Adam Blair

[tigerlogic]

He was better than his last few performances. Still no where near what he gets paid. Not in terms of skill but more in terms of his involvement .

Would still like him to do a few hit ups out of our own 20 rather than taking the last hit up of the set or in the opposition 20.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

Regardless of whether he takes any if the first couple if hit ups in a set it's a plan at the tigers that blairy can at times take one of the last of the set because nobody gets better faster PTBs than him which eases the pluck pressure on us

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

*kick pressure

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[2041]

Let's be realistic. Blair's being paid to be a difference maker and he's being congratulated for being better than average. For the money he's on he ought to be at the level of a Watmough, Thaiday or Bird. If you think any of those players' teams would contemplate a straight swap do please say so. I guess you could make a good case that Blair is less of an R Sole than any of the above, but I think that's about it.

 

[Mona_Lolesi]

I disagree completely.

We paid overs for Blair to attract him to leave a quality football where he would not get that kind of money.
He was the final piece to a very strong 2012 pack that had just come off back to back finals appearances.
He would have also been paid those dollars with increased salary cap in mind, his salary now is not as outrageous as it appeared when he signed when you look at some deals that have been signed across the league in the past 2-3 years.

If we are completely honest with each other, no one here can say hand on heart that they KNOW what he is actually getting paid. I refuse to believe speculation and the media as gospel.

People bag him, but he was never signed to score tries or make line breaks, he wasn't known for that at the storm.
He does the 1%'s that fairweather fans refuse to acknowledge.

Blair consistently rushes the kicker on 5th tackle and puts a hit on (legally too). Fulton is the only other player who does this regularly also.
Blair works hard to get quick play the balls, moreso than any other forward we have.
He wrestles opponents in tackles and scrambles hard with line breaks.

He is not the reason we have struggled the past 2 seasons.
If you want to bag an overpriced player who offered nothing, E Pettybourne was your man.

 

[The_Hill]

Pettybourne would have been on peanuts though surely? Was a nobody player, solid but never outstanding. Likely on 1/4-1/3 of Blair.

Mona you can't just do the 1%ers though. Every player needs to do his share of the work and this is where Blair rightly gets criticised. You can't be a leader in a forward pack and make 2-3 hitups a game, especially when the pack is on the back foot. Maybe if you make 50+ tackles, but he doesn't top the tackle count either.

He needs to combine making decent metres with the offloads, play the balls, pressure on kickers etc

 

[Mona_Lolesi]

I would argue Pettybourne wouldve been 250k which is why he was shopped quick smart. Agree with your comments otherwise.

Re: hitups, the tigers game plan heavily involves Woods taking the majority of hit ups. He is the go to and takes 2 a set quite regularly. When the pack is on the back foot we quite often have no ball, which accentuates the low amount of hitups and when we do get the ball we go straight to Woods.

When Blair was at prop he would take more hitups, now he is playing 13 it's not as big of a requirement. We are also carrying 4 forwards on the bench for the first time in a long time.

 

[tig_prmz]

**He was better than his last few performances**. Still no where near what he gets paid. Not in terms of skill but more in terms of his involvement .

Would still like him to do a few hit ups out of our own 20 rather than taking the last hit up of the set or in the opposition 20.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

Then why don't you just say that and leave it at that. No, instead you make excuses as to why he played well.

why do i leave it at that?

 

[happy_tiger]

People who have a go at Blair for not taking hit ups early in the set need to remember who is usually the bloke putting pressure on the opposition kicker almost every time

 

[Peaches]

People who have a go at Blair for not taking hit ups early in the set need to remember who is usually the bloke putting pressure on the opposition kicker almost every time

He often is also used as a link man because his hands tend to be a bit safer then the other forwards.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[2041]

People who have a go at Blair for not taking hit ups early in the set need to remember who is usually the bloke putting pressure on the opposition kicker almost every time

You often hear a similar thing from Manly fans: "yeah Watmough doesn't hit up much but he's real good at charging the kicker". Titans fans just love the way Bird always has his socks pulled up high. Thaiday, according to all the Brisbanians I know, makes a superb cup of ginseng tea. Ryan Hoffman is nice to his mother. Boyd Cordner never lets the grass on his front lawn get too long.

