Josh Aloiai #190
- Thread starter InBenjiWeTrust
- Start date
Chicken_Faced_Killa
Well-known member
Great game last night. I had to check it was him a couple of times as I was second guessing myself that it was actually him. Looked bigger and fitter and played like it.
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
Played great. There were definitely question marks around him going into last night. He had McQueen and Hooth nipping at his heels. Knowing those things probably motivated him, and we got that out of him. Has cemented his spot on the bench for the short term at the very least.
kingbrooks
New member
Amazing game and well done to Madge for having the faith after a very ordinary trial against the Warriors.
We need to persist with players like Aloiai over the likes of Huth and McQueen. Because when they do come good they just have alot more to offer.
We need to persist with players like Aloiai over the likes of Huth and McQueen. Because when they do come good they just have alot more to offer.
Harvey
Well-known member
Was very strong. I think it helped that he kept it very simple. Lots of work of the middle, nothing fancy, not looking for miracle offloads, no crash balls, just lots of dirty metres made.
Masterton
Well-known member
@Sully said:
Not only that, I don't think he had been clearly prepped for middle or edge.
Towards the end of last year I gave up on him. Cock-a-hoop to seem him back in form.
The_Patriot
Well-known member
Extremely happy with the way he played.
I see the immediate impact Michael Maguire has had on him. His sense of timing and when the team needed him to lift with a big run was brilliant to see.
Its been a slow burn but the talent has always been there. lets hope it continue.
I see the immediate impact Michael Maguire has had on him. His sense of timing and when the team needed him to lift with a big run was brilliant to see.
Its been a slow burn but the talent has always been there. lets hope it continue.
Really solid effort against Manly. Looked hungry and powerful.
Earnt the right to be in the top 17.
We are very quick to right people off at times. He is a good prospect.
Earnt the right to be in the top 17.
We are very quick to right people off at times. He is a good prospect.
mike
Well-known member
He was very good. Probably the best I have seen him play.
balmain boy
Well-known member
He was very good, but he's played like that before and then disappeared a week or two later. He's got to keep that up for the next month before anyone can say that he's changed.
earl
Well-known member
I think he is better in the middle. It's a simpler role and it suits his power game.
jirskyr
Well-known member
From behind the posts, one of the things Aloiai does noticeably is step hard off his left at the line and push through the game. He doesn't run straight into the tacklers and the late footwork almost always pushes his nose through the line.
He's a big lad in the shoulders and hard to stop his momentum at defensive impact.
We all know he has talent and he's been displaying it since we got him from Parra, question is can he maintain a good level every week.
He's a big lad in the shoulders and hard to stop his momentum at defensive impact.
We all know he has talent and he's been displaying it since we got him from Parra, question is can he maintain a good level every week.
Coastie_Tiger
Well-known member
Thought Aloiai had a bit of Frizzel about him, great impact hope he keeps that up and Madge makes him into the beast we all hoped he would be.
TheDaBoss
Well-known member
imo, great week of footy, great way to start the season 😀
TheDaBoss
Well-known member
Eels discards Aloiai and Matterson ignore injury and reunite
Author
Dan Walsh
NRL.com Reporter
Timestamp
Sun 21 Apr 2019, 08:01 A
Parramatta paid for one to play against them and figured the other's career was over before it began, only for great mates Ryan Matterson and Josh Aloiai to line up opposite the Eels this Easter Monday.
Four years after each was cut loose from the Blue & Gold fold, ex-Eels juniors Matterson and Aloiai have reunited to cement starting spots in Michael Maguire's back row at Wests Tigers.
Matterson arrived this year as a premiership winner from the Roosters, where it's understood Parramatta's previous management paid a significant portion of his 2016 salary.
During the same pre-season that Matterson shifted east, Aloiai was yet to crack first grade and fearing he might not, doctors conceding a badly broken hip was "potentially career-ending".
Told he was unwanted by the Eels, his shift to the Tigers proved the best thing for him, with his old under 20s halfback dialling in midway through last year to size up a possible reunion at Concord.
"[Aloiai] was the first person I told, that I was thinking about coming to the Tigers," Matterson tells NRL.com.
"He had only good things to say about the club and it gave me confidence with that decision, and I'm glad I spoke to him first.
"We've always said we'd end up playing together but I didn't think it'd happen this soon.
"I had two more years at the Roosters and I didn't think I'd be getting out of the contract. But it's been a blessing since I've come here and got to play with him."
