Lawrence

[stryker]

He has no explosive speed off the mark anymore. there were a couple of occasions tonight where he got the ball and seemed to take an age to move forward. When he runs onto the ball he is strong but from a standing start he is as slow as I am.

That said he has put two better than average games together in a row now. Hope for his sake he continues to do so as we have prospects nipping at his heels who will get the job done if he cant.

 

[supercoach]

Still lacking that blistering speed, and I doubt we will never ever see that again, but they are using him like a wide running back rower, and its effective. Made a lot of dirty yards tonight and was hard in defense

 

[Spartan117]

Played better the last 2 weeks.

On hos way back.

 

[Peaches]

Is he carrying too much muscle?

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[tig_prmz]

i wish they transfer him to the backrow sooner rather than later. im absolutely convinced he would kill it there.

he has amazing defensive technique, good hands, good offload and won't back away from taking a solid hit up. if fulton or bodene go off injured, he'd be one i put in the backrow tbh.

 

[pHyR3]

course he's playing solidly now. he was thrown out on the wing when it all fell apart for us and him defensively.

always knew he'd be fine if we gave him another chance at centre

 

[guyofthetiger]

Seems to be slowly getting some confidence back. I imagine he'd be the first to go hard on himself for poor form.

 

[happy_tiger]

i wish they transfer him to the backrow sooner rather than later. im absolutely convinced he would kill it there.

he has amazing defensive technique, good hands, good offload and won't back away from taking a solid hit up. if fulton or bodene go off injured, he'd be one i put in the backrow tbh.

But tell me which backrower do you drop when every one is available

Thompson's been good
Blair has been good
Fulton is playing well
Sue was playing well off the bench
Sironen at 110 kg with his mobility could be the one that steps our forwards up to even greater heights

One of these blokes will miss out already , and we have issues centres wise (our weakness imo )

Why move Lawrence under those circumstances ??

 

[Tim Sheens]

Is he carrying too much muscle?

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I think that he has been more a mirror man than footballer since really bulking up, in particular his upper body during rehab following the hip injury. Whether injury or his bulk is the major factor in his form collapse, who knows, but he has improved somewhat this year, from what was a very poor baseline last season.

His strength was always as a speedy attacking runner, rather than defensive player. He no longer possesses the pace to rush in and shut down a play, let alone make a break, so unless he can get some of that back, he will remain a bog average NRL level centre.

I don't see him having a future as a backrower, there would be half a dozen blokes in front of him. If nothing much changes this season he has to try something different, with trimming some bulk possibly being the only viable option.

 

[laufoofan]

Glad Lawrence has proved us wrong, with each game he has improved. Hope he keeps on at it and become his old block buster self again, time will tell, Potter will be the best judge.

 

[tig_prmz]

i wish they transfer him to the backrow sooner rather than later. im absolutely convinced he would kill it there.

he has amazing defensive technique, good hands, good offload and won't back away from taking a solid hit up. if fulton or bodene go off injured, he'd be one i put in the backrow tbh.

But tell me which backrower do you drop when every one is available

Thompson's been good
Blair has been good
Fulton is playing well
Sue was playing well off the bench
Sironen at 110 kg with his mobility could be the one that steps our forwards up to even greater heights

One of these blokes will miss out already , and we have issues centres wise (our weakness imo )

Why move Lawrence under those circumstances ??

then make him play state cup as a backrower. i know lawrence has been good but i feel if we get that one more quality right centre and simona back to left centre- lawrence could kill it in the backrow.

 

[Love_the_WestsTigers]

Is he carrying too much muscle?

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i dont think so..
I think it makes him solid in defence..

Fifita is a big boy yet he has pace, so i dont think Rowdy is any slower due to his size.
My bet is all those injuries have caused it .

On the topic, its good to see him improve – >> improving
we all have given him a bit of a spray with poor on field performances..

 

[Demonborger]

I don't think he had a good game, but he wasn't bad either.

A couple of his runs were decent hit ups, but were in positions where in years passed he would've burst through the line. Another sign that his speed is gone as is his effectiveness was that moment where Tate got on his outside and he had to turn to chase….at turtle like speed.

For me it showed that his speed and thus his weapon is gone for good. He tries hard but his value isn't what it was to us. I'd give him until the end of the season to try convince me otherwise.

