good players and if we don't we will continue to be the transit lounge for other clubs to pick off our players who get sick of no reward for busting their a*#_*.
 
Last edited:
Kelce68 said:
Throw em in there too. I was just providing some more appropriate metrics than simply stature.

Though, as I indicated this was for a forward, I doubt try assists, tries, line break assists or line breaks are at the top of the priority list.
Click to expand...
It is for the other 16 NRL clubs, why not us ?
 
Kelce68 said:
The other 16 clubs look for forwards who have high line break assists and try assists do they?

Righto.
Click to expand...
We it magically happens regularly for them, so I assume so.
It is also fact we have by far the least attacking impact from our edge back row of any team in the NRL.
It is also fact that boring predictable attack only puts added pressure on the teams defence.
 
Kelce68 said:
Im hearing what you're saying, and I don't disagree, but the examples you've used is more a sample of better players, rather than bigger players.

For example, I could say, would you rather Cam Murray at lock or big Matt Eisenhuth? Would you rather Reuben Cotter or Big Nelson at prop? And would you prefer Billy Slater or Big TrellMit at the back?

I like big and powerful too, but I prefer better to bigger.

Ultimately, as with anything, I think we need balance.
Click to expand...
Agree, we certainly need balance. What i was saying was we had an entire age group where all of the players coming through were nuggets, there's not enough balance there.
I certainly don't want size for the sake of size, a team of Chris Pattersons and Steve Trindalls will get us nowhere in the modern game. But for players like Kit and Faagutu they have their work cut out to have perfect tackling technique every single time they're tacking on a rival forward who's 15 cm and 15 kgs bigger than them. That's a lot of weight and power to try and eliminate, shut down the ball to stop offloads, put someone on their back etc. There's very few forwards under 180cm in the NRL, even not many backs.
Gallen wasn't huge, still a lot bigger than the two i just mentioned, but he had the mongrel to always get the job done.
Same with slow backs like Faatape and Feledy. If the Hammer, Alex Johnston or almost anyone makes a break they have no chance of catching them. If there's a kick near them it's very hard for them to contest, if they get isolated one on one they will concede almost every time. I rate Solomone Saukuru much higher than these two because he has more size, power and more pace than they do.
 
Last edited:
Vicious said:
I cannot believe many of our supporters still think it’s ok for an edge back rower to never ever make a line break, rarely if ever break a tackle or score a try, rarely if ever contribute to a line break or a try,
EVERY other NRL team has edge back rowers that do this regularly.
Last season everyone was blaming our halves, surely this season the excuses have run out,
Kepaoa for all his faults at least knows how to hit a hole, runs the ball with enough venom to break tackles and threaten to make line breaks.
If he doesn’t start and Papali’i to 13, then Benji is off his head.
Click to expand...
Papali'i made 13 line breaks the year before he joined us. Why is he hitting holes at Parra and not with us?

I have the same question for many of the players we've signed from other clubs.
 
Vicious said:
We it magically happens regularly for them, so I assume so.
It’s fact we have by far the least attacking impact from our edge back row of any team in the NRL.
Click to expand...
Does it?

Oh, we're on edge backrowers now? I'd mentioned forwards, which includes props, but no worries.

Got any data to back that up?

Seems as though you made an assumption about what we were talking about without reading the original post.

You also forgot that I said 'throw them (those things) in there too' in direct response to your original suggestion.

The list I made wasn't exhaustive or exclusive either, I merely mentioned other things more important than size.

Include whatever you want.

But maybe take some time to read the posts you're responding to a little more carefully before combatively arguing against a tangential point that wasnt being made.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 851
Tiger_Yoshi said:
Disagree we have the weakest squad in the comp....IMO Dragons, Titans and Dogs are weaker than ours
Click to expand...
They all have more Origin players than we do. Dragons have comprehensively beaten us twice in the past few months. Both the Titans have bigger packs than us, and faster backs than us. Dogs are hot and cold like us, but have many more match winners than we do.
 
Question for those on the know of lower grades, doesnMason have the skill set to transition into centre? if he’s the kid I remember he’s built like a brick outhouse, A bit like Timoko from Canberra. I understand hes a fullback so his path is probably blocked in that position.
 
weststigerman said:
Papali'i made 13 line breaks the year before he joined us. Why is he hitting holes at Parra and not with us?

I have the same question for many of the players we've signed from other clubs.
Click to expand...
I have no doubt Papali’i is trying and most of his charges are strong, despite not really looking like making a line break, hence the reason who I think he’s slowed down a little since his days at the Eels and no doubt he’s not getting the same service he was back then.
Whatever is causing the problem, we cannot and will not progress as a team until this massive issue of next to noncore is rectified.
Just lucky we signed Olam as he is the only one on either edge that offers any attacking impact and the only one that hits hard enough to worry the opposition and force turnovers.
 
GCfan said:
Question for those on the know of lower grades, doesnMason have the skill set to transition into centre? if he’s the kid I remember he’s built like a brick outhouse, A bit like Timoko from Canberra. I understand hes a fullback so his path is probably blocked in that position.
Click to expand...
Not impossible, but the one weakness I have noticed is his front in defence, therefore not a great weakness to have when playing as a centre.
Andrew Johns has been saying the modern day centres have become battering rams that run hard lines and are physical in attack and defence, I think he’s on the money with these comments.
 
Vicious said:
I have no doubt Papali’i is trying and most of his charges are strong, despite not really looking like making a line break, hence the reason who I think he’s slowed down a little since his days at the Eels and no doubt he’s not getting the same service he was back then.
Whatever is causing the problem, we cannot and will not progress as a team until this massive issue of next to noncore is rectified.
Just lucky we signed Olam as he is the only one on either edge that offers any attacking impact and the only one that hits hard enough to worry the opposition and force turnovers.
Click to expand...
Yeah I agree it's a problem but I think we need to figure out why we can't get these guys in space. I don't think it's just down to players not being able to break the line. For example, our passing is so slow by the time Papali'i gets the ball he has defence allover him.

Similar story for our wingers, compare that with how Penrith get their wingers in space.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 560 (members: 2, guests: 558)
Back
Top