Is Blair being used correctly?

[alexaki]

I have accepted that the Tigers have made a massive mistake in recruiting Blair…I can assure you there is no way he will get players player 3 years in a row...we paid way overs for him and we are stuck with that fact and Blair for the next 4 years...no amount of whining will change this...the management have to accept their mistake and the team will suffer as he takes up a huge chunk of the $$ cap...if we are lucky enough to shop him around, we can only hope some other struggling club will pick him up...but I doubt it..

 

[hellman]

Alexaki - I think you have stated the issue. The problem is that Blair is not a high quality player.

 

[alex]

A lot of people - fans, experts, media - have used the excuse that it takes time for a player to gel with a new team/to a new style of play. I can't recall anyone complaining about Ellis not fitting in or making an impact. The guy made an immense impact from day one, especially coming from the other side of the world where the style of play is 10x more different than it is between the Storm & Tigers. If Blair is the high quality player everyone says he is, why is it taking so long to make an impact? The general feeling is he's not being used wide enough, but he's played plenty of prop before, both for the Storm and for NZ, so unfortunately I can't see why he's not making the impact we all thought he should be.

I truly hope it doesn't take til next year for us to see some return on our investment…

 

[jason1976]

A lot of people - fans, experts, media - have used the excuse that it takes time for a player to gel with a new team/to a new style of play. I can't recall anyone complaining about Ellis not fitting in or making an impact. The guy made an immense impact from day one, especially coming from the other side of the world where the style of play is 10x more different than it is between the Storm & Tigers. If Blair is the high quality player everyone says he is, why is it taking so long to make an impact? The general feeling is he's not being used wide enough, but he's played plenty of prop before, both for the Storm and for NZ, so unfortunately I can't see why he's not making the impact we all thought he should be.

I truly hope it doesn't take til next year for us to see some return on our investment…

Spot on Alex… at the end of the day it's a simple game. You run straight and tackle! I don't understand why that is so hard?
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[happy_tiger]

A lot of people - fans, experts, media - have used the excuse that it takes time for a player to gel with a new team/to a new style of play. I can't recall anyone complaining about Ellis not fitting in or making an impact. The guy made an immense impact from day one, especially coming from the other side of the world where the style of play is 10x more different than it is between the Storm & Tigers. If Blair is the high quality player everyone says he is, why is it taking so long to make an impact? The general feeling is he's not being used wide enough, but he's played plenty of prop before, both for the Storm and for NZ, so unfortunately I can't see why he's not making the impact we all thought he should be.

I truly hope it doesn't take til next year for us to see some return on our investment…

Spot on Alex… at the end of the day it's a simple game. You run straight and tackle! I don't understand why that is so hard?
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

Try running straight and hard and tackling in the modern game and see where it gets you

If it was that easy we all be doing it

Most defences are that good you would be flat out averaging two tries a game

 

[Irvine]

I have accepted that the Tigers have made a massive mistake in recruiting Blair…I can assure you there is no way he will get players player 3 years in a row...we paid way overs for him and we are stuck with that fact and Blair for the next 4 years...no amount of whining will change this...the management have to accept their mistake and the team will suffer as he takes up a huge chunk of the $$ cap...if we are lucky enough to shop him around, we can only hope some other struggling club will pick him up...but I doubt it..

It looks that way but I still have hope that he will turn it around and do something special. They must have seen something there to sign him on top dollars for 4 years.

 

[Leich-a-tiger]

He can also play before the line which is extremely important if utilized correctly

Look at Bulldogs they have multi ball players before the line which is proving hard for defences to read

If we then hit Benji with a second man play he should have room to move and the defence in confusion

With Fulton and Heighington's ball skills combined with Blair we could really cause teams defensive headaches

I think this is a really good point/suggestion. Todd Payten played that role brilliantly, and so often created space for Lui and Marshall. Obviously very few forwards have the sort of ball skills that Payten did, but I'd love to see us throw that sort of play in a little more often.

 

[InBenjiWeTrust]

He can also play before the line which is extremely important if utilized correctly

Look at Bulldogs they have multi ball players before the line which is proving hard for defences to read

If we then hit Benji with a second man play he should have room to move and the defence in confusion

With Fulton and Heighington's ball skills combined with Blair we could really cause teams defensive headaches

I think this is a really good point/suggestion. Todd Payten played that role brilliantly, and so often created space for Lui and Marshall. Obviously very few forwards have the sort of ball skills that Payten did, but I'd love to see us throw that sort of play in a little more often.

I agree, I would like to see less of 'one up' plays, especially with Heighington, he is easily dominated and never passes just before the line, as the result he is relatively easy to contain.