Mid Season Player Review

[TigerSJ]

The above posts are pretty much on the money for mine. Seems some disagreement over Matulino and also Huth. For me Matulino has some good runs in him but there are just not enough of them, he seems too easily brought down and he doesn't have much of an offload so offers little. Huth is a similar proposition although his work rate is higher. Unfortunately he seems to give up at the line and also looks very slow sometimes. Again he needs to develop that offload, - he's big and rangy, he should be getting those long arms out and popping up a few balls to guys timing their runs off him.
Packer needs to come off the bench, storing up all his mongrel for a shorter burst. I propose Twal and Mats to start.
I agree with Rochow, MCK, Aloiai, Sue and Taylor all being pretty disappointing in the last two months. Finally both Masters and Fonua are suspect in defence.

 

[magpiesteve]

ET is one of our best & gives 100% every week. With Farah at hooker he can settle back to lock where he plays his best footy. Love the guy.

 

[newtiger]

Rating out of ten.

1\. Thompson 9/ lolohea 6
2\. Nofo 7
3\. Marsters 7.5(defensive issues,effort and lateral movement needs to be addressed.)
4\. Fonua 6/naiqama 6.5
5\. Mwz 7
6\. Benji 6.5(higher 6 weeks ago, but went off the boil)
7\. Brooks 8
8\. Packer 6.5( not making enough metres or playing enough minutes)
9\. Liddle 5/ mckillrick 5
10\. Matulino 7.5
11\. Lawrence 9.5 ( best on ground consistently+hardly any errors)
12\. Rochow 6.5 (great first 4 games then tapered off
13\. ET 6(playing out of position hasn't helped)

14\. Reynolds 5 (not enough game time)
15\. Ailoia 5.5(runs hard but has mistakes
16\. Twal 8 ( bit of a plodder but makes no mistakes and is a great defender.)
17\. Eisenhuth 7.5 ( good defender and work ethic)
18\. Mck 6/sue 5/grant 5

So at this stage.

We definitely need two aggressive forwards. Were getting pushed around every week.

Lolohea 6? Should have gone to Specsavers.

 

[hugh1954]

Still not convinced of Brooks, if he wants more money without consistent performances then go all out for cleary

 

[Russell]

Hasn't Taylor gone backwards! He obviously has not handled the change in position well at all. On the plus side, he did have a hand in all of Canberra's tries….

Lets judge him on his position - not the position he has had to play and doesn't like playing.

That might be a good idea heh!!

 

[Tigersmurf]

Hasn't Taylor gone backwards! He obviously has not handled the change in position well at all. On the plus side, he did have a hand in all of Canberra's tries….

Lets judge him on his position - not the position he has had to play and doesn't like playing.

That might be a good idea heh!!

Nope because I am judging him on his defence and not his attack. I can give him latitude in attack becasue he was playing an unfamiliar position, but his place has always been to tighten up our defence and the tackles he fell off last weekend were embarrasing.

 

[momo_amp_medo]

We've all seen enough to get a feel for the squad now. Popular opinion is we come up short in a few key areas, most noticeably centre and edge back row.

Its still early days for a few of them but id rate them like this.

Lock in -

1\. Moses Mbye (fingers crossed he does more than Lolohea)
2\. Corey Thompson (top 5 finishing wingers in the comp)
3.
4.
5\. David Nofoaluma ( classy when right)

6.
7\. Luke Brooks (solid)

8\. Ben Matulino (solid)
9\. Robbie Farah (much needed, length of contract?)
10\. Russell Packer (solid)
11\. Chris Lawrence (old dog, new tricks)
12
13.

Top 30 Players–

Alex Twal (lock, prop or bench)
Matt Eisenhuth (lock,prop,second row,bench)
Josh Reynolds (5/8 or bench utility, medical retirment lol)
Esan Marsters (not convinced is a centre, has flatlined in the role, 2nd row)
Benji Marshall 5/8 or bench utility,last season)
Liddle(hooker or bench hooker,depends on fitness and Farah)
Fonua (ISP, centre depth)
Aloia (improve or ISP)
Chee Kam (utility, ISP)
Garner (upgrade, big upside)
Gamble (hold)
Robson (upgrade, footballer)

Others –

Tui Lolohea
Elijah Taylor
Jesse Sue
Chris McQueen
Malakai Watene-Zelezniak
Robbie Rochow
JJ Felise
Pita Godinet
Tim Grant

If possible wind up the contracts on all of them and recruit better options.

Thoughts?