 

[mike]

i wish they transfer him to the backrow sooner rather than later. im absolutely convinced he would kill it there.

he has amazing defensive technique, good hands, good offload and won't back away from taking a solid hit up. if fulton or bodene go off injured, he'd be one i put in the backrow tbh.

Re-watching the game I have to agree. Though he had a good game his speed off the mark is just not there. I was thinking as a second row he could be lethal.

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[Black_n_White]

Definitely on the improve and it is good to see… has the turning circle of a road train though, it may well be being exposed by a compressed defence, but he will begin to be targetted because of it. Any offensive structure worth its salt should be able to repeatedly isolate him, and begs the question, do we change defensive structure to complement him, or change the player to suit the structure... Its a matter of time before his turn is isolated tactically and could well be the difference in loss.

I am really impressed with his new found attitude and involvement, and hope we can find the compromise to suit.

 

[jirskyr]

Tate was Cowboy's best last night, is a class player, and Rowdy did a good job on him.

The other thing I noted was that Simona, despite his fancy footwork, got run down twice last night. He's back from injury, surely short of a gallop, but last year he blitzed chasers on more than one occasion.

It doesn't take much to appear significantly slower than previous versions of yourself, I think Rowdy has the class to adapt his play as his body continues to evolve / change.

 

[Peaches]

Tate was Cowboy's best last night, is a class player, and Rowdy did a good job on him.

The other thing I noted was that Simona, despite his fancy footwork, got run down twice last night. He's back from injury, surely short of a gallop, but last year he blitzed chasers on more than one occasion.

It doesn't take much to appear significantly slower than previous versions of yourself, I think Rowdy has the class to adapt his play as his body continues to evolve / change.

He got chased down by Fieldt on the 20-tap restart, but he's a whippet himself. I don't remember him being chased down any other time. There was a kickchase where he made a break but cover defense got him. I think he's still got plenty of pace in him. He's lacking some match fitness too.

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[H-Tozza]

One of his biggest critics here but thought he was exceptional on Satdiy and likewise the previous week against the Eagles…Really starting to hit the line with a bit of vigour and playing more fearlessly than I think we've seen him at any time in past 2-3 years.....Would be even better if he could develop that fend of his again that made him so dangerous a few years back...

Glad that Potter could see in him what we couldn't and persisted with him....if this forum had its way he'd be playing reggies never to don the FG jersey again lol

 

[balmain boy]

Lawrence hasn't really proven anything. Yes he's played better in recent weeks, but its not too hard to improve from appalling to ok.

He played like a back rower on the weekend. Making hit ups and thats all. No creativity, no speed. Just hitups. And he still goes for the intercept too often (and misses most of the time).

As mentioned we already have a number of decent backrowers.

Hopefully he regains his speed and confidence and is able to play as a centre, or he gets his fitness back to the extent that clubs in england can take him off our hands. If he could return to the world class centre then that would obviously be the best result for all concerned, but it still seems somewhat unlikely. But at least he's moving in the right direction.

 

[jirskyr]

Tate was Cowboy's best last night, is a class player, and Rowdy did a good job on him.

The other thing I noted was that Simona, despite his fancy footwork, got run down twice last night. He's back from injury, surely short of a gallop, but last year he blitzed chasers on more than one occasion.

It doesn't take much to appear significantly slower than previous versions of yourself, I think Rowdy has the class to adapt his play as his body continues to evolve / change.

He got chased down by Fieldt on the 20-tap restart, but he's a whippet himself. I don't remember him being chased down any other time. There was a kickchase where he made a break but cover defense got him. I think he's still got plenty of pace in him. He's lacking some match fitness too.

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Feldt? He didn't even play, the wingers were Wright and Winterstein.

From the tap restart at 48 mins he gets run down by Winterstein and Morgan. The replay isn't up yet to check who caught him on the other.

The point I am making is players can easily be a yard or two slower in pace and not be a burden to the team. Look at Brett Stewart or Billy Slater, if they are as fast as they used to be.

I honestly feel that lots of the negativity towards Lawrence is because he used to be a lightning-fast powerhouse runner, blitzing through holes and running around fullbacks. For whatever reason - hip injury, hamstring trouble, wear and tear - he doesn't have those same attributes anymore and people want to scrapheap him. I don't feel it's warranted and when he gets a few games under his belt he performs well.