OFFICIAL Pathways - KOE General Discussion

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boonboon said:
Missed the 1st half but have watched 10 mins of nsw cup. My thoughts are this is sooo much lower quality then NRL.

Just slow on both sides from both teams but Magpies look small, slow and badly coached but it is just 10 mins and Jets don't look much better.
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Everything is being done in slow motion.
Seems like they are lacking motivation and/or fitness,
Nobody putting their hand up to say pick me in our NRL team.
 
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Lost 18-6. Had our chances but not much creativity.

Kit and Eli-El Zakhem stood out in the forwards. Feledy looked dangerous when he had the ball but didn't get much opportunity.

Falls can't create anything, Mason can't create, Matamua actually only one who looked like creating anything much.

We need more props but also need a better coached team - no line speed in defence although they didn't either and no structure in attack. Again though a newtown side with a few more quality players won but nothing to write home about on either side outside the couple I mentioned for us.
 
boonboon said:
Lost 18-6. Had our chances but not much creativity.

Kit and Eli-El Zakhem stood out in the forwards. Feledy looked dangerous when he had the ball but didn't get much opportunity.

Falls can't create anything, Mason can't create, Matamua actually only one who looked like creating anything much.

We need more props but also need a better coached team - no line speed in defence although they didn't either and no structure in attack. Again though a newtown side with a few more quality players won but nothing to write home about on either side outside the couple I mentioned for us.
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Think you guys summed it up with the word 'slow' @boonboon @Vicious .

It was one of our better performances of the season against the NSW Cup champions who lost captain Billy Burns (to NRL) pre game & Kade Dykes during game.

In terms of positives, we had enough possession in the red zone to win and should have won as I actually felt we dominated and we defended stoutly for most part.

A few notes ...

. Our attacking set pieces are slow and predictable for the defence & our line speed is slow. We don't ever seem to do anything at speed unless off a quick PTB. Hence we find it hard to score in red zone attack.
. Probably a planned thing but Hope often went to Charlie Murray as linkman & Falls and ignored quite a few times going left to Matamua.
. Mason was dangerous and generally good in D and with kicks except for his typical high ball knock-on late.
. Good solid first hitout for Mapapalangi, some strong carries, good high-ball takes and generally good in D from what I saw. Unfortunately never saw any space.
. Kit Laulilii is growing his mins each week and I felt he had more runs too this week, really only middle with any impact for us.
. Sukkar is a slow burn, ran & defended strongly, his next step forward is to break more tackles. Can definitely see a future as an NRL squaddie.
. El Zakhem was one of our best again, is a threat with ball in hand and strong in D. Hopefully his combo with Falls grows. He is one to watch for NRL selection late in the season if he continues like this.
. I'm very confused about Charlie Murray. He is a workhorse and decent linkman. I wonder whether Cup is his celiling or whether his style would lift if he rose to the NRL given an opportunity?
. Rahme is consistent in both A&D but lacks impact. I feel his best position is lock and could excel there but Murray seems to be the chosen one.
- FMD I don't know why Bailey Hodges was 19th man, replaced by Lovodua who I don't think even saw game time??? Hodges has talent, is only 22 and one I'd like to see given more an opportunity.

That'll do for now.
 
Been pretty well covered above...but my few takes...
Creativity comes from Hope, outside of that, we hope (excuse the pun) for an individual player to beat a tackle and score.

Mason looked most likely and overall I thought he had a pretty good game. El Zakhem as BWG said looks good on both sides of the ball. Sukkar has his moments but generally a quiet achiever who just goes about his business.

I actually thought Kit was excellent. Wanted a higher work rate than I have seen and he was our most impactful forward. We looked a chance the next play off the back of a Kit play the ball. I was watching his 1%ers and he was applying kick pressure and defending soundly in the middle of the field.

Mapapalangi was good apart from 1 dropped bomb (they peppered him all game). Nothing created to give him an opportunity.

DIsappointed in Porter and Feledy. Both should be pushing their claim for NRL but I would argue they both have gone backwards. Won't be upset to see them moving on in 2026.
 
Does anyone have any info on what is happening in koe? Obviously results are terrible, but is there some kind of plan to all this dropping and mixing of players? Is it just terrible coaching and development or is this some sort of approach aimed at developing juniors that for some reason doesn't prioritise lower grade results? Good 1st grade teams always seem to follow good lower grade results, and we've got nothing.
 
watersider said:
Does anyone have any info on what is happening in koe? Obviously results are terrible, but is there some kind of plan to all this dropping and mixing of players? Is it just terrible coaching and development or is this some sort of approach aimed at developing juniors that for some reason doesn't prioritise lower grade results? Good 1st grade teams always seem to follow good lower grade results, and we've got nothing.
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Do they ? Warriors, Eels and Dragons all top 4 in nsw cup and all missed the finals last year.

