Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

A couple of things stood out for me AGAIN yesterday within our playing group ...

1 lack of footy IQ
2 lack of intense players

We make poor, at times dumb, decisions or players losing concentration, whether that is opting for short dropouts with a big wind at your back, not getting to dummyhalf, not knowing who to pass it to, stupid penalties. This is a regular thing with our club and it's amongst our leaders too.

We seem to have players who like to cruise along, more passive in nature, lack aggression & line speed. We lack players who go at it 100 miles an hour or have a bit of killer instinct. Taylan May comes in & straight away you know he brings it.

What are people's thoughts ...

Is this a coaching thing? Is it the standards that Benji sets from pre-season onwards?
Is it a poor mix of player personalities? Too many quiet, passive followers?
 
A couple of things stood out for me AGAIN yesterday within our playing group ...

1 lack of footy IQ
2 lack of intense players

We make poor, at times dumb, decisions or players losing concentration, whether that is opting for short dropouts with a big wind at your back, not getting to dummyhalf, not knowing who to pass it to, stupid penalties. This is a regular thing with our club and it's amongst our leaders too.

We seem to have players who like to cruise along, more passive in nature, lack aggression & line speed. We lack players who go at it 100 miles an hour or have a bit of killer instinct. Taylan May comes in & straight away you know he brings it.

What are people's thoughts ...

Is this a coaching thing? Is it the standards that Benji sets from pre-season onwards?
Is it a poor mix of player personalities? Too many quiet, passive followers?
BWG you are spot on and I believe it’s more down to the players we have within our squad, rather than lack of coaching in this particular area being lack of defensive line speed.
Similarly we don’t have too many players who carry the ball at high speed or who hit high speed shortly after receiving the ball.
Interesting it was almost unanimous that Taylan May and Sunia Turuva were our 2 best players yesterday, they are 2 players that always play with high intensity and generally hit top speed quickly when they have the ball.
 
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You've missed the point entirely and are now arguing something different from your original point. Cbf going on with the discussion.
Sure. Let’s go back to when we last agreed that if he signed with Penrith he would be their best option at 14. It may not be the best option for AD but stranger things have happened.
 
It looks like Twal’s knee hits Tino’s knee.
Rough getting 6 weeks for it, but it’s high risk for the ball carrier. I’d hate for TyMay to get the same.

How about Des loosing his lollies. 😀
In the same article they say - "The initial contact from the Tigers forward was around the waist but the force of the tackle caused Tino's knee to twist awkwardly and he was in obvious discomfort right away."
In other words a perfectly legal tackle.
 
What is he worth to us and are we a better team when he plays for us in the halves, that’s the questions I would be answering before we let him go elsewhere.

What has he done in the halves specifically? Played there in the Manly game when they were flogged ..what else ?
 
BWG you are spot on and I believe it’s more down to the players we have within our squad, rather than lack of coaching in this particular area being lack of defensive line speed.
Similarly we don’t have too many players who carry the ball at high speed or who hit high speed shortly after receiving the ball.
Interesting it was almost unanimous that Taylan May and Sunia Turuva were our 2 best players yesterday, they are 2 players that always play with high intensity and generally hit top speed quickly when they have the ball.
Agree 100% , line speed is VERY poor . As is who knows who is getting the ball , thus they can’t hit the line , player makers not directing the team around the park . Our attack inside there 20 meter is one out hit ups . But all of the above that we all agree is not happening is that here in round 20 and benji has done nothing to fix any of the above
 
Sure. Let’s go back to when we last agreed that if he signed with Penrith he would be their best option at 14. It may not be the best option for AD but stranger things have happened.
AD can be a starter with us at 13. That's the point. We have offered him a deal. He hasn't accepted and is going to market. He isn't jumping at a 14 bench spot or a rotation with Schnider and Cole. Talk about Penrith all you like but it's not their choice. It's Adams and Penrith are not going to pay his asking price for a bit part 14.

We can all play fantasy football, but we need to live in reality sometimes.
 
What has he done in the halves specifically? Played there in the Manly game when they were flogged ..what else ?
If Doueihi has not demonstrated playing much faster, much straighter and putting much more doubt in our opponents minds when he has had ball in hand playing in our halves or at 13, I must be watching something else.
If we were playing Gridiron style he plays 13 in attack only, no questions asked.
But in our game we have to attack and defend and although Douehi can hold his own when defending front on defensively, he doesn’t look like he enjoys a high defensible workload and for that reason, I don’t think he will be happy to be a 13 long term.
Out of the 2 I think Latu is more suited as a 13 on both sides of the ball.
 
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Agree 100% , line speed is VERY poor . As is who knows who is getting the ball , thus they can’t hit the line , player makers not directing the team around the park . Our attack inside there 20 meter is one out hit ups . But all of the above that we all agree is not happening is that here in round 20 and benji has done nothing to fix any of the above
It’s a worry as despite the excuse being used that is our constantly changing combinations, they are well paid professionals who train full time.
Surely during all that time training, doing video review etc they can work out how to play with good attacking shape and how to identify and create space to play.
We very rarely see this happen for whatever reason.
Sure the buck stops with Benji as he’s our coach, but don’t we also have Jerome Api as our experienced on field leaders to ensure this is happening ?
 
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It’s a worry as despite the excise being used that is constantly changing combinations, they are well paid professionals who train full time.
Surely during all that time training, doing video review etc they can work out how to play with good attacking shape and how to identify and create space to play.
We very rarely see this happen for whatever reason.
Sure the buck stops with Benji as he’s our coach, but don’t we also have Jerome Api as our experienced on field leaders to ensure this is happening ?
I'm sure we do run plays at training and we know Benji gets in there and demonstrates what the wants to achieve. Why isn't it translating?

It may be round 20 but it is only round three with a new halves combination. Latu got "lost" on more than one occasion yesterday and you could see Luai at times trying to show him where to go, and praising his efforts when he got it right.

Luai is mentoring him during the game, possibly as much as he is during the lead up. We are slowly turning the corner - there was a bit of recognisable shape there yesterday along with some good signs on our edges. In a game where we were well below par in most areas we managed to grind out a win. That is a plus given the halves upheaval we have had.

There is plenty of improvement to be had - no doubt - but I think we are starting to see the fruits of Benji's labour. They are learning together - not ideal sure, but you can see the baby steps.
 
If Doueihi has not demonstrated playing much faster, much straighter and putting g more doubt in our opponents minds when he has had ball in hand either in our halves or at 13, I must be watching something else.
You must be
So nothing specific then that you can point to in particular game he has played in the halves specifically”where he has made them a better team “ ?

It’s only a handful of games that he has played in the halves this season right , and one of them - the Manly game, the team was in fact terrible …. He played in the halves in the Roosters against a reserve grade pack in a game that was Latu’s best…

What other games did he play in the halves? Did he play when Galvin was here ? - the Parramatta loss when the team were poor as well?
 
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