Pretty much agree on all of this.
Still like to see McQueen given little more time but signs are that he may be staring down medical retirement path.
MWZ still a good low cost back up option so perhaps a keeper.
JJ is a mistery to me ….. has lots of ability, may be a late developer BUT I think the coach does not see it and he may be moved on.

My targets would be amongst the following .... Ferguson, Kelly, Isaako, Oates, Taupau, Oliver (who I think we already signed), Woods (at Bulldogs subsidised cut down price) and perhaps someone identified in our English scouting exercise, earlier this year.

 

[The_Patriot]

Off contract end of this year:
Felise
Grant
Godinet
Marshall
Naiqama
Sue
MWZ

The only player I would keep out of that lot would be MWZ as a depth player. You know what you will get every week from this fellow and although he is no world beater, he gives 100%.

With you on MWZ giving his all, he is a heart and soul player.

In that bunch he is the pick. Depth player he would be ok but for his own good he should go to the UK

 

[The_Patriot]

We've all seen enough to get a feel for the squad now. Popular opinion is we come up short in a few key areas, most noticeably centre and edge back row.

Its still early days for a few of them but id rate them like this.

Lock in -

1\. Moses Mbye (fingers crossed he does more than Lolohea)
2\. Corey Thompson (top 5 finishing wingers in the comp)
3.
4.
5\. David Nofoaluma ( classy when right)

6.
7\. Luke Brooks (solid)

8\. Ben Matulino (solid)
9\. Robbie Farah (much needed, length of contract?)
10\. Russell Packer (solid)
11\. Chris Lawrence (old dog, new tricks)
12
13.

Top 30 Players–

Alex Twal (lock, prop or bench)
Matt Eisenhuth (lock,prop,second row,bench)
Josh Reynolds (5/8 or bench utility, medical retirment lol)
Esan Marsters (not convinced is a centre, has flatlined in the role, 2nd row)
Benji Marshall 5/8 or bench utility,last season)
Liddle(hooker or bench hooker,depends on fitness and Farah)
Fonua (ISP, centre depth)
Aloia (improve or ISP)
Chee Kam (utility, ISP)
Garner (upgrade, big upside)
Gamble (hold)
Robson (upgrade, footballer)

Others –

Tui Lolohea
Elijah Taylor
Jesse Sue
Chris McQueen
Malakai Watene-Zelezniak
Robbie Rochow
JJ Felise
Pita Godinet
Tim Grant

If possible wind up the contracts on all of them and recruit better options.

Thoughts?

Pretty much agree on all of this.
Still like to see McQueen given little more time but signs are that he may be staring down medical retirement path.
MWZ still a good low cost back up option so perhaps a keeper.
JJ is a mistery to me ….. has lots of ability, may be a late developer BUT I think the coach does not see it and he may be moved on.

My targets would be amongst the following .... Ferguson, Kelly, Isaako, Oates, Taupau, Oliver (who I think we already signed), Woods (at Bulldogs subsidised cut down price) and perhaps someone identified in our English scouting exercise, earlier this year.

i cant really argue with McQueen, MWZ and JJ.

Not sure on the recruits. I really want a class centre and an impact prop or second row. Taupau is the only one i like.

 

[yeti]

True, but when I was making the list it hadn't been announced.
And I wouldn't make a decision on him until the end of the season.

 

[yeti]

Sorry - the above post was a reply to Geo's post.

 

[TCL]

The star of the team is the team.

I rate the team a 5 out of 10.

 

[momo_amp_medo]

The star of the team is the team.

I rate the team a 5 out of 10.

6.5 and should reach 8 with introduction of couple of quality players.

 

[TCL]

The star of the team is the team.

I rate the team a 5 out of 10.

6.5 and should reach 8 with introduction of couple of quality players.

Hope so. We need to lift for the run home.

 

[Geo]

What does the Coaching staff get out of 10…

 

[TCL]

What does the Coaching staff get out of 10…

Same as the team.

 

[Magpies1969]

Happy with the two new recruitments however Farah is a short term solution.

Yes we really need one speedy centre (Brian Kelly seems a viable option) and a hard running second rower (Martin Taupow fits the narrative) plus one more hard running aggressive prop (not sure who is available to fit the requirement).

Really concerned about the futures of injury prone Reynolds and McQueen. So far in 2018 they have not been much bang for their buck.

As a team and with current coach I am happy and proud of the direction we are heading and like that we have not been in the media for infighting or other stupid players actions (i.e Tim Simona). Milne to me was not our fault.