1st trial thoughts?

[jrtiger]

Lobb won't be a regular first grade player, but some criticism here is ignorant. He had to jam on those two occasions as the inside men didn't slide.

I’m gonna have to disagree on this one mate. if you look at the Rinkama try before half time Faataape had the centre covered.

Lobb somehow thought it would be wise to run in front of his teammate and leave a clear passage for the bloke he was supposed to mark. it’s like having Nofoaluma in the side all over again.

the second try was similar but different. Faataape’s effort was piss poor but again Lobb didn’t need to rush out. we had them covered.

 

[ChilledChaos]

Get Tim Johannsen in the FG team ASAP! This guy is an absolute weapon. Had 18 hitups, 152 metres, 70 post contact and 23 tackles 0 misses. Few offloads as well if you don’t mind in the trial! 2nd fittest player at the club behind Galvin who is a fitness freak! I would have him starting with T May at prop. Great play the ball speed as well, even wouldn’t mind him at backrow - he plays better the more minutes he gets! 🔥

 

[Tiger_Yoshi]

If we include the All Stars crew I would suggest Hunt went a bit better than I anticipated and hopefully the run and conditioning helps for 2025. Porter was solid without being bad but should be a starter in KOE without injuries in the NRL team.

Naden had a great game and showed he could be an asset in 2025 if he does not have the brain snaps. His chase and tackle along with his efforts off the ball showed he was switched on. Just know he has it in him just not sure about how consistent he can be but worth being in the mix.

Yesterdays trial was a fitness drill as we saw very little of what the NRL team will be, whereas Friday will be close to what we should look like in Round 1 barring Api being suspended.

I was disappointed in the attack where we stood around and had very few running onto the ball aside from Kit's second stint and Skelton who was good. Lobb is unfortunately slow and whilst tall he cannot be in FG as he was found out by a reserve grade Dogs side.

Latu needs to find his voice and maybe as KOE halfback he can demand more and I think this is where he needs to start but it was good to see him running freely and his defence was strong.

Some of the young kids had a taste which is what it is all about and can take it back to Ball or KOE to develop further.

I read TDS was disappointing....??

 

[WestsEffTheRest]

Get Tim Johannsen in the FG team ASAP! This guy is an absolute weapon. Had 18 hitups, 152 metres, 70 post contact and 23 tackles 0 misses. Few offloads as well if you don’t mind in the trial! 2nd fittest player at the club behind Galvin who is a fitness freak! I would have him starting with T May at prop. Great play the ball speed as well, even wouldn’t mind him at backrow - he plays better the more minutes he gets! 🔥

Can we please stop hyping up our kids to this extent after one game

 

[Sully]

I read TDS was disappointing....??

In my view he did not have the forwards running onto the ball and this did not allow him to use his speed out of dummy half or feed the backline. Passing was slow service in most cases, as no one with the exception of Galvin was going looking for the ball.

Lets see this week if Api or TDS can get better outcomes with our FG forward pack.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

Get Tim Johannsen in the FG team ASAP! This guy is an absolute weapon. Had 18 hitups, 152 metres, 70 post contact and 23 tackles 0 misses. Few offloads as well if you don’t mind in the trial! 2nd fittest player at the club behind Galvin who is a fitness freak! I would have him starting with T May at prop. Great play the ball speed as well, even wouldn’t mind him at backrow - he plays better the more minutes he gets! 🔥

He looks thin for his height don't know if he is ready yet for week after week 1st grade.

 

[hank37w]

He has a habit of letting bombs bounce though!

Attacked and caught all of them yesterday unless I missed some.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

Attacked and caught all of them yesterday unless I missed some.

Yeah he missed one in traffic confusion from memory.

 

[Tucker]

I read TDS was disappointing....??

He did his job. The kid is still learning and is coming along well.

 

[Vicious]

He looks thin for his height don't know if he is ready yet for week after week 1st grade.

Stats are often deceiving as those numbers that have been provided for Tim Johanssen look very good, but I don’t think I’m alone in saying most who watched the game live were a little bit disappointed in him as he didn’t seem to stand up physically to the bigger Bulldogs pack.
In fact I was more impressed with his younger brother Noah yesterday, sure he made too many dumb errors, but he looked more physically up for the battle.
In saying this Tim was very good each time I watched him play NSW Cup for us last season and was strong in his NRL debut, so there is still plenty of hope for him moving forward.
He would more fit into our toiler category, rather than being a dominant physical impactful type of forward, if does look like we have too many toilers and are very limited with forwards that provide big impact.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

Stats are often deceiving as those numbers that have been provided for Tim Johanssen look very good, but I don’t think I’m alone in saying most who watched the game live were a little bit disappointed in him as he didn’t seem to stand up physically to the bigger Bulldogs pack.
In fact I was more impressed with his younger brother Noah yesterday, sure he made too many dumb errors, but he looked more physically up for the battle.
In saying this Tim was very good each time I watched him play NSW Cup for us last season and was strong in his NRL debut, so there is still plenty of hope for him moving forward.
He would more fit into our toiler category, rather than being a dominant physical impactful type of forward, if does look like we have too many toilers and are very limited with forwards that provide big impact.

This is a point I have been saying for a while, everyone here is saying we have too many middles, but we don't have enough that provide impact I think we need 1 more Royce Hunt type player, I know we need 2RF depth but there isn't any out there at the moment or Richo would act.

 

[innsaneink]

Attacked and caught all of them yesterday unless I missed some.

One bounced but it was a long way from him basically straight up and down, almost

 

[Oldman]

I think his height deceived people. You see him and he looks like an athlete. Yet in reality, he’s just a plodder.

Haha
I pretty sure I wrote last year “Looks like Tarzan”
But we know who he plays like.

 

[Oldman]

I wouldn't panic. I can't imagine he's going to over call Luai when he's playing. At least he wants the ball.

Latu's lack of a dominant voice is more of a red flag. Brooks had the same problem.

Totally agree
Overplaying can be calmed down,
Not having a voice or being heard to make plays is a real worry for a half.
I’m one for trying to get Latu to control our ressies team to learn how to do that so when he is needed in NRL he can slot in rather then thinking of him as a 14.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

Totally agree
Overplaying can be calmed down,
Not having a voice or being heard to make plays is a real worry for a half.
I’m one for trying to get Latu to control our ressies team to learn how to do that so when he is needed in NRL he can slot in rather then thinking of him as a 14.

It's almost as if it was an audition for them both and Latu came in second no knock on the kid I like him going forward.

 

[crazycat]

What? You can't pick the difference between white guys and islanders in both cases?

Besides, that's the team sheet WT gave the NRL. Teams don't necessarily have #2 and #3 on the left, and #4 and #5 on the right. A player can have a preferred number they want to wear, and the other in the same position doesn't give a toss.

Gah really?

We need better identifiers... Last thing I want is to be blaming the wrong slacker.

 

[Bigscreentv]

Attacked and caught all of them yesterday unless I missed some.

I think he let one bounce early but bulldogs got a touch and knocked it on.

 

[Tigerwould]

No doubt Richo is watching all the trials and is ready to sign a 2nd rower or centre

 

[Jolls]

How was the rest of your day?

Good mate, as always. I work with my sons so every day is both a blessing and a chalenge!

 

[hank37w]

One bounced but it was a long way from him basically straight up and down, almost

Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember that, but at no stage did he look like he was avoiding attacking the ball the way he did last season, seemed much more confident than he was.