Aloiai still recalls fondly the first time he played against the Tigers "new serial pest", a 2014 Junior Kangaroos-Kiwis clash.
"We were still in Parramatta 20s then, and that was a pretty heated haka that year," Aloiai grins.
"I got right up in his face and was staring him down. It was a cool moment and we won too, so it was pretty sweet."
With Aloiai living in close proximity to Parramatta's old training grounds, Matterson gravitated to the shy, homesick Kiwi kid all those years ago.
Despite landing at rival clubs until this year the friendship stuck fast, from first grade and rep debuts, through injuries and uncertainty.
Matterson still marvels at Aloiai's bounce back from that busted hip.
Aloiai is proud to see Matterson rediscover that cheeky half within after head knocks left him housebound for eight weeks last year and sleeping up to 16 hours a day.
Wests Tigers forward Ryan Matterson.
Wests Tigers forward Ryan Matterson.
©Nathan Hopkins/NRL Photos
"Dislocating or breaking your hip, that's a big injury," Matterson says.
"A lot of people don't come back at their best, [Aloiai] has come back even better I think.
"The work he put in, as a mate I knew he was down in the dumps but he said he was going to get past it and recover. Since then he's had more injuries too.
"But having got through that big injury, I think he's found his way to get through those.
"It was a lot of individual stuff that rehab we're you're isolated from the team. I've experienced a few of those injuries where you're by yourself and in a bit of a dark place.
"He broke his hand last year but it was nothing to him, he's come out the other side of adversity really well. And now we're getting to play together, it's pretty special."
Author
Dan Walsh
NRL.com Reporter
Timestamp
Sun 21 Apr 2019, 08:01 A
Parramatta paid for one to play against them and figured the other's career was over before it began, only for great mates Ryan Matterson and Josh Aloiai to line up opposite the Eels this Easter Monday.
Four years after each was cut loose from the Blue & Gold fold, ex-Eels juniors Matterson and Aloiai have reunited to cement starting spots in Michael Maguire's back row at Wests Tigers.
Matterson arrived this year as a premiership winner from the Roosters, where it's understood Parramatta's previous management paid a significant portion of his 2016 salary.
During the same pre-season that Matterson shifted east, Aloiai was yet to crack first grade and fearing he might not, doctors conceding a badly broken hip was "potentially career-ending".
Told he was unwanted by the Eels, his shift to the Tigers proved the best thing for him, with his old under 20s halfback dialling in midway through last year to size up a possible reunion at Concord.
"[Aloiai] was the first person I told, that I was thinking about coming to the Tigers," Matterson tells NRL.com.
"He had only good things to say about the club and it gave me confidence with that decision, and I'm glad I spoke to him first.
"We've always said we'd end up playing together but I didn't think it'd happen this soon.
"I had two more years at the Roosters and I didn't think I'd be getting out of the contract. But it's been a blessing since I've come here and got to play with him."
Aloiai still recalls fondly the first time he played against the Tigers "new serial pest", a 2014 Junior Kangaroos-Kiwis clash.
"We were still in Parramatta 20s then, and that was a pretty heated haka that year," Aloiai grins.
"I got right up in his face and was staring him down. It was a cool moment and we won too, so it was pretty sweet."
With Aloiai living in close proximity to Parramatta's old training grounds, Matterson gravitated to the shy, homesick Kiwi kid all those years ago.
Despite landing at rival clubs until this year the friendship stuck fast, from first grade and rep debuts, through injuries and uncertainty.
Matterson still marvels at Aloiai's bounce back from that busted hip.
Aloiai is proud to see Matterson rediscover that cheeky half within after head knocks left him housebound for eight weeks last year and sleeping up to 16 hours a day.
Wests Tigers forward Ryan Matterson.
Wests Tigers forward Ryan Matterson.
©Nathan Hopkins/NRL Photos
"Dislocating or breaking your hip, that's a big injury," Matterson says.
"A lot of people don't come back at their best, [Aloiai] has come back even better I think.
"The work he put in, as a mate I knew he was down in the dumps but he said he was going to get past it and recover. Since then he's had more injuries too.
"But having got through that big injury, I think he's found his way to get through those.
"It was a lot of individual stuff that rehab we're you're isolated from the team. I've experienced a few of those injuries where you're by yourself and in a bit of a dark place.
"He broke his hand last year but it was nothing to him, he's come out the other side of adversity really well. And now we're getting to play together, it's pretty special."
