Koroibete praises team for recent form

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Koroibete praises team for recent form

Dan Talintyre
Fri 30th May, 09:44AM

With seven tries in his past three games, Wests Tigers winger Marika Koroibete has praised the help of his teammates and a determined mindset for his blistering form in 2014 as he seeks to secure a spot back in the Club’s first-grade team.

The Fijian international took his try-scoring tally for 2014 into double figures on Saturday night with another breathtaking display of athleticism and speed in the Club’s 26-22 NSW Cup win over Newcastle, but said that his numbers were still secondary in his mind to the numbers produced by the team on the scoreboard.

“I’m just trying to play good footy,” said Koroibete. “That’s all.”

“I’ve been trying to score tries and make them team play well. I want to help the team, and if I do that, then I know that I will help the team get back into top form.

"We’re already in good form — and so I am I — but I want us to be the best.

“Always want to be better than we were last week.”

Koroibete started the year in Wests Tigers’ NRL team, but with the strong form of both David Nofoaluma and Pat Richards, found himself in the Club’s NSW Cup team and back fighting for his place once more. Not that it worries Koroibete, however, who said that the competitive nature of holding a spot in first-grade continues to bring the best out of him.

“I’m trying to do my best regardless of what competition I’m playing in,” he said.

“The Head Coach [Mick Potter] has told me that I’ll need to play my best to get back into first-grade so I’m just trying to be the best on the field.”

And over the past few weeks, there’s certainly been none better than Koroibete.

In Round 9, the winger scored a second-half double to almost bring Wests Tigers back from a 26-8 deficit against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, and then followed that up with three tries against the Cronulla Sharks in Round 10.

All three were long-range efforts over 50m each, with the third involving a wonderful move that left Sharks fullback Nathan Gardner clutching at thin air.

Against the Knights last week, Koroibete produced a moment of magic right on half-time as he sped through three defenders, pushed away another and then fed the ball to Mitchell Moses close to the line to give Wests Tigers the lead at the main break. He then scored two tries himself from beyond halfway, with his fancy footwork and blistering acceleration putting an end to any chance that Newcastle had of producing a comeback on the day.

Koroibete puts his recent run of form down to strong combinations on the field and some extra determination to re-discover the speed that saw him tear apart the NRL with 12 tries in 15 games throughout 2013 and 2014.

“I’ve been working especially on my speed especially over the last few weeks now,” revealed Koroibete. “I’ve been doing some extra sessions over the past few weeks and it’s been helping me a lot find my speed once a again.

“I want to be better and faster, and keep getting my speed up.

“It’s helped that the boys have been using me well on the left wing.

“Curtis Sironen and Mitch Moses; they were good to me against Newcastle last weekend and got me in plenty of space, which was good.

“If they can get the space for me, then I can get the ball to the try-line.”

There’s certainly no doubting that over the past few weeks.
 
I think we are nearly at the stage where we have to accept he has some failings in defense and catching of the high ball, but develop some strategies to minimize these risks and pick him for his attacking fire power. Last week against the Bronks in a very dour uninspiring game he was a player who could have taken the game in a flash. If only we could make him into a no1
 
There is a spot now,just swap him in for Teddy and move Noffo or Simona to the back,hope he hangs around,he could be a real weapon.
 
I wonder if the coaching staff are actually educating him as a special case due to coming to the game so late, or they are just running him through the paces as the do the rest of the squad? I have a feeling there is almost an assumption that he just pick up facets of the game ingrained in the average player who has spent a lifetime playing the game… I think his high ball game could be lifted quite easily given time with even a high level juniors AFL coach to teach him the basic fundamentals. The guy is fearless, getting him to participate in the contest isnt the problem, he just seems to lack the auto-pilot assesment of the situation you gain from repetitive training of the skillset.

Also props to the guy for that interview effort, for both the new language and humility.
 
