Matt bell

M

mtd

New member
what are your thoughts?

he seems to be a workhorse when he gets the minutes. originally thought he may have been our lock until anasta came along… but now i see him named at prop in the trial...

read some comments during the off season that potter has been quite impressed with him, could he be a smokey for a starting spot this year? maybe in the backrow?
 
from the 2sm interview

TS: Is there a concern up front with Matt Groat to miss a fair slice of the season?
MP: Not really, I'm comfortably with Woods, Galloway & there's a couple of young guys coming through, we got Shaun Spence coming back, Matt Bell there who can play front row at a pinch. So we have a little bit of back up there & I'm quite comfortable where we are at the moment.

its almost like he's suggesting bell will not be playing prop, but could easily play there if required.
 
Might find himself in the deep end sooner that he thought….this lack of depth and excess injuries in one possy fast tracks everyone in the conga line....whether theyre ready or not
 
Defensively he's good. Not so sure about him cranking out big metres up the middle though, certainly not to the extend of Woods who averaged around 140 metres per game last year. Might be worth giving big Ava a shot off the bench as he's got size and a decent motor from what I saw of him in the grand final for Balmain last season. He would have benefited from training fulltime this offseason.
 
Was sort of Surprised that Matt didnt play the trial last Friday night so Coach Potter must have him pencilled into the top squad, he did impress me last season as he came to the club without fanfare and was a workhorse.
 
I am happy to have Bell in and around the top squad. Its nice having an old school forward, I think he brings some elements that Payten used to have actually.
 
Bell's an honest, solid, no frills worker, especially in defence. Every club needs someone like him.
Glad we've got him.
Especially in a situation where we start having injuries in the middle.
 
i agree with most of the comments and appreciate input… however no one has really addressed my question...

does anyone think he could be a smokey to start in a full strength side?
 
I think he could mtd. I know hes not an obvious first choice but for the opening stanza he could certainly be an option to soak up the big hits while someone like Pettybourne/BMM etc wait on the bench as impact players.

Its just a shame he doesn't have more metres in him for attack.
 
One of those unsung heroes abit like Fulton , goes about his business with good work rate , won't break the line when taking the ball up but is realiable , every team needs a player like Bell or a Fulton …
As for starting at full strength , i have my doubts definetley of the bench
8.Woods 9.Farrah 10.Galloway 11.Blair 12.Masila 13\. Anasta 14\. Pettybourne 15.Fulton 16.Bell 17.Moltzen
That would be my Forwards and bench
 
@mtd said:
i agree with most of the comments and appreciate input… however no one has really addressed my question...

does anyone think he could be a smokey to start in a full strength side?
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Love him like I used to love Mitch Brown, but No.

Woods and Galloway, 1 and 2.

there should be a perminent bench spot for Bell though.
 
@willow said:
Defensively he's good. Not so sure about him cranking out big metres up the middle though, certainly not to the extend of Woods who averaged around 140 metres per game last year. Might be worth giving big Ava a shot off the bench as he's got size and a decent motor from what I saw of him in the grand final for Balmain last season. He would have benefited from training fulltime this offseason.
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When he winds up he's pretty mobile and if we could get 50-60 minutes and 100-120 metres a game / 30 tackles he will be effective

Getting serious metres from our backrowers is where the problems lie in my opinion Why Bell would of been far more effective playing lock where he can tie up the middle of the ruck defensively and make some good yards

Maybe thats Potters reasoning with playing Blair at lock in the trials

To answer your question Underdog yes but at lock for me to add size and effectiveness in defence
 
@mtd said:
i agree with most of the comments and appreciate input… however no one has really addressed my question...

does anyone think he could be a smokey to start in a full strength side?
Click to expand...

I'd have Bell in the starting 13\. I personally believe that you shouldn't start the game with your strongest 13\. I know this flies in the face of conventional thinking, so shoot me down if you must.

Let some of the weaker players do some of the grunt work in the first 15- 20 minutes and then have some real impact coming off the bench. Galloway always looked like an absolute monster coming off the bench with fresh legs. Just my opinion.
 
fair enough, although the first half tended to be the tiger's MAJOR problem last season, so I dunno if not going fullout in the first 20min will help that. Otherwise, doesn't seem like a half bad plan, keeping one MAYBE two impact players like galloway on the bench for 20 as long as you're not chucking inexperienced/crap players into prop
 
His body structure has him inbetween positions in a forward pack… Woods and Galloway pick themselves when fit... so if you want Bell to start id say his best chance is in the back row competing for the number 12 jersey with pettybourne and fulton.
In saying that, i feel Pettybourne and Bell will be the back up frontrowers, which is a disappointment. Woods had a freak season last year which will be hard to match, while Galloway does his job consistently every week... but they arnt 80min players and they carry this side wk in wk out and pretty much arnt alloud to get injured.
The club really needed to buy 2 x 40-50game min. front rowers to keep moving this side up the park when woods and Galloway are having spells....
 
The club did not open the purse strings in the off season to buy an experienced, quality front rower or two so what are the chances of buying them now?
 
Yeah WT have left definitely themselves short on prop options, a decision made worse by Gavet and Groat now being injured for long periods. I can only assume that Potter has plans to blood a couple of the young blokes in first grade this year - whether they can handle it or not remains to be seen.

As far as Bell goes, yes he is probably a good chance of starting at prop, early in the season, because of the above scenario. However, I think he is far more valuable to WT playing at lock and hope he actually ends up there as the season progresses.
 
@travis_bickle said:
@mtd said:
i agree with most of the comments and appreciate input… however no one has really addressed my question...

does anyone think he could be a smokey to start in a full strength side?

I'd have Bell in the starting 13\. **I personally believe that you shouldn't start the game with your strongest 13\. I know this flies in the face of conventional thinking, so shoot me down if you must.**

Let some of the weaker players do some of the grunt work in the first 15- 20 minutes and then have some real impact coming off the bench. Galloway always looked like an absolute monster coming off the bench with fresh legs. Just my opinion.
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Click to expand...

i agree with this.. used to being shot down :slight_smile:
also agree on galloway…
could rotate bell from prop into backrow (Take blair off and bring on galloway) or something similar
 
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