LIVE GAME Preseason Challenge v Canterbury

[Oldman]

He is not a controlling halfback, never has been.
He is a dynamic ball runner who needs others to create time and space for him to play.
We are wasting our time and his if trying tn turn him into an on ball controlling halfback, but could reap big rewards if we allow him to play to his strengths which could initially be done by playing him at left centre.
Lock is also a possibility, but we don’t want him making 40 tackles while still so young, we want him making as few tackles as possible to allow his dynamic running game to flourish.
Laurie Daley and Brad Fittler were both young 5/8 prodigy’s who started their NRL career off playing in the centres, before moving back into 5/8 a few years down the track, I can’t see why Latu could not follow their path ?

Hi Vicious
I have just not seen this dynamic running game, where has it been demonstrated ?
Don’t get me wrong I hope this kid lives up to all the hype.
Others on here have raved about his passing game after 1 pass that put Seyfath in for a try last year.
So I’m not quite sure what is his biggest asset ?

 

[Vicious]

Hi Vicious
I have just not seen this dynamic running game, where has it been demonstrated ?
Don’t get me wrong I hope this kid lives up to all the hype.
Others on here have raved about his passing game after 1 pass that put Seyfath in for a try last year.
So I’m not quite sure what is his biggest asset ?

If you watch his highlights when coming through the junior ranks, he was making regular line breaks with ease, very strong through the hips and has great deceptive acceleration.
I know it needs to be shown it can be replicated at NRL level, but I thought he showed us glimpses of it late last season.
He also has great deception in his passing game when running at players which is the other strength many are referring to and there is no doubt playing as a 2nd receiver style of 5/8 is his very best position, I just think he has plenty of similarities to a young Laurie Daley or Brad Fittler and is bigger than many seem to think, so I can visualise him causing havoc as a centre early in his career while biding his time and waiting for the 5/8 position to become available.
I have no doubt he is an exceptional talent who could take the NRL by storm in 2025.

 

[Oldman]

If you watch his highlights when coming through the junior ranks, he was making regular line breaks with ease, very strong through the hips and has great deceptive acceleration.
I know it needs to be shown it can be replicated at NRL level, but I thought he showed us glimpses of it late last season.
He also has great deception in his passing game when running at players which is the other strength many are referring to and there is no doubt playing as a 2nd receiver style of 5/8 is his very best position, I just think he has plenty of similarities to a young Laurie Daley or Brad Fittler and is bigger than many seem to think, so I can visualise him causing havoc as a centre early in his career while biding his time and waiting for the 5/8 position to become available.
I have no doubt he is an exceptional talent who could take the NRL by storm in 2025.

Thanks mate
I hope you are right.

 

[cktiger]

He said gun half!!
Why does everyone forget they're collectively called halves

One half of Halves is Half.

Remember Lewis and Kenny? Two of the best five eighths ever… but not controlling halves.

 

[cktiger]

Do you really think Galvin can replicate Nathan Cleary?

Why do you even think he would? He won’t be called on to do that… he won’t be halfback.

 

[Needaname]

On the Six Tackles with Gus podcast, Gus was asked,

How do you think the Tigers went yesterday?

"Tigers were good, physicality and fitness, a lot of young fellas, they looked a lot fitter this year.
Lachlan Galvin played the first half, he was pretty hard to handle, but he showed he's come back really well (dunno if this was in reference to PM XIII performance?), he'll learn a lot from playing with Luai, I think that's gonna be a very formidable combination and I think the Wests Tigers are going to have a very very good year from what I saw."

Back from the break I’d imagine. Referencing how he has returned to play after his debut season.

 

[Needaname]

No but for the past 100 years the halve with the better more dangerous running game has generally been the 2nd receiver to allow more time and space to play.
Sure Luai can play as a 1st receiver, but taking away his time and space to play which would also reduce his opportunities to run the ball is essentially taking him away from his strengths isn’t it ?
The better and smarter option would be for them to have an equal 50/50 split, both playing both sides of the field as often as possible which would keep their opponents guessing and allow Luai opportunities to run at players wide of the ruck which he does so well and was the play that virtually won NSW the SOO series in 2024.

