Lui wants to seal deal as Tigers No.7

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Lui wants to seal deal as Tigers' No.7
By Ben Horne AAP Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:12:06

Wests Tigers NRL rookie Robert Lui knows he has a tight deadline to work with if he wants to fend off external factors and keep destiny in his own hands.

Lui is expected to get first shot at the No.7 jersey in Tigertown, but only has a few weeks to prove himself before star recruit Lote Tuqiri forces a reshuffle.

Tuqiri is not expected to be back from England and ready to play for the Tigers until at least round four of the competition, and Lui needs to make his mark in the meantime.

Tim Moltzen will most likely start in the No.1 shirt again, however, he could move into the halves once Tuqiri enters the picture to accommodate the dual-international at the back.

This scenario can be stopped if Lui impresses so much in the opening weeks of the competition, that coach, Tim Sheens has no choice but to leave him at halfback.

Lui, who made his debut against the Sharks late last year, wants first crack at the playmaking duties and believes he can make it permanent.

"I would like to get first shot," Lui told AAP.

"I'll give it all I've got in the trials, and hopefully in round one, come up with the prize and try and play consistent footy and stay there.

"If I play good, I can hopefully play in round one, so see what happens.

"I've been training in the halves with Timmy in at fullback, and just looking forward to the trials and round one and see where we go after that."

Lui said self-assurance is the key to him forming a lasting combination with All Star five-eighth Benji Marshall.

"I think we can, I'd love to form a connection there through the season," he said.

"But Benji Marshall is Benji Marshall, he's a freak. He's one of the best players in the league and I'd love to play alongside him.

"I want to improve my confidence and tell Benji and the other boys what to do.

"As long as everything I do is right hopefully the team goes well too."
 
Interesting times ahead for the tigers

i looking forward to seeing Lui give it a good go after an off season.., if he does kill it in the first month it will end up a great backline.

Moltz, Tuiaki, Lawrence, Ayshford, Lote, Benji and Lui
 
How good is it that we've got a battle for halfback between four gun players!
:smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

if Lui does keep the 7, i'd imagine the backline would become:

1\. Tuqiri
2\. Tuiaki
3\. Moltzen
4\. Lawrence
5\. Ayshford
6\. Marshall
7\. Lui

that article is a little misleading; if lote will play on the wing for a couple of games, meaning it could be round 6 or 7 before he moves to fullback… maybe
 
That's it….I'm convinced ....Moltzen will start the year at 7......
 
@Geo. said:
That's it….I'm convinced ....Moltzen will start the year at 7......

Haha! C'mon mate, I will not be surprised in the slightest if Lui turns out at 7 in round 1\. He's been talked up at 7 too much now. The players rate him, Simmons said last year that he'll be surprised if Lui plays in the 20's again and now we've got the Telecrap talking him up. The only way he'll lose the halfback spot is either due to injury or form…

Let's see how he goes against the Chooks next week.
 
I agree, I think Lui will start in 7\. I just hope that IF he does goes well, that there is no corresponding reshuffle for lote to fill in at fullback and he stays out on the wing.

I don't understand why we would need to experiment with him there!? Just because of what we are paying him.
 
@Balmain Bug said:
You can forget Tuiaki.
The Fonz wont play Ayshford on the wing.

Agreed. I reckon the backline will read:

1\. Moltzen
2\. Tuqiri
3\. Ayshford
4\. Lawrence
5\. Tuiaki (Brown/ Ryan until Tui recovers)
6\. Marshall
7\. Lui (I still hope Arana gets his shot)
 
I think moltzen will develop into one of the best fullbacks in the game. Seriously. He has speed of the mark, great hands, sound defence and can find a gap in a twinkling..From what i can read into, Benji rates lui highly and wants to form a combo with lui at half and moltz at the back..Could be really special..
 
Iam sure you can expect to see a different player to the one we saw at the back end of 2009\. A full offseason with Folkes for fitness and Sheens for finesse I get the feeling Lui might do okay. Sheens is the man in the hot seat now,we finally have some depth in the halves so if the Lui thing turns sour he must bite the bullet before round 20 as he has in the past.
 
@Tigers 2010 said:
@Balmain Bug said:
You can forget Tuiaki.
The Fonz wont play Ayshford on the wing.

Agreed. I reckon the backline will read:

1\. Moltzen
2\. Tuqiri
3\. Ayshford
4\. Lawrence
5\. Tuiaki (Brown/ Ryan until Tui recovers)
6\. Marshall
7\. Lui (I still hope Arana gets his shot)

To me this is the backline we should start with and IF Lui makes a fist of the #7 Moltzen should stay at #1 when Lote arrives…Tim can play a Hodgo style of fullback and give us many playmaking options, where as Lote would play a traditional fullbacks game and be a ballrunner only...Lui is the key to the makeup of our backline in 2010...IF he fires then we will have a lethal backline across all positions, if LUI fails then Moltzen will slot in at #7 and do a great job like he did last year with Lote playing fullback....so either way it will be exciting!!
 
The only reason we needed a ball playing fullback was that we had Morris in the halves who was not a ball player.
With 2 ball players in the halves we can have a fullback who runs good lines in support & always backs up around the ruck scoring tries. This is exactly what Hodgo did in '05 when we had decent halves.
Whilst I don;t want Lui to miss out because I think he will be really good this season I think the best balanced team would have someone like Tuquiri at fullback (assuming he is good in defence & under the high ball) and Moltzen at 7 partnering Benj.
 
@Tigers 2010 said:
@Balmain Bug said:
You can forget Tuiaki.
The Fonz wont play Ayshford on the wing.

Agreed. I reckon the backline will read:

1\. Moltzen
2\. Tuqiri
3\. Ayshford
4\. Lawrence
5\. Tuiaki (Brown/ Ryan until Tui recovers)
6\. Marshall
7\. Lui (I still hope Arana gets his shot)

That is mine too,Tuqiri needs to stay on the wing,and yes I want AJ at half.
 
@ron burgandy said:
i dont have faith in a marshall lui halves combo, to much potential for errors

I'll reserve judgement until I've seen how they perform together. If Lui performs disastrously in the trials then Sheens always has the option of moving Moltzen to 7 or giving Taumata a go. On the other hand if he performs well, and I hope he does, then the Tigers will have plenty of attacking options across the field.
 
Tigers also need to look at a halfback with a good kicking game,while farah is great out of dummy half,every team needs at least two players who can kick well,benji cant get the distance and has trouble with his accurracy,so who has the best kicking game out of Lui,moltzen and Taumata?This could be the key to who gets the number 7 job in 2010…
 
Lui needs to "seal" the opposition when hes defending to even consider "sealing" a 1st grade spot.
He was a turnsyle in the few games in 1st grade he played last year..made Scott prince look like wayne Pearce!!
It was the lack of committment rather than lack of technique that bothered most
 
Good point Tigger…our kicking game all round needs to improve significantly

I think Taumata has a decent boot on him, not sure though....I hope he ends up in the 7 jersey evetually
 
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