Amazing how people see the same thing so differently
I watched the game with interest and particualry the Manly spine as they are all very highly rated. The only one who looked half decent was the 7. Weekes was ordinary AF, the hooker wasnt sighted and the 6 whos apparently the best young player in the world was all at sea. Our lot of plodding perenial nsw cup players had them covered with ease.
Very good summary.
In the couple of games I’ve watched Roumanous he looks very under rated. Has good leg speed and always makes good metres when he runs the ball and looks a very solid defender, he’s capable of being better than NSW Cup in my opinion.
Will Smith is an enigma, he has the ability to square up defenders, ball play and bring his team mates onto the ball like a top quality halve, but doesn’t seem to do it enough each game.
Talent wise even at age 30 he could be a short term solution for us at NRL level where he has had many good games over the years.
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
My thoughts too. Very disappointing.
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Roumanous is very much like Twal and also Sukkar coming through. We've got plenty of these worker types.
We need more impact front rowers. Hopefully with another pre-season under his belt, Pole could turn into this. Otherwise the only ones we have with penetration are Atasi James & 21yo Herman Tofaeono (JF) and jury is out on both. If only Stefano could wind up with the speed & vigour he showed chasing down Tommy Turbo!
Yes it would be nice if we could find another forward or two who regularly scatters defenders when they run the ball, but I assume that’s what we wanted when we bought Papali’i, however he too has become more of a worker.
It’s about balance, we are not short on NRL standard players, but have a terrible balance of what is required.
Mansfield certainly appears to bump off a defender or two in most of his carries which is a promising sign from someone outside our top 30.
ancient_magpie
Well-known member
Balmain Boy is usually Mr negative
Alex Seyfarth's #1 Fan
Well-known member
Seems like Laurie had a good game, at least according to the stats. Give him 6 consecutive games in NSW cup then bring him into FG if he's performing well.
balmain boy
Well-known member
They have players with the potential to go much further. We have players who are already as good as they ever be, and that's NSW cup at best. Just because you win it doesn't mean we're developing players.
Weekes was much better than Ogden Nof and Scolari. Humphries was better than Smith and Laurie. Yes Latu was error prone but he's also a youngster playing his first NSW cup game, playing up a few grades
Ogden came on the scene and was redhot.
Thought he was leaving us at one point but stuck around.
Everything I've seen from his since the early hype has been ordinary.
balmain boy
Well-known member
Nah I'm just not a nuffie who sees something shiny and gets distracted. I don't see a player do one good thing and says player X had a great game. A game goes for 80 mins, players need to be judged over the duration.
Our players cannot play a full match, in any grade. Other clubs have standards, we don't. We shouldn't accept players who are lazy for large durations of matches.
There's a reason we haven't won an NRL match for a long long time
balmain boy
Well-known member
As is the case with Missy of our players they are the same players that they were when they joined us. Very very few players actually improve and those that do it's usually just individual hard work and determination.
Ogden hasn't improved since flegg, and playing at a higher level gets exposed
balmain boy
Well-known member
Good is an overstatement. Compared to the crap he's dished up this season yes he was better, but the bar is very low. He shuffled the ball when there was an overlap, and made one break from a scrappy play in the last few mins. Give him a couple more weeks in the halves and then maybe can be considered for NRL.
He tried hard. As you say, it will take time to see if it is a viable option
426Tlgerland
Well-known member
We don’t have time , throw him in the top grade and partner Brooks for 4 to 6 weeks
I’d agree with that, he showed glimpses of his unpredictability and class, but far from Cody Walker standards just yet.
People keep saying he is lightning fast which I am yet to see, he made that line break late in the game and I thought he would run the length of the field and score, instead he was looking for the oxygen tank after 20 metres.
Would he be an improvement on Brooks if played in the halves in the NRL team ?
Not right now, possibly after a few more games to gain more confidence in the new role.
While we are on this topic, another we let go in Ben Stevanovic has been regularly one of the best performed number 7’s across the whole KOE Cup competition this season and for those who keep asking there is absolutely No standout number 7’s in the Qld Cup at the moment.
Tiger-ferret
Well-known member
This is where a club like Melbourne exceeds. They know how to pick the players with the best work ethic who also have natural ability.
We get stuck with players with either one or none of those two attributes.
If he's got a future as a NRL half throwing him into first grade before he learns the job wouldn't be helpful.
Reality is this season is gone & next year we have no halves contracted aside from AD which doesn’t count as he will be missing majority of the 1st half of the season anyway.
Throwing someone in will achieve squat
At least this time last year we knew Papa and Api were coming.
Right now if we want to experiment with a player in a position we have 4-6weeks I’m fine with it especially if they use reggies to do so, if we think this season is bad next season so far with zero incomings and a heap of players off contract is going to be worse.
earl
Well-known member
It's hard to be upbeat and it's only round 8.