Come on, really? Blair often charges the kicker - seriously? I assume this amazing skill results in the Tigers hardly ever conceding tries off kicks and starting our sets in much better position because off all those duffed kicks our oppo puts in week after week. Show me these stats.

 

[Mona_Lolesi]

So you concede that pressure on the kicker is not an important part of defending?

You would rather us stand back and give JT, Reynolds, DCE and co time to do whatever they want with the ball?

 

[happy_tiger]

People who have a go at Blair for not taking hit ups early in the set need to remember who is usually the bloke putting pressure on the opposition kicker almost every time

You often hear a similar thing from Manly fans: "yeah Watmough doesn't hit up much but he's real good at charging the kicker". Titans fans just love the way Bird always has his socks pulled up high. Thaiday, according to all the Brisbanians I know, makes a superb cup of ginseng tea. Ryan Hoffman is nice to his mother. Boyd Cordner never lets the grass on his front lawn get too long.

Come on, really? Blair often charges the kicker - seriously? I assume this amazing skill results in the Tigers hardly ever conceding tries off kicks and starting our sets in much better position because off all those duffed kicks our oppo puts in week after week. Show me these stats.

Have a watch next time at who is attempting to put pressure on the kicker next time and unless they are purposely targeting a particular side of the field , Blair makes the most attempts

And asking for a stat you full well know doesn't exist on any stats that are made for public consumption is convenient , isn't it

Why can't some just be happy our forward pack in trying conditions put its best performance together since the Storm game last season , not just one or two , but all of them :sign:

 

[Tim Sheens]

Have a watch next time at who is attempting to put pressure on the kicker next time and unless they are purposely targeting a particular side of the field , Blair makes the most attempts

And asking for a stat you full well know doesn't exist on any stats that are made for public consumption is convenient , isn't it

Why can't some just be happy our forward pack in trying conditions put its best performance together since the Storm game last season , not just one or two , but all of them :sign:

All the"haters" (per GNR earlier in the thread) should take up your suggestion Happy and look for the things that Mona and yourself alluded to. I would also add just how many of the dummy runs he provides, something that Potter has gotten more of the other forwards doing now, which was very noticeable on the weekend and early in the first round match.

Give the guy a break, the club offered him the contract, all he did was accept it and he does his bit In addition to doing a lot of the unsung work in a game, he is a great trainer and good role model both on and off the field as well as mentoring the youngsters. Most importantly, he is well respected amongst his peers and is probably singled out more than any other for their praise.

Coaches and players see a players contribution totally differenty to most "fans", and place a lot less importance on bare statistics.

 

[tig_prmz]

I've actually been a good supporter of Blair esp through last year but after the dragons game I've given up on him 100%

It's not about his skill level at all. It's the fact that he keeps disappearing when as an experienced first grader he should be taking the pressure off the younger forwards.

And I actually thought against titans gavet sue and taupau had more kick pressure than Blair.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[Fraze23]

I've been one of the more vocal critics of Blair over the past two seasons. Can't fault his game on Sunday, it was good to see him going looking for work and making plenty of meters. He was outstanding defensively as well. I hope he can keep it up.

 

[2041]

Have a watch next time at who is attempting to put pressure on the kicker next time and unless they are purposely targeting a particular side of the field , Blair makes the most attempts

And asking for a stat you full well know doesn't exist on any stats that are made for public consumption is convenient , isn't it

Why can't some just be happy our forward pack in trying conditions put its best performance together since the Storm game last season , not just one or two , but all of them :sign:

All the"haters" (per GNR earlier in the thread) should take up your suggestion Happy and look for the things that Mona and yourself alluded to. I would also add just how many of the dummy runs he provides, something that Potter has gotten more of the other forwards doing now, which was very noticeable on the weekend and early in the first round match.

Give the guy a break, the club offered him the contract, all he did was accept it and he does his bit In addition to doing a lot of the unsung work in a game, he is a great trainer and good role model both on and off the field as well as mentoring the youngsters. Most importantly, he is well respected amongst his peers and is probably singled out more than any other for their praise.

Coaches and players see a players contribution totally differenty to most "fans", and place a lot less importance on bare statistics.

I've got no problem at all with him taking the money he was offered. Good luck to him: he's a mediocre first grader who some idiots decided to pay like a star. And I'm chuffed when he (occasionally) has a good game.

