I’ve said this plenty of times in the past, but if your edge back rowers contribute very little, your team generally struggles.
The Eels had obvious defensive issues on their edge. I rate Kitione Kautoga highly as an attacking player, but I believe the whole reason he was not rated all that highly when he was with us was due to his laziness and below standard defence. The Eels are currently playing Jack Williams as their other edge back rower which worked well for them at the back end of last season and I rate Jack highly as a player, but he is now on the wrong side of 30, so slowing down and probably not best suited to playing on an edge when he was effective as middle forward for the majority of his career.
The Broncos last night had journeyman Jack Gosiewski as one starting edge back rower, he missed some crucial tackles that led to tries and did not offer much in attack. I have long had the belief that Alex Seyfarth is much better suited to playing in the middle and is not very good as an edge back rower, but I’d say both he and Mav Geyer are far better edge back row options than Jack Gosiewski, remembering that neither of them will be part of our starting line up and may even get surpassed by some of our young emerging players.
The Broncos have Jordan Riki on their other edge and he has been a good quality, tough player for many years, but I reckon his body has taken a battering which has slowed him down and limited his effectiveness in attack.
Not being cocky or getting too ahead of ourselves, but Jordan Riki is not making our starting line up at the moment.
At the Roosters they obviously have a top quality left edge forward in Angus Crichton, but again his body has taken a battering over the years and I think a touch of self preservation might creep into his mind with his sights set on earning an inside centre starting position with the Wallabies for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
They have Nat Butcher on their right edge who is honest as they come, but I think he is another who’s body has taken a battering, a few bad injuries thrown in and he now looks sluggish when he once had good explosive speed to make him a genuine attacking threat.
Wests Tigers this season have many players and forwards who are at the right age and stages of their career to be approaching career best form.
IF Samuela Fainu and Kai Pearce-Paul are both in career best form for us this season, then the sky is the limit for our overall performance.
The Eels had obvious defensive issues on their edge. I rate Kitione Kautoga highly as an attacking player, but I believe the whole reason he was not rated all that highly when he was with us was due to his laziness and below standard defence. The Eels are currently playing Jack Williams as their other edge back rower which worked well for them at the back end of last season and I rate Jack highly as a player, but he is now on the wrong side of 30, so slowing down and probably not best suited to playing on an edge when he was effective as middle forward for the majority of his career.
The Broncos last night had journeyman Jack Gosiewski as one starting edge back rower, he missed some crucial tackles that led to tries and did not offer much in attack. I have long had the belief that Alex Seyfarth is much better suited to playing in the middle and is not very good as an edge back rower, but I’d say both he and Mav Geyer are far better edge back row options than Jack Gosiewski, remembering that neither of them will be part of our starting line up and may even get surpassed by some of our young emerging players.
The Broncos have Jordan Riki on their other edge and he has been a good quality, tough player for many years, but I reckon his body has taken a battering which has slowed him down and limited his effectiveness in attack.
Not being cocky or getting too ahead of ourselves, but Jordan Riki is not making our starting line up at the moment.
At the Roosters they obviously have a top quality left edge forward in Angus Crichton, but again his body has taken a battering over the years and I think a touch of self preservation might creep into his mind with his sights set on earning an inside centre starting position with the Wallabies for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
They have Nat Butcher on their right edge who is honest as they come, but I think he is another who’s body has taken a battering, a few bad injuries thrown in and he now looks sluggish when he once had good explosive speed to make him a genuine attacking threat.
Wests Tigers this season have many players and forwards who are at the right age and stages of their career to be approaching career best form.
IF Samuela Fainu and Kai Pearce-Paul are both in career best form for us this season, then the sky is the limit for our overall performance.
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