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We dominated field position and possession wise. There's really no excuse here apart from being underdone (in which case if he actually were, he shouldn't have been selfish and ruined what was working).

He probably could use a week or two off just to rest and re-group. I'm not gonna knock him for those two errors, it happens and he's been fine on that front the first few weeks. As I said earlier in the thread, he's been fine in first grade as an 18 year old, which puts him incredibly far ahead...

I noticed that immediately too with Latu at 7. It makes such a difference having someone able to spread it from first receiver, especially when they can dig into the line and do it (something both Latu and Madden excel at). Neither Luai or Doueihi do this. Both are at their best 2 wide, and...

We dominated field position and possession. They were missing Hunt, Walsh, Carrigan, their first 2 hookers and lost Haas early in the game. Not to mention Staggs playing on a dud foot and Arthars limping around before going off. I'd understand if we got dominated field position wise, but we had...

As it should. He's on 1.2m a year and has had several games since joining us where he's been totally ineffective in attack.

Our halves aren't good and our shape is bad without Madden.

Ok it's his first game back for a few weeks, but our structure and shape were way worse and he did absolutely nothing. Yes the culture blah blah, but the returns on his contract have been awful from a strictly footballing perspective.

Overlap left, why go right?

Defence has been poor but we really miss Madden in attack.

Madden will only come on if there's an injury to the halves, or backline which results in Doueihi moving to the centres.

He hasn't look out of place as an 18 year old in arguably the most physically demanding era of footy ever. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that's still incredibly impressive. Absolutely zero reason for any concern.

Skelton's a funny player. He's rocks and diamonds. He can finish and he can hit the ball up as well as any back. Can even force an error or two with his big hits. But he's also liable for some errors. He'd start for quite a few teams so if we need to call on him as depth, we're doing well. As...

Luai will be back in the 6. He's our captain. Also don't discount the value of having a left footed kicker on the left. Madden is a better 7 than Doueihi but Doueihi is a better overall player than Madden. I think if our backline is at full strength, Madden is a better option at 7 because we...

Madden also profiles as the kind of player who will peak later in his career too. He's physically very underwhelming, but does the little things right.

We're still playing with a bit of a patchwork backline. Our two wingers are in the centres and we have two backups on the wing. It's tough to be critical of the attack until we're back closer to full strength. Madden however led us around the park well. The forward pack's performance is also...

Not entirely but two big positives stick out: 1. We've comfortably won the yardage and field position battle in each match. Over the long-term, this produces winning football. Obviously game to game variance you might win or lose based on fluky plays and the bounce of the ball, but if you get...

I want to see a couple more games but he is making a compelling case to remain in firsts. Don't forget he had a few great games filling in years ago before regressing. But this is some of the best genuine halfback play we've had in a long, long time. He organises super well. Steers us around...

6 more and the guy isn't trying to get up?

Happens like 10 times a week. Never a bin.

I'd launch myself at Moses ala Sualii on Walsh at every chance I'd get.