Alex Twal #206

[Papacito]

Twal is one of those guys that every team needs.

Carts the ball up, makes good metres, rarely makes an error and gives the more skilled forwards a chance to use their attacking skills rather than doing the tough stuff.

He cops a bagging here for his lack of attacking skills, but for mine, that's not his role.

 

[Todd Packer]

I've been a Twal fan since his first game simply because he hits and sticks in defence but I have to admit to losing faith over the first 7 games.
I don't know what's happened in the last few weeks but he really has improved a heap.
He's still a rock in defence but in attack he's now making dents and poking his nose through the line.

 

[thegbone]

Agree hes last few games have been fantastic, lets hope it keeps up

 

[twentyforty]

Its funny, my opinion of Twal hasn’t changed in the last 2 seasons. He’s the sort of player you need on the bench to run on when you need to tighten up the game.
He’s a reliable worker without being a game breaker and you can’t afford to have too many of those in the 17. 111 games and still not a single try, says it all.
If he wants to go the extra yard, then put on 10kg and drive those middle forwards back.

 

[hammertime]

I agree. Twal needs to stay in the squad. He's a no-nonsense forward who does his job well. But the main thing for me is he is great for culture - a real hard-working, likable bloke. He strikes me as a bit of the glue that holds the squad together.

 

[weststigerman]

Its funny, my opinion of Twal hasn’t changed in the last 2 seasons. He’s the sort of player you need on the bench to run on when you need to tighten up the game.
He’s a reliable worker without being a game breaker and you can’t afford to have too many of those in the 17. 111 games and still not a single try, says it all.
If he wants to go the extra yard, then put on 10kg and drive those middle forwards back.

He's not that type of front rower. His strengths are leg speed and lateral mobility. Props don't need to be try scorers. Make metres, get quick play the balls and make your tackles. He does those 3 well.

An extra 10kg isn't going to turn him into Junior Paulo.

 

[hsvjones]

I think he should start so he can help with closing down the opposition in the first 20mis when we struggle.
He just helps in the ruck and that allows Stefo to come on when they are tied and be aggressive.

Twal in my team every week

 

[bptiger 0]

He has really come on this year hitting the ball up hard , and his defence is always top drawer , for me always in the top 17

 

[GCfan]

Watching live at magic round last week he looked like the forward in our side that created the most damage to the defensive line. I was pretty surprised. The Dragons really struggled to contain him

 

[Buttface]

I've been a Twal fan since his first game simply because he hits and sticks in defence but I have to admit to losing faith over the first 7 games.
I don't know what's happened in the last few weeks but he really has improved a heap.
He's still a rock in defence but in attack he's now making dents and poking his nose through the line.

I have liked him from the start, I think he was 5 games into his career before h missed a tackle.

 

[rihannafan1]

I think Api has made a difference too. His timing of when to pass and the quality of the pass to players like Twal puts them in a bit more space than they'd be used to.

 

[king_sirro]

Watching live at magic round last week he looked like the forward in our side that created the most damage to the defensive line. I was pretty surprised. The Dragons really struggled to contain him

I think there has been a change to his approach. He used to get close to the markers and look to cut behind the ruck, but he now seems to be getting a bit wider, using late footwork to position himself in between defenders. Much more effective.

 

[old_man_tiger]

Same thread every year, especially when he's coming back from injury. For whatever reason he is a slow starter, people forget he is decent in his role and then inevitably he gets praised too much because he looks real good when he has a few games under his belt.

In future if he has a few weeks off I'd give him 2 - 4 weeks in Reggie's, but when he's match fit and found his rhythm I reckon he is one of the better career bench props going around.

 

[bbobb]

I note he takes the fourth tackle hit up more often than not when he’s on the field. I think that’s coached as he seems to he on his belly quickly and effects a fast play the ball allowing halves more time to tick on fifth.

May not look spectacular (even frustrating) but is still important.

 

[twentyforty]

He's not that type of front rower. His strengths are leg speed and lateral mobility. Props don't need to be try scorers. Make metres, get quick play the balls and make your tackles. He does those 3 well.

An extra 10kg isn't going to turn him into Junior Paulo.

He's not that type of front rower. His strengths are leg speed and lateral mobility. Props don't need to be try scorers. Make metres, get quick play the balls and make your tackles. He does those 3 well.

An extra 10kg isn't going to turn him into Junior Paulo.

😂 c’mon? His ptb’s are the slowest (not by much) of all our props, plus his technique of running to the D line getting tackled, then walking a couple more metres is a real momentum killer. He needs to find his front, opposition know they’ve tackled him as they go about setting their D for the next play.
I don’t want to bag the guy, because I love his contribution to the team, but just saying he needs to improve in a couple of things and let’s call it as we see it?

 

[Zach]

I might be of the minority, but i reckon he slows down our attack massively when he takes the hit up.

It also seems to be in all the players sub conscious to pass him the ball to score a try when he's close to the line- its infuriating, its so obvious to the defense. He is an easy tackle too, no power to him whatsoever in the final 10 meters.

I remember when he first started in the team, he had a dangerous offload and ran hard and fast. Don't know who it was but they coached that out of him and now he's incredibly one dimensional.

 

[Tigerwould]

I might be of the minority, but i reckon he slows down our attack massively when he takes the hit up.

It also seems to be in all the players sub conscious to pass him the ball to score a try when he's close to the line- its infuriating, its so obvious to the defense. He is an easy tackle too, no power to him whatsoever in the final 10 meters.

I remember when he first started in the team, he had a dangerous offload and ran hard and fast. Don't know who it was but they coached that out of him and now he's incredibly one dimensional.

Last year & At the start of the season yes. He was running straight into the middle without doing much. He seems to be finding more space and not slow the momentum down now. An improvement from the last year or so.

 

[weststigerman]

😂 c’mon? His ptb’s are the slowest (not by much) of all our props, plus his technique of running to the D line getting tackled, then walking a couple more metres is a real momentum killer. He needs to find his front, opposition know they’ve tackled him as they go about setting their D for the next play.
I don’t want to bag the guy, because I love his contribution to the team, but just saying he needs to improve in a couple of things and let’s call it as we see it?

We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.

The stats seem to support what I’m saying, this the avg play the ball speed in the game against Penrith. Pretty quick against St George as well.

 

[TrueTiger]

Last year & At the start of the season yes. He was running straight into the middle without doing much. He seems to be finding more space and not slow the momentum down now. An improvement from the last year or so.

I would argue everyday that once good,talented players that reach NRL level from either country group teams or juniors in the system learn the way that NRL is played ,they either improve greatly or fall off the cliff...Twal is a keeper ,he is just starting to understand his role and position in the team,,,Rome wasnt built in a day and the youth can only learn over time...

 

[carltonleach]

Always loved twally could never understand the hate he used to get by a lot of people. Always worked harder than most forward we have, tackles anything that moves and his efficiency is outrages. He’s now getting decent meters every week and is still only young. Plenty of time to bag a few meat pies