Honestly think it just reflects more how a club sets themselves up - some stack reserve grade with high quality experienced depth, some use it for juniors to come through and others focus on a few key positions for depth.

Injuries play a big part, how much you spend on non nrl players to fill the squad, combinations play a huge part.
 
I thought a Sukkar was strong and looks to be improving weekly which you like to see from a young emerging player,
He’s another Isaac Moses client, so hard to see him remaining with the club past this season.
Heath Mason continues to look our most dangerous ball runner, if we are keeping him long term, should we start giving him game time e at dummy half to help develop him as a genuine utility?
I think Charlie Murray has a bit of X factor about him and although he’s not been a big standout, he’s showing he’s a very natural ball distributor and has good speed off the mark. All he needs to do is strengthen up and put on a couple of kilos to become a genuine NRL prospect,
 
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Vicious said:
I thought a Sukkar was strong and looks to be improving weekly which you like to see from a young emerging player,
He’s another Isaac Moses client, so hard to see him remaining with the club past this season.
Heath Mason continues to look our most dangerous ball runner, if we are keeping him long term, should we start giving him game time e at dummy half to help develop him as a genuine utility?
I think Charlie Murray has a bit of X factor about him and although he’s not been a big standout, he’s showing he’s a very natural ball distributor and has good speed off the mark. All he needs to do is strengthen up and put on a couple of kilos to become a genuine NRL prospect,
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Vicious any idea when we will see Makasini again.
 
In many ways that was Wests' best performance of the year. They held their own against a classier opposition, with the game remaining in the balance until the final 5 mins. But for all their possession on the Jets' try line, they only managed 1 try. Across the 3 grades, there is an inability to break down opposition defences. Typically they set up for 4 plays, run a sweep and follow that with an ineffectual grubber.

As for Wests, Falls has been underwhelming. Yesterday he was content to shovle the ball off to Matamua when he should've been the dominant half.
 
Pretty impressive performance all things considered.
Jets are always a strong side and I thought they defended extremely well.
I won't go into to much detail as I didn't get to watch the whole game. But I thought Falls and El Zakhem continue to be the best on the park. El Zakhem is excellent provides some much needed punch to the attack and is levels above all the other forwards. Falls is great a commanding the offense and can play that organising half role.
Hope was extremely solid as usual and you know what you're going to get with him week in and week out. I think he will be one of few that remain with the side beyond this year.
NBWT on twitter posted something I thought was very interesting and very true. He noted that Magpies are more Massey/fringe cup players rather than Cup/fringe first grade players. I couldn't agree more. Some of those boys are very lucky to be given the opportunity. But when you are in a situation like the Wests tigers are in it is almost a good thing because we would of never of seen Tim Johanssen, Freebairn, Dockar-Clay and Austin Dias. All look great through the exposure of reserve grade.
Matamua did the absolute bare minimum and it is a real shame cause i don't think he even knows what position he plays anymore.
Annoying team to follow for sure because the attack is non-existent. But back2Back2back Lidcombe games. How Good?!?!
See you there!
 
Interesting shuffles with Krystian Mapapalangi moving to fullback, Heath Mason into the halves & Charlie Staines returns on the right wing.

Vaka Aho returns this week but Jaxson Rahme misses. Matamua onto the bench this week.

Lobb is still out injured. Bailey Hodges is back in Ron Massey Cup at hooker.

The NRL travelling reserves to Magic Round should make it back to play on the Sunday afternoon.
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
Interesting shuffles with Krystian Mapapalangi moving to fullback, Heath Mason into the halves & Charlie Staines returns on the right wing.

Vaka Aho returns this week but Jaxson Rahme misses. Matamua onto the bench this week.

Lobb is still out injured. Bailey Hodges is back in Ron Massey Cup at hooker.

The NRL travelling reserves to Magic Round should make it back to play on the Sunday afternoon.
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wouldn't be surprised if Mapapalangi and Staines switch at some point. Rahme rightly misses out. too many small forwards.
 
It is pleasing that Mapapalangi, Mason and Sukkar are our juniors who will hopefully work their way into the NRL team/squad. Sheens mentioned years ago that WTs were lucky to get 5 players in one year who made the NRL from that year's U20s team. I believe he said 1 to 2 is the norm.
 
jrtiger said:
wouldn't be surprised if Mapapalangi and Staines switch at some point. Rahme rightly misses out. too many small forwards.
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What I like is that Aaron Payne has been consistent with his player selections (hooker/lock/halfback & edges) for the past month somewhat so they should be building some good combos now.

No excuses & should give the in-form Dragons a run for their money.

I like giving Mason reps at 5/8 so he can develop more as a NRL bench utility. Hopefully he gets time filling in at dummy-half & lock in Cup over the remainder of the season too.
 
I was curious to see how long its been since we won three on the trot in reggies

Havent done it since 2021....think that season was severely covid affected, but they won 9 in a row....havent had WWW since
 
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