Whilst I understand where you are coming from with your thoughts it’s still a pretty silly concept. What you’re suggesting is that first receivers can’t have running games is a bit short sighted. If anything the way Luai moves on the field having him with ball in hand closer to the middle of the field and 1 off the ruck opens up more attack for us out wide. Galvin the energiser bunny will play both sides of the field, not to say I don’t ever see Luai play off the back of a Galvin pass, there may be times but I’d be more than happy for Luai to control the side, set up time, positions and space for Galvin to do what he does naturally.
Think Munster and Jerome. That’s the closest to how our two halves should play.

 

[Needaname]

Hi Vicious
I have just not seen this dynamic running game, where has it been demonstrated ?
Don’t get me wrong I hope this kid lives up to all the hype.
Others on here have raved about his passing game after 1 pass that put Seyfath in for a try last year.
So I’m not quite sure what is his biggest asset ?

I’ve seen him tackle hard, well and consistently. That’s about what’s stood out with him so far.

 

[Tigerdazz2]

I believe the young guys did alright against the Dogs when you consider they were convincingly dominant Flegg Premiers in both 2023 and 2024.

 

[Jolls]

Interesting debate on Luai/Galvin and our edges last night; however, I think it is a bit academic.

I don't think what we saw of Galvin on the weekend is workable, or the way we will play. I am really unsure what happened in that first half. Galvin definitely overplayed his hand and definitley overplayed his halves partner. He may be a kid who is keen to have his hands on the ball but that needs to be curbed for him to be effective. Having him touch the ball on almost every set is not much different to having Hastings do the same when he was here. NRL level defences will shut him down easily and our attack will suffer for it. Maybe he was given a licence to play whet he saw and was given the role of running our attack, a bit like TDS with the C beside his name.

We also did not see a ball playing lock being used; nor did we see our edges running the lines that you would expect to see. I expect that we were playing a simple structure to get the cobwebs out, get some contact ad nmiles into legs and assess how the young crop are coming along. Which is why I'm not overly concerned with the weekend's result or performance. Our defence was not torn apart like we were by Saints last year and our kicking game was not too bad.

What I expect to see on Friday is a similar no frills game plan: a simplified attack to grind out the yards, kick to the corners/for repeat sets and then focus on our defensive structure. I also expect us to kick early in sets to make us defence hard and get used to attacking with our defence.

Our attack this week should be field dependent - with our backs responsible for getting us of our 20 and then the middles dominating possession in the centre third of the field. This is where the hooker should cfocus on providing good ball to the middles in support. My preference would be to see a lock dominating play in this area supported by the other middles. I want to see whoever is at lock running with the ball in two hands and then setting up a quick play the ball, dropping it off to another middle at the ad line or linking with a half as the opportunity presents. We should then hand the ball over to the half controlling each edge when they want it. The key is in keeping the edge combination so the first receiver should change depending on where we are on the field laterally.

For this game our dominant play maker should not come into effect until we are in strike range. This is when we want to control the play with a focus on setting up for repeat sets, naturally scoring if the opportunity presents.

We should be looking at different combinations all being able to replicate these fundamentals throught the game. Winning isn't everything just yet!

 

[king_sirro]

Why do you even think he would? He won’t be called on to do that… he won’t be halfback.

I dont

 

[king_sirro]

No but for the past 100 years the halve with the better more dangerous running game has generally been the 2nd receiver to allow more time and space to play.
Sure Luai can play as a 1st receiver, but taking away his time and space to play which would also reduce his opportunities to run the ball is essentially taking him away from his strengths isn’t it ?
The better and smarter option would be for them to have an equal 50/50 split, both playing both sides of the field as often as possible which would keep their opponents guessing and allow Luai opportunities to run at players wide of the ruck which he does so well and was the play that virtually won NSW the SOO series in 2024.

Last year when Luai was at 7 and more "on the ball" he looked better than he does outwider. He has to be the main man. I have huge fears that Benji will let Galvin run amok and we will lack cohesion. Yes, Galvin will come up with most try assists as a result, and on the surface he will look like he is our only threat, but in doing this, he is stifling the other players. Maybe Galvin went to the extreme on Sunday because he fears Latu taking the 6 down the track.