What I find a little difficult to take seriously is people trying to defend him like he actually is a star; as I've said, compare his game to any of the similarly paid back rowers in the comp (note I'm not even picking the SBW/Burgess type superstars - just the rep-level names who Blair was signed to be our equivalent of). The fact is he's not there.

That's not his fault, but there's no point pretending he's not a major problem in the Tigers roster management: he's making money which could be better spent elsewhere. And that's true however good he is at charging the kicker.

 

[happy_tiger]

Never claimed he was a star 2041 , but when he was signed he was the best second rower / lock on the market

When that happens , if people want that player they pay overs , we paid too much for Blair most would agree

But what I'm saying is that Blair is vastly different style backrower than many others , he does a lot of things that others don't

Its not Blair's fault that Sheens bought the wrong player for our needs at the time

Maybe now we are closer to what this club required roster wise he will show his worth and benefits on field as he has shown off field

Is it any coincidence that many of our young forwards are stepping up since Blair joined the club ??

Woods raves about the bloke whenever he does any interview and Blair name comes up

Woods has to say good things about Blair of course , but why would he make the comments he does ??

 

[2041]

So you concede that pressure on the kicker is not an important part of defending?

You would rather us stand back and give JT, Reynolds, DCE and co time to do whatever they want with the ball?

Well, I might be saying that. Or I might be saying that pressuring the kicker is not the kind of thing that it needs a top-paid, rep-level back rower to do. I mean, if Farah spent every training session carrying bottles of water to and from the sheds, and I then suggested this might not be an adequate use of his talents, would you then say "What do you want the players to do? Die of thirst?"

 

[2041]

People who have a go at Blair for not taking hit ups early in the set need to remember who is usually the bloke putting pressure on the opposition kicker almost every time

You often hear a similar thing from Manly fans: "yeah Watmough doesn't hit up much but he's real good at charging the kicker". Titans fans just love the way Bird always has his socks pulled up high. Thaiday, according to all the Brisbanians I know, makes a superb cup of ginseng tea. Ryan Hoffman is nice to his mother. Boyd Cordner never lets the grass on his front lawn get too long.

Come on, really? Blair often charges the kicker - seriously? I assume this amazing skill results in the Tigers hardly ever conceding tries off kicks and starting our sets in much better position because off all those duffed kicks our oppo puts in week after week. Show me these stats.

Have a watch next time at who is attempting to put pressure on the kicker next time and unless they are purposely targeting a particular side of the field , Blair makes the most attempts

And asking for a stat you full well know doesn't exist on any stats that are made for public consumption is convenient , isn't it

Why can't some just be happy our forward pack in trying conditions put its best performance together since the Storm game last season , not just one or two , but all of them :sign:

I would argue it's convenient that you've identified something it's apparently impossible to quantify as the guy's main strength. I mean, maybe you know more than I do but I am pretty certain I have never once heard "pressuring the kicker" mentioned as a thing top back rowers are particularly good at. It sort of seems like you're clutching at straws to be honest.

Anyway, as I've said repeatedly:
- I am pleased Blair had a good game.
- I'd be even more pleased if he had a number of good games.
- I don't blame Blair in the slightest for taking the money he was offered.
- I think it's conceivable that he contributes in ways that are less visible than some of his peers.

What I don't buy is the idea that he actually has been having lots of good games but somehow some of us are too stupid to notice.

 

[stevetiger]

Blair needs to make really good metres and defend like a demon for the money he is on. He should be playing like one of the Burgess brothers as an example.

I don't get why anyone is even defending his performances. For what he is getting paid he is poor.

Personally he sounds like a good guy and he isn't a terrible player. He just isn't a weapon for us and he needs to be.

 

[pHyR3]

Blair needs to make really good metres and defend like a demon for the money he is on. He should be playing like one of the Burgess brothers as an example.

I don't get why anyone is even defending his performances. **For what he is getting paid** he is poor.

Personally he sounds like a good guy and he isn't a terrible player. He just isn't a weapon for us and he needs to be.

so its his fault we were stupid enough to pay overs for him?

if you pay a million dollars for an average player then demand superstar-esque performances you're going to be disappointed a lot…