I remember his first few games. Sitting back thinking, wow we really, really have something here. His attacking prowess is admirable, and his ability to return the ball gun-ho is up there with the best of them. But there are two parts of footy. Attack and defence. Defence being more important in 1st grade than any other grade. Reading attacking players is part skill and in most cases instinct. Instinct cannot be taught. But while he has desire to make it back in firsts, I'll be watching, praying and hoping we will one day have the fjian flyer we thought we had in those first few games.
 
I get the feeling their will be other clubs who think they may be able to make him into a quality 1st grader and be willing to pay more at the end of the season. Lets face it we were shopping him around only about a month ago and only stopped when Mr T got a gig in rugby, so I am not sure he would be that keen to stay anyway.

I think its up to the coaching staff to iron out his deficiencies as he has to much talent to be running around in reggies
 
@851 said:
There is a spot now,just swap him in for Teddy and move Noffo or Simona to the back,hope he hangs around,he could be a real weapon.
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And if we get injuries in the backline we will probably need him anyway. I think he's still a work in progress especially with his defence. Hope he sticks around

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With Lawrence seemingly getting the hook late against the broncos Potter maybe that may leave a space to move Nofo to the centres and Koro onto the wing. It's not like we couldn't use some more strike power.
 
@The_Doc said:
With Lawrence seemingly getting the hook late against the broncos Potter maybe that may leave a space to move Nofo to the centres and Koro onto the wing. It's not like we couldn't use some more strike power.
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had trouble with the knee, not hooked.
 
I thought getting tackled into touch on the first tackle may have had a bearing into him being hooked, I really hope it was through injury and not being sent to Coventry!.
 
We need some strikepower out wide at the moment because our backline is looking very pedestrian. Prior to the Teddy being injured and the subsequent "Tedescogate" scandal we looked dangerous, but Nofo and Simona are seeing buggerall ball and Lawrence is running straight and hard without putting Richards into space.

Looking at Koroibete's highlights over the past couple of weeks, well surely he must be putting some pressure on Nofoaluma. I'd almost be tempted to try Nofo at fullback for one game and put Koro on the wing. At least you know with both players that they're going to hit the line hard each time they cart the ball up, and I don't think we would lose anything with Nofo at fullback compared to Rowe.
 
@willow said:
We need some strikepower out wide at the moment because our backline is looking very pedestrian. Prior to the Teddy being injured and the subsequent "Tedescogate" scandal we looked dangerous, but Nofo and Simona are seeing buggerall ball and Lawrence is running straight and hard without putting Richards into space.

Looking at Koroibete's highlights over the past couple of weeks, well surely he must be putting some pressure on Nofoaluma. I'd almost be tempted to try Nofo at fullback for one game and put Koro on the wing. At least you know with both players that they're going to hit the line hard each time they cart the ball up, and I don't think we would lose anything with Nofo at fullback compared to Rowe.[/quote
X2, nofa has plenty of ability and would not let the side down at fullback. Its probably been two years since Lawrence broke a tackle. Koro would add plenty of attack and if he puts in another Top game this week he Should be given an opportunity
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He will win us more games than we would normally lose….his defence near the line is woeful to say the least but his courage is unquestioned i believe that all he needs is a bit of guidance from the more experienced players around him. Mark my words the biggest thorn in our side is Chris Lawrence....never thought that I would say that but IMO a very true remark.
 
There is no denying his X factor. And we definitely need it.
We've improved in a lot of areas, particularly in terms of building pressure and percentage footy, but our attack is lacking.
The explosive potential of Simona and Koro, which we saw from around the time of Koro's debut last year, has since fizzled.
 
@willow said:
“Curtis Sironen and Mitch Moses; they were good to me against Newcastle last weekend and got me in plenty of space, which was good.
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I hope that Koro gets another go at some stage, but think we will score enough points just by getting most of our squad on deck.

Sirro will be a key to unlocking plenty of points for us for the rest of the season, they guy will be a shining light for years to come. Moses will bring even more from next year.
 
Would be good to see Chris Lawrence back in reserve grade as he isn't playing at his best and have Simona at left centre which I think he prefers. Then we can try out Nofo at centre and Koro on the wing. Would be really annoyed if we lost Koro now as well.

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