 

[Lestronge]

1.2 million a year to sit back and let the 19 year old run the show. Sounds legit

People think because Galvin is everywhere that that’s a good thing . It’s fine if nothing is on , but when you’re running in front of players , over calling and have an erratic energy it spreads to the rest of the team .
It needs to be clinical. You can’t score off every play. Something Galvin needs to learn . The chess of the game .
I thought Fainu funnily was doing that. Cooper Cronk pointed it out , how Fainu looked like he was setting up his run with shuffling the ball on , then bang he steps inside and almost gets free.
it doesn’t have to be constant overloading and battering the defence .

 

[GNR4LIFE]

People think because Galvin is everywhere that that’s a good thing . It’s fine if nothing is on , but when you’re running in front of players , over calling and have an erratic energy it spreads to the rest of the team .
It needs to be clinical. You can’t score off every play. Something Galvin needs to learn . The chess of the game .
I thought Fainu funnily was doing that. Cooper Cronk pointed it out , how Fainu looked like he was setting up his run with shuffling the ball on , then bang he steps inside and almost gets free.
it doesn’t have to be constant overloading and battering the defence .

You just have to look at who his coach is. The king of what you described.

 

[Lestronge]

You just have to look at who his coach is. The king of what you described.

He was pretty good at it at the end ! You know the 37 year old man , who retired and 3 years later is the coach .
Litterally probably the one guy , along with maybe Shaun Johnson , who could tell him the Benefits of reining it in a little .
Man could make a whole knife set with all that edge . You keep the rage bro !

 

[innsaneink]

He did win 4 premierships and the recent SOO all playing second fiddle, so he obviously does it well.
Even if Luai is a much more dominant playmaker with us, I still think it will be shared fairly equally.

Wouldn't surprise me what Benji wants... If Galvin overdoes it again on Friday we know it's with Benji's blessing.... He should've had a coaches boot up the arse after last sunday

 

[innsaneink]

Nobody is suggesting otherwise.
What I am merely speculating is I don’t think Luai or Benji will want or expect Galvin to take a backseat, when he plays the dominant playmaker role so well.
I did say earlier that Galvin may be the more dominant playmaker, but I will rephrase that and say I expect it will be virtually a 50/50 split with Luai and Benji’s blessing and for what will work best for the team.
Not long to wait now, time will tell.

Is that a different tune I hear?

 

[batboy]

Is that a different tune I hear?

I'd have Galvin on the ball - Always
He certainly has the ticker for it.

I've likened his tenacity to Jonathan Thurstons more than once here...
And I think we should be doing the same with Galvin, Luai has also played a little the same...
Screw this left half right half crap - Get the halves linking up, On both sides...

Re: JT - I heard it in commentary once,
You could tie JT's bootlace to the ball and you'd barely break it all game.
I thought it was a great analogy...

He's hoping our 'Coaches' get both halves causing havok all over the park rather than locking them into a corridor (Like they did with the last ones)

 

[Jolls]

Screw this left half right half crap - Get the halves linking up, On both sides...

I expect this is how Benji will pull it together, it would be preferable that they slide as opposed to wrap to do this though as it maintains the edge combination. That doesn't preclude one sweeping around the other though as it is still workable but uses more energy. the only time I think we should have a left right split is when we are centre field and even then perhaps this corridor is worked by Api/Bird/Bula. We have plenty of options but I don't think a left right corridor approach is the way to play with Luai and Galvin.

 

[Oldman]

I'd have Galvin on the ball - Always
He certainly has the ticker for it.

I've likened his tenacity to Jonathan Thurstons more than once here...
And I think we should be doing the same with Galvin, Luai has also played a little the same...
Screw this left half right half crap - Get the halves linking up, On both sides...

Re: JT - I heard it in commentary once,
You could tie JT's bootlace to the ball and you'd barely break it all game.
I thought it was a great analogy...

He's hoping our 'Coaches' get both halves causing havok all over the park rather than locking them into a corridor (Like they did with the last ones)

I like your thinking, it’s a funny game if they rome around the field and link up and lay on a couple of try’s they are superstars
BUT
If they don’t win they will say we have no structure.
I love heads up football but unfortunately coaches like Warren Ryan really changed the game used to be played.
Not for the better in my opinion but I have to remember I’m an Oldman and the game has changed 😭