Heamasi Makasini #303

Tom Shines said:
No salary cap in Union…

Very keen to see him back on the wing this week …needs more space and less defensive workload …also playing outside Luai and Taylan will help
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I know he didn’t stand out at centre but he also didn’t fail and learned from his mistakes. I think development wise it was a really valuable stint. For an 18 yo to handle centre in NRL is no mean feat, we’ve seen more established players put there and get found out badly.

Some time on the sting will maybe grow his confidence even more. Hopefully.
 
EllisFan said:
I know he didn’t stand out at centre but he also didn’t fail and learned from his mistakes. I think development wise it was a really valuable stint. For an 18 yo to handle centre in NRL is no mean feat, we’ve seen more established players put there and get found out badly.

Some time on the sting will maybe grow his confidence even more. Hopefully.
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You don't have to look too far to see how difficult it can be for young players.

Wilson De-Coursey in his debut year and 20 years old. 40 mins v Canberra with 57 run metres and 1 tackle break and 6 tackles 3 missed (66%); then 41 minutes and hooked v us with 21 run metres, 0 tackle breaks 4 tackles and 2 missed (66%).

Gags at the other end of the scale in experience with 90, 147 and 157m with 9, 12 and 8 tackle breaks in his last three games with a tackle efficiency of 92%, 83% and 88%.

Big Mak at centre 88, 198 and 128m with 2, 2and 3 tackle breaks and a tackle efficiency of 80%, 82% and 76%.

Not doing too bad for a kid at centre; I think we need to keep him!
 
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EllisFan said:
I know he didn’t stand out at centre but he also didn’t fail and learned from his mistakes. I think development wise it was a really valuable stint. For an 18 yo to handle centre in NRL is no mean feat, we’ve seen more established players put there and get found out badly.

Some time on the sting will maybe grow his confidence even more. Hopefully.
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As an 18 year old, I thought he probably didn't handle it. Regularly missed tackles. Wrong options and easily contained in attack. But Benji wanted to show his trust and belief in him by persisting and moving him to the wing. I think it will pay off for the team and for Maka's development.
 
I’m willing to give him a break. The first error, there was no need for Bula to pass, and Maka isn’t the only player who would have been taken by surprise. It was a stupid pass. I think the second mistake was a domino effect. He recovered though defusing the kick and running back to the 20. Unfortunately didn’t restart it on the mark, but overall, he’s 18. It’s gonna happen.
 
GNR4LIFE said:
I’m willing to give him a break. The first error, there was no need for Bula to pass, and Maka isn’t the only player who would have been taken by surprise. It was a stupid pass. I think the second mistake was a domino effect. He recovered though defusing the kick and running back to the 20. Unfortunately didn’t restart it on the mark, but overall, he’s 18. It’s gonna happen.
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It can happen in KOE because despite his enormous potential he needs to reset and regain confidence..he cost us that one
 
Wiz said:
Agree that Bula shouldn’t have passed it. He’s going to be a good player. The NRL is hard. Most outside backs are very physical at this level. He needs some time in cup to build his game and confidence.
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And work on his defensive reads. They are terrible. Comes in when there is no need.
 
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 of the curve.
 
He had a rough 10 minutes, but no worse than Laulilii or Skelton. Maka’s errors just happened to be at the worst possible time.

As others have said, he’s 18 playing a position he doesn’t normally play. A break wouldn’t hurt but I can see why Benji won’t want to drop him.
 
weststigerman said:
He had a rough 10 minutes, but no worse than Laulilii or Skelton. Maka’s errors just happened to be at the worst possible time.

As others have said, he’s 18 playing a position he doesn’t normally play. A break wouldn’t hurt but I can see why Benji won’t want to drop him.
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It isn’t just a rough 10 minutes though….
He has been average at best in every game he has played this season.
When he was in the centres he refused to set up and use his winger and his defence was poor. Now on the wing, which I thought he may have gone ok at, he was just terrible.
He is a step too slow in everything he does and his strength isn’t at the required level.
He never worked his way up and earned his debut. He doesn’t belong at this level yet.
Lots of potential, be lots more to work on.
 
Tucker said:
It isn’t just a rough 10 minutes though….
He has been average at best in every game he has played this season.
When he was in the centres he refused to set up and use his winger and his defence was poor. Now on the wing, which I thought he may have gone ok at, he was just terrible.
He is a step too slow in everything he does and his strength isn’t at the required level.
He never worked his way up and earned his debut. He doesn’t belong at this level yet.
Lots of potential, be lots more to work on.
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The lofty heights reached in the trials made him look good and meant SFA unfortunately, think he should be given a break from 1st grade now.
 
I thought he looked better at centre to be honest. Dropped the first one because Bula bailed out of contact at the last moment. If Bula was going to pass he should have done so earlier and/or told Makasini. The latter’s reacted suggested he did not.

Second was a simple drop. No pressure. I’d hate to blame him but that first one in particular was a momentum killer. They were really struggling to make ground.
 
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